ARV-American Rottweiler Verein is one of the oldest Rottweiler clubs in America, Established in 1990 by founder and first president Ekart Salquist. ARV was formed for the purpose of bringing German style Sieger shows and Schutzhund trials here to the USA. Ekart also had a another goal in mind, and that was to help educate the public about the true purpose of the Rottweiler and in return bettering the breed by promoting it in a positive way! ARV Has been promoting the Rottweiler according to ADRK/FCI breed and performance standards since 1990. We are hosting several Sieger shows and Events throughout the country this year and we hope to see you there.
Mr. Eckart Salquist
A little bit about our founder and current Director of Operations in Charge of supervision of the club to insure the excellent reputation of the ARV is preserved. Mr. Eckart Salquist. Eckart started Jeneck’s Rottweilers iin 1970 with the idea of producing World caliber dogs capable of competing in not only conformation but also in Schutzhund. Throughout the years he has produced several National Schutzhund Champions as well as Many Sieger and Siegerins. He has also bred several AKC Champions as well as trained and handled more Rottweilers to Schutzhund titles than any oither kennel in USA! Some of Ekarts accomplish include: Founder & 1st President of USRC United States Rottweiler Club, Founder & 1st President of ARV American Rottweiler Verein, Founder & 1st President of Rottweiler Performance Club, Co Founder of AWDF American Working Dog Federation, Founder & Training Director for over 20 years of River City Sports Dog Club, Captain of the USA IFR Team in 2000, Bred more Rottweilers to make the USA IFR Team than anyone else in USA!
Mr. Michael Burns
A little bit about our President in charge of overall operations Michael Burns: Michael has been a avid Rottweiler enthusiast for over 25 years. Since 2009 Michael has worked hard to produce the complete Rottweilers not only in the show rings but also the working field. He has traveled the globe competing with his dogs in such countries as Romania, Italy, Denmark, Luxembourg, Canada, Germany and of course all over USA. Michael even rented a house and lived in Germany for a year where he learned a lot from some great mentors at BG-Speicher. It is there he helped title two dogs to IPO1 and passed a couple ZTP’s. He also learned a lot from one on ones sessions with some excellent judges of the breed such as, Edgar Hellmann (ADRK), Anton Spindler (ADRK), Uwe Petermann (ADRK) and John MacDonald (FCI) just to name a few. Michael has Produced Champions in countries such as Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Jamaica, Macedonia, South Africa and the First american Bred VDH German Champion. Mr. Burns is now slowing down from the breeding and competition to focus on building the strongest Rottweiler Club in the USA. He will also be apprenticing very soon to become a ARV judge.
Mrs. Kimberly Cardona
A little bit about our Vice President who is assisting in overall operations as well as dealing with relations between other Rottweiler clubs such as the ARC (American Rottweiler Club) Kimberly Cardona: My name is Kimberly Cardona. I have been a breeder of Rottweilers for over 30 years and involved in sieger shows from the beginning. My Kennel is vom Drakkenfels, Dragon Mountains, located in the beautiful small town of Polk City, Florida located just miles from the Florida green belt. I have bred top Show Champions/Siegers, Group winners, dogs in the Top Twenty and even the first male American-bred Rottweiler to gain the title of FCI Int. Ch. and the 2nd America-bred Female. I trained and showed dogs for other breeders and kennels across the US and in a variety of countries for decades. I am proud that dogs that I owned/bred bloodlines have moved forward to seed kennels who have been highly successful. I have been a member of several National and International breed clubs and have done some travel and study with top kennels in Germany. My real job was as a Manager/consultant for big companies that included Disney. Now retired I am focusing on teaching others how to show and on helping breeders with research of their lines. I hope that with my past experience, I can offer everyone interested in the Rottweiler breed sound advice to protect and teach like so many of my past mentors did for me. One of those mentors was Xaver Meixner (vom Schwaiger Wappen and Rathaus) who gave me my first male import after spending 4 years training back and forth with him. Berndt Osswald who allowed me my first female import from his amazing bloodlines “von der Teufelsbrucke”. I have been involved in setting up sieger show clubs in the past with great success.
