The Working Rottweiler - From Legend to Present

Zico vom Schwaiger Wappen - 2006 Spring Korung

This is Zico vom Schwaiger Wappen, who was a German & VDH Champion and multiple times V1 rated. He was also eight times VPG 3 and IPO 3, with multiple V scores in tracking and protection. And of course, as this video portrays, Zico passed his Korung with flying colors in 2006.

I was blessed to own this dog, and competed with him one time before he left us way too early after just turning six years old. I also owned his father, Eddy vom Hammerbachtal, whom I competed with very successfully for five years. This dog was a true and very typical son of Eddy, which was obvious to anyone who knew both Zico and his father.

Performance:

Part A - Search for the helper was thorough, and became progressively faster as the search went on. Hold and bark at the blind was very intense and convincing, and also clean and consistent. Attentiveness to the helper is excellent, even when being called back into the heel position. Escape bite, the dog is fast to the arm, and maintains a full and calm grip. The out is clean, with a tight guard on the helper that includes more convincing barking. On the re-attack, the dog takes a full, well targeted grip and maintains the same full grip throughout the stick hits. Again, the out is clean, and the guard is powerful, with the dog positioning himself very close to the helper. Some slight bumping and a brief re-bite take place just before the handler picks up the dog. On the back transport, the dog really sticks the full grip which is obvious by the sound of the impact with the helper. He again remains full and calm throughout the fight, followed by another clean out and an excellent guard.

Part B – Speed on the courage test was excellent, with the dog really sticking the grip along with a safe catch from the helper. Grip is full and remains calm until the helper stops, and then slides down the arm towards the hand as out command is given. Another clean out is accompanied by more strong guarding/barking, and then the re-attack bite is strong, full, and calm. Out is perfect, and the guard is again close and really convincing.

Big compliments to my long time friend and breeder of Zico, Claudia Meixner. Claudia has done an amazing job of continuing her father's legacy of breeding complete dogs that not only can win the major shows, but also continue to prove themselves at the Korungs and on the schutzhund field.

Judges were Jurgen Wulff and Edgar Hellmann. Front half helper was Jorge Schwabe, and the back half was done by Benjamin G***k. As always, we would love to hear from owners, breeders, judges, and helpers that were affiliated with the dog in this video.

Eddy vom Hammerbachtal - 2002 Spring Korung

This is Eddy vom Hammerbachtal, who was the ADRK Klubsieger in 2002. He was also a Landessieger (working champion), and was a USRC Universal Sieger in the states. Eddy was twice qualified to represent the USA schutzhund team at the IFR Working Championship. He was 17 times SchH 3, with his highest score being 293 points. Eddy also possessed his lifetime Korung. It was no wonder really why Eddy is considered to be one of the strongest working Klubsiegers in the history of the breed.

This dog will be both the easiest and the hardest for me to evaluate and discuss, as I was blessed to be his owner for seven years and by his side competing with him for almost five of them.

Performance:

Part A - Search for the helper was fast and thorough. Hold and bark at the blind was extremely intense and convincing, but not a clean exercise if the dog were being scored in a schutzhund trial. The dog demonstrates in this phase a real desire to engage the helper, and it is clear that the spirit is real and not just a barking exercise. Attentiveness to the helper is excellent, even when being called back into the heel position. Escape bite, the dog is fast to the arm, but his poor targeting and perhaps a less than excellent sleeve presentation gets him a grip by the elbow that could be deeper. However, the dog remains firm in the bite throughout the escape until the helper stops, at which time the dog immediately re-positions his grip to full. The out is clean, with a tight guard on the helper that includes a bark. On the re-attack, the dog takes a full, well targeted grip and maintains the same full grip throughout the stick hits. Again, the out is clean, and the guard is excellent, being very close to the helper, and barking convincing throughout in an attempt to re-engage the fight with the helper. It should be noted that the dog's attention on the helper is excellent, taking his eyes off of him for only the briefest of moments when the judge suddenly moves behind him or when the handler arrives. For me, it is very sad that this behavior is nowadays given a point reduction by many judges, when it is demonstrating the dog's real and natural ability to be both effective and wise in combat.

Part B – Speed on the courage test was excellent, with a slight slowdown just before the bite to assure a good target and a safe impact. Grip is full and remains calm until the helper stops, at which time there is an attempt to go even fuller and then a counter shake of the arm before outing. The guard is again close with intense barking, followed by another good full strike to the arm on the re-attack and a full grip maintained until the helper stops again. After the out, the dog displays the same strong guard with convincing barking and attentiveness, once again with very slight momentary attention shifts when the judge or handler moves in close proximity to the dog and helper.

Side note: I am not really speaking in detail on the obedience portions of of these protection exercises, because it is not my intention to evaluate the routines as a point performance. That said, I want to compliment my friend and owner/trainer/breeder of Eddy whose name is Walter Sontag, on his excellent control of the dog throughout the entire portion with the exception of bothering of the helper. This behavior occurred throughout much of the hold and bark exercise, and guarding phases of the performance.

Judges were Gerhard Apel and Hellmut Freiburg. Back half helper was Oliver Neubrand. As always, we would love to hear from owners, breeders, judges, and helpers that were affiliated with the dog in this video.

Valentino vom Hause Neubrand - 2005 Spring Korung

This is Valentino vom Hause Neubrand, bred by Alfons and Oliver Neubrand and owned by Petra Kiebler. Valentino was the ADRK Kombi Sieger in 2007, and also held multiple other sieger titles as well. Valentino competed in five different championship trials, with his best result taking fifth place at the 2007 ADRK DM. Besides being many times VPG and IPO 3, Valentino also earned his lifetime Korung.

I got to see Valentino's EzA korung performance in person in 2007, and was very impressed by him. I would have liked to breed to the dog, had circumstances at the time permitted. It would benefit us all if anyone with hands on knowledge of Valentino could share their experience with us here.

Performance:

Part A - Search for the helper was thorough. Hold and bark at the was blind consistent and clean. I would like to see the position of the dog in this exercise a bit closer to the helper, but the fact that he maintains some distance helps assure that the dog does not lose points for bumping the helper in a schutzhund trial. Attentiveness to the helper is excellent. Escape bite, the dog is fast to the arm, but although his initial grip could be a little fuller, he remains calm until the helper stops and then immediately goes full. The out is clean and fast, and the guard demonstrates good and consistent barking behavior. On the attack out of the back transport, the dog takes a good grip throughout the exercise. The out is clean, and the barking during the guard is consistent.

Part B – Speed on the courage test was excellent, with a slight slowdown just before the bite to assure a good target and a safe impact. Grip is full and remains calm until the helper stops, and then the out is clean and immediate. The guard is close with good barking, followed by a full grip on the re-attack which the dog maintains until the helper stops again. We cannot see the final out, due to one of the blinds screening the dog from the camera man. When this is corrected, we see the dog maintaining a very nice guard of the helper until the handler comes to perform the side transport to the judge.

Side note: Petra Kiebler should be commended on accomplishing so much with Valentino, and for doing such a great job in handling such a large and powerful dog. And of course, congratulations to Alfons and Oliver Neubrand on breeding another excellent total rottweiler.