# Schutzhund Training Puppy foundation!



## Lovethedog (May 20, 2015)

I am new to Schutzhund and will be getting a Schutzhund prospect puppy here in a couple months!

I have been reading a lot and had a few questions. Sorry if my questions are dumb. 

I have heard a lot of people wanting their dog to portray the "hard" image (barking and not letting strangers walk up to them) is there such thing as to much socialization? Will this come out later due to the dogs pedigree no matter what foundation training is present? I don't want a dog that's really "doggy" or extremely playful I want a dog that will work and take its training serious. How do you teach this? 

In the puppies foundation training what are the main things you guys suggest in obedience? Drive building? How old should serious obedience be taught? 
What other things should be implemented in the first year of training? 

I know nothing about the whole tracking phase? Please tell me some ways to do this. 

Do you keep your working dogs outside in a kennel or in the house?

I really look forward to hearing some great input and suggestions from you all.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Find a club and a trainer. 

My IPO dog sleeps in my bed. He has no issues with training. 

Start obedience and tracking as a puppy. It's all pieces. You learn steps and at the end put them all together for the trial.

I want my dog to be neutral. I dont' want a reactive dog barking at people and other dogs just walking by. I don't want him to go want attention from everyone and every dog (which he does but I'll take this over the other). You teach them to focus on you. All great things come from you


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## gaia_bear (May 24, 2012)

Lovethedog said:


> I am new to Schutzhund and will be getting a Schutzhund prospect puppy here in a couple months!
> 
> I have been reading a lot and had a few questions. Sorry if my questions are dumb.
> 
> ...


I socialized my dog to be neutral in all situations, he can go anywhere. He's not overly social but not a jerk either. I don't know how to teach it, I think a lot of it is genetics but someone with more experience with chime in.

Cuervo's a working dog but he's my pet first, currently curled up on my feet sleeping. He'd probably be fine in a kennel but him being a house dog is important to me.

For foundation work my biggest suggestion is find a club you are comfortable with and work with them. It's hard to put information from the Internet into practice without real hands on guidance.


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## Blitzkrieg1 (Jul 31, 2012)

Depending on where you are and your commitment level you may be better off renting some instructional DvDs Michael Ellis and Ivan Balabanov make some good ones. 
Also watching as many youtube clips as you can find on the topic can give you some idea.

Many clubs fall short in obedience, educating yourself is essential to your ability to take your dog from 0 to IPO 3 much less compete at any level. Definitely join one and a good one if you can. However, if you have some idea what you want your final picture to look like, and what quality training looks like you will be that much closer to your goal of a successful IPO dog.

Remember obedience needs to be fast and the dog must be happy. Teach him to push you for the reward. I teach my pups to bark initially to get them in that pushy frame of mind and reward that behavior. I want the pup all over me during a session, jumping on me, barking even nipping  (I scale this back later).

Dont be Club Filler , shoot for the top..


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## Lovethedog (May 20, 2015)

Thank you everyone!

I will definitely further my research knowledge and continue to shadow clubs.

What is the best food for puppies? And what do you guys feed your working pups by puppy engagement and training? Is this with hot dog or their actual puppy dry food?

Prefer a tug or ball? Does it matter?


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

*You need to find a club to train with. Stop shadowing, find a good club, then jump in with both feet. *On our own, we tend to focus on the 'protection' phase, don't know what we are doing, and end up with a mess that is too much to deal with.

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru.../555833-needing-some-advice-about-my-gsd.html Has great info for ALL puppies when starting out. And there are alot of great 'engagement' session videos with Michael Ellis (mentioned in a post above).

Puppies have ZERO ability to tell real danger from your mother-in-law. ZERO. So if you have a puppy that's barking and growling and reacting then it's from fear, and a fear aggressive ADULT dog is a nightmare. Socializing a puppy so it knows the world is a wonderful place to go out with confidence is what we want. Not one that thinks any new thing that comes up is terrifying, and new stuff is constantly coming up, and the person at the other end of the leash is useless and not going to take the lead but just let me bark and be afraid.............


