Another story, from the time of Kaiser Wilhelm II, was about a policeman and his Rottweiler in Kiel. The pair were sent off to sort out a fight in a tavern where a large number of drunken sailors were really going to town. The policeman and his dog went in, restored peace, made several arrests and escorted the prisoners back to the jail. Apparently, when the Kaiser heard about the incident, he expressed a wish to meet the policeman and his police dog. Before the Kaiser could shake the hand of the hero, it was required that the policeman remove his helmet to signal to his Rottweiler that he was 'off duty' before anyone could touch him. The sterling qualities of this breed made it a good war dog too, especially for patrolling areas where silence was essential. Some breeds get excited, whining and barking when taken out to work; not the Rottweiler, which calmly goes ahead doing the job with the minimum of fuss and dealing with any wrongdoers in the same strong, efficient way. I once spoke to a man who was 'taken' by a Rottweiler patrol dog during the last war. The man was desperate to escape and stabbed the dog with a knife, but the dog hung on and though both were bleeding profusely, it would not let him go until the handler came and called 'Aus' (out), whereupon the dog released his grip and let the handler arrest the man. I actually saw the scars on the arm of the man telling the story; it must have been horrific to have experienced that incident, but the strangest thing of all was that sitting at my storyteller's feet was a large male Rottweiler. He bought a Rottweiler years later because he was so impressed with the dog that arrested him , which changed from a ferocious foe one minute to a calm, trained dog the next: even though the dog was badly wounded he never forgot the obey his handler instantly. Reprinted with permission from Interpet Ltd. from The Rottweiler by Joan Blackmore