Rottweilers originated from Germany; it is a very distinct dog breed popular for their protective nature. They are a balanced dog with a steady and sure movement. Rottweilers are working dogs that need to be kept busy; otherwise, they might get upset.
It is a calm dog with confidence and courage but is aggressive toward strangers. They are social dogs and easily become friends with the people they see often. This character makes it a good guard dog. It is difficult for untrained people to distinguish the purebred Rottweiler from the mixed breed.
But with this article, you will be able to distinguish purebred Rottweiler using methods given below:
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Steps to ensure the pure breed Rottweiler
- Look at the dog’s general appearance. He must be medium-large sized with a stocky body. It is a powerful breed.
- See their medium length head that should be quite broad between the ears. The ears are medium-sized and usually fold down in a triangular shape.
- Check for the powerful neck to be well-muscled and moderately log.
Below are given the breed characteristics that will help you distinguish the pure bred rottweiler from mixed breeds:-
Assessing their personality and physical traits
Focus on the general appearance of this Rottweiler dog. It is medium large sized powerful breed. This breed though not looks so large but it is gifted with a lot of strength and agility.
Focus on its confirmation
- Rottweiler is provided with an overall stocky body, with a long back, wide chest, and thick legs. Males in the Rottweiler breed are 24 to 27 inches and females are 22 to 25 inches at their withers. They typically range from 2 to 2.5 feet in height at shoulders.
- They are muscular, powerful dog with shape evoking agility and strength. Females in this breed are more feminine look but are not weak at all.
- This breed has heavy and large paws with high knuckles. Their legs are typically straight and not bowed outwards. These dogs stand in the way that their shoulders are even or a bit higher than the hindquarters.
- These dogs have a thick neck whose diameter is almost similar to their heads. The tails in this breed are usually docked, but it is not the peculiar character of Rottweiler. Pure bred Rottweiler can also have longs tail.
Head
Rottweilers have a wrinkled face and a boxy head. This breed’s ears used to fold down with a triangular share, and they never stand upright.
Jaw strength
- This is an important character helpful in distinguishing the pure-bred Rottweiler.
- They are credited with the second strongest bite pressure next to a pit bull.
- You can easily notice the robust and heavy jaws and wider head to accommodate that heavy messator muscle to gain such strength.
- They never have underbites.
Deviations among pure Rottweilers
- All Rottweilers are not the same. Some may be stockier, leaner, longer, or taller, or different from other pure-bred Rottweilers.
- Rottweilers with a heavy weight look more like barrel shape. It doesn’t mean that this is not a pure breed. Smaller variations are possible, especially that are environmental in nature, within the same pure breed Rottweiler.
Personality traits
- They are protector and guardian type dogs that were initially bred as working dogs. They are quite dominant types of dogs and can show aggressiveness. They are active and intelligent dogs fond of playing.
- With proper training and guidance, they are gentle and loving dogs. Without training at an earlier age, they can turn into destructive Rottweiler that constantly barks and have a tendency to dig in your backyard or chew up your furniture.
Correct color Markings
Most of the Rottweilers have a black base coat with distinctive tan markings on their legs, chest, and face. The color of tan can vary from dark mahogany to a red or rusty color, but the base color will always be black, never merie or grey. The color of the paws, and inside of the legs is brown. This color is also isolated to its throat, and muzzle, and two distinct dots above those eyes.
Variations in the marking
- There may be a difference between the shape and size of the marking in between Rottweiler’s, but the marking positions never change.
- You may see white markings in pure breed rottweilers. This is considered as fault according to the breed standards but is possible in some pure bred rottweilers.
- With growing age, the Rottweiler may develop white areas as well. This is not faulted, but actually the effect of aging.
Rare coloration
- Some rottweilers may born with pure white, albino, all red, or with a bluish color. These colors are considered as breed fault according to the breed characters. These are rarely seen in pure breed Rottweiler.
- Albino rottweilers are pure white in color with pink skin. Rest, they follow all other breed characteristics. Similarly, all red Rottweiler follow all other breed characteristics except they are browning red in color.
Registration
- A pure breed rottweiler has a valid registration paper issued by a trustworthy and standard breed registry. Some reputable clubs are American kennel club, Canadian Kennel Club, British Kennel club, German kennel club, etc.
- German Kennel club is specially dedicated to this Rottweiler breed. Papers issued from these clubs will ensure the authenticity of your breed.
Mixed Breed recognition
- Just with a stocky body and Rottweiler color, a dog cannot be confirmed as pure-bred Rottweiler. Many breeds like American Mastiff, Bullmastiff, English Mastiff, or pit bull also looks much similar to rottweilers. The offspring from these breeds can be confused with rottweiler’s pups.
- A pure breed rottweiler will have both a stocky body and all characteristics similar to breed characters. A mixed-breed will have either the Rottweiler color or the confirmation, but rarely the both.
- A mixed-breed often has a longer hair coat than the pure breed rottweilers. The pure rottweiler is acknowledged for its bite strength. Its cross with pitbull will be smaller and will have a side, bulldog-like stance.
- Curly hair rottweiler is always a mixed breed, not a pure breed. Test from DNA kit is the final method to confirm the pure bred rottweiler.