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I use meals to train with. When the bowl is empty, training session is over.

You feed what you are comfortable with. I fed commercial raw. It can be made into meatballs for training, it's balanced, and amounts are easily controlled. Some people feed kibble and others feed home made raw.

Don't tug to hard as a puppy. You'll be hard on this teeth. focus on obedience and tracking. Let the helper show you how to use a flirt pole.

Where are you located at?


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## mycobraracr (Dec 4, 2011)

A lot of what you're asking, IMO depends on the dog. Foods? Depends on what the puppy likes and allergies. There are many quality foods out there. 

Training treats? I've found most my puppies work just fine for their meals/kibble. 

Training toys? Depends on the the puppy will work for. I find it's easier to teach and explain something with food if the puppy is food motivated, then get the energy and drive with a toy. 

For me, the most important thing with puppies is to expose them to everything you can possibly come up with. Noises, objects types of people, surfaces and so on. My general rule is take the puppy to at least one new place every week.

Keep your "training" sessions very short and fun. The puppy should be excited to come back out and "play" with you.


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## G-burg (Nov 10, 2002)

> In the puppies foundation training what are the main things you guys suggest in obedience? Drive building? How old should serious obedience be taught? What other things should be implemented in the first year of training?


First and foremost, have fun with the puppy! Enjoy that stage in their lives, because it does not last long..

Get with a good club or mentor, so you can start out correctly!

For me, foundation training is teaching the basics, all with food, (me personally, I do not use their meals for training).. We work on sit, down, basic position, focus in front, focus in basic, informal recalls and heeling.. IN the beginning stages it's lots of luring into positions, then over time, you start using the food lure less and less.. As my dogs get older and understand the behaviors, I will ask more of them and the rewards will come after.. or corrections for not complying.. 

Then over time, I add the toy for reward, motivation, frustration and quickness, etc, etc, etc!


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## Lovethedog (May 20, 2015)

Ok thank you everybody!
For SCHUTZHUND...

When crate training and kenneling? Do you only take the pup out to train? How often?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

At home and out and about, pup is enjoying being a pup, learning about the world and how to be a bit mannerly in that world. This goes for in the house out of the house, with the other family members...which in my case includes dogs.

At club, pup is crated in the vehicle until pups turn on the field, always crated after a session to process it(cool down walk is good before that, but not excited type cool down or swim) Anytime I train, the dog is crated for a bit after the session, not let loose in the house or yard to play...it helps the dog to process if it was a learning session/which hopefully they all are!


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## ldmpku (Jul 5, 2021)

Jax08 said:


> I use meals to train with. When the bowl is empty, training session is over.
> 
> You feed what you are comfortable with. I fed commercial raw. It can be made into meatballs for training, it's balanced, and amounts are easily controlled. Some people feed kibble and others feed home made raw.
> 
> ...


I know this is old! I am trying to train with kibble! There are two problems! First, it’s too hard to feed all kibbles in training……me physically impossible. Second, kibble is not rewarding enough for my pup. I’m using victor now and this kibble doesn’t motivate the pup a lot unless I put all kibbles in training. What portion of food do you give free?


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

ldmpku said:


> I know this is old! I am trying to train with kibble! There are two problems! First, it’s too hard to feed all kibbles in training……me physically impossible. Second, kibble is not rewarding enough for my pup. I’m using victor now and this kibble doesn’t motivate the pup a lot unless I put all kibbles in training. What portion of food do you give free?


Please message me. I looked at your previous posts and I'm unclear what the background of your dog and your training is. It would be easier to chat off the board or even on the phone this weekend since you are in the area.


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## ldmpku (Jul 5, 2021)

Jax08 said:


> Please message me. I looked at your previous posts and I'm unclear what the background of your dog and your training is. It would be easier to chat off the board or even on the phone this weekend since you are in the area.


Started a private conversation!


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