Rottweiler - Eye Color & Shape

The color of the eyes should always be as dark as possible, with 1A the best. It is not so much a functionality reason, since the eyes can work either light or dark, but an all important type trait. As the eye color gets lighter it softens the appearance of the gaze, diminishing the fearlessness of Rottweiler expression.

(Shapes and Placement of Eyes - Read this for the colors )

Another factor in striving to keep the eye color dark is it's difficulty maintaining it once light eyes are introduced into the blood line. Interestingly, the German eye chart allows a range of 1A-5B, however, to be more precise one can often observe shades of eye color in 
between these numbers. Therefore half shades are also possible. Example 1 A 1/2, 2 B 1/2, etc.


Thee shape of the eye should always be almond with tight fitting lids. Round eyes are a fault. Hairless lids are a fault and an indication of a problem. The distance of the eyes from each other and their location on the head is also of importance. The eyes should lie at a 10-15 degree angle above the bridge of the nose (see fig ). Best set wide apart. /wcrotts.com/



Classifying the Rottweiler

One of the most interesting things about trying to classify different dogs in terms of their ancestry and relationship to other extant breeds is how much cultural prejudices come into play.

Rottweiler is one of the best examples...


In North America, Rottweilers are “tough guy dogs.” In the 1990′s, they were the second most popular breed in terms of AKC registrations.  And there were plenty of nasty Rottweilers running about attacking people– even though uncontrollable aggression is actually a major fault in this breed.

If you were to ask they average North American what the Rottweiler’s closest relatives are, I’m sure you’d get someone saying that they are definitely related to “pit bulls.”   Others might say boxers.

Still others– who are bit more informed– would say Dobermanns. Of course, this is kind of right. Dobermanns are thought to have a tiny bit of Rottweiler ancestry.

So Let’s leave the Dobermann out of our analysis, and look at what the genetic literature says about the ancestry of Rottweilers.

According to some studies, the closest relative of the Rottweiler is the Great Dane.

It is also closely related to two Swiss “mountain dogs”:  the Bernese mountain dog and the St. Bernard. / more at retrieverman.net /

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