So you are thinking about breeding? It is not difficult to become a "breeder" - there are no tests to pass, qualifications to earn or licenses required. All you need is a bitch and a dog to put her to. But let's say you want to be a good breeder - maybe even a great breeder. What does it take? Well, alot more than a bitch and a dog.
Anyone who is enthusiastic about the Rottweiler is so because of the unique and captivating qualities of this breed. Their appearance, multi-functionality and especially their temperament are what draws us to the breed. A good breeder therefore seeks to closely emulate what is the ideal Rottweiler. Our breed standard gives us a great deal of guidance as to what is ideal, however, it doesn't tell us all we need to know. Ultimately a breed standard is just a collection of words - a good breeder must have the mental pictures to go with the words. These unfortunately don't come pre-packaged. Observation over some time is needed to really know what is ideal.
So to begin with, you have to spend some time with the breed. A good way to begin the learning process is to attend several Specialty Rottweiler shows. Mostly the dogs will be critiqued, sometimes even over a microphone. Get yourself a ringside seat and a show catalogue and listen to all that is being said. Don't just attend one show, go to several. Remember, all judges are human with their own set of ideas and opinions. Some have very strong ideas about characteristics they will not tolerate in the breed or features they are particularly looking for. Just because one judge, albeit a Specialist, might be "hot" for something, it doesn't necessarily mean that this is gospel and must be set in stone. Specialist judges are Rottweiler breeders themselves. Some of their "fetishes" stem from their own experience as a breeder. Often weaknesses they have had in their own breeding lines are things that they will be lenient with, or indeed, sometimes the exact opposite.
If you have a bitch, enter her in these shows and pay attention to her critique. Ask questions of other breeders where you aren't sure about certain comments. Gather a few of these critiques, study the standard, study the critiques of other dogs and you should be getting a picture of the strengths and weaknesses of your bitch.
Now you need to seriously evaluate if she is breedworthy. Is she a better than average specimen. Does she have a good (correct) temperament? Are her hips, elbows and eyes compliant with relevant breed club requirements? If the answer to anyone of these questions is no, then it is almost certainly better not to breed from this bitch. Instead perhaps consider purchasing another puppy who may be a better prospect. If you proceed and start your kennel by breeding a bitch of poorer quality, it is likely that most of your endeavours will disappoint. Not to mention if there are temperment and soundness issues, the resultant puppies will become a problem for somebody else and may even bring the breed name into disrepute.
Whatever your decision is, the next stage is to have a good look around at other breeder's animals. You would need to do this if you are deciding to buy another puppy or if you are breeding your bitch. Lets presume you are breeding your bitch:
You have a clear idea now what her strengths and weaknesses are. Before you start looking at potential mates, try to revisit her own ancestory. Can you, with your new-found knowledge, have another look at her parents, siblings and any other direct relatives? Are her faults and virtues representative of her ancestory? This information is helpful in choosing a dog. As a simple example, say your bitch has a strong head. You might be thinking that you don't need to look for head strength in a male. However, if your bitch was the only puppy in her litter to have such head strength, and comes from weaker headed parents, then there is a good chance she will not reproduce her head strength uniformly. This is just one example of the many qualities you need to evaluate in a "big-picture" way.
Now it is time to have a look for potential mates. You should be armed with your list (albeit a mental list) of the attributes you are seeking to improve in your bitch. Firstly, make a short list of dogs that have the qualities you are looking for. Then check that they are representative of their ancestory - so that you can reasonably expect them to throw what you are looking for. Even better if some of the dogs on your list are proven sires - look at their progeny, and the bitches that the progeny come from, and see if the stud dog is producing the qualities you are seeking.
Now your list can be refined - along the way, discard the dogs that you cannot verify soundness and temperaments.
By now, your list will probably be a very small one - or it should be! Finding the suitable mate for your bitch is a difficult task. There are many good dogs around, but few who will truly suit your bitch. If you have gone through this process, you will find that quite probably, the dogs left on your list may not be the latest imports (more difficult to verify traits of their lineage, particularly if you are a novice), and may also not be the top winning show dog - Many great stud dogs are not great show dogs and many great show dogs are not great stud dogs. In fact, there are very few that meet both criteria perfectly. The key is in finding consistent high quality, and not a dog that is a show stopper, but a one-off. These dogs seldom breed on well.
Once you have decided on the male, you will need to approach the stud dog owner and see if they are willing to allow a mating to your bitch. It is at this point, once you are quite serious about the choice that you have made, that you can and should ask the stud-dog owner, and/or breeder, what problems might potentially surface in the puppies. If you are told there will be none, and the line has never produced problems, then be very wary. Either these people are ignorant, or they are not telling you something. There is no dog on this earth than can rock solid be expected never to potentially produce some kind of flaw. All lines have some propensity for imperfection, be it hips, elbows, eyes, mouths, white, monorchids, faulty temperaments etc etc. This information is important in cementing the choice. You need to ensure that you are not condensing risk factors - i.e. if your bitch does not have a low hip score and the sire has produced some puppies with poor hip conformation from bitches with good hip backgrounds, then he may not after all be the best choice for your bitch.
Anyway, if you have got this far and have done the mating, you will be waiting on the puppies. In fact, the whole business is a bit of a waiting game - waiting for the bitch to come into season, waiting to do the mating, waiting for the puppies to be born, waiting for them to open their eyes, get up and start running, make your choice of the better puppies, waiting for them to mature, be hip scored etc and then a couple of years later the whole process again! Try to stop and smell the daisies! Enjoy the process and the puppies as puppies, not just as "prospects". These dogs are the most wonderful companions and that should always be foremost.
But, there are stages and an important one for the breeder is making the right selection of show potential puppies. This is probably the hardest part! Hopefully, what you are looking at between 7-8 weeks is a miniature version of what the finished product will be. Try to look for the pup that has the combination of virtues that you have done the mating for, i.e. the strengths from each parent, with as few of the weaknesses as possible. There is likely to be a bit of "tossing up" to be done - do I keep the pup with the darker eye or the one with the better forequarters etc. These decisions can be difficult, depending on what the distribution is amongst the pups. However, for my eye, always the conformation (structural) qualities feature more highly than the cosmetic ones. After all, this is a working breed and Rottweilers do not run on their head, eye or mouth colour!
If you have followed this process, you should have some chance of success! But, there are no guarantees. All you can do is seek to improve the odds by knowledge and research. Still there is always a luck factor! Hopefully, a little good luck comes your way!
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