YOU CAN FIGHT CITY HALL AND WIN!!



Following is a story about Jeffrey and Breda Coe of Pheonix, 

Arizona. Not only is Jeff a shrewd business man but he and his 

wife wouldn't take no for an answer when it came to tbeir Rott N 

Kid.



"Let me tell you about my youngest baby...Sasha is my 21 month-old 

female Rottie.  The way we acquired her is quite unusual.  Our 

neighbor had a female Rottie and decided to breed her.  Well,  

after several weeks of raising 11 puppies, my neighbor said he 

would give us a great deal on one of the pups.  We didn't even 

want a dog around with our eight-month old daughter just beginning 

to crawl around the house.  Each time I saw him, he lowered the 

price and I would tell him no thanks.  Anyway, a week later he 

made his final offer...the runt of the litter, a female, he would  

let us have for FREE.  Being the shrewd businessman that I am, I 

balked.  So my wife, Brenda, and out two older children met the 

puppy.  We borrowed their book about Rottweilers and called  a 

cousin who has owned one for several years to find out more about 

owning a Rottweiler.  Two days later we brought her home.  That's 

when the fun began.



We did some homework on the breed and traininq techniques.  We 

decided to crate train her and that worked out great.  We took her 

to Petsmart for obedience training at the beginner and  

intermediate levels.  So far so good.  But when my wife's 

caseworker found out that we had a rottie, she went berserk.  My 

wife provides state-certified child care in our home, and the  

caseworker threatened to revoke her certification unless we fenced 

Sasha in somewhere.  She had a frightening experience with a 

Rottweiler several years before.  However, as her story unfolded,  

she admitted to ignoring a warning sign on the owner's fence.  The 

owner was also at fault in several ways, we believe.  The owner 

had acquired the full-grown Rottweiler without knowing how it had 

been bred or trained.  She also did not have a fence separating 

her backyard from her front yard.  That only seems logical if you 

have a caseworker making unannounced visits at your home.



We made a few calls to the local humane society and animal control 

department and discovered  that no Rottweiler bites had been 

recorded in a few years and that Chow Chows and Cocker Spaniels 

have bitten people the most over the last two years!  Brenda 

received permission from  the publishers of the book, The 

Rottweiler Today, by Judy and Larry Elsden, to photocopy several 

chapters to use in Sasha's defense. Armed with this and other 

accurate information, the  case-worker, her supervisor, and the 

program director backed off and *trusted us to be responsible  

owners*.  In fact, the state has rewritten the certification 

standards for pet ownership.



The dust has now settled.  Sasha is now 75 lbs. and excellent 

family member.  She's very friendly and must greet everyone who 

comes by the house. She has wiggle-butt syndrome which  includes  

a slight hop with her rear legs.  If we’d let her, Sasha would be 

a lap dog.   She loves not only our children, but the children  

Brenda cares for also.  Sasha loves to play with the kids as well 

as let them use her as a pillow.   Any fears children's parents 

about Sasha disappeared after a few weeks when they saw how good 

she is with children and how much children like her.  Even the 

caseworker will now cautiously pet Sasha and let her lick her  

hands.



Editor’s note: Now I’d say that was a job WELL DONE!  We really 

need to examine ourselves folks and our dogs.... we CAN make a 

difference if we are willing to work at it an be responsible 

owners too!