Meet The Breed: The Rottweiler

It is a common misconception that The Rottweiler was bred as a guard dog. Although today this is what they are often trained to do originally they were used for herding and pulling carts to market.

The Rottweiler is in fact one of the oldest herding breeds with some experts dating the earliest examples back to the late Roman Empire. It is thought that they descended from Mastiff type dogs and would travel with Roman Legions to herd the large amount of livestock that was required. This use continued long after the end of the Empire and the breed was subsequently named after the German town of Rottweil. The breed was common place in the region until the introduction of the railways which meant that they were no longer needed to drive cattle and other livestock to market. The steep decline of the Rottweiler continued right up until the outbreak of WW1 which led to an increased demand for police dogs. They were then used in various roles  including as messenger, ambulance, draught, and guard dogs and are still commonly used as police dogs today.

Meet The Breed: The Rottweiler

Life Span: 8 – 10 years

Characteristics:  Obedient, placid and devoted. Due to their size they do require good training

Dog Breed Group‎: Working/Utility

Height‎: ‎56 cm – 69 cm

Weight: 35kg – 60kg

Appearance: Rottweilers are large and impressive dogs, being well proportioned, powerful and extremely well-muscled. They have broad heads with moderately arched foreheads and nicely muscled cheeks.

Coat: Smooth double coat, always Black and Tan

Stephen Abson, our Franchisee from Chester was lucky enough to have had Besty to stay for home boarding. Besty is a four year old Rottweiler and here’s what Stephen had to say about her:

“Betsy came to stay for a few days while her family went away on holiday. She was such a joy and was never any trouble and for such a big strong dog, she was such a soft calm gentle giant. She loved playing fetch, tug of war and even playing and cuddling with my 5-year-old niece.  Even when on the lead going for a walk, she always had to have her ball in her mouth and when let off the lead all she wanted to do was play fetch. She would never really bother any other dogs and wouldn’t stroll too far ahead and would always obey my commands to come back.  After an exciting day all she wanted to do was rest beside your feet whilst stroking her to sleep.”