# Report to judge



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

My dog will be 12 months Sept. 7 so I probably won't be able to do a BH yet this fall b/c the min age is 15 months, right? That would be Dec. 7 and I don't know if Michigan has trials that late. However there is a Dog Sport trial Sept. 26 and I think the minimum age for the FO is 12 months (please correct me if I'm wrong). I would like to train for this because I need some sort of goal, doing the BH in the spring seems so far away! Anyway, at this point our biggest challenge would simply be the report to the judge. Kenya was never a problem, since the first day I got her she wouldn't look twice at a strange dog 5 feet away, but Nikon can be more reactive and snarky at such close range. Any tips on how to train the report to the judge? Do you actually practice that exercise, or do you find that as the dog progresses and works obedience in drive he simply doesn't care about the other dog anymore? We usually train a few dogs at a time during obedience and Nikon has been practicing long downs within 10 feet of another dog but having to heel right next to a strange dog as the very first exercise kinda scares me! Obviously I will ask the TD and set up this exercise at club training, but I'm wondering how others like to practice for it.


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

You are on the right track, pick an experienced non reactive dog to practice with, take the left position so you can turn you dog away if you need to. Start with the dogs pretty far apart, and work up to normal report position, be sure to practice having someone look at his ear tatoo as well. And try to practice with different people acting as a judge, as well as different dogs. You should be able to condition this fairly quickly.

Lee


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

I had the same concerns and worries with Keeta for her BH. And yes, I practiced heeling her near and around other dogs, a lot. We practiced heeling side-by-side, with other handler teams, and one dog in front of another, and practiced going over reporting in with different people. You don't have to practice that with your TD, anyone at your club, or any vict . . . er, friend can help you out acting like they are the judge.


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## girlll_face (Jun 9, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Castlemaid You don't have to practice that with your TD, anyone at your club, or any vict . . . er, friend can help you out acting like they are the judge.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Why are you in such a hurry? Train the dog. Deal with his issues with other dogs and when he is ready you trial. You can never train for every possible scenario that might come up in a trial so just train your dog. Then the rest won't matter.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

You would train it like you would with any distraction. 

When you report in, your dog should be under command for Fuss, no looking away and eyes glued on you. If other dogs are a major distraction then you work up to it. We put our dogs in a big group of people in position at the left asking for attention, the people crowd us, touch the dog, etc. The goal is for the dog not to break attention. This also works well for us in regards to the tattoo check because the judge can check the ear without the dog breaking position and attention. We also heel next to other dog/handler teams and practice reporting in. 

If you can get your attention very solid then he shouldn't even look at the other dog. 

I would say one of the biggest problems people have (and this is myself included!) is getting your dog to snap into drive off the field and maintain it onto the field. I know I had the habit in training of bringing my dog out onto the field out of drive and THEN starting obedience. So when I did my BH, I said Fuss (my dog didn't really) walked onto the field (poorly) and when we got to the judge he broke position to visit the judge. 










Fortunately...We downed first and that snapped his brain into OB mode and we did just fine, but it was something we fixed and knew to change. You can see the difference when we did Anka's BH...this is during the critique but it's the same principle.


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: lhczthWhy are you in such a hurry? Train the dog. Deal with his issues with other dogs and when he is ready you trial. You can never train for every possible scenario that might come up in a trial so just train your dog. Then the rest won't matter.


Agree with Lisa on this. Build your foundation. Trial in the spring and focus on what your real goal is. Is it just the BH or further SCH titling? 

I have been taught and Gabor does this as well. If your goal is SCH3, train for that and take the time. Let the dog develop and mature; learn a solid foundation so you will not have to go backwards later


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## GSD07 (Feb 23, 2007)

That is so true and a wonderful advice. I've noticed just from my not so extensive experience that if the good foundation and relationship is there it's so fast and easy to build anything on top of that and training is going very smooth.


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## jesusica (Jan 13, 2006)

I agree with Lisa. I guess it depends on what your goals are (me personally that's for my dog to be the best he is capable of being, if that's club level that's great, if it's world level that's equally great) but one of the different things about schutzhund when compared to other dog sports is that it takes SO long to correctly get a title. I've got people asking how old Flash is and what titles he has and then they say oh so he'll be ready for the 1 this fall, 2 and 3 in the spring, nationals next year and then they look at me like I have 5 eyes, not just 3, when I say we are NOWHERE near ready for the 1 and he's never so much as seen a dumbell. I don't even own one. There's no reason to rush. I really don't understand those who think a dog needs to have a 1 before it's even 2. Heck I don't understand timelines at all. There is no timeline. It's when the dog and handler are ready. If you rush and get sloppy titles, what do you have to do after the 3? You have to clean up everything, lots more training, and there will probably be things you can't clean up. So what the dog has its 3 but it sure isn't trained. It may do the routine but it's not trained. Big difference. I see more dogs with 3's that I don't want my dog to be like than those I do want him to be like, and more often than not the handlers think it's some amazing accomplishment that they finished the titles before the dog turned 3. My .02.


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## GSD07 (Feb 23, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: jesusica If you rush and get sloppy titles, what do you have to do after the 3?


