ORIGIN & HISTORY OF THE ROTTWEILER

The wolf with all it's varieties is considered to be the founder of all our pet dogs.Hereby it's hard to believe that the little Chihuahua & the huge Mastiff have the same ancestor.But if we think of the great diversity which occurred only in te last hundred years within organised dog breeding, the imagination that big & small dogs are all originating from the wolf becomes somewhat easier.

It's common sense today, that man & wolf lived together since about 15,000 years.There are different opinions about the origin of the Rottweiler.Considering the fact that the special ability of the Rottweiler was driving herds, which was obviously the the primary activity in former times, the founders of the Rottweiler came from the Roman legions.The Romans used molossian type dogs as herder & driving dogs.These dogs the people & the herds.The ways of the Roman legions are still known, since the net of the streets of the Roman Empire is very well examined.One of these streets led to the Bodensee in the region where nowadays Rottweil is situated, the town which gve our dog its name.

In the further course of the 19th century the Roman molossian type dogs were cross bred with different types of native herder dogs.During several decades these dogs were selected for vitality,intellegence,endurance & driving ability.This way they became irreplaceable helpers of the animal dealers & butchers.As said before, this dog was mostly found in & around the former Reichsstadt Rottweil, & therefore in the middle ages it was called Rottweiler.The reasons the dogs in Rottweil were so highly appreciated was probably that they proved themselves many times as herder & driving dogs.In the 19th century Rottweil was an explicit animal trading centre, where from cattle & sheeps were mainly driven to the Breisgau, the Elsass & in the Neckar River Valley.In times where robbers or wolves existed & far regions were unsettled such herd drivings required strong, tenacious, placid & smart dogs.Who called himself a real butcher in or around Rottweil usually had several Rottweilers at a time, because the butchers were those mainly used to trade in animals.

As time went by the animals were transported by train & other vehicles, & the Rottweiler lost its helpful job.Only in the beginning of the 20th century the outstanding character abilities of the Rottweiler were recalled.The high suitability of this breed was tested in the police service, & in 1910 the Rottweiler was recognized as a police dog.In that time as well as today man is fascinated by this breed.Its faithfulness, diligence, manoeuvrability & calmness make the value of this breed evident.As a family dog the Rottweiler is a faithful & reliable friend, as long as it is bred, raised & socialized within the family according to expert rules.Just as in man the education & socialization of the dog starts during childhood.

As a puppy each Rottweiler is willing to learn & to take it's place, means to adapt itself in the pack.It's mostly determined by the environment.A correct education leads to friendship.Wrong training with lack of love will spoil the dog forever, as well as well as the living of man & dog together.Therefore man is primarily responsible for how our Rottweiler will turn out.Herein breeding, education, health & living together are inluded.

For the Allgemeiner Deutscher Rottweiler-Klub (ADRK) e.V.,the only association for Rottweiler breeding which is accepted by the Verband fuer das Deutsche Hundewesen (VDH) e.V., more than 90yrs of controlling the breeding show competence & commitment at the same time to preserve & improve the Rottweiler, which is a German dog breed & cultural asset.By strict selection, which all the time is adapted to new challenges & environmental influences, the ADRK e.V. tries to improve the quality of our Rottweiler.The highest purpose of our breeding is our health.Psychological & physical strength of our dogs are the espression of health.More than ever before the breeding objective is "the healthy, self confident & good natured working & family dog, with best form & performance at the same time".
All the time people were fascinated by the Rottweiler.I hope the Rottweiler will get more friends & the already existing friends will become enthusiastic anew.To the health of our dog & The Rottweiler family all over the world!
Hans Jurgen Eberbach
1st president of the ADRK e.V.

Characteristic marks of the breed
The object of Rottweiler breeding is to establish a harmonic, solid, & strong companion, blind, security,working & family dog respectively.This dog has to be in accordance with the signs of the breed & show the highest physic & physical capability.Our breeders do not only want to reproduce the dog but also to preserve & stabilize its form & nature on a wide basis.Marks of a breed are defined in a list of traits & attributes, which is established by the responsible breeding club.Each dog should show these signs in the highest possible perfection in comparison to the ideal of this breed (breed standard).The club of this country, which is supposed to be the origin of the breed, is responsible for modifying & supplementing the breed standard.For the Rottweiler this club is the ADRK e.V.
All other countries, as far as they are members of the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI), or are associated with the FCI, are bound to acknowledge the breed marks of the originating country, which guarantees a far-reaching conformity in breeding, judging & rating of the dogs.The ADRK uses the following introducing phrase for the standard:
Rottweiler breeders aim at a dog of abundant strength, black coated with clearly defined rich tan markings, whose powerful appearance does not lack nobility & which is exceptionally well suited to be a companion, blind, security, working, & family dog.

Taken from "Rottweiler, short informtion" courtesy of ADRK e.V.