Schutzhund Dog Training

Schutzhund Dog Training is the most advanced level of dog training. The original Shutzhund dogs were used in Germany by police. Schutzhund literally means “protecton dog” in German, and the original Schutzhund trials were used to determine a if a dog had the obedience, courage, the right temperament  and physical abilities to be a police dog. Nowadays Schutzhund dogs are still used for police work, and also make excellent search and rescue dogs. They even do odor detection type work, such as looking for drugs. Schutzhund dog training is necessary to teach a dog to always work its best even under the most distracting of situations-for instance,  police crowd control. Because of the Schutzhund training, these dogs are absolutely responsive to their handler’s commands and can be trusted to do exactly as they are commanded.

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These days the Schutzhund dog training focuses on 3 distinct types of tests-tracking, obedience, and protection. The competitions are held on a large field and the dogs will take turns performing the various trials. Each section of the competition is worth 100 points and each dog must perform against the other dogs for an overall score. Originally the tests were used to determine whether a dog would make a good police dog, and only certain dogs are up to the rigorous standards required for this very advanced training.

Historically, most of the dogs that have been trained as Schutzhunds have been German Shepherds. It takes a dog with many outstanding physical attributes and physical strength as well as courage to perform well. There are some other breeds that share these outstanding characteristics Doberman pinschers for one, and more recently they have also undertaken Schutzhund dog training lessons and appear in some competitions along with the German Shepherds. To qualify for Schutzhund dog training your dog should have all of  these characteristics. If not he won’t be able to do the training successfully.

• Your dog needs to have a very strong desire to work.
• Your dog must be very trainable.
• Your dog must not show fear-he needs to have lots of courage.
• The dog must display intelligence.
• The dog must develop a very strong bond with his handler.
• The dog must display a strong protective instinct.
• The dog must show perseverance.

Each Schutzhund competition has three  main areas of dog training tests: Tracking, Obedience, and Protection. There are also rankings of Schutzhund I, Schutzhund II, or Schutzhund III. Each level has a higher degree of difficulty within the trial categories. I have a dog trainer buddy with a Schutzhund Doberman imported from Germany. When he gives his dog a training session, it is like watching a dog perform circus tricks. They really are amazing to watch in action. Be sure to watch a Schutzhund video on YouTube  if you have never seen them. The qualities of the videos vary, but by looking around you can get a good idea of the quality of the Schutzhund dog training.

• Tracking: The tracking section comes first, and is designed to test your dog’s ability to track a trail previously set by a decoy, who has also drop some items here and there along the trail. The handler then follows his dog behind a 33 foot leash. To perform correctly the dog must scent the items and mark them by lying down with the items between his front paws. He must also follow any zigs and zags in the invisible trail correctly. The dog is judged by its ability to find follow the trail and find the dropped items. The better he does, the higher his score. He will need a lot of tracking training to be competitive in the trials.

• Obedience: The obedience section of the competition is held in a large open field. Each dog works in a pair with another dog. One dog waits in the down position at the side of the course, while the handler goes through the various exercises required with the other dog. the dogs then switch positions for the next turn. To perform all the exercises correctly requires more than just physical agility and good training.  Your dog must also have total focus.  That is because the dog must perform exercises amid a variety of distractions in order to test his concentration and ability to do his job under any circumstances. Included in the distractions are crowds of people,  shots  fired from a gun, and even a female dog in heat to truly test any male dogs focus. a variety of retrieves over jumps,  recalls and more.  Your dog is judged by his ability and enthusiasm to perform the exercises correctly. The dogs are commanded to do a series of exercises including jumping over obstacles, retrieving, climbing, running straight out and immediately dropping to down on your command, and other tests designed to judge his stamina, strength, agility, and ability to listen to commands.

• Protection: The protection part of the competition is designed to test  your dog’s courage and ability to protect both himself and his handler. The protection test is done when a “decoy” who has previously hidden himself behind on of several blinds that are on the course. Your dog has to search some blinds on the course to find the hidden decoy. He is trained to announce his discovery by barking-but not attacking the decoy. He must be able to guard and keep the decoy there until his handler approaches the decoy for a “search” and detention. This is to mimic the police part of the Schutzhund dog training. During the test the decoy will make an “escape” attempt. When he does, the dog is required to stop the escape by biting and holding the decoys”protective sleeve”. Your dog must also immediately release the decoy upon the handler’s command. The dog will be judged by his ability to guard and stop the decoy, as well as being able to control his aggression, and release the decoy as soon as the handler commands it. This is also a test of his enthusiasm for the protection work as well as his courage.

A Schutzhund dog training club is the best way to learn more about Shutzhund dog training. Not only is the training much more advanced, but it requires more than one trainer’s participation for the tracking and the protection parts of the training.  Look up Schutzhund dog training on the Internet, searching in your area, to see if there is a club in your vicinity. Meanwhile you can check out the Schutzhund dog training videos on YouTube. You’ll see why this is really the highest level of dog training.

For those of us who don’t have a superdog, but still want to train our dogs  to be the best companions and pets they can be, it is important to know the right way to train our dogs.  I  highly recommend using the best dog obedience training program on-line-Secrets to Dog Training. Click here to read my full review of Secrets to Dog Training.

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