# Schutzhund and the novice handler



## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

I'm just wondering how all of you got started in schutzhund?

I am really interested in it. I've been interested in it since before I got my pup (now 6 months old). Since getting her, I've traveled with her to training days etc. to watch her pappa be worked and get a sense of what it's about.

Here's my question:

For a novice handler, how do they get started? It's not really as simple as finding a club (I found one), but also finding the right dog *for their experience level*. 

I am a rank beginner, I didn't want to 'out-dog' myself. I was the only pet owner out of the entire litter, so while my pup has the genetics (all the other pups went to working homes - SAR, K9, sheep herding, firehouse & schutzhund), I'm a bit worried that she might be a bit soft for schutzhund, but I'd still like to give it a go. 

Her pappa's owner thinks she's a great dog who would do well at it and thinks I'd be a good handler, but in watching the others working older dogs (I realize she's just a pup), some of their dogs are so intense and I look at my pup and I'm wondering if that's in her somewhere? 

Is it pointless to try schutzhund with a softer dog? She is VERY bonded to me (has a tantrum if someone tries to take her away from me) and is a submissive pee-er. I'm thinking these may be two red flags that it's not in her, but can a dog like this be developed? I don't think she'll be a world champion, but I'm hoping she would do ok with work.

At the end of the day, she's a pet and I want a dog I can live with, so if she's not the right temperament for schutzhund, so be it. But I'd still like to give it a go. If I like it, with more experience, I might be ready for a harder dog if/when I get another, but this being my first GSD, I think putting a really high drive dog with me would not have been a good idea, so I think her breeder did right by me. But I still want to try.

Do you think it's possible to give it a go? I just don't want to embarrass myself or more importantly the club, but it would have been foolish for me to take on a dog who's too much for be to handle before I know what I'm doing.

Do you see the predicament?  Ha ha. I'm just not sure how you guys got started. It seem like the choice is out-dog yourself, or have a dog who's maybe too soft. What's worse? lol

Is it worth trying with my pup?

Sorry for rambling. lol


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

No reason not to try, just be willing to quit if it's not the right fit for your dog. 

There was a submissive pee-er here for a while and she did great at SchH. Who would have thought?


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

Schh has three phases. If she is too soft and not cut out for the bite work, that's fine. There are still two other great parts of the sport that will challenge you and cement your bond with her. 

If her littermates are that accomplished, there is no reason why she can't do tracking and obedience. Continue the bitework for fun. Just have her out with the puppies at first. Get her going after the rag. Work her entirely in prey. Keep it light and fun. Let her win lots and encourage her along the way. You'd be surprised how the right encouragement and motivation will help the dog. Eventually as she matures, she might even have more defense come out if it is done in the right way. 

Schh obedience is no different than any other obedience and will have the same benefits as obedience in other venues. She can certainly get her BH. That is only obedience and temperament. She can get portions of her IPO1 like just obedience or tracking. So yes, go out and try with her. She might end up surprising you!


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

Ok, thanks for the encouragement.  I'm not too proud to quit if she truly doesn't like it. I just want us to have fun.

I'll email the lady and see if I can actually participate in some of the training (vs just watching) and we'll see how she comes along. They did indulge me one time and let her bite the rag. It took a bit of prodding because she kept letting go to see where I was. LOL Doh! But I think they liked her well enough.

Here was her first try on the rag 










I do think she's got a good nose! She's always putting her nose to the ground and following the path of vehicles that came down the drive and will even correct if she goes the wrong way. She must have got that from her SAR mom.  So I can see tracking being a good thing for her.

Her obedience is good. At least in class. LOL She's got the "6-month sassies" right now


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## Blitzkrieg1 (Jul 31, 2012)

In my club there was a dog that would hide when people came to his house, I believe he just earned his BH and he is decent in protection. His entire attitude has changed, after about 8 months of schh training. As long as your TD knows his stuff, you should be ok.


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

Oh, that's good to hear! 

