Snippets of the life of Rocco the Roan Lagotto Romagnolo. The Italian Water Retriever who loves cuddles, sunbathing, and sprinklers.
Rocco is a ball of fun and love... a bit too excited sometimes, but always loves his pets, and he loves a game of chasey. He is more of a silver or grey coloured Roan Lagotto Romagnolo these days.
We knew he was going to be our pup from the first time we met him, as when we first held him he gave us a lick straight away. We chose each other, and he continues to be an affectionate little doggy.
Roan Lagotto Colour Changes
The colour change for a Roan Lagotto Romagnolo is different for each dog. Here is an overview of Rocco's colour change.
Hairy colour changes of Rocco the Roan Lagotto Romagnolo
Rocco's Diary
9 weeks old. Day 1: Welcoming Rocco to his New Home. He was very excited to stick his head in an empty pot in the backyard. We had to keep him away from the stale water that had pooled in there.
9 weeks old. Day 1: He is a very confident and adventurous puppy from the get go, sniffing everything corner of the backyard, and roaming through every garden bed. Some parts of the garden bed would eventually die out from his potty breaks as well as his desire to dig holes and taking deep sniffs in them.
9 weeks old. Day 1: Rocco has no fear - exploring and sniffing his new environment non-stop, he and his excitedly waggly tail knows no bounds! These sweet potato leaves didn't know it yet, but they never stood a chance against future Rocco.
9 weeks old. Day 2: Rocco taking a well deserved nap in between sniffing and training on an adult-sized dog bed, which is inside a fairly large pen. The spaciousness worked against his potty training though, so we started to crete train him, which led to improvements.
9 weeks old. Day 3: Rocco sun-bathing after an escape attempt. Sun-bathing is a favourite past-time of his that he would maintain, even as he gets older, and when it would be over 38°C outside (over 100°F) - we just make sure he doesn't stay under there too long at those temperatures!
Rocco decided to escape the backyard today! The gaps in the metal gate door were too large and he easily squeezed through, he continued on his tail-wagging sniffing journey out in the front-yard (safely), but he was swiftly retrieved!
Rocco decided to escape the backyard today! The gaps in the metal gate door were too large and he easily squeezed through, he continued on his tail-wagging sniffing journey out in the front-yard (safely), but he was swiftly retrieved!
9 weeks old. Day 4: Rocco missing his comfy bed, which is now drying outside as he had relieved himself on it, at least twice by now. The material of the bed makes it very hard to notice any wet stains without touch, or checking the damp floor beneath it. This bed is definitely too large for him at his current size...
10 weeks old. Day 5: Rocco napping on his fresh and yet to be soiled plush rug piece, surrounded by his new sniffing puzzle toys. He took instantly to the sniffing toys and found most, if not all, of the hidden kibble. I'm finding it very hard to stop taking photos of him sleeping, as he is very cute every time I check to make sure he is still breathing.
11 weeks old: Rocco fell in love with this small round cuddler bed that our neighbour gifted us. He's a bit big for it, and as he grew, he tried his best to curl himself into it because he enjoyed it so much. Unfortunately he outgrew it quickly.
14 weeks / 3.5 months old: Rocco the Fluffball Lagotto is chilling, chewing on his sticks.
18 weeks / 4.5 months old: Rocco the Italian Water Retriever enjoying the sun and surf at the beach... but especially digging holes in the sand and sticking his head into them. He was a bit scared of the waves coming in, but enjoyed chasing another dog out into the shallow waters.
5 months old: Rocco at the dog park excited to join a pack of smaller dogs for a run and sniff quest, particularly sniffing other dogs' butts.
7 months old: Rocco has a roan brown and silver Lagotto coat at this point, surrounded by all the toys he seldom plays with, but the tiny soccer ball is the flavour of the day and he loves playing tug and fetching it. He eagerly wants to play and say hi to every other human and their dog at this stage of his life.
9 months old: Rocco enjoying some play time with his Maltese Shih Tzu friend. The little one was not too happy earlier when Rocco walked right over the top of him with his long legs.
10 months old: Rocco after his first shave down, feeling violated, and looking extra slim without all his hair.
12 months old: At one year old Rocco's brown coloured head hair is fading. He's chilling at an inconveniently high foot traffic area in the house.
13 months old: Rocco now looking pretty grey and silver, being an unwilling unparticipant in some long lead training at the park. If he could have his way, he'd happily just run around aimlessly exploring the whole park untethered to his humans.
14 months old: Rocco at the dog park partaking in one of his favourite pasttimes, digging a hole and sticking his whole head into it for a long deep sniff. Yet another hole for his human to fill.
