Rottweiler

Rakwar
Jun 2, 2017
2 min read

History and Origin

The dog has developed from Roman cattle dogs which had accompanied the herds following in the wake of the Roman armies through Switzerland and into Southern Germany. In the years 73 or 74 AD the 11th Legion of the Roman Empire laid out a camp on the bank of the river Neckar in the Wurtemberg area of Germany.

Many years later, the area grew into a little town whose small villas had roofs made of red tiles and the area became known as ‘das Rote Wil’ – the red roof tiles gave it the first half of its name ‘rot, while its origin as a Roman city gave it ‘wil’ for villa. Therefore, the city of red-roofed Roman villas evolved into the name ‘Rottweil’.

During the Middle Ages the Rottweiler was used for bear hunting and subsequently as a cattle dog. In that role the dog had to guard the herd at night, prevent any cattle from straying and drive the herd long distances by day. The need to control cattle, including dangerous bulls, meant that the dogs were bred to be strong and sturdy, similar to the breed we know today.

At that time there were many breeds endemic to the regions around Rottweil. These would probably have been the Sennenhunds, the breeds which would include the Bernese Mountain Dog, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Appenzeller and Entlebucher. These local dogs would probably have interbred with the dogs brought by the Romans and the Rottweiler’s similarity to these breeds is very evident, although the Rottweiler should carry no white on its chest.

In 1899 the International Club for Leonbergers and Rottweiler Dogs was formed in Germany and the first breed standard for the Rottweiler was produced by this club in 1901. The Allgemeiner Deutscher Rottweiler Klub [ADRK] followed on and was formed in August 1921. The ADRK is the governing body of Rottweilers in Germany and their motto still remains: “Rottweiler breeding is working dog breeding”.

With the coming of the railways in the 19th century, cattle herding was forbidden by law and the Rottweiler was then without an occupation. He became used as a draught dog by butchers, and even today when he is no longer used for pulling these little carts, his name continues to be linked with that of the butcher. He became known as Rottweil Butcher’s Dog and later this was shortened to Rottweiler. The butcher used the larger dogs for pulling carts and the smaller ones for herding and driving cattle. After the driving of cattle was forbidden the Rottweiler population declined sharply and in 1905 there was only one bitch to be found in the whole of Rottweil.

A club was formed in Germany in 1907 devoted to safeguarding the purity and well being of the breed; organising the keeping of breeding records, to fix the standard of the breed, and to preserve its working qualities. Planned breeding was started and efforts to improve the external appearance carried out with much care and thought.

Today Rottweilers are used by the Police, Customs and Army. They are also used as border guards, their disposition to work silently being invaluable for such work.