Seeuferhause goes German…..

Seeuferhause Rottweilers goes German……
The last time I visited Europe was in 2000. That was a fantastic trip of 7 weeks that was centred on Paris, the south coast of France, Italy and Greece. It was supposed to include Germany but as it is about a 16hr round trip from north Italy it didn’t happen. Many years have passed since then and due to life’s twists and turns it seemed that an opportunity to visit Europe would not eventuate until my fiancé’s sister decided to get married in the Amalfi coast of Italy.
Never one to miss an opportunity the arrangements were made and we found ourselves in Italy on the second last week of August. Having got the formalities out of the way we headed north to one of my favourite destinations; Venice. A couple of luxurious nights behind us the next stop was picturesque St Moritz; as good an excuse for a break in the drive that I could find. Finally we were carving through Austria and on our way through Germany to our predetermined destinations:
1st stop –
vom Amtsbach in Crivitz, about an hour east of Hamburg
2nd stop –
vom Tanneneck in Quickborn about 30mins north of Hamburg

Vom Amtsbach Kennels
We arrived at the vom Amtsbach kennels on Saturday afternoon (about 5hrs later than originally planned due to a truck catching on fire on the autobahn – don’t worry about 150kms/hr – we sat still for 4-1/2hrs on the Friday night) and after a couple of missed turns, despite the use of a GPS system we finally met up with Jörg Schmietendorf. The reason for visiting Jörg was simple; he owns 2 offspring of Quantus vom Hause Anin, Pack and Pepe. Those of you that are familiar with our website will understand the connection. Our stud rottweilers
Boris & Ass are also Quantus offspring so we wanted to see first hand the quality and the likeness between our boys and Jorg’s.
We were first introduced to Pack, a large male rottweiler with an incredible temperament and working drive. He was very reminiscent of our other stud rottweiler Doc in his intensity and working ability. I had the privilege of working this dog on the bite pillows and his intensity, grip and overall drive were incredible. He was very fast, dynamic and an absolute brute of a dog. At the same time Jörg demonstrated how stable the dog was by allowing us to pat him and take photos at close range. He did however explain that was able to occur because he was with him and that this would not be the case if the dog was on his own protecting his house/territory. This was demonstrated later in the visit.
Our next introduction was to (2) six month old puppies out of Doc vom Oberhausener Norden X Pepe vom Amtsbach. The 1st puppy was a nice looking puppy with excellent drives and intensity on the puppy bite rag. I proceeded to congratulate Jörg for producing such a nice puppy and he assured me that was not even in the same league as the next female puppy from the same litter. My initial thoughts were that he was having me on, but soon as the next pup came bounding into the yard, stared at me and growled and then went on its way I knew he was not kidding. This puppy exhibited strength and intensity normally seen on a 12mths adolescent dog. The grip was phenomenal, the prey drive extreme and the strength of character and robust nature of the dog was superb. This had wet my appetite as to what to expect when I was introduced to Pepe……I was not disappointed in fact the very opposite!!!
Jörg led me around the corner to where his kennels were located. In front of me were (3) kennels that housed Quicki, Pepe and pack vom Amtsbach. All (3) of them were going bezerk!!! They did not appreciate a stranger in the midst!! The stand out for me was clearly Pepe vom Amtsbach. I got to the front of her kennel and just stood there attempting to intimidate her to ascertain the strength of character and the whole time hoping the kennel fence would hold up – she was awesome!!! This was the most powerful temperament female I have ever seen!!! She was unbelievable – the longer I stood there the stronger she became. I gestured a threatening manoeuvre and she exploded once again with even more intensity than before – the display was quite literally awesome!!! Jörg looked at me and asked if I was trying to make her back off – I said yes and with the shake of his fingers he proudly said – NEVER!!!!
Jörg then helped me with some translation to confirm my visit to vom Tanneneck and we set off for his schutzhund club to watch him and his wife Marita put the dogs through their paces. Suffice to say, both, Pack and Pepe did not disappoint, in fact they were even better on the field than they were at home. Both provided us with a powerful and very dynamic display. This however was the first opportunity I had to watch Quicki vom Amtsbach work. Quicki is a half sister to Pack and Pepe (out of their dam Heidi) and a daughter of the famous Max vom Turnleberg. As the others before her, Quicki demonstrated a very strong temperament, extremely high drive and super grip.
Soon, this great afternoon was drawing to a close and I was happy that I was leaving feeling anything but disappointed – I had just uncovered a rottweiler breeding kennel that had the same philosophy on dogs as I do and to add to this they had the fruits of a killer bitch line, that seems to produce hard working rottweilers time and time again – this leads to what I guess was the highlight of the trip. We were introduced to the dam of the three wonderful dogs discussed in this article; Heidi vom Amtsbach, a 9yr old female, nothing special to look at but left you in no uncertainty with regards to where much of the strength displayed by the younger dogs came from. It was an honour and a privilege to work this old girl – her drive was super, her grip was crushing and she had a civil edge that we rarely see in females. This convinced me that I had to make arrangements with Jörg for a vom Amtsbach female to be brought to Australia – details to follow at a later date.
In closing on this first part of our German trip I would like to send a warm heartfelt thank you to Jörg and Marita for their hospitality and kindness and most of all their open and honest contribution to my education on the rottweiler.

