Schutzhund

The Germans call it "Hundesport", dog sport. For generations, people from Europe and North America have been drawn into this unique idea of participating in an active sport with a dog. Schutzhund offers this in a way that no other sport can. It is outdoors, it is physical, it is mental, the demands are great, but the sport also offers competition and new friendships. In short, it is what all recreational sports should first be: good exercise and full of rewards.

Schutzhund started at the beginning of this century as a test for working dogs, primarily German Shepherd Dogs. Its initial purpose was to determine which dogs could be used for breeding and which had true working ability. The growing demand for working dogs made more sophisticated tests and training necessary. These dogs were needed for police work, border patrol/customs, military and herding. As these tests evolved, more people participated just for the sheer enjoyment of seeing if their personal dogs could be trained as effectively as the "professional dogs". Now, over 60 years after the first formal Schutzhund rules were introduced, tens of thousands of people participate in the sport each year.

Tracking

Schutzhund tests three specific areas of a dog's training and behavior. The first, tracking, requires the dog to track footsteps over mixed terrain, change directions and show absolute accuracy and commitment to finding the track. It must also find dropped articles and indicate their locations to the handler. Often this is done under less than ideal circumstances with difficult cover, bad weather conditions and an aged track.

Obedience

The second phase is obedience. Those who are familiar with AKC obedience will feel more comfortable in this area, as many of the exercises are similar to those in Open and Utility. The handler and the dog work on a soccer sized trial field; championship trials take place on a football field. There is heeling, both on and off leash and through a group of milling people, with gunshots fired during the off-leash heeling. There is also a sit, down and stand-in-motion while heeling or running: the dog is expected to freeze in the appropriate position while the handler keeps moving as if nothing happened. There are two recalls from the running down and the running stand. There is a long down under distraction (while a second team is doing their routine) with a gun fire (any gun shyness automatically fails the dog). In addition to the normal dumbbell retrieval, where the SchH3 dumbbell used on the flat weighs 2 kg (4.4 lbs), the dog must also retrieve a 600 g dumbbell over a one meter jump and a six foot A-frame. A long send away with down conclude the test. The dog is not only judged on the precision of each exercise, correct position, straight fronts and finishes, but also his attitude and speed and how he performs each exercise.

Protection

The final test is the most misunderstood by the general public, this is protection. The dog must be under complete control at all times to get maximum points. The dog searches six blinds (hiding places), where he finds the decoy in blind #6. He guards the decoy by barking and without touching the man. The dog must never bite the trial helper (decoy) unless either the dog or the handler is attacked, then he must attack fully and without hesitation, even under severe threat and stick hits (given with a padded, noisy stick). Here is where the real differences become apparent. The dog must stop biting on command of the handler and guard the trial helper without further biting. Often people confuse Schutzhund protection training with police dog, personal protection work or "guard dog" training. While police dog training is legitimate (dogs and handlers are certified), many (not all) "guard dog" trainers and personal protection trainers are not. Some even may claim that they do Schutzhund, but in fact have never titled a dog. If you simply ask them about trial rules and how they train the other two phases as well and whether they have achieved any SchH titles this will answer your question….. It takes a certain kind of dog to do this work, be it Schutzhund or police/patrol dog, one with superior temperament, courage and drives, healthy, predictable, discriminating aggression (meaning that they can be easily taught when and when NOT to bite), nerve stability and the ability to control its drives under stress. Only this kind of dog is capable of the feats of not being aggressive except in specific situations it is trained to face, when there is a threat of him or his handler being hurt, and even then it must always be under absolute control of the handler. Many, many dogs are not cut out for this sport or any kind of protection training.

The above tests are difficult enough, but to make it even more demanding, they all happen in one day, except in the championship trials where the tracking may be held on a different day from the other two phases, split due to the large number of entries and the locations of the tracking fields. These trials are held by local clubs, in Regional, National, and World Championships. The maximum number of points that a dog can achieve in each phase is 100 pts for a total of 300. The minimum score to pass is 70-70-80 = 220 total.

When a dog successfully completes the first trial, it is awarded a title of Schutzhund 1 (SchH1), it can progress to SchH2, and then to the ultimate, SchH3, which is the competition level. Each level makes greater demands on the dog and training in all three areas. Any Schutzhunder will tell you that a high scoring SchH3 dog can be the ultimate working dog, one in thousands of working dogs. In addition to the SchH1, 2, and 3 titles, other titles can be achieved in advanced tracking (FH1 and FH2); the BH (similar to the CD and CGC combined), which is the temperament test that is required before titling in the SchH trials; police dog training titles (DPO1 and 2), where the dog and handler have to be active K9 officers; and an endurance test (the AD), where the dog has to complete 12.5 miles at a certain speed next to a bicycle. Today Schutzhund is more than the small group that started in Germany one hundred years ago. Its organizations have several hundred thousand members, scattered across Europe, North America, and most other continents.