Rottweiler

In Roman times, mastiffs, ancestors of twenty-first-century rottweilers, guarded the livestock intended to feed the legionaries during the great military campaigns. Once the Alps were crossed, the Romans advanced into Germania, where they established garrisons, notably in Rottweil, in the Württemberg region. In the Middle Ages, Rottweil became a very prosperous city, with strong commercial activity. It is at this time that one finds the ancestor of the rottweiler under the name of metzgerhund (literally 'butcher's dog'), because at that time it accompanied precisely the butchers, acting as a drover (guard and driving of oxen) and guard dog for the masters. With time, the breed became more homogeneous and it is at the end of the nineteenth century that the name of rottweiler or German drover appears, when it was presented at an exhibition in 1892. The prohibition of livestock transport being decreed at the beginning of the twentieth century, the rottweiler lost its job and risked disappearing. But it obtained its 'reconversion' during World War I in the military field, as well as on the farm. On the international level, the rottweiler first conquered the United States between the two wars, where it was recognized in 1935, while it had to wait until 1966 to see it in England and the 1970s in France. Currently one can say that it has caught up its lag since it is fourth in the 'hit parade' of births in France. Given its success and mass production, the breed is affected by dysplasia problems, bone disorders and entropion (eyelid inversion inward).

The Rottweiler is a molossoid dog of medium to large size. The measurements admitted by the breed standard range from 61 to 68 cm for males and 56 to 63 cm for females. Its average weight is 42 kg for females and 50 kg for males. As a working dog, it should not exceed 60 kg. However, the weight is not mentioned in the standard. The Rottweiler is a solid dog, well-muscled. It is neither heavy nor light but well proportioned. It evokes strength, flexibility and endurance. The coat is formed by the cover hair and undercoat. The cover hair is of medium length, hard to the touch, smooth and well-fitting to the body. The undercoat must not exceed the cover hair. The hairs are slightly longer on the hind limbs. Black, with well-defined tan marks of a sustained brown-red tone on the cheeks, muzzle, underside of the neck, chest, limbs and above the eyes and below the root of the tail.