Have you read
all of the above and are still convinced that you want to breed?
If
so, we would strongly suggest locating a mentor long before you
breed your first Rottweiler litter. A good mentor can help
guide you in your decision making processes and is a shoulder to lean
on when you hit roadblocks. They will share in your successes
and help you to achieve your breeding goals. If you need help
locating a breeding mentor, please feel free to contact us and we
will give you a list of breeders in your area.
Some Words of Advice
First, start
with the best possible dogs
Contact
the national breed clubs for a list of breeders: www.amrottclub.org
in the USA or www.rottclub.ca
in Canada. The national breed clubs can send you a list of breeders.
The list is not an endorsement. It is just a place to
start. You still have to research the breeder. Virtually all
countries have their own kennel clubs, a good many of them are now on
the internet.
Contact
local breed clubs. You can contact them through the AKC or CKC
(or foreign counterpart). When searching on the internet, be sure you
know how to spell your breed's name. You would be amazed at how many
people handicap their research because they spell the breed name incorrectly.
Attend
dog events. Good breeders are active in the dog world. That is how
they keep in touch with important information. The AKC and CKC web
sites, as well as the breed clubs, can point you an events calendar.
There are also web sites for a variety of dog sports that will also
have events calendars. Don't forget the performance and non-AKC
events. If you are interested in a dog that does a particular
activity, say herding, then try the herding web sites for
organizations that put on events and have an activities calendar.
Go
to any other places where people with dogs gather - dog parks,
grooming shops, training centers, veterinarians, pet supply stores.
Talk to people.
Be
wary of alternate registries. Some of these are specifically
set up to appear similar to legitimate registries, however they cater
to puppymill breeders and offer no assurance that the dog is even
purebred. For instance, if you are looking at a CKC breeder, be
sure that it's a breeder utilizing the Canadian Kennel Club as their
registry, NOT the Continential Kennel Club.
Even
after you have found an AKC or CKC breeder, remember that
registration alone does not guarantee quality. The AKC and CKC
are merely registries, they do not hold their breeders to any Code of
Ethics. This is where the breed clubs come in. Breeders
who are members of the American Rottweiler Club, Rottweiler Club of
Canada, Medallion Rottweiler Club, Colonial Rottweiler Club and
several others are bound by a Code of Ethics that the club does enforce.
Be
wary of mistaking "reputable" for "responsible".
Some big show winners love their dogs, and some big show winners love
their wins. Just because someone is successful in the show ring does
not mean that they produce healthy dogs with good temperaments or
that they are breeders who will stand by their dogs throughout their lifetimes.
It is well
worth the time and trouble to visit the breeder's home or kennel. If
you are purchasing from a distant breeder, then be sure to interview
others who have purchased dogs from the same breeder, and ask them
about the conditions.
The breeder
should be able to provide references of satisfied buyers. Be sure to
follow up on them, and question the references about any difficulties
or second thoughts they may have had. Ask about the quality of
follow-up care.
1.
Don't make use of indiscriminate outcrosses. A judicious
outcross can be of great value; an
injudicious one can produce an aggregation of every imaginable
fault of the breed.
2.
Don't line breed just for the sake of breeding. Line breeding
with complimentary types can bring
great rewards; with unsuitable ones it will lead to immediate disaster.
3.
Don't take advice from people who have been unsuccessful
breeders. If their opinions were
worth having they would have proved it by their successes.
4.
Don't believe the popular cliche about the brother or sister of
the great champion being just as good
to breed from. For everyone that is
hundreds are not. It depends on the animal concerned.
5.
Don't credit your own dogs with virtues they don't possess.
Self deceit is a stepping stone to failure.
6.
Don't breed from mediocrities. The absence of a fault does not
in any way signify the presence of
a corresponding virtue.
7.
Don't try to line breed to two dogs at the same time; you will end
up line breeding to neither.
8.
Don't assess the worth of a stud dog by his inferior progeny.
All stud dogs sire rubbish at times.
What matters is how good their best efforts are.
9.
Don't allow personal feelings to influence your choice of a stud
dog. The right dog for your bitch
is the right dog whoever owns it.
10.
Don't allow admiration of a stud dog to blind you to his
faults. If you do, you will soon be the
victim of autointoxication.
11.
Don't mate together animals which share the same fault. You
are asking for trouble if you do.
12.
Don't forget that it is the whole dog that counts. If you
forget one virtue while searching for
another, you will pay for it.
13.
Don't search for the perfect dog as a mate for your bitch.
The perfect dog (or even bitch) doesn't
exist - never has, never will.
14.
Don't be frightened of breeding from animals that have obvious
faults, so long as they have
compensating virtues. A lack of virtues is by far
the greatest fault of all.
15.
