Have you ever tried to race your dog on foot? Unless you have a Miniature Pomeranian or some other purse-sized pooch, your dog can probably outrun you by a mile.<\/p>\n
Even your average dog is pretty athletic by human standards, but comparing breeds provides a very different picture. When you see how fast Greyhounds run, for instance, your Golden Retriver\u2019s 50-yard dash doesn\u2019t seem so quick anymore.<\/p>\n
But athleticism is about more than just raw speed. It\u2019s also about strength, power, stamina, and more.<\/p>\n
As a loving Rottie parent, you know your dog\u2019s impressive physical capabilities, their imposing size, and ability to pull you along on the leash with ease.<\/p>\n
Your Rottie might be big and strong, but in the broader scope, are Rottweilers athletic?<\/p>\n
Rottweilers are impressively built dogs with large, muscular physiques capable of generating great strength and power. In addition, Rottweilers have incredible stamina and endurance from generations of hard work. You might not think it, but Rotties are also rather agile and many even excel in agility competitions. So, yes, Rottweilers are definitely athletic. <\/strong><\/p>\n To be certain about the Rottweiler\u2019s status as an athletic breed, let\u2019s take a closer look at what constitutes an athletic canine in the first place to see if Rottweilers meet the criteria.<\/p>\n While we\u2019re at it, we\u2019ll check out a few impressive feats of athleticism performed by Rottweilers to see what the breed is really capable of.<\/p>\n\n Before we can truly determine whether Rotties are athletic dogs or not, we have to define what an athletic dog is.<\/p>\n If you search for the definition of athletic, you\u2019ll find a few different answers. Dictionary.com<\/a> has the two definitions that I think best encompass the term, so we\u2019ll use them as our working definitions.<\/p>\n The first definition of athletic is \u201cphysically active and strong; good at athletics or sports.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a pretty straightforward definition, making the criteria clear to determine whether or not Rottweilers qualify. However, I don\u2019t think it necessarily covers all of the connotations of the term.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s look at the second definition.<\/p>\n Definition two of athletic: \u201cof or relating to athletes; involving the use of physical skills or capabilities, as strength, agility, or stamina.\u201d<\/p>\n Great! Now we have a few specific traits we can look at to determine what makes a dog athletic.<\/p>\n For a dog to be athletic, they have to exhibit physical characteristics of strength, agility, and\/or stamina, making them good at athletics or sports.<\/p>\n All we have to do now is determine whether Rottweilers meet these criteria, and we\u2019ll know for sure if they\u2019re an athletic breed or not.<\/p>\n Now that we have a few categories to rate Rottweilers in, it\u2019s time to take a closer look at the breed\u2019s physical traits and see where they fit. If we can prove that Rotties are strong, agile, have great stamina, and excel at canine sports, then we can consider the breed to be athletic.<\/p>\n Though size isn\u2019t technically one of our criteria, it\u2019s certainly going to be a major factor in athleticism.<\/p>\n Bigger dogs are going to be capable of producing greater strength and power than a dog with a smaller frame.<\/p>\n Similarly, large dogs like Rotties will also have long strides, which can help them to cover ground more quickly.<\/p>\n On the other hand, all of that extra size and weight can be a bit more difficult to navigate around turns quickly, so you can generally expect a bigger, heavier dog to be less agile than a smaller one.<\/p>\n There are many good reasons why most working dogs tend to be on the larger side. You won\u2019t find lots of 10-pound pooches out there doing the hard work.<\/p>\n For example, search and rescue dogs weigh between 30 and 100 pounds since dogs of this size are large enough to move quickly, have enough strength to aid in rescue efforts, yet are still small enough to be lifted by a handler and fit into tight areas that might be difficult for a human to squeeze into.<\/p>\n As it turns out, Rotties actually excel at search and rescue<\/a> since they\u2019re such physically gifted dogs and often land right at the higher end of that weight spectrum.<\/p>\n Of course, the biggest Rotties, which can weigh up to 135 pounds, are disqualified because of their large size, showing that even though size can be a help in regards to athleticism, it might also be a hindrance simultaneously.<\/p>\n All of that size might stop some Rottweilers from being qualified for search and rescue work, but it also contributes to making the breed one of the strongest on the planet.<\/p>\n Everyone knows that Rotties are covered in muscle. Now, imagine a full-size Rottweiler on the large end of the spectrum. This dog is 27 inches tall at the shoulders and weighs around 130 pounds of practically solid muscle.<\/p>\n That\u2019s one seriously capable canine. You\u2019d be hard-pressed to find many breeds that could compete with Rottweilers in a test of all-out strength, let alone best them!<\/p>\n But the impressive strength and size of the Rottie breed is no accident.<\/p>\n You see, the Rottweiler breed was created by the ancient Romans by mixing their massive Molosser<\/a> dogs, which is why Rotties are considered a bully breed<\/a> today. These early Rotties were used to guard livestock, and they were very good at it.<\/p>\n Guarding livestock might not sound like the most perilous of careers, but you have to remember that these dogs were responsible for fighting off predators such as wolves and bears, which we can all agree is no easy feat.<\/p>\n Also, keep in mind the great size of the livestock that these dogs had to keep in line. Cattle weigh well in excess of 1,000 pounds. Even if you\u2019re a 135-pound Rottweiler, bovine are much bigger.