 Well, you can start breeding your dog, he's SchH 3 and proved his worthiness to propagate ... Isn't that what all the rush is about?


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## jesusica (Jan 13, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: GSD07...he's SchH 3 and proved his worthiness to propagate ...


Different thread.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

ooooohkay nevermind


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Liesje, I'd go ahead and try for the FO. It would be good experience for you and for Nikon, and show interest and support for the club/organization. Not to mention it would be fun to do!


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## jesusica (Jan 13, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: Liesjeooooohkay nevermind


I admittedly birdwalked a bit.







BH is clearly not a 3 but the basic concept still applies. Blame Lisa , she mentioned rushing to title, just train your dog and I had to give kuddos. You ARE working towards a goal, BH in the spring.

If you really want to do the FO then there's no harm in just seeing how things come together between now and then. I personally wouldn't put it in my head that we HAD to be ready for this particular event and then start training specifically for it. Train him as usual and if he's ready, he's ready. If he's not, he's not.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Thanks, Lucia. The reason I'm interested in the date in question is because I went to a trial there before and it seemed pretty well-run and everyone from the host club was very friendly to me (despite things I heard/read from people whose friend's brother's friend's cousin said about he club or whatever, if you get my drift...). Most of the dog events I go to I am there by myself. I am not there just to quick title my dogs, despite what seems to be implied in this thread I actually enjoy training and competing with my dogs simply for the sake of it. My main competition dog is spayed and Nikon is basically a puppy so I'm not sure what breeding has to do with it. The clubs I belong to (both the all-breed, all-sport one and Schutzhund) do not host their own trials so for me there is no such thing as a home-field or home-club advantage. When I find a nice club where I enjoy myself and people are friendly, I prefer to enter their events and support their club.

In general, I do not enter something I do not think I can't place in let alone not pass. I know it's not the same as SchH God forbid, but I've put nearly a dozen titles on Kenya and we have never once failed/NQ'd/scored under min. points a single thing we have tried. I am just not the type to try something if I don't have full confidence in myself or my dog (and really that goes for anything, not just dogs). 

I'm just curious on how other people/club simulate _this_ particular exercise. FWIW Nikon passed the walk up to, sit, and walk past the other dog exercise (or whatever it's called) for the CGC just fine. However, I have seen dogs screw up the report to judge in trial so I know not every dog is perfect and I'd feel stupid just assuming that because my dog can Fuss on his home field with a few other dogs in the distance, he can do it alongside a strange dog.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

> Quote:I know not every dog is perfect and I'd feel stupid just assuming that because my dog can Fuss on his home field with a few other dogs in the distance, he can do it alongside a strange dog.


Exactly!!! One common mistake that I have seen is that people don't practice their routines under the same conditions as a trial. 

And that is where entering different trials pays off in experience, it can really open our eyes to how trial situations differ from everyday training situations, and can help us prepare better for the next time.


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## mjbgsd (Jun 29, 2004)

Hmm I don't think we ever practiced the report to judge exclusively, just a oh we should do one before trial. *I* practiced walking up and saying my name and the dog's and what I was reporting for since I forgot a lot but never really with the dog as our dogs are all well behaved. The only thing we did practice besides the obvious for the BH was the traffic portion.


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

Do the BH, including the report to judge, without the dog. Carry something with you and walk the routine.

It helps....

I am going through the 1-2 routines, as I have not done it in awhile. Working Enzo is easy - I know the 3 in my sleep.


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## samralf (Dec 23, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: LiesjeMy dog will be 12 months Sept. 7 so I probably won't be able to do a BH yet this fall b/c the min age is 15 months, right? That would be Dec. 7 and I don't know if Michigan has trials that late. However there is a Dog Sport trial Sept. 26 and I think the minimum age for the FO is 12 months (please correct me if I'm wrong). I would like to train for this because I need some sort of goal, doing the BH in the spring seems so far away! Anyway, at this point our biggest challenge would simply be the report to the judge. Kenya was never a problem, since the first day I got her she wouldn't look twice at a strange dog 5 feet away, but Nikon can be more reactive and snarky at such close range. Any tips on how to train the report to the judge? Do you actually practice that exercise, or do you find that as the dog progresses and works obedience in drive he simply doesn't care about the other dog anymore? We usually train a few dogs at a time during obedience and Nikon has been practicing long downs within 10 feet of another dog but having to heel right next to a strange dog as the very first exercise kinda scares me! Obviously I will ask the TD and set up this exercise at club training, but I'm wondering how others like to practice for it.


What?? They were born on my anniversary August 18..???? I remember posting that on the blog. I'm going to check again. I know on the contract I signed she wrote sep. 7 but I didn't say anything because I didn't think it mattered.....


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## samralf (Dec 23, 2008)

I looked on the calendar. They turned 8 weeks on october 13, which is my sisters b-day that's why I remember. That makes it August 18. If they were born on sept. 7 that would mean we got our pups when they were 5 weeks old.


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## umzilla (Nov 2, 2007)

In the FO, the "Report to the Judge" is actually a scored exercise.









Christine


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