history

It all started way back with Ben who was Ians first "big Black dog'".
Our first real rottweiler was purchased primarily as a pet from Peter and Rhonda Foster "Retohr Rottweilers" from Ebenezer NSW which is very near to where we now live. He was to become Multi Best In Show and Specialty Best In Show, Canine Good Citizen, PAL Superdog rep, Australian Champion Retohr Daring Magma or "Bear" as he was affectionatly named by Ian on Christmas day 1984. His sire was Australian Champion Rotvel Yves and his dam was Retohr Brave Kia. Both Bismark and Kia were very successful show dogs and their delightful and accurate temperaments were the key to our purchase of this puppy. With our very limited knowledge of Rottweilers (I was very successfully showing horses at the time) we raised and trained Bear to 8 months of age with no intentions of showing him. He was to be Ian's and my "Child" as at this time we were still living with our respective parents homes separately as we were just boyfriend and girlfriend in those days!

Our introduction to exhibiting dogs was by way of an invitation by Bears breeder to attend a Rottweiler Club NSW Ribbon Parade/Picnic day which we attended.
Bear won best male in parade from the puppy class and hence we were hooked on winning. So a simple picnic day completely changed our weekend love of waterskiing to dog shows. Bear never looked back from that first day and throughout his next 13 years was to entrench us in Rottweilerdom FOREVER.
He was titled Australian Champion at just 11 months of age having won Best Of Breeds and a multitude of Class In Groups and In Show awards at nearly every show we entered him in. His average challenge points in these early days were 17 points each. Once he got to the Junior Dog class he just won and won. His first Best In Group (Non-Sporting in those days) was at the tender age of 14 months. He won Best Of Breed and a class in show at Canberra Royal Show that year as well. I showed horses and Ian showed dogs. Bear then moved to the Intermediate class which is where his consistency as a Best In Group winner was evident. His achieved his first Best In Show All Breeds at Orange Kennel Club Show on 7/4/1988 and followed this huge win with another Best In Show the very next day at the same venue. For the next 3 shows he went Best In Show. He then went Best In Specialty Show for the first time (having previously won several RUBISS) at the Northern Districts Rottweiler Club Specialty show. Bear (and Ian) then became involved in training for Agility with Mr Hank Plancke a noted obedience and agility enthusiast. They trained vigourously and were rewarded with a place on the Pal Superdog Agilty Team doing exhibitions with a toy poodle running under the jumps whilst Bear jumped over them. He never competed in Agility trials as the constant pounding on the shoulders of a rottweiler jumping requires the dog to be kept very lean and agile. Bear had such an important show career still booming we didn’t want to sacrifice his soundness by retaining the weight so we just did the superdogs and continued to show him. He was very good at obedience too but every trial he entered in he failed a different exercise just to spite Ian!!! He passed the now defunct RNSWCC Canine Good Citizen course with flying colors. His temperament was exemplary and he was of true character with the most amazing drives and kindness. He was a remarkable ambassador for the breed and was a worthy representative and PR dog for many, many dog related public relations excercises. He was also a part of an obedience demonstration team.
As a sire he produced many progeny to outside bitches and produced many titled offspring that could win in any field the owners set them for. His progeny amassed BIS BISS CD CDX UD ET V CGC AD Ch nad many other titles. His 2nd & 3rd generation progeny and many more generations on continue to produce these titles and more.

He was not really presented with many bitches of really good quality to be bred to but those that he did go to certainly produced 100% sound temperament and type. He competed in the show ring very successfully right up until he was 9 years of age when he retired on another RUBISS. He enjoyed success at the very top at a time when rottweilers were booming in Australia and most of his challenges in the late 1980's were all 25 points with the entries of Rottweilers at an all time high. It was not unusual to have 70+ rotties entered at an all breeds show!!
Our motto for Bear was " A good dog wins a lot. A great dog does consistently well under many different judges. Bear amassed an amazing 4000+ challenge points which would make him by todays standards a Grand Champion 4 times over!!!
He left us with an indelible impression and big shoes to fill for future dogs to reside at Nowstarin.