Rottweiler History

History of the Rottweiler

Although an extremely versatile breed used in recent times for many other purposes, the Rottweiler is first and foremost one of the oldest, if not the oldest, of herding breeds. A multi-faceted herding and stock protection dog of exceptional ability, it is capable of working all kinds of livestock under a wide variety of conditions.

The breed is an ancient one, whose history stretches back to the Roman Empire. In those times, the legions traveled with their meat on the hoof and required the assistance of working dogs to herd the cattle. One route the army traveled was through Wirttemberg and on to the small market town of Rottweil. The principal ancestors of the first Rottweilers during this time was supposed to be the Roman droving dog, local dogs the army met on its travels, and dogs with molosser appearance coming from England and The Netherlands.

This region eventually became an important cattle area, and the descendants of the Roman cattle dogs proved their worth in both driving and protecting the cattle from robbers and wild animals. However, by the end of the 19th century as railroads became the main method for moving stock to market, the breed had declined so much that in 1900 there was only one female to be found in the town of Rottweil.

The first Rottweiler club in Germany, named DRK ("Deutscher Rottweiler-Klub" - German Rottweiler Club) was created the 13 January 1907, and followed by the creation of the SDRK ("S?ddeutscher Rottweiler-Klub" - South German Rottweiler Club) on the 27 April 1907 and became the IRK (International Rottweiler Club). The DRK counted around 500 Rottweiler, the SDRK 3000 Rottweilers. The goals of the two clubs were different. The DRK wanted to produce working dogs and did not emphasize the morphology of the Rottweiler. The main stud dog of this club was Lord von der Teck. The IRK tried to produce a homogeneous morphology according to their standard. One of the main stud dogs of this club was Ralph von Neckar.

The various German Rottweiler Clubs amalgamated to form the Allgemeiner Deutscher Rottweiller Klub - e.V (ADRK) which is recognised worldwide as the home club of the Rottweiler.

The build up to World War I saw a great demand for police dogs, and that led to a revival of interest in the Rottweiler. From that time the breed has become popular with dog owners, and in 1935 was officially recognized by the American Kennel Club.

In 1936, Rottweilers were exhibited in Britain at Crufts. In 1966, a separate register was opened for the breed. In fact, in the mid 1990s, the popularity of the Rottweiler reached an all time high with it being the 1st most registered dog by the American Kennel Club.

The first recorded importation of Rottweilers into Britain was in 1936 by Mrs Thelma Gray. However, during the 1939-45 war these dogs disappeared leaving no progeny. After the war Capt Roy-Smith imported a male and a female from Germany, however these did not breed successfully. Therefore he imported a second bitch who subsequently bred a litter. With careful selection from other imports the Rottweiler in Britain was born.

By the early 1960s the breed was in the hands of a very small dedicated group of breeders who worked hard to get it established. By 1965 the breed was firmly established in Great Britain.

To date in Great Britain there are ten Rottweiler Breed Clubs and for the year 2007 there were 4,257 Rottweilers registered with the Kennel Club.