rottweiler Q&A WITH KAREN BANG, DAVIANN MITCHELL, LEW OLSON, TOM WOODWARD PHA, & DIANE VOSS
Where do you live and what do you do outside of dogs? I live in Battle Ground, Washington. Outside of dogs? Hmm. I like to build things like carts, but that brings me back to the dogs. Does this count? I spend most of my free time maintaining my motor home and other vehicles and doing yard work. DIANE VOSS
I currently live in Santa Clarita, California, with my hus- band Brent Braun and my daughter Mary Ann and my Rott- weiler and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel family. Outside of our passion for dogs, I am a full time Los Ange- les County Superior Court judge and I currently preside over a felony long-cause criminal calendar. Prior to that, I was a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney assigned to the Hardcore Gang Unit and a Police Officer working patrol for the Sacramento Police Department. I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Zoology from Univer- sity of California at Berkeley and Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles. My passions include my family, my dogs, dog sports and a healthy lifestyle. LEW OLSON
My name is Diane Voss, DVM. I have bred Rottweilers for over 30 years under the registered “Ivoss Rottweilers”. I’ve been fortunate enough to breed dozens of champi- ons, multiple Best-In-Show and Top 20 dogs. I very much enjoy handling my own dogs whenever possible. I own a full-time veterinary practice and live in South Florida.
I live about 35 miles North of Houston, Texas. While dogs are my main hobby, I also enjoying traveling and exploring history in the cities I visit. That includes the United States and overseas. Gardening has been my passion all my life, with both veg- etables and flowers. I also research canine nutrition and health issues, and share my results in my writ-
1. Your opinion of the current quality of purebred dogs in general, and your breed in particular. KB: Overall I’m very pleased with the current quality of purebred dogs, especially in Rottweilers. There are a number of good, ethical breeders out there who are dedi- cated to preserving the health, structure, and tempera- ment which shows in the quality both inside and outside of the ring. DM: I feel like our purebred fancy is on the upswing. I have been working in the breed for nearly 40 years and enjoyed the early years with our breed where people would ask you “What kind of dog is that?” We survived the “baby boom” of the 90s after the movie “The Omen” and the influx of very extreme head types. I am now seeing a trend back to the “traditional Rottweiler” with balanced conformation, temperament and type. So wel- coming I say! Recently, it seems that our all-breed as well as breeder judges are getting back to basics and not awarding the biggest head or most extreme head they see at the expense of the rest of the dog. Today there seems to be more consistent recognition of balance, type and power- ful movement. Our dogs are working dogs, who must be able to endure both physically and mentally. To be able to perform physically with some of these extreme types is often difficult because they cannot breathe properly and their structure cannot be maintained with prolonged gaiting. Their bodies break down at no fault of their own as their desire overrides their physical capabilities, thus limiting their ability to perform. The Rottweiler breed is a working breed, and I am per- sonally thankful that we are moving back to proper struc- ture and type with appropriate temperaments. I believe our breed has improved over the past 10 years thanks to our breed clubs educating our judges, most often result- ing in the judge’s awarding the dog with sound structure, balance and type. Equally important, I believe our breed
ings and on line. I wrote a book on Canine Nutrition, “Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs”. I am retired and worked as an MSW mostly doing psychotherapy. I also have a PhD in Nutrition. THOM WOODWARD PHA
I started showing my Rottwei- lers in 1976 and I whelped my first litter in 1978 under the Von Sieg- erhaus name. Seventeen of those years, there was a dog or bitch sired or bred by Von Siegerhaus ranked ARC Top Ten. In 1999 I continued breeding using the Neu-Rodes prefix and since then I have bred over 80 AKC Champi-
ons. More than a dozen of my breeding have been awarded ARC Gold/Silver/Bronze producer awards and I have had two girls named ‘producer of the year’. During this time, I have continued to breed and own many nationally ranked Top Ten specials and produce many Top ranked dogs in Performance venues, my dogs excelling in carting. It is important to me that my dogs are not just pretty but also versatile, biddable, sound, and enjoy and excel at ‘working’ with their humans.
324 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , D ECEMBER 2018
Powered by FlippingBook