Rottweilers have a very poor immune system, so vaccination is very important.

I give 4 injections to puppies - a C3 at 6 weeks, a C4 at 12 weeks and 16 weeks, then a final C4 at 12 months. They then also recieve a C4 injection as a yearly booster.

To prevent the crippling diseases of hip and elbow dysplasia, we have our dogs hip/elbow x-rays taken between 12 and 18 months of age. These x-rays are then scored to test the degree of arthritis in the joints, and we only breed with very low scoring dogs.

We test the eyes of our dogs to ensure they are free of ectropian (outward turning eyelids) or entropian (inward turning eyelids), and confirm that the mouth is correct - the dog must have 42 teeth and a scissors bite, it is not acceptable to have any missing teeth at all.

All of these tests must be passed before a dog can be used for breeding.

At the moment the biggest health problem in Rottweilers is Cancer, which is being researched, to help fight this disease.