[royalarrival]

Some of you already know, but I will state again for those that don't know.
I am attend a local college to acquire my Vet Tech degree.
I am currently taking a english class that requires argumentative research paper assignments. My first research paper is to persuade the audience that the Rottweiler is not a vicious time bomb.

Please feel free to give feed back. I want to make sure the information I give is correct. I also want to make sure how I give the information does not confuse or misguide the audience.

Thank you!

The Rottweil Metsgerhund

The Rottweiler is a noble breed that is misunderstood from lack of knowledge.

Those that feel the Rottweiler is a vicious time bomb develop their opinion from the media or experience. The reports are about someone that was bitten by a Rottweiler. The headlines to these reports use words like mauled, viciously, attack to grab the public's attention. Sometimes these reports fail to give the accurate breed or state the true scenario leading up to the aggressive behavior. Most of the time the human involved unintentionally triggered the aggressive behavior. There is one thing that is constant, which is the dog was owned by irresponsible owner. It is heartbreaking to see a breed I love and admire be misunderstood.

To understand the Rottweiler, you first need to know where they came from and what they where used for. I won't bore you in a long history lesson. I will briefly state the foundation origin of the Rottweiler. The Rottweiler is a working dog and got its name from the city of Rottweil. The Rottweiler is a descendent of the drover dogs used by Romans to cross the Alps. The drover dog purpose was to herd and guard the food supply during the journey. After entering the Region of Rottweil, the butcher's bred these dogs for performance and usefulness in the breed. These dogs had multiple jobs. They were to herd and guard cattle as well as guard property and their master. They were also used as draught dogs. In that time, a dog had to earn its keep. They were known as the Rottweil Metsgerhund (Rottweil Butcherdog). The second thing you need to know in understanding the Rottweiler is the standards set for the breed. Through the years different clubs were formed to recognize different dog breeds. Different competitions developed to judge performance in the dogs against their peers. The clubs formed a standard (based from their history) for each breed to use as a tool while judging. I will use the AKC (American Kennel Club) and ADRK (Allgemeiner Deutscher Rottweiler-Klub) standard when describing the temperament of the Rottweiler. Both clubs use different words to describe the standard temperament, but the meaning are the same. The Rottweiler should be a calm, quiet, confident dog with great strength. They are intelligent and very devoted to family. They have extreme hardness and adaptability with a willingness to work. The AKC best describes their behavior towards strangers as "self-assured aloofness that does not lend itself to immediated and indiscriminate friendship". They are loyal to the family and will confidently be reserved with strangers. This should not be confused with shyness or aggressive behavior.

Now knowing how the Rottweiler became a breed and the standard temperament expected, how did the Rottweiler get the bad reputation of being vicious? The standard states the Rottweiler has extreme hardness. I was unsure of the meaning when relating it to this breed. One can assume hardness means aggressive from the sound of the word. I decided to research hardness and how it relates to the Rottweiler. I turned to a web network that is devoted to the Rottweiler. The members of rottweiler.net are a group of people from all over the world. The knowledge and experience with this breed varies with each member. All of them have one thing in common. They are devoted to the breed by educating the public and promoting responsible ownership and breeding. One member directed me to an article called "Tell me about your Dog! Part I" by Armin Winkler. Armin Winkler is an instructor for the Progressive K9 Academy in Pennsylvania and a founding member of the American Dutch Police dog Association. The article explains different aspects that must be considered when assessing a dog's temperament and character. Every dog, regardless of breed, is an individual. He states "Every trait is like a piece in a complex mechanism, and to ensure that it functions properly, we have to inspect every piece." The dog's threshold, hardness, nerve type, courage, boldness and energy level play a factor in the temperament of a dog. He quoted Dr. E. Seiferle's definition of hardness "The ability to take a negative influences and experiences such as pain, punishment, defeat in a fight without being affected significantly at the moment they happen or in the long term." Hardness is not aggressive. Aggressive behavior is the response to a threat (perception of threat) with the goal to relieve the worry. Frustration to satisfy pleasure can lead to aggression. If you place a dog with high energy level in prey drive in an environment that does not allow him to run and satisfy the drive (throw ball, field trials, herding etc), the dog will become frustrated. This can happen in any breed. Personally, I see this lot in sporting breeds owned by irresponsible owners. Every dog has internal drives that motivate them to take action. The dog's threshold, hardness, nerve type, courage, boldness and energy level will determine the action to the internal drive. Training can manipulate the temperament and drive of the dog to get the desired response. Aggressive behavior can be seen in every breed. The size and strength of the dog will have an impact on the seriousness of the wounds. Rottweilers are very compact dogs with great strength. Their size is of a medium to large dog. A Rottweiler bite will have more serious consequences compared to a Labrador or Toy Poodle. The bite damage does not mean the Rottweiler is more aggressive than other breeds. The bite damage is the reflection of strength and power in the Rottweiler.

Now we know that Rottweilers are very strong stoic dogs. The question still remains regarding their bad reputation. How did they get it? The Rottweiler saw a big boost in popularity in the 80's. GreaterSwiss.com (website about Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs) posted "1987 Interview with Muriel Freeman - Author of "The Complete Rottweiler" that was printed in a Rottweiler Quarterly issue in 1987. Muriel Freeman is a highly respected figure in the Rottweiler world. The interview discussed the progress of the Rottweiler and how popularity is affecting the breed. Muriel Freeman stated "Much has been said on the subject of dire effects of a population explosion for any breed. The problems of the Cocker Spaniel, German Shepard and Doberman have been cited ad nauseum. Unfortunately, talking about it does not make it go away. Action is what is required." Muriel Freeman noticed the danger 20 years prior to the interview. Her concerns where ignored. In 1985 she wrote an article published in the AKC Gazette asking breeders to restrict their breeding program. Some breeders followed her lead, but most did not. In the 1987 interview she said "Where money is a factor, there are precious few who will put the welfare of the dogs ahead of their pocket books." When breeders put money before the welfare of the dog, quality of the dog is overlooked. The quality in health and temperament is what suffers. There are many breeds that are negatively affected by popularity. Owners that lack in knowledge about the breed and proper training have a negative affect as well. Every dog (regardless of breed) should be supervised when around children. Many times you will see reports that a child was attacked. Where was the supervision? No dog (regardless of breed) should be left to roam outside. Many cases are of dogs roaming when the attack occurred. Every owner and dog should attend obedience classes. Attending the classes will teach the owner how to train their dog. The class will help to socialize the dog. The experience will help to form a trusting bond between the dog and owner.

Today, the Rottweiler can be found in many working avenues such as schutzhund, carting, obedience, and agility. The Rottweiler is not a breed for everyone. I tend towards bragging about how wonderful the breed is to have as companionship. In the same breath I am discouraging potential new owners to acquire the breed. The Rottweiler's hardness should be noted and their strength should be respected. Behind every Rottweiler are breeders and owners. How responsible the breeders and owners are will determine the outcome of the Rottweiler.