Don't mate together non-complimentary types. An ability to
recognize type at a glance is a
breeder's greatest gift. Ask the successful breeders to
explain this subject - there's no other way of
learning (I'd define non-complimentary types as ones which have
the same faults and lack
the same virtues).
16.
Don't forget the necessity to preserve head quality. It will
vanish like a dream if you do.
17.
Don't forget that substance plus quality should be one of your
aims. Any fool can breed one
without the other.
18.
Don't forget that a great head plus soundness should be one of
your aims. Many people can
never breed either.
19.
Don't ever try to decry a great Rottweiler. A thing
of beauty is not only a joy forever but a great
Rottweiler should be a source of aesthetic pride and pleasure
to all true lovers of the breed.
20.
Don't be satisfied with anything but the best. Second best is
never good enough.
Set
Standards for the well-being of your pups
Care
about each dog you bring into this world. Treat it as part of your
extended family when you place it in a new home.
Make
sure that the dogs you produce are capable of a full and happy life,
sound in mind, body and temperament. Recognize that good physical
health is not enough; the dogs should be raised to be great
companions too.
Interview
interested parties to ensure they are a suitable match for the dogs
you will be placing. Verify the information you were given.
Be
honest about the qualities of the dogs you are placing. Explain the
good points, and the not so good.
Make
sure that you have homes for the puppies before the sire and dam
ever meet.
Promise
to take in, or help place, dogs or puppies you have caused to be
created, no matter how old they are.
Take
positive steps to make sure the dogs you create will never land in a
shelter or in rescue. Do what you can to make sure your dogs don't
end up dead before their time.
Remain
available to serve as a resource, advise and support for typical
problems encountered in raising, training and caring for your dogs.
Never
place a pup without a written contract. Make sure the contract is
clear to both of you. Make sure the contract is fair to both of you.
Think about it from both sides - the seller and the buyer, and always
keep in mind the best interests of the dogs.
The Seven
Stages of Breeding
According to
Mary Roslin Williams, an English breeder of Labrador Retrievers and a
noted authority on breeding, a successful breeder goes through seven
stages of learning.
First the
Beginner, doing everything wrong, thinking wrong, buying wrong,
feeding wrong.
Second the
Learner who now realizes that he has started badly and while keeping
his initial mistake(s), has now learned better and is doing his best
to set out on the right path.
Third, the
Novice who has now righted himself and has bought a decent bitch, has
bred his first litter or two, is starting to win and is beginning to
be known and recognized by other breeders and exhibitors.
Fourth is the
Everlasting Novice, probably the happiest category of them all. They
are always such nice people, with an equally charming dog, well liked
by all. They have no ambition, no opportunity to keep more than the
odd dog or two, practically never breed a litter and if they do, use
the nearest, handiest dog. They are known by everybody and never get
anywhere, being perfectly happy to dabble along just as a pleasant
and interesting hobby.
Next we come to
the Fifth stage, the Middle-range breeder, by far the largest section
of all. This is the average breeder who is definitely "one of
us". Recognized as reliable, breeding decent litters, raising
puppies properly, with a good eye for a dog and the facilities
necessary for good hygiene and care. They go to most of the shows in
their area, have a kennel prefix and have a chance at winning or
placing at most shows. They are the backbone of any breed and are
indispensable because they supply the majority of the average puppies
for sale, serve their own area with a decent stud- dog and form the
mass of ringsiders. They are in the various breed clubs and support
all the activities, trying their very best to be an asset and a
credit to their breed.
Sixth, leading
on from them is the Good Breeder, rather a rare category because they
have realized something the average breeder does not and that is that
there is a definite thing called a "Good Dog" and that the
decent dog is not quite good enough. Once the middle-range breeder
realizes this, he graduates into a better standard of dog and will
never again be satisfied with a very slightly mediocre though typical
and pleasing dog. He has decided the middle ranges are not for him
and has generally raised his ideals.
The good
breeder is always ready to learn, and has taken the trouble to,
learn, and has taken the trouble to find out most of the more
advanced points such as what constitutes a good shoulder or hock and
whatever virtues may be found. He has some very nice stock and has
learned to use it to the best advantage. The good breeder is trying
to improve all the time and will sell a decent dog that the middle-
ranger would have kept. The good breeder realizing that either he has
a better one or that the good one is not quite good enough. He
supplies the middle-rangers with better stock when they themselves
wish to raise their standards. The good breeder, in general, has been
in their breed for about ten years or more and is generally
recognized as such, even by the top breeders.
Lastly we come
to the Seventh and last category, the Top Breeder. This is a
difficult category to define, although we all know them. There are
never too many of them at one time, and they seemingly go on forever,
always able to produce a good one, always having a decent one coming
on, always with quality finished stuff. Having failings rather than
faults. Usually they have been at the top for many years and have
established a strain of their own, readily recognizable as being of a
distinct and individual type. Very few breeders join their ranks.
