# New to Schutzhund



## ChapelHillGSD (May 12, 2011)

Hello everyone. Have been reading a lot on the sport of schutzhund and pretty confused because I'm new to this. I have a 9 week old GSD and was wondering what I should be working on. I have been socializing him alot since I had him. I also have been trying to keep his prey drive up. What else should I be working on with him so he can get off to a good start. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

Be careful around other dogs.. one good scare at a pup that age could manifest itself as lifelong dog aggression.

Work on building prey drive all the time.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

You should be finding a club so you can get started with your puppy right away.


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## DolphinGirl (Nov 5, 2010)

I know the young pups in my group are mostly working on OB...sitz, platz, fuss, etc. Then we use a rag or flirt pole to work on prey drive.


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## Hillary_Plog (Apr 3, 2011)

Elaine said:


> You should be finding a club so you can get started with your puppy right away.


:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## mthurston0001 (Jul 12, 2009)

I'll third that find a club remark. Also TAKE YOUR TIME in building the foundation. Once you have a solid foundation the rest will come. This is in regards to all phases of training.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

Did you ever find a club nearby?


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Let the puppy be a puppy. Too much obedience ealry on can inhibit them later on. No correction for biting, always redirect. Build your pup's confidence, let him believe he is the best, baddest puppy in the whole wide world.


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## ChapelHillGSD (May 12, 2011)

@Hunterisgreat I found a club that is on 30mins from me. I have made contact with them and is going to visit next weekend when the helper is there. I would like to thank everyone for their advice.


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## Stella's Mom (Mar 8, 2011)

I am also interested in starting Schutzhund training with my dog. I have not worked on prey drive with her. She will graduate from intermediate obedience classes next week.

My concern is correction methods. I have been doing some reading on the topic and I am not really interested to give my dog a hard correction since this training will be more for sport and to keep her body and mind exercised. 

Are hard corrections always used?


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## TitonsDad (Nov 9, 2009)

Stella's Mom said:


> Are hard corrections always used?


No

Get the book, "Trainer the Behavior" by Gary Patterson.


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## neiltus (Mar 10, 2011)

TitonsDad said:


> No
> 
> Get the book, "Trainer the Behavior" by Gary Patterson.


Rarely for me.

Now, I will add scent pads to the list of pup things. My pup LOVES this...and it wears her out too (don't know why, but no complaints!)


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Stella's Mom said:


> I am also interested in starting Schutzhund training with my dog. I have not worked on prey drive with her. She will graduate from intermediate obedience classes next week.
> 
> My concern is correction methods. I have been doing some reading on the topic and I am not really interested to give my dog a hard correction since this training will be more for sport and to keep her body and mind exercised.
> 
> Are hard corrections always used?


Not sure what you mean by hard corrections relating to SchH.
I rarely if ever have had to correct my dog. 
Corrections should be very minimal when pups are growing, re-direction is best. the dog should have house manners of course, but that is more shaping and praising the wanted behaviors.

You want a confident pup with a strong bond to you and over correcting won't help that at all.
Now that my male is over 2 we are using more corrections(collar pops) when doing protection work, as his focus needs to be on me more. But it doesn't shut him down whatsoever, because he is a confident dog.
Agree with the scent pads/tracking. Tracking is a great phase and I would also introduce articles at a younger age.


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## Ace952 (Aug 5, 2010)

Castlemaid said:


> Let the puppy be a puppy. Too much obedience ealry on can inhibit them later on. No correction for biting, always redirect. Build your pup's confidence, let him believe he is the best, baddest puppy in the whole wide world.


I agree with this & with what Hunterisgreat said.

9 weeks old, let them be a puppy. I didn't let mine out of the house/backyard until he had all of his shots. Let them be a puppy and play. 

At the very most you can work on using the flirt pole and even then only a 2 min session. Other than that....be a puppy. You don't have to run and start Sch training right now.

People always say"you started too late" or this or that like it is a race for people to brag about how soon they started their dog and how soon they were biting on a suit and all.. You start when you feel the dog is ready but at this stage...I wouldn't do anything but short sessions at home with a flirt pole.


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## Ace952 (Aug 5, 2010)

Stella's Mom said:


> I am also interested in starting Schutzhund training with my dog. I have not worked on prey drive with her. She will graduate from intermediate obedience classes next week.
> 
> My concern is correction methods. I have been doing some reading on the topic and I am not really interested to give my dog a hard correction since this training will be more for sport and to keep her body and mind exercised.
> 
> Are hard corrections always used?


How old is your dog?
If you haven't worked her in prey I would start with short session with a flirt pole and keep it at that.

Hard corrections......
You don't want to do it with a puppy. But also it REALLY depends on your dog and the breeding it comes from. Some dogs you don't but some dogs can be harder and need it. 

If I remember right, I had Jax on a choker at 6 months. He NEEDED it as a flat did nothing to him and he is just a lot of dog. At 9 months I had him (and still do today) on a pinch as he pulls through a choker. It all depends on the dog and breeding as well.


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## clearcreekranch (Mar 18, 2010)

Castlemaid said:


> Let the puppy be a puppy. Too much obedience ealry on can inhibit them later on. No correction for biting, always redirect. Build your pup's confidence, let him believe he is the best, baddest puppy in the whole wide world.



What Castlemaid said!


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## Stella's Mom (Mar 8, 2011)

My dog will be 5 months on the 22nd of June. I will get her a prey toy as you have suggested.

She has never been on a choke chain or flat collar. She has gone through basic obedience and will graduate intermediate training in a week. She does very well on the leash as I started walking her since she was 5 weeks old so I have not had to correct her often.

When I do correct her to get her attention in obedience or during training, it is usually a body nudge , stand in front, tap her, until I get her attention and pull on the lead a bit.

She is very sweet natured and not a hard dog. Today in the dog park she started putting herself between 2 of her dog buddies when a mixed breed shepherding kind of dog kept chasing a 5 month old pitbull around. She would stand over the pitbulls head to protect her from the other dog. She does have protective qualities that are just beginning to show.


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