This is how we stop the banning

[Ola]

Up here in norway we have several mental tests for dogs. After the Norwegian Rottweilerclub added that both parents of alitter had to pass a sertain test to be alowed to be bred, lots of dogs aren't alowed to be bred by the rott club. The breeders can of course breed their dogs, but not by the rott. club's blessing. The litters where both parents pass this test will get on the official litter list. There are of course other demandments beofre they will get into this list, but i guess it's the mentallity thats threatening to ruin this lovely breed.

At first , we had light ver. of the test. Then we saw that to many "bad dogs" passed, so a new test was formed. This test do i belive is about to become the standard in the Scandinavian countries.
There are a lot of ppl that say that this test is just some bull**** that the clubs have made to make more money, but theese are often the same that have dogs that does not pass the test.
I have a bitch that failed big time, and i got really suprised by the result, because i had a fealing that she was a real rottie inside. As the time has gone since she failed her test, i se now that this was very correct. Whatmade her pass , was totally lack of courrage. This is the main reason for the working dog breeds to fail this test, and i think this is very good. You also get to be warned if thoose arranging this test see that you might get into problems with your dog later. One of the rotts here that i train with got a warning. This beautiful male did actuallu bite a man later that year, and now his owner is angry that he didn't follow up like he was told to.

This is not a test you're able to train for. The judges can see if you have trained for it. You get points for each part of the dog like courrage ,prey drive , dominans and so forth. Even if you get very high points , it does not mean that the dog did well. It's no use to just add the points like they do in some tests in Sweeden and in the old test we used in Norway. One bad event can make the dog fail , if the score of that event is not within the wanted standard.

The Norwegian Rottweiler Club have mailed the different Cennel Clubs that is about to get a rottweiler ban, or even having this discussion in the start phase. WE want to show them how we do it, and hopefully that will help the different gouvernments to give the rottie a fair chance to survive as a breed.

If anyone of you are intrested in this test, i can try to make a page that will inform a bit better than this personal ver. of it.
:-))

[jmysgrl]

How about a mentality test for dog owners in general. There are a lot of people who should never never never own a dog or any other kind of animal. I recently turned my own sister-in-law in to her local animal control because she and her husband have a Kieshound that is severly neglected. We are talking short chain, living in his own feces & urine, he has not had his shots in 5 years, and never gets as much as a " Hi Kasey, How's it going buddy." This dog was banished to the back porch when they brought their oldest daughter home from the hospital because he was " too much to handle" and they were afraid he would be jealous of the new baby. I even offered to take him off their hands,& they refused. He was even Quarentened for biting my niece, be cause of no shots. They wasted the love & companionship of a very smart and beautiful dog. This dog has matted hair because he has not been groomed in as long as it has been since he had shots. Now they can't understand why he is not social and are considering puting him down. It makes me want to cry just thinking about it.

[Melina]

That poor dog.
Wouldn't it be great if people had to obtain a license to bear children or keep a pet?

[Rigger]

Ola,
That test sounds very good and a "proactive" way to try and strengthen & save the Rottweiler breed... I would love some more details on it and I am sure that many others in this forum do to.. Maybe it can be proposed as an alternative to banning or restricting the breed in other countries as well ?
What is the current status of Rottweilers in Norway at present? Are they very popular and do they have a good public perception ??
Many thanks

Rigger

[Nancy Estes]

Would be great to see what this test is like. It sounds like a very good idea. Let us know if you can work up a translation for us mono-lingual types .

Nancy

------------------
von Dorow Rottweilers

[Thomas Peuschel]

Ola,

you are right, we have to test all our dogs before breeding.
Be sure, that also in germany changes in the mandatory breed suitable tests will come.
Already 30% of all dogs fail in the BST and the number will increase.
At the last spring Koerung all dogs showing the smallest sign of beeing aggresive during theeth showing were thrown out immediatly.
Also in our specialty shows such dogs will be thrown out directly.

Thomas

[AShilling]

The test sounds a very good idea. Ola, is it being considered in Norway for other 'problem' breeds?
If the USRC adopted such a test, would the AKC cooperate by refusing to allowing the showing of animals that did not have tested breeding?
I think we need a two-pronged approach -- the licensing of owners, which I think must be by size, not by breed, since mixed-breed dogs need management too, and some device such as the Norwegian test to weed out unreliable dogs.
Alison

[Ola]

We have no problem with this lovely breed here in norway. A fue accidents is all. The gsd's have the light ver. mentantest in their breeding program, so we're a bit better than they. :-))
I'm working an the translation of the test we use, so it might take a while. The translations have to be correct if ppl should take this serious. :-))

[Guy Nieuweling]

Hello,

In March there was a seminar in Brussels on Aggressive dogs. The bad encounters of dogs/dogs and dogs/man (and even man/dog!) were examined from different points of view. And although I was rather skeptical, I considered it a time well spent.
One of the speakers was Mrs. Planta, a Dutch behaviorist. She also proposed mental testing. Her idea did not have much success because (1) all dogs would pass the same test, (2) it would be organized nation wide and therefore very time consuming.
I don't favor the same test for all breeds because I think there are fundamental differences between say a German Shepard and a Rottweiler.
I understand you have developed a test specifically for Rotties and I would be very interested in having a short description of what kind of tests you run and what is expected from the dogs. What is the age of the dogs and is it allowed to train the dog for this test?
Hoping to hear some more, keep up the good work!

Guy


------------------