# How long to title?



## Ruthie (Aug 25, 2009)

I was at the bookstore the other day and was flipping through a GSD book. (Sorry, didn't note the title) I saw an interesting statistic that I wanted to run by those with experience.

The book said that a typical obedience title takes 6 - 9 months to earn, but a Schutzhund title takes an average of 2 years. I am assuming that they are talking about a SchH1, not a BH. I know this is an average because all dogs are different, but I am interested to see how good their stat is.

So, those of you who have titled at dog, how long did it take? For what title? How old was your dog when you started training for SchH? (Because I wonder if they include puppy training in the two year timeframe)


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## GSD4LIFE21 (Mar 8, 2007)

I once wondered this but I honestly think it depends on the handler and their dog. So many factors such has how often they train during the week, training methods, how old the dog is, etc...how much brains your dog has  drives...mistakes as a handler that you make that set your dog back...etc etc


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## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

Indeed it depends on a lot of things. You also have to take into consideretion that your dog HAS to be 15 months old before you can trial for a BH. If a handler trains on a regular basis, getting a SchH 1 by the time the dog is 2 years old is very normal.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Some people will rush thru to title and not set the proper foundation. 
At the club I was at this weekend,







one guy has an almost 3 yr old that has his BH only. He isn't concerned about the age of his dog, but the way he will earn his titles. And to have fun with his dog. 
Individual goals and the maturity timing of the lines play into it as well.


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## dOg (Jan 23, 2006)

I might know that guy...









BH is 15 mos, and the rules are 3 mos in between, so 18 for 1, 21 mos for a 2 and 24 for a 3 is as fast as one might be able to go with no hiccups. I've only seen that happen once, so not sure how normal that might be. The handler had already taken a dog to SchH3, and the 2nd was a great dog. As much as Murphy loves trials, don't set your heart on that 2 year goal for a 3, it's a process, not a race.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

hehehe 
Murphy always gets murphys way...
or in the way


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## Ruthie (Aug 25, 2009)

Honestly, not asking for myself. I have my own goals based on Bison and I both being new, and estimating what he capible of.

I really am just interested in verifying the statistic in the book with real data.

And, yeah, I think I know that guy too. Really great dog.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

I'd say 2 years is pretty average for most regular SchH people. By "regular" I mean normal folks, not professional trainers, who train regularly but also have a life beyond SchH.

Age the dog is when started can also be a factor. If starting with a pup, it's not uncommon to take closer to 3 once waiting for the dog to mature is factored in. If starting with an adolescent or adult dog where some maturity has already happened, might only take a year.


There are so many other factors involved from aptitude of handler to aptitude of dog to quality of training/helpers available to frequency of training, not to mention injuries or sickness or family/job issues or any number of other things that can slow progress, that I bet there are as many cases of folks not falling into that average as there are that do though. So I'd consider it a pretty rough average.


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## krylos (Oct 19, 2006)

I know that I am the factor that holds my 3 year old "pup" back. I am a first-time dog owner and a first-time SchH handler/trainer. As someone above noted though, I am more interested in how we prepare and the fun that we have while training than how fast we get our titles. Lana was 2 when she got her BH, a couple months older when she got her SchH1, and is now just slightly over 3. Hopefully we will try for her SchH2 later this month if there is time, but if not, oh well... there is always next spring







She could have done this all MUCH faster with someone with more experience, but we have fun doing what we do at the speed we advance.


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## VonKromeHaus (Jun 17, 2009)

I can say that waiting for this dog to mature has been frustrating. I started him as a puppy and he is 27 months old now. He doesn't have a BH yet.....He is ready for one but time and financial restrictions have held us back from getting it. That said, I think that 2 years is probably average....depending on the dog and owner. 

I know now that the longer they require to mature, teh longer the titles take! 

Courtney


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## mjbgsd (Jun 29, 2004)

> Quote:So, those of you who have titled at dog, how long did it take? For what title?


Cody- Was started in obedience before 6 months and I finally decided to enter into the Novice A class in AKC. It took me 3 trials, all with a 1st place ribbon, to get his CD when he was about 3 years.
I waited a long time to make sure he was precise. I want presicion over ribbons. 
Took me about a year to get his RN, RA, and RE title, he was between 4-5 years. 
Took me less than a year to get his BH at 2 years. 
The CGC was on a whim and we just did it. Same with the HIC. 

Isa- Didn't start obedience until she was 8 months. Took me 2 years to train for her CD and she got it at 3 years. Took a year to get her RN, RA, and RE at 31/2 years. Took almost a year to get her RAE because it's hard to find shows around here. This is the main reason why my dogs' titles are spaced out. Didn't get Isa's BH till she was 3 years. Did the same thing with her CGC and HIC, it was on a whim, lol. Never trained for that stuff, I expected her to do well anyways.








It has taken me a year to train for her CDX so far. I'm going slow....
I took a year off from schH and prior to that I wasn't training too often, so it's taken a year to train Isa in Tracking. 

Akbar- He wont start competition obedience for a while, gotta love these DDR maturity brains. LOL 



> Quote:How old was your dog when you started training for SchH?


I didn't know about schH until Cody was about 2 years, so I guess it took me less then a year to get his BH, he already was competition OB trained by then, he just wasn't looking up at me which was fine, he's been retired since he was 51/2 years though because of arthritis. 

Isa started in schH at 12 weeks.







Her favorite thing to do is tracking. 

I'm not sure if I'll do schH with Akbar.


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