<\/p>\n Rottweilers proved to be so adept at guarding livestock that they soon began to be used for driving the livestock long distances, which required a completely different kind of strength and endurance.<\/p>\n After all, the livestock that they had to drive were all much larger than these Rotties were, and these drives could cover great distances and take a long time to complete.<\/p>\n Eventually, it was determined that these Rottweilers could be used for far more than just herding and driving livestock. Soon, they were also being used to pull carts full of meat, and the butchers that employed them even tied their money bags around their Rottie\u2019s necks to keep them safe.<\/p>\n As you can imagine, driving livestock all day or pulling a cart full of meat takes a lot more than just size and strength. Equally important, possibly even more so, is the need for excellent endurance.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have some top-tier stamina, you\u2019re not going to survive an all-day cattle drive, let alone pulling that heavy meat cart around all day. That means they’re more than ready for a hike<\/a> with you!<\/p>\n Incredible endurance is also a necessary trait for any search and rescue dog, and we\u2019ve already established that Rotties excel at this type of work.<\/p>\n Search and rescue shifts can last for eight hours, and the work is extremely strenuous, taking place in rough environments such as snowy avalanche sites or flooded zones after a natural disaster.<\/p>\n Rottweilers have proven that they can easily handle these long and arduous workloads with ease. In reality, this is essentially what they were first bred for!<\/p>\n While their endurance also serves Rotties well in the water<\/a>, their heavyweight does slow them down. So while they’re still more athletic than many dogs when it comes to the water, they’re not your quintessential water dog.<\/p>\n Knowing everything else we\u2019ve already established about Rottweilers, it might be hard to imagine them as agile creatures.<\/p>\n So far, we\u2019ve determined that Rotties are big, muscular canines with great strength and endurance. Usually, that doesn\u2019t add up to the most agile of animals.<\/p>\n In the case of Rottweilers, however, things seemed to have worked out favorably.<\/p>\n Despite their large size, Rotties are far from lumbering and slow. They\u2019re actually very quick with excellent reaction speed. Watching a Rottweiler perform on the agility course is surprising since they\u2019re so swift and agile, even though they\u2019re such big dogs.<\/p>\n This trait also comes in handy when working in search and rescue. As I\u2019ve mentioned, search and rescue operations take place in some treacherous environments. There\u2019s often a lot of loose rubble and other hazardous obstacles to navigate.<\/p>\n Surviving in such places requires quick thinking, fast reactions, and swift movements, which Rottweilers seem to manage with no problem.<\/p>\n At this point, we\u2019ve established the traits that an athletic dog would possess. We\u2019ve also discussed the physical traits of Rottweilers, which seem to line up quite nicely with our criteria for being considered athletic.<\/p>\n By that standard, Rottweilers certainly meet the definition of an athletic dog.<\/p>\n They\u2019re incredibly strong thanks to their large size and muscular bodies. Moreover, they can use that strength all day long, showing that Rottweilers have first-rate endurance.<\/p>\n And surprisingly, Rotties can move all of that muscle and weight in a deceptively agile manner. Some Rottweilers have even excelled in canine agility, completing courses in impressive times and bringing home awards.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t worry, I don\u2019t expect you to simply take my word for it. There\u2019s plenty of evidence regarding the accomplishments of Rottweilers, and we\u2019re about to take a look at some definitive pieces of proof that will establish Rottweilers as a truly athletic breed.<\/p>\n Canine sports are the proving grounds for dog athletics. Dogs that compete in these sports are the cream of the crop, demonstrating the utmost in canine fitness.<\/p>\n It must be noted that there are many canine sports, and Rottweilers probably don\u2019t excel at all of them.<\/p>\n They don\u2019t have to though!<\/p>\n To prove their athleticism, we just need to see Rottweilers excelling at a few different dog sports that can show off their athletic abilities, and we certainly have that.<\/p>\n Carting<\/a> is a canine sport that pays homage to the history of the Rottweiler by having them perform an activity they were used for hundreds of years ago: pulling carts.<\/p>\n Today, there probably aren\u2019t many, if any, Rottweilers being used to pull carts on farms. Long ago, they were often used for such work, moving around farm equipment in the carts or pulling them to market when they were full of sellable goods like meat.<\/p>\n Of course, in the modern era, it makes far more sense to use machines for this type of work. Rottweilers still get to practice their cart-pulling though, in the sport of carting.<\/p>\n In carting races, also referred to as dryland mushing, dogs will pull carts that are packed with various items to add weight. These items can be just about anything. Often, they include farm equipment, camping gear, or even people!<\/p>\n Rottweilers are one of the popular breeds for carting sports, as evidenced by the multiple Rottweiler carting clubs around the country, such as the Mile High Rottweiler Club of Greater Denver<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhat Is an Athletic Dog?<\/h2>\n
Rottweiler Physical Traits<\/h2>\n
Size<\/h3>\n
Strength and Muscularity<\/h3>\n
Stamina and Endurance<\/h3>\n
Agility<\/h3>\n
So, Are Rottweilers Athletic?<\/h2>\n
Rottweilers in Canine Sports<\/h2>\n
Carting<\/h3>\n