....what's a TD?? lol *blush*


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## TimberGSD2 (Nov 8, 2011)

I am also a first time handler starting in Schutzhund. I went to a couple of clubs long before getting my puppy. I also got a mentor who has helped me every step of the way. My pup took a while to "get" the protection stuff but has since figured it out and very much enjoys what we do. I find it's a great bond builder. I am just doing it for fun, would like to title her but if she doesn't make it, so what. If it's something you enjoy doing with your pup I say just go for it. Having an obedient dog never hurt anyone.


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

You will never know until you try. The worse they can tell you is that she isn't cut out for protection and then you can get a great obedience and tracking base and even put some titles in those on her.

Puppies that age can be hard to judge. A lot come out of their shell!


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## Blitzkrieg1 (Jul 31, 2012)

Training Director.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

There was a link in here somewhere that someone put up about are "YOU" ready to work with your dog. I loved this link. 

I, too, was quite interested, if not fascinated, by Schutzhund. I watched a couple of sessions with other people's dogs, even brought Ky along for one session. Then I sat down and talked to someone about what is involved. I backed out ... it is A LOT of work, don't kid yourself. 

I was very grateful that the person spent that much time with me to explain just how much work goes into working and training your dog in Sch (and I'm sure in probably every sporting event with dogs). 

Just a heads up for you to think about ... your pup could be great, but do you want to get up at 5 am to lay a track? LOL 

Lots of luck if you decide to go ahead and try it ... and like others on here have said, you might be quite surprised at what your "now" puppy is capable of when she grows up!


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

Why 5 AM for tracking? We track at any time....


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

The way I see it is that you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by learning new things so why not?

As for the first question, I started in SchH a few years ago as there was a need to select a low risk activity after having our child! Prior to that both myself and my wife were involved in some pretty high risk sports and have a lot of metal bits n bolts in our bodies 

About your comment regarding "outdogging yourself" I really do not understand. If you want to race F1, you can't enter driving a truck!


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

Try it, and have fun!

Even if she doesn't suit the protection part, there's no reason she cannot enjoy the obedience and tracking!


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

packen, I know what you mean about not being able to win an F1 with a truck, but I was worried about taking on a dog that was too strong for me at my current experience level. I don't think that would be a good situation for the dog or myself to have a very dominant, A personality type of dog that I didn't have the skills to handle. 

This is my first GSD, so I erred on the side of caution and took a dog that I felt I would be comfortable handling. WL GSD's are not a dog for an inexperienced handler and I think the really good schutzhund dogs can be a challenge even for the best of handlers, let along a novice. 

That's what I mean by out-dogging myself. Now that I've got my first GSD under my belt, I think I'd be more confident to take on one who was a bit stronger, but I think for my first, I got the right dog for me.

Ok, I'm going to sent the "TD" an email and see how it goes! Wish us luck!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Having a WL with good drives and balance is much easier to train as a novice handler than one that you need to work to bring out those drives. 
I find it amusing that some people will choose a dog with lower drives or want a SL because they feel they can't handle a WL/when in reality, the WL's seem to be much easier to train in the sport. 

Good luck blackshep, keep us updated on your journey!!


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Sue, me too. I am NOT a morning person. Only time I get up at 5 to track is for trials (and for that one in Indi in June I was up at 4). I do get up fairly early on Sundays for the club and every once in awhile if I just want to track in the wet grass. 

I have trained with people that get up extremely early and track before work. One guy used to lay his tracks in the dark with a light on his head and then run the tracks before work.


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

I will keep you posted!

I guess as you guys mentioned, it's a lot of work, so the breeder matched me up with a dog that if I decided it was too much work, she'd still be a nice dog for me.

I don't think she has low drives in all aspects, I just think she's not always super confident in certain situations.

We'll see how it goes. I sent the lady an email this morning, have not heard back yet. If she says they're full, I might be SOL anyway. LOL

Oh and not to worry, I have horses. I am down at the barn feeding at 6-6:30 am every day, and when we'd go to horse shows, you're up at 3:00 or 4:00am, so I'm used to that anyway, as far as getting up early for trials. I'm up at 5:30am every day for work anyway.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

I posted 5 am as an example ... from what I read on some of the tracking threads in the forum ... a couple of people had mentioned that they were up at 5 to lay the track, and then come back later after it was "stale" ... that's all


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

I don't have time to read through the whole thread here. But, responding to the OP.

