# I went to see my first Sch in person today....



## Naptown Hitman (Jan 30, 2009)

....and it was FREAKIN AWESOME!!!







Sue from this forum told me to go check out the OG Indy club, so I did. I met her husband Gabor and he is a really nice guy. I have read a few bad things about Sch clubs on this board, so I didnt know what to expect. It was nothing like the ones that I have read about on here. There was no drama or arrogance. Everyone was super friendly and was more than happy to answer all of my million questions. Everyone that walked up introduced themselves and made me feel welcome. 


The dogs there were all spectacular. I am amazed at what they can do and how disciplined they are. They all started out doing some obedience work, then did bite work. I think the two things that I appreciated the most were the dogs focus and how they turn their aggression off so fast. I am still in awe. I have to go back, because I didnt get to see a "send out". I think that is one of the coolest things they do. Dont take much to impress me.

Sorry for the rambling.

Anyway. I will be taking Dexter to PK after his next set of shots(3 weeks) to get started on the obedience. I hope that he has the temp and nerves to do Sch. If not, I will try agility or something else. Im not going to force him to do something that he wasnt cut out to do. He is 10 weeks old and is just now starting to be interested in toys a little bit. He is definitely more food driven. I have taught him to sit, lay down, and play dead by using treats. I forgot how smart these dogs were. Anyway, here are my questions:

Are there any toys that would help him become more toy driven?

Is there anything that I can do to make him more toy driven?

With Sch in mind, what are some good exercises or training to start with? Or is it too early?

Thanks for listening to my mindless rambling,
Chris


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

Chris,

I did follow up with Gabor - told you he is the only Hungarian out there . He is pretty focused at training, so that is why he might seem a bit quiet or reserved. Plus, he has all the boys with him (except for Griff), so he had his hands full.

He will be back up the 1st weekend in March (He and Mike will be down here the last weekend in Feb) to work dogs. Feel free to talk to him - other than Isco and now......QUAMATZ!!!, he has raised and trained all his dogs from a puppy and can give you some guidelines. he can eval the puppy for you - he is excellent at the teaching and eval aspect.


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## scannergirl (Feb 17, 2008)

At the club I went to there was a Malinois called Atilla. He is a SchH3. He is the most beautiful dog I ever saw, and I watched him do some pretty amazing obedience. I told his owner I was in love, even though I had not met the dog yet. Later he did some protection, and he was amazing. Nearly knocked the handler off his feet. Totally focused and aggressive. On the way off the field the owner passed by me, and allowed Atilla close to me. He jumped in my lap and just loved on me like I was his long lost best friend. 
Like I wasn't in love before....what an awesome dog.
That's what I think good Schutzhund is all about. Happy dogs doing what they love best.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Glad you enjoyed it! There are many good clubs out there, friendly and welcoming. I wouldn't be doing Schutzhund if our club was elitist or exclusive. 

I know the first time I saw dogs being worked in bite-work, I was pretty impressed! My thoughts were: I want MY dog to do that!!! Seemed like it would be sooooo cool! 

As for obedience for Dexter, at 10 weeks old, I wouldn't worry about obedience too much. Work on building Dexter's confidence by setting him up to succeed. Keep everything positive, full of praise, play, and treats. Let him know that he is the best dog in the whole wide world, and he cannot do wrong. Don't inhibit biting. When he wants to bite you, grab a toy and let him bite that instead. Redirection is your friend! He may not show a lot of drive yet at his age, but you could help build his drives by getting him to chase things and letting him catch them. I used a whip (just dragging it on the ground and moving it around) rope, branches, rags, balls on ropes, kongs on ropes, anything. Drag it around, move it around with jerky movements to get him excited. Make him work for his prize. Let him chase good, then let him catch it, then play tug, and always let him win. Keep him wanting to play more, stop before he gets bored or tired. 

Too much obedience at an early stage can cause problems in a Schutzhund dog. Different people will have different ideas and opinions on what is too much for a Schutzhund dog, but your club can help you and guide you in that. 

All I did with Falkor until he was about 5 or 6 months old is to get him to sit for things like getting his collar and leash on/off, and encouraged and rewarded eye contact and walking on my left. 

I lived with my pockets full of kibble and treats, and he got treats for looking at me. When going for walks, I would use treats to lure him to my left side. He would follow my hand with the treat in it. I would talk to him and when he looked up, he got a treat. At this age, they have a very short attention span, so that was all I asked. It wasn't long he started offering me the behaviour, and he got rewarded each time he came to my side and looked at me on his own. 

Good luck with Dexter, I'm sure you'll have a blast!


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## GoLd (Feb 12, 2009)

Chris,

You and I have that in common, I attended my first ShzH club today as well and it was an amazing experience. Everyone was friendly and helpfull and there was a really sense of community. 

The level of controlled power of the protection drills, the way the dogs focused on the owners during the ob drills. I'd have to have raw steaks stapled to my forehead to get my dog to focus on me like that. Its something I'm really looking forward to start doing when I get my new dog. 

The amount of work seems insignificant after you see the results. 

Greg


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## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

Glad to hear your experience was very positive! 



> Quote:I'd have to have raw steaks stapled to my forehead to get my dog to focus on me like that.










too funny! Thanks for the much needed laugh!


