# how to prepare for an evaluation?



## Doggydog (May 12, 2009)

I'm interested in getting involved in schutzhund with my 9 month old GSD. I found a trainer that wants to meet my dog for an assessment as to what she knows and where we need to begin. She's trained in English, so aside from teaching her sitz & platz, what should she know before we meet the trainer?
She heels fine on a lead, but not the way it would be expected for this activity. Her sit, down, stand, and stays are really very good.
Other than that, she knows lots of tricks which are cute but useless for this purpose. 
How would I get ready? 
In case you didn't notice, I'm a complete novice. This will be my first experience in that arena.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Honestly, a good SchH trainer is probably going to be looking more at her temperament, soundness, drives, how she interacts with you adn the environment, etc. These are things that you can't really prepare and train for like you would specific skills. When I started training my now 6, then 4.5 year old dog in Schutzhund, I basically re-taught pretty much all of her obedience anyway.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

You can use English commands in Schutzhund, so no worries there. 

The evaluation will not be so much about what Jiva already knows, but more to see if she would be a good candidate for protection work. They will want to see her confidence in a new place, interacting with new people she has never met before. They will play with her with a tug or rag to see how much prey drive she has.

There is no "set" evaluation, and each trainer will do things their own way, but an experienced trainer/helper can tell loads about a dog just by watching it walk onto the field for the first time in her life. 

If you are interested in Schutzhund, the main thing you can do is always use positives for training. Will she work for a ball or tug? Build her confidence and her enthusiasm for obedience by using a ball or tug reward. At this beginning stage, you don't need to be concerned about high-precision in obedience, but want to have a happy, animated, excited dog that WANTS to work with you and work FOR you!

So really, to get ready, just have FUN! Go new places, meet new people, get your well-behaved puppy amped up and excited for playing new games with you!


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## Ruthie (Aug 25, 2009)

I joined a SchH club this year and did nothing in advance to prepare for the evaluation. They evaluated the dog's temperament and fit for SchH rather than what he already knows. 

Your commands can be in either English or German. It doesn't matter. You may have to re-train some commands to be more precise for SchH, so if you are using English, you might want to reserve the German commands for when you get started with training. 

The prep I did do was reading up on SchH before visiting the club so I understood at least the basics of what was going on.


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## Doggydog (May 12, 2009)

Thanks. I appreciate the information.
It makes sense that they'll be more looking at her temperament for possibility. I came home tonight and tried her commands in german and luckily I have used simple gestures and she followed those cues right into place even with a different word. Seems that's the least of it anyway.
She loves tug, but her strategy is to hold tight rather than wrestle it away. She prefers to go for endurance rather than the fight. I can pull, twist, shake and she just stays latched on. Even if her feet leave the ground she hangs on. But she won't really pull or try to yank it away as much as just stay on it.
I guess I haven't exposed her to many games besides fetch. She has a strong preference for tennis balls, but I can get her excited about other toys if I put some effort into it and make it seem fun enough.
She's met new people nearly every day for 6 months. I think she'll be confident and unaffected by unusual surroundings. 
So I could go meet them tomorrow, but I had thought it would be better to start prepping her in some way. What I've learned here is that there really is no prepping for this type of evaluation. I've watched it on youtube, but I admit I don't fully understand what is going on. 
How will I know if it's a decent organization? Anything I should hope to see, or not to see?


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## Ruthie (Aug 25, 2009)

I can tell you what I was looking for in a club is positive training, laid back atmosphere but still goal oriented, friendly and supportive club members, and willingness and patience to help someone who is learning.


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## W.Oliver (Aug 26, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: RuthieI can tell you what I was looking for in a club is positive training, laid back atmosphere but still goal oriented, friendly and supportive club members, and willingness and patience to help someone who is learning.


That would be an awesome club. I hope you have success training with the bunch of Hooligans you're with until you find that club!


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## Ruthie (Aug 25, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Wayne02
> That would be an awesome club. I hope you have success training with the bunch of Hooligans you're with until you find that club!












Yeah, I think I stick with um.







Afterall, they put up with me and my crazy beast AND manage to teach me a lot in the process. 

Doggydog, hope you can find a great group to train with too.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: doggydogI'm interested in getting involved in schutzhund with my 9 month old GSD. I found a trainer that wants to meet my dog for an assessment as to what she knows and where we need to begin. She's trained in English, so aside from teaching her sitz & platz, what should she know before we meet the trainer?
> She heels fine on a lead, but not the way it would be expected for this activity. Her sit, down, stand, and stays are really very good.
> Other than that, she knows lots of tricks which are cute but useless for this purpose.
> How would I get ready?
> In case you didn't notice, I'm a complete novice. This will be my first experience in that arena.



An evaluation isn't something you prepare for or train for, the club will be looking at the core personality of you're dog not her training. They'll want to assess her drive, nerve, how she reacts to strange people, places, dogs and things. They're determining if she has what it takes in terms of *temperament* to pursue SchH, not where she's at in training.

So relax, show up on time, watch and listen and ask a few questions and most of all have fun and keep your ears and mind open.


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## Doggydog (May 12, 2009)

thx. exciting.


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