James,
for us, there was never a chance that we'd send a puppy back unless it had real temperament issues. When Rowdy came out of the crate and onto my shoulder, I fell in love and he was going to be our dog for his entire life. Regardless of whether or not he developed into a show dog. However, to put it in context, Rowdy had dug into a fire-ant mound the week before he came to us and his body was covered with scars, his eye was almost yellow due to the stress of the bites. He was not a very pretty puppy . Some of the people who looked at him could only see the flaws. Some felt we should have gotten a better-looking puppy. But when we showed him to the handler we used here in Orlando -- one of the top Rottie handlers in the country -- he looked at him stacked, watched him move and said "he moves great which means he's structurally correct. As for the rest, let him grow up and let's see what he becomes." So, that's what we did.

At 7 months of age, Rowdy went into his first show with our friend and primary handler, Kimm McDowell. The show was in Miami and it was a Rottweiler Specialty. Rowdy won his Sweepstakes class, won his Regular Class and then went into Winners. It was his first show and he couldn't understand why he was the last dog in line so he spent the entire time in Winners trying to catch the Open Dog at the front of the line. The crowd kept cheering for him and he kept flying after that lead dog. The judge, Mr. George Heitzman, was so charmed that he awarded Rowdy Reserve Winners Dog -- to a 5-pt. major. At that moment, any question about whether he was a show dog had been definitively answered.

Ten years later, we showed Rowdy at the Louisville Cluster. The judge was once again George Heitzman. Rowdy was competing as a Veteran and he was competing in Best Of Breed against 3 dogs that had earned Best In Show honors that previous year. Mr. Heitzman selected him for an Award Of Merit and, after the photo had been taken, we told Mr. Heitzman that he had given Rowdy the RWD at his very first show. George, a grizzled ex-Army guy, growled "I didn't give him the AOM because I felt sorry for some old dog. I gave it to him because he's a damn fine show dog." A few months later, George Heitzman passed away. He was a damned fine judge.

Here's a composite of Rowdy's Sweepstakes photo from that first show and his AOM photo with Mr. Heitzman.



James, nobody can tell what a puppy will become. You look at them at a moment in time and sometimes you're right and sometimes you're wrong. But, for us, the puppy we pick will become as good a dog as he can. Whether or not he's a show dog is up to somebody else. And, ultimately, who cares? Being a show dog does not make a great dog. But there are some great dogs that have been excellent show dogs. Hopefully, one of these boys will be one of them.

Jim