[Hannibal]

Genetic variation is what it's all about. That is the reason we have dog breeds in the first place. Visible variation is easier to talk about because it is obvious that a 150lb rott with his hips higher than his withers is different than a 110lb rott with correct conformation. However to most people temperamental variations are obscure. They simply see the colours and the shape of the dog and call it a rottweiler.

It is beyond question that certain quality rottweilers from certain lines have no hope of producing one working quality offspring, if it was agreed upon that a correct rottweiler must have the genetic potential to be able to attain a SCH title and therefore pass a courage test. They may turn out to look nice and are rottweilers but they are pet quality. This is much more prevalent in the GSD as it has a much longer history of poor breeding in this country.

Equally true is that in a litter produced by working parents there will be variation in the temperament of the pups and there is always the possibility that one or more puppies will not possess the sought after working qualities in varying degrees.

That is the ultimate riddle in breeding. Anyone who aims to produce a perfectly homogenous litter as far as temperament is deluding himself. If it were so we would all have dogs perfect to the standard (which in reality is the ideal but definitly not the norm) in conformation and temperament.

That is the reason why in all breeds of dogs where a certain quality of temperament is sought after in order to perform a definite task, most important is the selection of a puppy from a litter. Without selection the tendency in all breeds is towards degeneration of temperament in the direction of a wild canid.

An intersting point is that the worst puppy in a litter can in turn produce the best puppy in the litter.

Tying this back to the original question. While it is obvious that a pet quality rottweilers temperament will be different in the house to a working quality one. Even within the working rottweiler there will be varying degrees of protective behavior and more so depending on whether he is worked as a protection dog. Simply put a working quality rott that has always been discouraged/corrected for barking may simply not bark where as one that was praised/rewarded for it will.