I (Louise Russell) am a small kennel based in Victoria, Australia, and am dedicated to breeding Rottweilers who excel in type, soundness of mind and body. Primarily, I breed to further and continually improve my line, however, I do from time to time have quality puppies available for show or work. Also, some of the males I have bred are available at stud to approved bitches.

My foray into the world of Rottweilers began more by accident than design. I decided I wanted a companion dog and settled on a Rottweiler as I found them to be a very attractive animal with a temperament suited to my purpose - that is a loyal and confident companion. I began searching the newspaper (aahh!) for litters of puppies, and by good fortune, stumbled upon an advertisement from the Rottweiler Club of Victoria, which alerted me to their litter referral service. Fortunately for me, I managed to secure a bitch through their referral to reputable breeders that complied with the Club's program against hereditary disease.

I purchased a bitch, who was one of 6 females and 2 males from a litter bred by Chris and Heidi Highgate, also of Victoria. It turned out to be their one and only litter. Heidi had finally, after 10 years, become pregnant, and their interest in dog showing and breeding subsequently took a back seat. This bitch, Ch. Fussehund Kora [A] C.D. (Guinness) also transpired to be the only one from the litter to be shown and bred on with, although once again, that was by chance. I commenced training her at the Rottweiler Club Obedience Venue, and received a number of comments on her conformation quality. It was suggested several times that I show her. Eventually, when she was a year or so old, I finally entered a couple of shows, and from there, as any showbie knows, it was all history!!!

Guinness gave a good account of herself in the show ring, winning her class mostly as a youngster, and then quite a number of large challenges. She didn't win too many 'age in group' awards - I guess the fact that it took me about 6 months to realise that when you won your class you were meant to stay for the 'Specials' had something to do with that! I was the quintessential novice, and really didn't have the help or advice available from the breeder that many do.

Nevertheless, in some ways this was a better grounding. The only way I could learn was by listening to many other points of view, watching, reading and digesting information from a vast array of sources, and then discarding what didn't seem to ring true, or be of importance. Over the first couple of years, as my interest deepened, I spent a lot of time reading,. There were many hours whiled away in the Victorian Canine Association Library, leafing through old gazettes, studying photos of long since dead dogs and mentally assimilating a picture of them in the pedigrees of dogs currently in the show ring. Of course, it doesn't beat live observation, but it was the best substitute available. In the early years, I could rattle off pedigrees of dogs belonging to people I didn't even know - for some it was a little eerie. These days, I'm not so quick, but nevertheless, I find a great deal of comfort in the lines that we have bred in Australia. There is much depth in what we have here and many known quantities. This is very useful from a breeding point of view. It is my belief that every mating has it's potential risks. There is no line that is free of some 'skeleton in the closet' so to speak. It might be a greater tendency for hip dysplasia, eye conditions, mouth problems, temperament imperfections, or O.C.D. Knowing what you are dealing with provides a far greater chance of minimising risk factors. Further, these days, almost without exception, our visiting specialist judges are quite overwhelmed with the depth and quality of dogs we have in Australia. Frequently we are told that the best we have here rivals the best there is anywhere.

Of course, ultimately, we have to thank all imports for their contribution to this - after all, everything we have in Australia has come from elsewhere. Many of the imports to Australia have been remarkably influential and have given us what we have today. Continued selective use of new bloodlines, combined with those that we know, will maintain the depth and quality of our gene pool.

At the start of the Ubersein breeding program, I had a vision in mind of what I wished to achieve - the perfect Rottweiler in every sense. A noble aspiration and one (as any breeder will know) that is oh so difficult to achieve!!!!! Of course, that Rottweiler will match the standard to which we breed, but even that in itself has scope for preference. My preference in a Rottweiler can best be described as 'medium'. Medium sized, medium boning, medium substance. A compact, athletic, working dog that excels in structure and soundness. Dark pigmentation and strong (but not overdone) head type certainly yes, but never at the expense of structure.

To date, my idea of perfection has not been achieved. Perhaps it never will, but we are getting closer!!! And along the way we have bred some very successful and admired dogs from a very limited number of matings. Read on and visit the dogs of Ubersein: