I was almost tempted to put a finger through the fence so that "Vanta," the crazier one of the bunch (as confessed by her own breeder), could give me a lingering reminder of my experience and a possible scar I could tell my grandchildren about. But my better sense and the timely arrival of Mr. Martin shook me out of my momentary insanity.

The calmness and silence of that lazy autumn afternoon in Viernheim drastically contrasted with the hustle and bustle of four days ago when the 1992 Sieger Show was getting underway in Dusseldorf. Eighteen hundred dogs and seventy thousand cheering fans and fervent owners served as a backdrop for one of the most memorable of events.

Reddened, swollen skin and a patch covering a puncture wound in Walter Martins arm was testimony of the fierce competition and "fighting drive" of the owners during the running of the classes.

A Hearty laugh over the incident was a clear indication that the pain was a small price to pay for someone who describes
himself as a fighter.

RC:" A couple of years ago you said that would probably be your last Sieger Show, that it was time for the younger people to do it."
WM: "Yes…I said that because I like to come from behind. I am a fighter, I never quit. You have to understand how things are in Germany; it is better if people are not expecting certain things from you. Then I come out strong with very good dogs. I like it that way." (Laugh).

"In the litter after that came Dixie Wienerau. dob 9.9.69 Dixie in combination with Jalk Fohlenbrunnen gave me the "L" litter Wienerau, and all the dogs that have the colors you see today in my kennel (deep mahogany red and black) come from Liane. Liane was Canto Wienerau’s mother. And Canto was the product of an inbreeding 2,2 on Dixie. At that time this close breeding was allowed." after reviewing the canto pedigree i don't see a 2,2 on Dixie. perhaps again a misunderstanding in the translation by RC? see Canto's Pedigree

RC: "So although we always speak of the Canto and Quanto ‘lines’ they were really from the same line."
WM: "Absolutely. They were the product of close breeding. In those times we had the situation where two prominent sires were responsible for the betterment of the breed. One, however, excelled in producing males, and the other females. Quanto was the smaller dog but with the better head, he produced the males. Canto was perhaps the nicer dog but did not have the head, he gave the breed many very nice females."

RC: "It seems like presently we are facing the same situation."
WM: "Yes we are! You see everything comes back! Now we have another pair of sires Quando and Uran. From the combination of Quando and his sister Quana come all the nice males with the beautiful heads, where Uran (responding more to the Canto type) is producing the nicer females."

RC: Every few years you have a sire that makes an outstanding contribution to the breed. Where do you think the next male will come from?"
WM: "The next big sire in Germany with great genetic potential to raise the breed again, believe me, will come only from Zamb Wienerau or from Jeck Noricum (both sons of Odin Tannenmeise, who is a son of Quando Arminius)—only from these two dogs, not from any other. Never. Never"

Walter Martin is very proud of the color on his dogs. He jokingly comments: "The Italians tell me ‘Walter Martin has una maquina d pintura (a spray-paint machine)’ and I tell the ‘Yes, but only for me’" as he laughs out loud.

RC: "When did you realize that Zamb would be such a good dog?"
Mrs. Martin: "You know, it wasn’t until he was one year old. Walter sold him as a three month old puppy."
WM: "Yes, I sold him. I said the dog was too quiet so I sold him to Italy, but I made a contract by which I would have the right to purchase the dog back at one year. Exactly at one year they came with the dog at 6:00 A.M. to our backyard door. I got up and came to see the dog and said "oh my god." I purchased him for much money…much, much money. And then my wife took Zamb to the training field and he bit immediately. He was young and out of coat because he came from Naples in the south of Italy. Later on we showed him for the first time in Ulm and he came in second. A man came to me later and told me ‘this dog will be a great performer at the shows.’ We showed him again under Ernest Beck and he put a little dog in front of Zamb. No one could understand. Finally at the Sieger Show he took the Young dog title. From that moment on he kept going up and up."

RC: "Do you believe that Zamb will continue the Quando Arminius line?"
WM: "Yes, but I also believe he responds more to the Ica Wienerau type rather than the Quando type, although my brother will surely claim differently." (laughs)

RC: "So what is more important, the bloodline or the type?"
WM: "No, no the bloodline is most important. Blood is the juice of life."

RC: "When you are going to combine bloodlines, what do you take into account?"
WM: "We do not have many lines in Germany. We have basically two main lines. So when Germans complain that we must have a new bloodline I tell them ‘Number one, we must know the name of this new bloodline, and number two, we must improve the breed by using it.’ If this ‘new line’ has the power of improving the breed we will see it in its results, right?"

RC: "Take us through your mental process as you make the decision of choosing breeding partners."
WM: "I will give you an example. Vanta (the Siegerin) will come in season in a couple of weeks, so now I have to make up my mind. I must look for a dog with a similar type to Vanta’s, with three quarters of the same blood but with one part being completely different, without Rolf, or in other words, without Canto or Quanto. This I still have to decide. This decision is not so easy."

"Also, you cannot always breed very good character together, if you only breed dogs with nice, easygoing dispositions, after three generations you get only dogs that are so nice and kind and so quiet and perfect that they never like to work and never like to run in the shows."

RC: "So what do you do to improve character?"
WM: "Every third generation you must bring in an absolute "idiot." (Laughs.) Yes, one with very quick blood, a wild one. This is very good for the working aspect of the Shepherd. In obedience you see dogs placed on a down and when the handler says "come," it takes them half an hour to stand up."

