Where the breed came from, what living with one asks of you, and how to tell a responsible breeder from an opportunist.
The Rottweiler is a breed whose origins go back to Roman times and whose occupation has changed several times over the centuries. The Roman armies used the dog in battle and to drive cattle across country. In the middle ages he was used for bear hunting and from there a cattle dog, driving the cattle by day, guarding them at night and at the end of the drive guarding his master's money, usually in a purse around the neck. From there he became a butcher's dog, pulling a cart, and was particularly associated with the region of Rottweil in southern Germany, hence his name Rottweiler (pronounced Rott-Viler).
Since then he has been used by the Army, the Police, Customs and as a Guide Dog in various countries.
His intelligence is high, his guarding instincts are very impressive and his allegiance to his human family is very commendable.
As a breed they have great power and strength, which is sometimes overlooked when choosing this breed. It must be considered carefully whether you are the right person to own one. He is not a dog for Mr and Mrs Everyman. He should be treated with firm but fair discipline and much love and affection. He will then attain the true virtues of companionship, loyalty and faithfulness, which are just a few of very many qualities.
If you allow your pets to please themselves then a Rottweiler is not for you. If you are aggressive by nature and would like these qualities in your dog then a Rottweiler is not for you. If you are a responsible person willing to understand your dog, to take the time, effort and trouble over your charge for the rest of his natural life, then you are right for the Rottweiler.
There are several steps one should take before acquiring your Rottweiler. Make sure your house and garden is well fenced or enclosed so that there are no escape routes. Have a suitable place that will be just his, so that when he needs to be alone, either to sleep or when you go out, he is safe and well. Never expect a dog to be perfect from day one. With a place of his own, with his own things, where he can do no damage to himself or furnishings, everyone will be happy. Good manners will come in time with sensible training and education as to what is acceptable and what is not.
The Club is there for your benefit. Use all of its facilities, especially your committee members, who give a great deal of time and effort for our chosen breed.
Hereditary defects such as hip dysplasia and entropion are still evident within the breed. A big problem at the moment is opportunist breeders who seem to be flooding the market with sub-standard puppies, having little to no knowledge of the breed and caring even less. It never ceases to amaze the Club when people go to these "breeders" and pay the same amount of money as they would from a dedicated and registered breeder who actually provides good backup service.
For the prospective purchaser who has thought long and hard about the responsibilities of owning a Rottweiler, here is a list of steps you should take and questions you should be asking your breeder to weed out the responsible from the not responsible.
At approximately 12–14 months old, the dog or bitch has their hips and elbows x-rayed for dysplasia. The x-rays are either sent to Australia (Australian Canine HD Scoring Scheme, BVA Scheme or Murdoch University) or scored here in New Zealand (NZ Veterinary Association HD & ED Scheme).
Dogs must be over one year old.
For more information, statistics and breed averages, visit the NZVA hip and elbow dysplasia pages.
The Club runs regular meetings with guest speakers — vets, veterinary nurses, breeders and specialists who work with the breed. Members are notified of the date, the speaker and the registration details ahead of each meeting.
Past meetings have covered cruciate injury prevention and treatment with a veterinary nurse of 28 years' experience, working alongside PD Insurance, including questions from members and member discounts.
Meeting details are circulated to members and posted to the Club's Facebook group. To be notified, join the Club.
I honestly do not understand the fuss and panic about the adjustment of the FCI breed standard. It is not a new standard and it does not define a new breed. In fact, the amendments are mostly only clarifications of long-known wanted and unwanted characteristics, nothing more. These clarifications were needed and meant to stop an all too far-reaching permissiveness in judging and breeding the Rottweiler and to correct the unwanted results of this. However, they do not hold a new definition of the breed; to the contrary, they confirm the breed in its type and details. So why the panic amongst lovers of the breed?
In one of my former posts I already made a loud call to accept and respect the breed standard as it is. It holds the definition of the breed, and all that deviates from that ideal — in whatever way, and so both towards an extreme expression or towards an insufficient or even an absent expression of a trait — is a fault.
Whoever calls himself a lover of the breed must respect the standard, or must admit that his true love is not for the Rottweiler. In the latter case he would do better to choose another breed. One's deviating personal preferences are indeed just as irrelevant as they are harmful when put into practice in the show ring or in breeding.
The same goes for the fact that the standard now explicitly states that the ratio of the Rottweiler's head is about 40–60%, referring to the ratio of the length of the muzzle (nose to inner eye corner) and of the cranial region (inner eye corner to occipital protuberance) to the total length of the head. It is the standard that defines what is breed typical, not one's personal preferences.
So, like it or not, this "about 1 to 1.5" ratio defines the correct proportions of the Rottweiler's head. This is the ratio to be searched for and rewarded in judging and breeding.
This ratio is not even new, but has been known since 1981. Only it was never adopted in the standard, and the mere mention of it in an ADRK lehrtafel proved not to be strong enough to educate, or at least to convince, that this ratio defines an inextensible limit. Nulla poena sine lege: no law, no punishment.
This ratio is not new, just as it is not new that many heads show muzzles that are much shorter than this ratio and that this threatens the dog's health.
So I repeat my question: as all this is not new, and if the adjusted standard does not change but just confirms the breed's definition, then why these sudden strong — sometimes even very emotional — reactions amongst lovers of the breed, some of them judges and well-known breeders? Why this consternation about something that is no more than a confirmation of what the correct Rottweiler looks like?
First of all, let me assure you: a muzzle that measures only 40% of the dog's head is already a short muzzle and is shorter than the original Rottweiler's definition. It is most certainly not proper to a "hound", and all the Facebook posts that state that this will change the Rottweiler's head into the head of a Dobermann are just blatant nonsense and even ridiculous.