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## Naptown Hitman (Jan 30, 2009)

Sue- I could tell that he was focused on the dogs and training. He was very nice when I did talk to him tho. He and Mike are great trainers. They have different styles, but they are both very good at what they do. They definitely have the respect of the dogs and the people in the club. Gabor and the boys have a bond and respect for each other that you can see on their faces. I sat there watching one of the boys(young,thin,sable) that he had tied to a tree(working on his bark I guess) and the only thing he was focused on was Gabor the entire time. Even when he was 150 yards away at the truck, the dog would still be focused on him. I thought that was pretty cool. Alot of people cant get that much focus from their dog in the same room(I cant). I will be going back for sure. I will PM you to make sure Gabor will be there.


Lucina-There was a fairly young Malinois there also and he was HYPER. That was the first time I had ever seen one and didnt know what it was. Man, those dogs have some energy. The lady had the Malinois(probably 8 months old) and a GS puppy(about 3-4 months old). Im sure she has her hands full at home.

I agree. most of the dogs there were enjoying what they were doing and having fun. There were 2 there that acted like they would love nothing more than to chew your arm off and prance it around the field tho.

Castlemaid- Thank you. Honestly, I was looking forward to the actual biting more than anything when I went. I wasnt disappointed, but there were so many other things that impressed me more. The discipline during the bite work impressed me more than the actual biting.

I dont expect to much from Dexter right now. Im pretty satisfied with what he has learned so far. I keep our training very short right now. Usually 3 or 4 minutes a few times a day. His attention span is about the same as my 5yo daughters....and a little better than that of my 15yo daughter. There was a guy there that had a toy for his puppy made from a whip. I think he called it a bull whip(kinda looked like a fishin pole). Where can I get one of those?

I guess I need to start rewarding more as the day goes for him doing what I want. The treats are usually reserved for training time. I usually just give him alot of praise(no treats) for doing other things like going potty outside.


Greg-It is amazing what they can do. I think it is more amazing for a couple of newbs like us that have never seen it before. I dont think that the people that do it every day appreciate it as much as we do, because they are so used to it. It is definitely something that every dog lover should see. Im looking forward to going back to watch some of the other things that they do. When are you getting your new dog?


Nicole- Thank you. It was very positive. I really enjoyed it. I would hate to see the number of people that never give Sch a second chance because the first club that they went to, the people acted like a-holes. I feel very fortunate to have a good club so close to home.


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

Chris,

If the dog was smaller, it was Fado. He had Isco (the one worked in the protection that has the same sire as Fado), Enzo (just did some blinds), Quamatz (1/2 brother to Fado on the dam, but he is a big boy and green in training) and Dax

Dax might have been the one back tied on the tree. He is now going to be a K9!!!! We now have 1 from the D litter (Fannie and Enzo) and 1 from the E litter (Eick and Emi) as k9s!!!!


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## alaman (May 3, 2006)

Chris, Sue and Gabor are great people. I'm happy to call them friends.

Be careful. Schutzund can be habit forming and before you know it you are buying dogs, examining pedigrees, etc. I know because the same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. Now I own several Schutzund dogs and spend a lot of time at it. Trips are planned around trials, etc.


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## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

I think the use of verbal and physical praise is excellent. Always good IMHO to use a variety of reward systems and not get into the habit of relying only on one, otherwise the others that are so valuable and only allowed for example in trial (voice/physical praise at the end of an exercise) often end of being of far less/of little value to the dog. 



> Quote: Be careful. Schutzund can be habit forming and before you know it you are buying dogs, examining pedigrees, etc. I know because the same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. Now I own several Schutzund dogs and spend a lot of time at it. Trips are planned around trials, etc.


Ditto on that! My last 2 and 1 upcoming "vacations" have been strictly dog-related venues/seminars!


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## Naptown Hitman (Jan 30, 2009)

Great! Like getting a divorce and having a teenage daughter isnt expensive enough! I think I'll take the cheaper route and start smoking crack. 

My girls would love me if I took them to a dog trial for summer vacation!









"Kids, we are not going on that Carribean cruise.....we are going to Cleveland!!!" That would go over like a turd in a punch bowl.

Maybe I need to re-think this Sch thing.


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## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

That's just my personal preference - SchH is my (and my dog's) addiction and my hope is to progress in the sport to a higher competition level past club level, hence why my extra time and dollars are spent on attending extra seminars and extra training oppportunities in the sport. Lots of people participate and are involved at a club level only and enjoy working their dog(s) doing so. But it is an expensive sport to be involved with and does require quite a time comittment over the long term


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## Naptown Hitman (Jan 30, 2009)

I was just kidding. It has to be cheaper than golf. I have plenty of time and I hope to get the girls involved in whatever I do. I already involve my 5yo with his training. He dont listen to her very well, but its a good experience for both of them. They adore each other.


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## alaman (May 3, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: Naptown HitmanI was just kidding. It has to be cheaper than golf. I have plenty of time and I hope to get the girls involved in whatever I do. I already involve my 5yo with his training. He dont listen to her very well, but its a good experience for both of them. They adore each other.


LOL good luck on Schutzund being cheaper than golf. I used to play golf and I with Schutzund was that cheap


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## jesusica (Jan 13, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: alaman
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: Naptown HitmanI was just kidding. It has to be cheaper than golf. I have plenty of time and I hope to get the girls involved in whatever I do. I already involve my 5yo with his training. He dont listen to her very well, but its a good experience for both of them. They adore each other.
> ...


I've easily spent over 2k in the last six months alone on one dog.







Equipment, gas, food, dues, hotel...never ending.

Edit: And that's with me gritting my teeth and saying no, I just can't spend money on this or that right now.


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