The Working Rottweiler - From Legend to Present

Aika von der Mandelburg - 1996 Fall Korung

This week we feature Aika von der Mandelburg, bred by Manfred Brunnenmuller. This female was the ADRK Klubsiegerin in 1996 and 1997, and also was a two time participant in the ADRK Meisterschaft. Her titles included multiple SchH 3, AD, BH, and she also held her lifetime Korung.

Performance:

Part A - Search for the helper was thorough, and after a tense moment of her circling judge Willie Hedtke, she found the helper in the hot blind. After an initial bump to the helper, she settled into a nice bark before taking a dirty bite just as the handler arrived. The dog then self outted and resumed barking until the handler called her to the heel position. Call out of the blind was okay but with some slight control issues when setting up for the escape bite. The escape bite itself was fast and excellent in targeting and fullness. Out was a bit slow, followed by an very nice guard with good barking. On the re-attack, the grip was full and calm throughout until the out command. The out was again slow, but this time I believe that this could have been because the helper did not square the dog into position as he stopped which can oftentimes cause a dog to feel that the fight is not yet over. After the eventual out, the guard was close with good barking until another cheap re-bite, again just as the handler was arriving.

Part B – Speed on the courage test was very good, followed by a full grip even though the catch was not smooth. Out was clean and the guard was excellent, followed by another full grip on the re-attack which she maintains until the helper stops. Out is again clean and the guard is with good barking, followed by her signature re-bite just as the helper arrives.

Judges for this event are Helmut Frieburg and Willie Hedtke. Helper on the front half is Frank Hedtke.

Side note: Aika is clearly a complete rottweiler, achieving great accomplishments in both the work and show venues. Although her secondary obedience during this phase could certainly use some polishing, it is clear that she has excellent drive for the work while maintaining a clear head. I apologize that the audio portion of this presentation did not match with the video portion, which is something that cannot be helped with some of these older videos. I say this so that the viewer can keep in mind while watching this video that although it may have appeared at times that the dog was slow to respond to commands, this was not necessarily the case.

Max vom Turnleberg - 2004 DM

This week's featured dog is Max vom Turnleberg. Max was a four time participant in the ADRK DM, with his best result being fourth place in 2005 with an excellent score of 289 points. I'm not sure how many times he competed at the VPG/IPO 3 level, but in championship trials alone he competed eight different times. What really sets Max apart from other famous working dogs is the amount of dogs that he produced that reached even higher titles than he himself achieved. Max sired three sons that won the ADRK Meisterschaft Championship trial. He also sired another son that twice won the IFR World Meisterschaft, and another son that was a three time winner of the Holland Meisterschaft. Max was owned/trained/handled by Martin Jonietz, and bred by ADRK working judge Thomas Weber.

Performance:

Part A - Search for the helper was very fast, but the dog skipped two of the six blinds. Hold and bark at the blind was flawless, with intense and convincing barking and a position that was both close to the helper and completely clean. Attentiveness to the helper is excellent, and it is clear that the dog is operating with a clear head with real fight in mind. Escape bite, the dog is fast to the arm and he takes a full grip. The out is clean, with a tight guard on the helper that includes an excellent bark. On the re-attack, the dog takes a full grip, targeted a bit down towards the hand which seemed to me to be related to the presentation. After a clean out, the dog again demonstrates another excellent barking guard with great position. Before the Re-attack, the dog is forging but then goes fast and hard to the arm with a full grip. Out is clean and fast, and guard is again excellent. It should be noted that dogs with this level of drive are very difficult to keep from forging in the heeling portion of the protection phase, due to the highly driven mindset to fight.

Part B – Speed on the courage test was excellent, followed by a full grip on the arm. Out is clean and fast. Grip on re-attack is shallow, and maintained without mouthing throughout the drive. And consistent with the rest of the protection performance, the final out and guard is convincing and flawless.

Side note: I have had two sons of Max in my kennel, and both exhibited the same level of drive that he is well known to pass on to his progeny. Big credit to Martin Jonietz, for the terrific job of training and handling Max to such an impressive working career. Also credit goes to breeder Thomas Weber, for producing yet another great working rottweiler.

Judges for this event were Walter Schier, Martin Hillgemann, and Richard Berning. As always, we would love to hear from owners, breeders, judges, and helpers that were affiliated with the dog in this video.