I had a female rottweiler for almost 10 years since she was a 4-month-old puppy. One thing I learned about this breed is that you can try to make them as nice and cuddly as possible, but their inherited aggression cannot be completely suppressed. An excellent guard dog with a *****-your-pants, anti-burglar bark (better than an alarm), but not appropriate with small kids. Requires lots of training and can be a big liability if mishandled or not supervised. At least that's my experience/impression.
My other dog and still alive and healthy is an 11-year-old labrador/queensland heeler mix. I got these two dogs at about the same time so they grew up in the same environment and had the same training. This one is much more hyper and playful, better with kids, but obviously a less effective guard dog, though she does bark.