Vom Tanneneck Kennels
Early Sunday morning and I was buzzing; I felt like a kid at Disneyland, probably much like I would have felt a couple of years earlier if I had gone to pick Clyde up myself from his breeders place!!
A 30min drive from our hotel we see a lady walking a rottweiler down the street and it turned out to be Uwe’s wife Kirsten. Despite her protests it turns out that her English is great and we have no problems at all understanding each other. Kirsten escorted us in to the house and we meet Uwe and then head for the dogs. The first introduction is Orla vom haus Anin.
Orla is a very high drive, extreme sport dog – she is friendly and social but on the field becomes a beast!! Orla is a daughter of the famous Calle vom Ehndorfer Moor. Her conformation is nice but she is a small female – only a naive person would hold that against her; she more than makes up for it with her extreme drive. Our next introduction is the one that I have been waiting for; Clyde’s dam Xanta vom Hohegeiss.
Xanta is a large, almost masculine female very reminiscent of her half sister Mucke vom Tweelbaker-See that I have previously owned. Both are large, muscular females with that sharp edge. It is very evident that this 9yr old is Uwe’s pride and joy, and I can understand why!! Uwe is using all of his powers of persuasion to try and calm Xanta down to avoid upsetting the neighbours but she is in no mood to let a stranger into her yard and not let us know as such. The only way to quieten her down is to walk away. As we walk away I asked Uwe if I would be able to walk into her kennel and with a smile full of pride he explains that she is a one man dog and if I tried that I would be heading for the nearest doctor!! I’ve got to say that I too am brimming with joy thinking to myself now I understand the reason for the strength that Clyde displays.
Uwe then brings out 2 daughters of Xanta, Aika and Bonny. Aika is out of Odin vom Fleischer and Bonny is out of Max vom Turnleberg. Both of these girls are large like their mother and both exhibit the confidence and strength expected of their bloodline. Bonny is the more dynamic of the two but Aika is equally as strong when it comes to aggression and sharpness. Both of them have very good conformation, certainly much better than I expected from working bloodlines. Both are a credit to the vom Tanneneck kennel and certainly a credit to Xanta vom Hohegeiss and the very potent working bloodline that she represents.
For next couple of hours Uwe and I sat and discussed the “top dogs” of Germany whilst my fiancée Elena and Kirsten (with assistance from my daughter Angelina) help with the translations. Uwe and I have very similar views and preferences on dogs and specifically the type of temperament we like.
It’s interesting that I bought Clyde after a lot of research in regards to the pedigree and a reference from Chip Ditto (rottweiler breeder from USA and owner of Beggy vom Tanneneck & Ass von den Golan Hohen) without seeing his parents firsthand; having now seen his mothers line and knowing what I know of the sire line I am confident I would have made the same decision and bought Clyde vom Tanneneck.
Uwe and Kirsten are very generous and gracious people that take much pride in their home, dogs and surroundings. They are the type of people that the rottweiler needs to be associated with.
Our trip to Europe was a whirlwind and Germany was even quicker, but the stand out for me is that through ones passion, be it dogs or anything else there exists a commonality with people that otherwise would be strangers. Our hobbies and passions in life allow us to bridge gaps in language and culture that normally would not be possible.
They say that dogs are man’s best friend but my belief is that through dogs we can make best friends.
I anticipate travelling to Germany again in the next 24mths or so and I will definitely plan to spend at least 3-5 days there and visit more of the working rottweiler breeders. Till then I hope you enjoyed my recollection of my trip, and I hope that it gives further insight into the work that is carried out at Seeuferhause Rottweilers to bring the very best working bloodlines to Australia.