Romeo Böhmer
IFR IFH2 2023 World Champion

I am 48 years old. I was born in North Bavaria in a small town near Erlangen, Neunkirchen am Brand. I acquired my first Rottweiler, a female dog in the year 2000. Ten years later, I began dog training (IGP). I competed four times at the German IGP Championships and then four times at the German FH Championships. Dante became the German Champion three times and also the World Champion in 2023. He was then state-wide Champion, and participated in the world renowned competition “The Grand Prize in Rottweil” (Großer Preis von Rottweil). Dante is licensed to EZA.

Romeo, together with your dog Dante vom Schwaiger Rathaus you achieved 90 points in IFH2 category and became the World Champions. What does this success mean to you and did you celebrate it properly? Was gaining the first place your plan when you set off to the championship?

When I entered this World Championship, my goal was to win. Every FH trainer understands the demands of training a dog at this advanced level. How did we celebrate? Actually we didn’t have much time to celebrate at the WCH; but we are looking forward to celebrating here this month.

Can you tell us more about your tracking at the WCH, how did it go, where did you lose some points and what parts of the tracking were better than your expectation?

Dante lost the most points due to a single sharp angle. Other than that his performance went as planned with a few very minor mistakes.

How did you prepare for the World Championship? Do you have a different training scheme before the competition? How often do you go tracking and what terrains do you prefer?

We actually did not train specifically for the WCH. As Dante grew, he also grew in his experience and abilities. Generally, I have done interval training with him, for example five or six times a week with a four-day break. I train with him very little two weeks before the competition.

How old was Dante when you started his tracking training, what treats did you use and how often did you train?

Tracking training should usually start when the dog is still a puppy about 10 weeks old. Dante always received his regular dog food in the beginnings as treats and I trained him as often as I could.

How old was Dante when you first tried a track laid by someone else?

Dante was 6 months old when I first let him do a track laid by unfamiliar person.

What is Dante like, can you describe him?

Dante is an all-round dog, we train FH as well as IGP3.

Do you think it is possible to train any dog to the top tracking level or the dog should have some inborn predispositions to manage it?

Every dog can do tracking to some level. The difference between an average dog and a winning dog is that a good tracking dog must have the will to reach the goal.

Have you ever been to Slovakia?

I have never been to Slovakia before. It will be my first time visiting this country and I will try my best to defend the World Champion title in 2024.

Thank you for the interview, Draha Mašková