# Schutzhund is a lifestyle.....



## W.Oliver (Aug 26, 2007)

This post is rhetorical....and simply therapeutic to write as I spend another lonely night in a hotel room away from home, my wife, my children, and my spoiled rotten GSDs.

I have a very demanding career that requires travel, while offering an amazing level of stress....in fact, of the past 22 months, I have been away from home 15 months, typically coming home on the weekend...but not always.

Follow me here....I feel guilty...certainly for the time lost with my wife & children, but what I really feel most guilty for....is even feeling guilty for not training...what I mean is, in the scheme of things, it should be the family I feel guilty about...not putting an IPO title on my "Puppers"...but that captures/consumes my feeling of guilt..."Puppers" is what I call India vom Wildhaus....real manly right....I am just macho that way.

What I am very grateful for is a family that not only cares for a beast of a GSD while I am away, but is also very supportive of my selfish training every Saturday I can....but as I write this, I haven't seen my friends at club yet this year...of course the harsh winter this year has not helped. 

I have the perfect dog for me....and life is getting in the way. I am feeling pretty low, homesick, and trainingsick.

Schutzhund is a lifestyle........


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

Yup the other ringsports is the same way. We at my kennel spend the day training through all the board and train trainers and caring for the kennel dogs so we can turn right around in the evening and train our mondio ring dogs till late at night get some sleep at hopefully a decent hour and turn right back around and do it all again.

Our significant others tolerate it.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

is India male or female? stop whining. you've got friends here.


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## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

I feel for you. Sometimes it's hard to keep your mind right and stay positive. Glad you have such a supportive family! 

David Winners


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Wayne, that's why you need to buy my place. Then the training would come to you and you could do both, train and be with your family.  

Sometimes life gets in the way of our fun. Your dog has a good life even without the training.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

my gf is totally supportive of my training habits


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

We miss ya Wayne. I think your wife would make a wonderful Lisa Douglas....Lisa Clark is right. Buy that beautiful farm!


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

Aw, we miss you and Indy too, Wayne. Can't wait to see the both of you again, and hopefully not in a blizzard! Hang in there. :hug:


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I concur! This winter has been so bad and my vehicle can't handle the snow, I've barely been able to train flyball which is 7 miles from my house. SchH has been absolutely out of the question. Luckily I've got a pup who will be a good age to start tracking and ob about the time the snow melts in June.


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

It is a lifestyle... absolutely. Thankfully, my husband who is my best friend caught the IPO bug... he is going to start putting foundation work on our new female and come to training with me regularly with our group. It means the world to have a spouse that is "into it" to train with, trial with, talk dog with... he wasn't into it at first, but it has really grown on him. I am very grateful for that!


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## Gwenhwyfair (Jul 27, 2010)

Hi Wayne. 

Life is funny that way. Sometimes no matter how hard we try the pieces don't want to fit. I went through it with the horse world. Right place, time, money, trainer, wrong horse. Then the perfect horse wrong husband :-/ and no time or money.

I discover IPO and find I have the time and interest and even though Ilda would not have been a top dog at the sport we would could have at least tried for IPO 1 (club trainer felt she had the right temperament/drives). Then we get the HD diagnosis. 

I know how you feel, like you're being blocked and we don't get younger. What helps me is to recalibrate my goals into smaller steps. That way I don't feel so blue.

Hang in there!!


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