A Survey on the ROTTWEILER BREED MICHAEL & and our grandson. Both of our sons are active in the dog world.
DEBORAH CONRADT
1. What five traits do you look for, in order, when judging Rottweilers? What do you consider the ulti- mate hallmark of the breed? In order five traits Debbie looks for are breed type, proper angles, substance and balance, correct Rottweiler movement and top line and croup. Michael looks for type, proportions, none and substance, head and movement. The hallmark of the Rottweiler is correct type, proportion, power and confidence—a dog that owns the ground he walks on! 2. What shortcomings are you most willing to forgive? What faults do you find hard to overlook? Shortcomings that Debbie is most willing to forgive are height that is on short side of standard and cosmetic faults. Michael can forgive lack of marking and cosmetic faults. We cannot over look lack of type, bad top lines, lack of correct Rottweiler temperament or poor movement. 3. How has the breed changed since you became involved with it? Do you see any trends you think are moving the breed in the wrong direction? Any traits becoming exaggerated? Temperaments have mellowed, less confident. Exhibit- ing of younger dogs without giving them the chance to mature. Today’s dogs lack proportion, long backs and lack of conditioning; these are all current trends that are of concern. Today’s dogs are overall smaller than when we started. 4. How do you feel about undocked tails? We have more concerns with structural faults than whether or not the tail is docked. 5. Why do we mostly see dogs (as opposed to bitches) in the top ranked Rottweilers? Males are more impressive in the ring due to their overall size and substance than females. Remember we both have put bitches up BISS. 6. Is there anything Rottweiler handlers do you wish they would not? Handlers should not race dogs around the ring at a speed that is not correct for the breed and should use the whole
We purchased our first Rott- weiler in 1975. Even though Eli never set foot into the confir- mation ring he taught us a lot about the vet expenses that you can incur. We purchased two bitches shortly after and one of those girls became our first champion and the other one was our first CD title. We have used the Mikon Rottwei- lers as a kennel name. We have had the pleasure of owning two number one ranked dogs
and two dogs that were all breed BIS winners. Michael has handled BISS, BOS and WD at our national specialty and won four BISS and two WD at the Medallion spe- cialty. Birch Hill’s Governor won three stud dog classes at ARC three years in a row and three stud dog classes at MRC three years in a row. Governor is also an ARC Gold producer. Michael has been the president and vice president of the American Rottweiler Club and Debbie has been on the Colonial Rottweiler Club board. Michael was a registered AKC handler and finished over 100 champions in mul- tiple breeds. Currently Debbie is approved to judge three working breeds and limited junior showmanship. Michael is approved for sixteen working breeds and limited junior showmanship. The highlight of judging so far has been both of us judging the Medallion Rottweiler Specialties in 2012. Woofstock and Trenton KC shows are among other shows we have enjoyed judging at. Aside from dog shows, Debbie is a retail-selling manager and Michael is a design supervisor in the automotive body-welding field. We have been active in many sports with our two sons
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