Duke is a soft dog (submissive pee-er, handler/correction sensitive, etc). We do Schutzhund. I started training for this on Easter of this year (April 8th). It's a challenge, but he enjoys it and I'm learning so I can excel with my up and coming pup (Storm). Duke hates tracking, so we really don't push him at that. However, he actually LOVES bite work and does great at obedience. He'll never be IPO3... heck, we probably will never see IPO1. But, what does it matter... we are having fun!

Now Storm... she's my "next level" dog. She's going to challenge my ability big time. But, I don't think I've out dog(ed) myself. We got the "next level" a year sooner, but.... that's how life happened.

Anyway, I was a beginner and started Duke as a 2 year old and still got results... It just took a lot more work then the other handlers (I had to pull out all that drive that was rusty and stuck on the back burner in his mind), and I had to learn how to work with him... sometimes I have to act silly, but I get results and my dog loves it!

In my opinion, and how I decided to do this with Duke.... If the dog and handler are both enjoying it..... then go for it! Your dog may never be IPO3... but, you could still have a ton of fun and gain a great bond! Worth a shot!

Good luck!


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## pfitzpa1 (Apr 26, 2011)

My Maggie doesn't care for the bitework but loves obedience and tracking. I don't know if I'd call her a soft dog, she can really rough-play it up with some big dogs at the park and is not shy about giving an annoying dog a bit of verbal abuse. She is also crazy about critters and has great drive in both flushing and chasing prey. When it comes to bitework, she is either too mellow and/or doesn't see the excitement about it all. Occasionally she will get into it but can lose interest very quickly. It depends a lot on the helper. Using the whip tends to get her blood going but our trainer doesn't like using the whip too much.
So for now I keep her in puppy bitework (she is almost 2yrs old), She has no problem in puppy bitework and enjoys it. For some reason she cannot transition to the blind work.
We're going to do the obedience and tracking portions of IPO in a few weeks.

We still participate and enjoy the weekly club meet. I am a little disappointed she's not into the bitework but on the filp side, she is a great dog in every other way. A great listener, very social, mellow and loving companion. A great family dog, so I'm happy with that.

This thread just reminded me of a topic I wanted to post. Thanks!


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

So a little update -I heard back from the trainer.

They were all going to this place to watch a trial and then train afterwards, she said I was welcome to come along! Sadly, it got dark and was starting to snow, so we weren't able to train, but the one lady showed me one thing I could work on at home 

So that's my first little baby step, I'm excited! lol


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

what was the "thing"?


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## KatsMuse (Jun 5, 2012)

That's great!


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

LOL

The 'thing' was pushing up for food? So they kind of walk a bit (just for a few steps) putting more weight on their hind end, almost in a sit. She said just a few steps, then give a break, because it's hard work for a young dog.

I need to buy hotdogs. And gloves, because it was rather painful. LOL 

I'm also going to work more on the tracking, I think I can do little scent pads and get her working on that too.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Have you looked at any Bridget Carlsen video's? 
Bowwowflix is great for renting vids, too...turnaround is quick. I think I'll renew my subscription now that I'm in the house more.


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

No, thanks for those links. I'll check them out!


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

Ugh, can't watch those vids, I'm in Canada.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

Don't you hate that? LOL ... I get that all the time, very irritating!


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

Videos always make me want to clean the house-I don't watch them very much-or my house would be cleaner ugh


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

What do you guys think about our first try at article indication? :laugh: :wub:

Berlin's first try at article indication...cheeky as usual  | Facebook


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

That was adorable, I'd give her full points!


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

I think the belly flop article indication style is a lost art, don't you?


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

blackshep said:


> Ugh, can't watch those vids, I'm in Canada.


I can see most of them (not the first one, though) I think it depends on the music.


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

Catu said:


> I can see most of them (not the first one, though) I think it depends on the music.


Thank you!! I gave up when the first one didn't work, I think some of the others will.


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