14 months old: Rocco enjoys initiating play with other dogs, and is enjoying a rough playfight here - something he will eventually grow out of.
15 months old: Rocco playing with his favourite yellow ring toy, he carries it with him everywhere and occasionally brings it to his humans so he can play fetch with it.
15 months old: Rocco sharing one of his puzzle toys with his Golden Retriever puppy friend. Rocco plays really gently with tiny pups or smaller dogs.
18 months old: Rocco sharing a non-alcoholic beverage with his doggy friend Maple. He use to try to hump her as a younger puppy, but thankfully he has grown out of that untactful behaviour.
18 months old: Rocco running free in the grass after a shave down, wishing he had all his hair back, and wondering why his ears feel all funny and different now - forever twitching.
18 months old: Rocco enjoying a swim in the river. After a few sessions of continuously leaping awkwardly through deeper waters near the shore, he started swimming out all by himself. His recall is getting better at this point, and he is sometimes let off his long lead. This was a big next step towards letting him roam freely off-lead, outside fenced areas.
18 months old: Rocco making a butt sniffing friend by the river. Ever the curious cat, Rocco is sniffing and licking mystery bits stuck to the top of this toppled tree.
19 months old: Rocco's smiling happy face, which he'll greet you with when it's his play time, or when he feels really happy and content! Today, he had a long walk outside in the morning before work - with lots of exploration and sniffing on grassy areas - his favourite.
21 months old: Rocco with one of his favourite toys. He loves carrying his little Pokeball toy throughout the house. Sometimes he loves it so much it becomes incredibly damp with dog slobber, at which point he loves to place it into the lap of an unwitting human.
21 months old: Happy Rocco the Silver Lagotto... having a rest after enjoying a run around at a newly discovered local park during sunset. He played chasey with some new doggy friends, he always enjoys being chased.
Lagotto Dog Owner Experience
Crate Training
We crate trained our Rocco when we initially adopted him as a small puppy. I think it was a good choice, as much as he didn't enjoy that. It hastened his potty training, as well as made him a relatively independent dog. He is not a "sticky" dog, and he is fine being left by himself for hours. He can still be affectionate and cuddly when he wants to be, which is how we like it - a choice he makes, rather than an emotional dependency for it.
Ear Cleaning and Ear Hair Plucking
For non-shedding dogs, their ear hair either needs to be plucked or formed into a plug. Groomers can handle this, or a vet under anaesthesia. I didn't think I'd be able to get this much hair out of a dog's ear... but gentle pulling and removal of Rocco's inner ear hair is essential for preventing ear infections. I also use an ear wash for wax removal, ideally weekly or fortnightly.
I found it essential to trim his hair around the outside of the ears first to make sure that when you are pulling out inner ear hair, that you don't grab the hair that's outside the edge of his ears, this would lead to more unnecessary discomfort.
Rocco the Lagotto's Nature & Some Tips
I've no doubt every dog is different, but here is our experience with our Lagotto.
- Lagottos are an active and energetic breed, so you'll need mental stimulation through training, as well as going for daily walks.
- Playing sniffing games is effective: hiding treats around a room for your Lagotto to find. Not too many or you may lose track...
- They are genetically built to dig for truffles. You might get some holes in your garden beds. A digging pit worked well for us, but he's still a bit inquisitive when we are elsewhere, like a sand pit in a dog park.
- Like any energetic dog, if you don't satisfy their needs they can be destructive - like chewing through human shoes, or breaking apart cardboard containers. Rocco mellowed out a bit after he left his puppy phase but he is still only kept satisfied with constructive time spent with him.
- Teaching "Leave it" was essential as Rocco likes to pick up random objects off the ground in his mouth after a quick sniff. Not often, but sometimes he would swallow them. The occurence of this has reduced with age and training. I'd recommend learning how to encourage them to open their jaw quickly and safely to avoid vet visits (apply pressure to the upper teeth on both sides, DO NOT pry their jaw open).
- Lagottos are a good "warning" dog. If something changes, or someone is lurking outside the house, they may investigate and bark. Rocco has a fierce sounding bark, but he will not close in or approach any dog or person aggressively. Great as a warning dog only - but the trade-off is the occasional "reactivity", which is a good teaching moment for him if it's nothing they need to be afraid of.
- Rocco does not really bark, except when trying to warn us of something. He will growl if he is suspicious of something new he hasn't seen before. He has a variety of differently pitched whines he uses to communicate with us humans, rather than barking.
- Rocco is a very cuddly dog - but only if you take care of his energy needs. He curls up in our laps at night, he loves his belly rubs, head scratches, and butt scratches.
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