National Specialty Show June 22, 2013
By Steve Wolfson
On June 20, 2013, I traveled to Norway to conduct my seminar on the Rottweiler and judge for the Norsk RottweilerKlubb. Dirk Vandercasteele of Belgium was also invited to judge; he adjudicated bitches and I dogs. It was a small show of 55 entries, yet big on enthusiasm and energy. This assignment would be my first time in Norway and meet Dirk Vandercasteele who was accompanied by his wife Kathleen Vos. The date of the show was special since it was the summer solstice. At that time in Norway, the sun sets at 11PM and rises at 3:45AM!
I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to Rita Rosberg – the driving force of the show – and her husband Thomas for their hospitality and efforts concerning my seminar and arrangements while in Norway. My appreciation and thanks is also extended to Espen Pedersen and Lisa Iversen for their hospitality and time shuttling me to and from the airport. And a “thank you” to all exhibitors and show secretaries – the unsung heroes of all shows – for supporting and working the event. The Norsk Rottweilerklubb hosts a well-organized and efficiently managed specialty.
I conducted my seminar – “The Rottweiler In Type: Discussions on Breed Type, Structure and their Correlation to Locomotion”, the day prior to the show. It was attended by 15 enthusiasts. The seminar is a Power Point presentation that attempts to simplify the parts of the standard facilitating a more thorough understanding. It is a valuable teaching tool. When the seminar concluded, we progressed to a “hands on” application of what was discussed via several demonstration dogs. I had a few brave volunteers critique the demo dogs. The “hands on” segment is an essential way to learn the standard by applying its information through the “critique”. For a brief time, the volunteers shared a judge’s perspective.
Since I judged only dogs, my comments are limited to the males. The ring size for the show was good and large enough to adequately assess movement – one cannot completely evaluate canine gait in a small ring. Most dog exhibits were excellent in type, construction and movement. Head type was generally strong with good skull to muzzle ratios, good pronunciation of the zygomatic arch and stop and good width of the muzzle at the base. One exhibit possessed a slight dome shaped top-skull and slightly shorter than correct length of the muzzle. This trend – the dome shape top-skull accompanied by an unusually short muzzle, which we are seeing in many dogs – interestingly not in bitches – is the head of 
Boxer, not correct and very dangerous! Despite this exhibit demonstrating a slight exaggeration in the arch of the top-skull and borderline short muzzle, both traits were within the limit of acceptability.