Mr Josef Hedl
A little bit about our Breed Warden, responsible for making sure the ARV members that are breeding have met the required health and temperament test. If so They can be listed as a ARV preferred breeder in our breeders directory and facebook page. Josef Hedl: Josef has been involved in Rottweilers since 1966 and has bred many AKC champions. In the early years of being involved in Rotteilers Josef had a idea to bring German style sieger shows to the USA and this was the formation of the USRC, than later the ARV. Joe was one of the first specialty judges in the USA. Josef has judges 2 times at the Westminster event, 2 Rottweiler Specialty show, as well as several other Regional Sieger shows here in USA. Josef is the only Judge in the USA that has judged at the ADRK Klubsieger show in Germany. He has also judged at a IFR event with fellow judges Toni Spindler and Carla Lindsay. There is not a country in the World that Josef has not judged in and he is also a member of the ADRK, AKC, ARC and ARV
Mrs. Kimberly Winter
A little bit about our Treasurer in charge of our accounting, Kimberly Winter: Kimberly has loved Rottweiler since helping her husband Steven get his first Rottweiler in 1998. Baby was with her family for 13 years. Kimberly also got her first exposure to confirmation showing with her dog Poseidon in 2010. Over the last eight years caring for her Rottweilers has become a passion of hers and she looks forward to expanding her knowledge of the breed. Kimberly has become active in IPO over the last year also, training in Olympia at Pacific Northwest Rottweiler Klub. Kimberly’s job when shes not working for ARV is also in Book keeping and accounting.
Mrs. Megan Hunter
A little bit about our Secretary in charge of our office and clerical work, Megan Hunter: Megan is a avid Rottweiler lover just like the rest of the ARV crew. She is dedicated to the preservation of the breed, is always trying to further her knowledge and enjoys teaching others what she has learned. She is excited about the opportunity with ARV and is eager to get into the show ring with her new puppy. As a former office Mgr. of a large wholesale company, Megan was the perfect candidate for this position.
Mr. Brad Barron
A little bit about our founder and current Director of Regions in charge of correspondence with with regional directors in each region. Brad Barron has been involved in Rottweilers for over 20 years. When Brad saw the Rottweiler for the first time at age 10 it was love at first sight. Brad was one of the founding members and show chairman of The Circle City Rottweiler Club. He has shown and handled Rottweilers all over USA & Canada. Brad has also trialed Beagles, he bred, trained, titled and, owned the 2012 Reserve World Champion Beagle “Barron’s Buddy”. Currently outside the Rottweilers Brad is the CEO of Barron Family Farms which produces organic grass fed beef using environmentally friendly regenerative agriculture practices. Brad is also the owner of House Barron Rottweilers and was mentored by the founding ARV member Eckart Salquist.
Judges within ARV: We have some excellent Judges within the ARV organization. Some of them have come here from other countries and they all are extremely knowledgeable in the breed. With a combined experience of 150 years with the Rottweiler breed we have, Eckart Salquist (USA), Joeri Goedertier (Belgium), Josef Hedl (Germany), KT Hodges (USA), Vilija Pleck (Lithuania). If you would like to host a event and invite one of these ARV judges please contact us.
ARV Apprentice Judge: Michael Burns (USA) Kimberly Cardona (USA)
What does the ARV Have to offer ? Lots !
ARV share the same common goals as the ADRK Breed club in Germany and that is to preserve the Rottweiler in accordance to breed and performance standards as per what they where originally bred for. A working dog!
ARV offers the following activities to its members and member clubs:
- ARV Scorebooks recognized and approved by ADRK (ie this means the ARV scorebook can be used at ADRK trials and breed surveys in Germany)
- FCI scorebooks via the ADRK. These scorebooks carry the FCI seal on the face, no IPO organization in the world can deny this scorebook or refuse to accept entry.
- Release of conformation judges to judge ARV shows
- Release of IGP judges to judge ARV IGP trials.
- Breed Suitability Evaluations, ZTP’s and Korungs
- German style Sieger conformation shows
- ARV CH Titles
- Tracking tests for FH degree
- Endurance tests for AD award
- Obedience/traffic sure test for BH degree
- Members can submit hip/elbow xrays to the ADRK for evaluation
- ARV can send a team to the ADRK World Championship each year
- Activities to ensure the development and maintenance of the Rottweiler as a working breed
- Tailed & docked dogs are welcome at all ARV events. If the dog is docked it must have come from a country where docking is legal.