RC: "So, are you at the point now when you must look for an "idiot?"
WM: "Yes, but with Vanta I am fine because she inherited the spirit from Xaver Arminius. He was the crazy one, always the "gangster", and Vanta is quite this way. I cannot leave her out of the kennel and have you come in. She will bite you immediately. She protects the car and the house."

RC: "So you don’t know yet who you will breed her to?"
WM: " I must look in the Breed Survey Book for the right dog."

RC: "But he must be of the same type?"
WM: "I can only create the Wienerau type, that is my job. I cannot make another type. Mercedes must build
Mercedes-looking cars, and BMW the BMW type."

RC: " What do you expect from Zamb now?"
WM: "From Zamb I only want females. And Tony, I love Tony. He is very special. He would like to kill everybody. When he was six months old I would take him to walk on the leash and he would approach me. So I started taking food with me and when someone would come up I would say ‘come feed my dog pleas.’ After one week, when he would see someone approaching he would start looking to see what they had in their pockets to give him. He never tried to bite anyone anymore."

RC: "Finally, what would you advise someone who is starting to breed and wants to do things right?"
WM: "I must tell the people you must buy from a very, very good leader, from a very, very good father and a very, very good mother the worst female puppy—the worst female puppy. And do you know why? Because nobody give you the best, so you can only have the worst, but this dog has the same blood as the others. Then breed this female to the best line and the best dog possible and select the one with the best character and anatomy."

"You must be very careful though that you do not fall into the trap of selecting dogs on the bases of performance only. You may have two dogs, one has the best genes for working but has a very bad trainer, the other one may have very bad genes for working but has a very excellent trainer. Which one gets the highest points?"

RC: "The second one."
WM: "Of course. So the second dog comes into the breed and the better dog is gone. This is a mistake that we must be aware of. The breed is built from good genes, not from good training."

At this point other people arrived for a visit. We walked outside and were greeted by the newest generation of Wienerau puppies. "This is my next Sieger," Mr. Martin said jovially, pointing to a large three-month old male puppy with a very large head and heavy bone, and of course , the typical Wienerau color.

The puppy looked at me with a very intense, curious stare. Behind that typical innocent pair of raised eyebrows I could see that oblivious attitude of all dogs:

completely unaware of their worth and their importance. A thought came to mind If these dogs knew the royal position they enjoy as leaders of the breed worldwide, would they act any differently than any other dog in the world? The answer came loud and clear and synthesized probably the bests impression I retain from the entire experience: Why should they? The Martin family surely doesn’t seem to be affected by it.

Driving out of the kennel I turned and passed through the front gate. A very old and very small metal sign about 6" x 12" hung from the gate. It read: "Zwinger von der Wienerau." Such an understatement of greatness made me realize what true breeders are all about: Not ostentatious display, but great love for the breed, great loyalty to their friends, and great pride in work well done.

However, it is required that the former presence of healthy, strong teeth and/or a flawless scissors bite be confirmed and noted on the Ahnentafel.

The proof to be given the studbook office can be as follows:
(check-list for establishing dentition registrations)
1. Submission of a dog show judgment (critique and results) and the scorebook, in which a conformation judge has described and confirmed the (former) totality and (former) presence & sufficiency of healthy, robust teeth and a flawless scissors bite after personal examination. This is done after the dog has reached the age of 12 months.

2. Submission of the breed survey certificate (Körschein), in which were recorded the dentition and bite status at the time of the survey.

3. The submission of a radiograph together with a certificate by a SV-certified HD veterinarian, or a veterinarian-for-dentistry approved by the SV. On the radiograph, parts of the root or at least the tooth socket must be shown.

(Instructions to Vets) Veterinarian's certification for tooth faults, X-ray requirement for the entry in the Ahnentafeln:
Unfortunately it frequently occurs that veterinary certifications of damaged or missing teeth are inadequate in description. Until the necessary statements about the Ahnentafel registration exist, taking much time, this can be very vexing to the owners, who are not allowed to exhibit their dogs! We therefore had to put together the most important points for you to certify, in the form of a checklist:
* Complete name of the dog on the pedigree: obvious and legible!
* SZ - number (SV Zuchtbuch, studbook) number, on the pedigree!
* Tattoo number: in the right ear, agreeing with that on the pedigree!
* Give the status of the dentition problem:
· Tooth is broken off, chipped, etc.
· Tooth with root is missing completely (due to environmental, non-genetic) influence)
· Tooth had to be extracted (give reason)
* Cause of the tooth fault!
* Position reference (right/left, top/bottom) please imagine yourself behind the dog, to determine which is right or left side!
* Description of teeth: Please pay attention to the correct designation (for example, P1, P2, etc.)!
* X-rays: Requirement for the entry in the Ahnentafel:
Tooth faults in the GSD occur often, even though it may be that dogs are completely free of tooth faults for many generations. Inheritance plays a role in the congenital tooth fault, but loss or damage acquired later in life through environmental influences plays no role in determining the breeding value of the GSD or for its descendants. Before the extraction of a tooth, a radiograph must be made in each case. It is a requirement for recording the missing tooth in the Ahnentafel of the dog. The breed (stud-)book office of the SV acknowledges radiographs only by certified HD veterinarians or from approved veterinarians specializing in dentistry.
Please note, at the establishing of the radiograph, the following:
* Do the X-ray before the extraction!
* Clearly mark: “right” or “left”!
Still another note: Teeth that do not emerge completely from the gum (or are not normally developed) generally have no designation in the Ahnentafel. Veterinary certifications and radiographs therefore are necessary only for damaged or extracted teeth, whose absence are a result of non-hereditary, outside influences.