[Mick Trainer]

I would put up a differing point of view in that I believe that the current interpretation of the conformation standard is against the correct movement for a working Rottweiler, I also believe that the extremely high level of compliance with this standard needed to be successful in the show ring means that you can only truly breed for one thing and that the pursuit of both actually works against the breed, so I feel for these reasons (and others) that in the end we will be better to look, as the GSD has, for two truly destictivly different dogs from different lines who do different things as I feel that this will be the only way to hold onto the working Rottweiler. Now days I feel that by hanging onto the belief that we can have a dog that truly excels at both (by my standard of excel) when the confirmation standard required to do so is so high that we further discard dogs who are very much capable of working and thus further reduce an already small gene pool and if we continue as we are we will do so until it is to small for it's own good. To avoid this I feel that if we seek to hang onto the working Rottweiler then there must be a group of people who breed exclusively for that as there are with conformation at the present as it is the only way to trulyu create a gene pool that can excel at such work. This should not mean that a be shown or vice versa just that a breeder should have a clear idea of what he/she is breeding for and that that is their main focus and that they are willing to let slip a portion of the other to hold onto what they believe to be truly important whether it be work or conformation but to breed for both I find is to set ourselves up in the end to fail at both. I further agree that form does follow function and thus breeding for work will in the end set it's own standard through success or failure but I do feel in the end that there will be two distinctly different types of Rottweiler (who by the way could still fit into the standard but just not excell at both). Even now I see the truly great working dogs are often a little taller or leg, slighlty lighter boned, have a steeper croup, and I have just started to see the reintroduction of the double thigh. All these things help a dog work harder and longer than the current interpretation of the standard as I see it being applied.

Maybe in the end we are better to discard the working ability of the Rottweiler altogether, but thats a different discussion and a sad day indeed.

Mick.

P.S. I should also add that I don't think that the temperament encouraged in the conformation ring is adventages to working ability.