In fact, I can only understand such reactions by assuming that the authors still label the standard as just a non-committal guideline that does not prohibit them from following their own preferences, while they now see this "liberty" threatened by the current clarity of the standard. Or by assuming that they have never actually known the Rottweiler before these faulty deviations from the breed standard started, and that they underwent a habituation caused by both faulty judging and an all too long commercial use of social media to promote the sale of pups that deviate from the standard but appeal to the personal taste of some.
Let's keep it simple and let me repeat my former calls: stop these irrelevant discussions and accept that there is only one definition of the breed in its type and all its details — the FCI breed standard 147 "Rottweiler".
And just accept that today there can no longer be any doubt or discussion about this: a muzzle that is shorter than 40% of the total length of the head is too short and is a fault.
FAULTS: Long, pointed or too short muzzle (any muzzle shorter than 40 percent of the length of the head is too short).
Does this mean that from now on all dogs in the show ring must be measured, and that the excellent grading and show win must be refused if they do not meet the 40/60 ratio? Of course not. Not only does the breed standard not ask for that, it would also be highly unrealistic.
The standard states the too-short muzzle to be a fault, but not a disqualifying fault (unless at FCI shows and if the muzzle is so short that it threatens the dog's health). It leaves the judge the freedom to appreciate the degree of deviation from the standard, or in other words the graveness of the fault. This is highlighted in the standard itself:
FAULTS: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.
This freedom is not unlimited. It is limited by the knowledge, recognition and respect of the breed-specific head shape and expression of the Rottweiler. This is where being a breed specialist comes in, with the requirements and responsibilities this brings.
It is most certainly also limited by the content of the FCI's Basic Statement for Show Judges, Dogs Fit for Their Original Function: extremes cannot be allowed, and no Rottweiler lover may deny the fact that it is a working breed and that a healthy respiratory system is an essential condition to function in whatever utility context, and is even essential for mere basic health. In fact, if the FCI show regulations are valid at the show, an extremely short muzzle that endangers the health of the dog may very well lead to disqualification.
DISQUALIFIED must be awarded to a dog which does not correspond to the type required by the breed standard; which shows a behaviour clearly not in line with its standard or which behaves aggressively; which has testicular abnormalities; which has a jaw anomaly; which shows a colour or coat structure that is not according to the breed standard or clearly shows signs of albinism. This qualification shall also be awarded to dogs that correspond so little to a single feature of the breed that their health is threatened.
The mere fact, however, that a muzzle is less than 40% of the head's length is — if not extreme and if not hindering respiration — in itself not of a nature to necessarily downgrade the dog. The head, its shape and its expression is defined by more than just the 40/60 ratio. Also, the head is only part of the Rottweiler's body, and then, in my personal opinion, not even the most important part of the body of a working dog that is defined for utility and not for aesthetics.
Still, even if the standard does not oblige him to consider the slightest deviation as enough to downgrade a dog, the standard still explicitly states the too-short muzzle as a fault. So no judge who takes himself seriously and says that he loves and understands the breed can or will ignore this clear definition in the standard, and no breed specialist worthy of that qualification may now still state that the breed's definition allows him to take the head beyond the 40/60 ratio towards heads that are no longer breed specific but are unwanted and harmful extremes. The clarification in the standard must necessarily lead to concrete and measurable results, and this is the responsibility of all judges and breeders.
If you allow me a strictly personal consideration, I give high importance to the simultaneous stating that the ratio between the length of the muzzle and the length of the skull is about 1 to 1.5, and that any muzzle shorter than 40 percent of the length of the head is too short. The use of the term "about" has therefore no relevance for the muzzle that is shorter than 40%, as this is by definition a fault. This lower limit is strict and not stretchable. The margin offered by the term "about" can only have relevance for the slightly longer muzzle that is not faulty, at least not if it still falls within "about 1 to 1.5", and which is for the judge to appreciate. This is moreover proper for a working breed and may allow the Rottweiler's head to be directed again more towards its original definition and ensure better respiratory health.
To conclude: I sincerely hope that the adjustment of the standard now holds a strong enough message that it will, even in the short term, put a stop to all extremely short muzzles and lead us to normal Rottweiler heads. But indeed, this will depend on the experience, knowledge, honesty and seriousness of judges, and the breeders who follow the judge's guidance. They do not define the breed — the standard does. They, before all others, must respect and defend the standard. There is only one Rottweiler, in body and mind defined as a working breed.
Clubs and organisations who aim at preserving the correct Rottweiler may not forget that they hold a very strong instrument: when they experience judges ignoring or disrespecting the standard, they should simply not invite them anymore.
Let the adjustment of the standard be both a new start and a loud warning. A new start towards recognising and preserving the Rottweiler in his correct definition, and a loud warning never again to let things get so out of hand that the standard must be adapted to clarify characteristics that have defined the breed for such a long time but were ignored or disrespected in recent judging and breeding to such a degree that we now have to remind lovers of the breed how the Rottweiler is supposed to look.
And believe me, bringing the head back to its original definition may indeed be a serious and urgent necessity, but it is only part of the challenges that we face. Just think of the ever smaller but ever longer bodies, the much too long loins, the too steep shoulders and much too short upper arms, the too weak pasterns and too long toes, the too long and over-angulated hindquarters, the loss of character — all faults that fester and consolidate in our breed and that demand at least as much of our attention.
Dirk Vandecasteele
Read the original article on the IFR website
Talk to breeders who health-test their stock, or look at rehoming a dog through Rottweiler Rescue.
