The history and orgin
It is believed that the Rottweiler was developed by roman giant mastiffs which accompanied the roman army through Switzerland and southern Germany. The army finally came upon Rottweil a small German town, people started to breed the mastiff with local herd dogs in Rottweil, thus for creating the base of the Rottweiler. Later in time people started to fine tune the Rottweiler into the dog we know today.
In the middle ages the Rottweiler was used for bear hunting and of course cattle/herding. Having to hunt and herd such big animals the Rottweiler needed to be strong and sturdy, like the dog most people know today.
In 1899 the International Club for Leonbergers and Rottweiler dogs was formed in Germany. And the first breed standard for the Rottweiler was created by the club in 1901.
Cattle herding was forbidden by law, because the coming of the railways in the 19th century. This left the Rottweiler without an occupation. Eventually the Rottweiler became used as a draught dog by butchers. The Rottweiler was used as the butcher's guard dog, the Rottweiler would pull around the butchers meat and goods on a cart while also protecting them, they also used the dog to protect their store/home. If you ever seen an old picture of a rottweiler and seen that he had something strapped to his neck, your probably wondering what is it used for and whats in it. Well, the object is a coin purse, the purpose of it was to keep peoples' money safe, often butchers'. If you were a thief you would have no common sense if you tried to steal someones money off a Rottweiler,I think any person with any sense of intelligence would agree.
The Rottweiler became known as the Rottweil butcher dog, later shortened to Rottweiler. After herding was banned the Rottweiler population sharply dropped in 1905. There was only one bitch( the term for a female dog) to be found in all of Rottweil. An organization was formed in Germany in 1907 determined to safeguarding the purity and well being of the breed. they did so by organizing the keeping of breeding records, to fix the standard of the breed, and to preserve it's working qualities. Planned breeding was started and efforts to improve the outer appearance was started.
The reason why Rottweilers have docked tails is because in the days that the Rotties pulled carts around for the butchers the full length tail got in the way of the cart and its moving pieces. Although the full length tale is making a come back the docked tail is what most Rottweiler owners prefer.
In the middle ages the Rottweiler was used for bear hunting and of course cattle/herding. Having to hunt and herd such big animals the Rottweiler needed to be strong and sturdy, like the dog most people know today.
In 1899 the International Club for Leonbergers and Rottweiler dogs was formed in Germany. And the first breed standard for the Rottweiler was created by the club in 1901.
Cattle herding was forbidden by law, because the coming of the railways in the 19th century. This left the Rottweiler without an occupation. Eventually the Rottweiler became used as a draught dog by butchers. The Rottweiler was used as the butcher's guard dog, the Rottweiler would pull around the butchers meat and goods on a cart while also protecting them, they also used the dog to protect their store/home. If you ever seen an old picture of a rottweiler and seen that he had something strapped to his neck, your probably wondering what is it used for and whats in it. Well, the object is a coin purse, the purpose of it was to keep peoples' money safe, often butchers'. If you were a thief you would have no common sense if you tried to steal someones money off a Rottweiler,I think any person with any sense of intelligence would agree.
The Rottweiler became known as the Rottweil butcher dog, later shortened to Rottweiler. After herding was banned the Rottweiler population sharply dropped in 1905. There was only one bitch( the term for a female dog) to be found in all of Rottweil. An organization was formed in Germany in 1907 determined to safeguarding the purity and well being of the breed. they did so by organizing the keeping of breeding records, to fix the standard of the breed, and to preserve it's working qualities. Planned breeding was started and efforts to improve the outer appearance was started.
The reason why Rottweilers have docked tails is because in the days that the Rotties pulled carts around for the butchers the full length tail got in the way of the cart and its moving pieces. Although the full length tale is making a come back the docked tail is what most Rottweiler owners prefer.