None of us are immune to the ravages of time, and the time we spend with our four legged friends, though short, deserves to be recorded as too soon it is over and should not be held with any regret.   I have been fortunate to have known and been involved with some very special Rottweilers, all of whom have left memories which are hard to beat and which will remain with me for the rest of my life.

You can buy another dog, you can raise him the same way, feed the same food, train and socialise him exactly the same, but he cannot replace that old dog in your heart nor can he take away the memories and experiences you shared.  He creates his own, just as the old dog did.

Dulc came to me when she needed to be rehomed. At the time I was not showing a Rott, only goldens and had been around the Rott scene for quite some time. My goldens were the only ones who did not have beautiful flowing tails, they were constantly being stripped by Rott pups and mates who came to visit.

Dulc was shown and had some minor wins and gained most of her Championship points. She later went to live with my Aunt and I had regular contact and access visits right up until she died at age 13. She lived a life of luxury and was dearly loved. She did nothing wrong in her life, was a constant source of pleasure to her owners and will be remembered for her most endearing qualities.

Astro came to me as a gift from my sister, a dog for me to show and train and as a legacy from Kain (Ch Retohr Regnans) and Hope (Ch Rotvel Uberbeiten) both of whom I admired and enjoyed spending time with, at shows and in the home.

Kain was Cheryl's first Rott and was a mate of my Golden Rocky. He was always welcome in my home and at times in the early days I am sure he had a complex about the fact that he did not have a long flowing tail like all the other dogs he associated with at shows. Needless to say the Goldens shuddered whenever he came near, for their tails were a constant source of amusement for Kain. Astro was from the first litter and just sort of grew on me. He caused havoc in the household, the cat had lead a relatively sheltered and gentile existence. After Astro arrived his life was not the same. They did eventually make friends and both slept in my room until cat made his way to moggy heaven at age 11 years. Rocky just raised his eyebrows in the Golden way and continued on his way. Only this time the Black and Tan did not go home of an evening, he stayed.

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We did all the show things, we stood for hours at a time and waited for some judge to come to the same conclusion as us, that my dog looked like a Rott and deserved some sort of prize for this. We travelled all over Australia and made a lot of friends along the way. We tried to convince the rest of Australia that this breed was special and needed to be treated as such. We joined the Rott Clubs and looked after the welfare of the breed(or so we thought) we went to Puppy Picnics, Ribbon Parades and Champ Shows etc.

We swam in the beaches and rivers of an afternoon, we met and trained with Nina and Barb and became two of the founding members of WROCA. We travelled to a park in Glebe and sometimes met the others over by the lake at Kanahooka. We learnt what not to do and did some things that in hindsight were not so wise. We learnt to use the agility equipment and participated in a few events. The whole time Astro revelling in the fact that we were doing something together and him showing his glee by rewarding me with his whole rear end wagging. He never could resist leaving his mark on the last weaving pole in a row. A constant source of embarrassment to me.

We started training for his BH when Astro was 8 ½ years of age and had a lot of fun along the way. He learnt what life is all about for a Schutzhund breed of dog and revelled in his new role. We gained his BH in July 1992, the whole obedience routine being performed with the obligatory waggle of the rear end. After this we attended workshops, match days and he participated to his level of training and enjoyed every moment of it. We also came to the conclusion that we had left his run too late. He retired when he was just over ten years of age and we started to train with "he who will not be ignored".

It was nice to see this by now elderly Rott take the new pup into the clan. They used to lie on the same bed and shared a run. I never saw anything other than acceptance on Astro's part. We noticed that Astro was having difficulty getting up and was favoring one leg. A trip to the vet confirmed that there was a tumour pressing on the nerves on that side of his spine. We used medication for a while and watched as Astro adjusted to the loss of that leg. He did this without complaint as Rotts are want to do and went about life as normal. After a while it became apparent that the medication was not having any affect and I withdrew it. He remained in robust health apart from the unusable leg. His toll of memories had almost built to its highest, but one more remained - painful as it may be, which will remain with me forever. He died in my arms, looking into my eyes and passed into the precious memory which remains today. I am forever grateful to Astro and what he let me learn about life in general and tenacity in the face of adversity. I learnt to smile with him.

Ch Androssen Cressida

Cressy or munchkin to our family was picked for me by Nina and Barb as a show prospect and that she turned out to be. She was a cocky little bitch and had a glint in her eye which she never lost. She almost looked like she was grinning her whole life. She had a lot of success in the show ring and had a natural stance which she refused to give up. Even from four months of age you could set her up and get her perfect in your eyes, she would look at you and then place her legs as

 she saw fit. I did not do a lot of training with her for this. She did it all herself.

She was a pleasure to have around and an absolute pleasure to show and train. As with Astro we travelled a lot and did a lot of PR type things in the breed. She had a way of looking at people and they either loved her straight away or were intimidated by her. I am sure she did this almost with a chuckle under her breath. When my marriage broke up she went to live with John and Chris Barnes for a while, and stayed there. We shared our time with her and also the pleasure of showing her. I took a pup from her first litter, but kept her close to me at all times. She was multi in group and show, with wins too numerous to count….. under both Australian and International judges.

Cressy had an indominatable character and showed this in her training. Perhaps not perfect for a Rott but something I admired in her. She showed this in her general attitude to life and was extremely inventive in her methods of attaining both attention and what she fathomed to be the sustenance she required. She was a food thief and would go to extreme measures to gain this. She would break into a cupboard and eat until she could not eat any more. She opened doors, fridges and even went to the extent of breaking out and stealing the bread from the front of the corner shop in the early mornings and would bring home her loot. I was always finding strange dog and cat bowls in my backyard when I got home from work. Munchkin was always there, laying on her bed where I left her, but these bowls just kept appearing. Astro shared her loot and as far as I know was never part of the looting expeditions, but who knows......

John and Chris have all the same tales about her and they never ceased. She died at age 8 years from a tumour which had worried her for a while. But her tenacity was extreme and probably one of the Rott characteristics which I admire the most.

Cressy came from Barbs C Litter. She was from Androssen Anka and Ch Rotvel Alpine Atom and this whole litter showed these same qualities. Barb had Chessy, my sister Cheryl owned Chirron there was Cheney who was owned by Nina's brother-in-law who was in a wheelchair and whom Cheney absolutely adored and there was Wolfy who owned an antique shop in Sydney. All these dogs had a special quality which was hard to pinpoint. I guess it must have been their tenacity and inventiveness, along with the sheer joy they showed in everything they did.

I am grateful to have been able to spend my time with these dogs. They lived in my home, shared my life, gave me a lot of pleasure and joy and were a comfort to me when life got tough. I dont think I could imagine a time when i will not have a black and tan in my life and know it would be a sorry time if this should happen.