We participate in the German sport of Schutzhund.

Schutzhund is the German word for protection dog but it has far more scope than that.

The first Schutzhund trial was held in Germany in the early 1900's and was designed and used as an evaluation tool for breeders to eliminate unworthy candidates from entering the gene pool through breeding.

It was designed to measure the dogs mental stability, endurance, structural efficiencies, ability to scent, willingness to work, courage and trainability. Simply put, it is a very through character evaluation.

There are 3 levels or titles in Schutzhund with each level getting increasingly more difficult and demanding. Sch1, sch2, and sch3

Each level consists of 3 phases with the maximum of 100 points in each for a possible 300 point total. The most difficult aspect of schutzhund is the fact that the dog must pass all 3 phases which all require such different attributes and training, all on the same day.

The first phase is tracking where the dog must do very intensive and absolutely correct foot step to foot step tracking. The dog must follow varying terrain and directional changes with various numbers of corners and legs and indicate articles dropped by the track layer usually by laying down. These tracks range in age from 20 min old to 3 hours old and a minimum of 70 points out of 100 is required to pass this phase.

The next phase is obedience. Schutzhund obedience is somewhat similar to AKC obedience done in the utility or open class. It requires the dog to perform on and off leash heeling through a group with gunfire as a distraction , sit, down and stand stays which are done out of motion, retrieve work on the flat, over a 39 inch hurdle, and over a 6 ft wall. Also, the dog is required to do a send away where the dog runs in a straight line away from the handler and then downs on command, and also a long down with the distraction of another dog on the field performing these same exercise. Again, there are 100 points possible and 70 are required to pass this phase

The final phase is the protection phase. Here as in all phases, the dog must be very goal oriented and under absolute control. This phase really tests the dogs courage and ability to handle stress. The dog must show a very high degree of trainability here as the entire phase is really an exercise in obedience. The dog must search out the decoy and is not allowed to engage in biting. The dog is simply allowed to "hold and bark" to keep the decoy from being allowed to move away. The dog is only allowed to bite when the decoy either attacks the handler or the dog and when this occurs the dog must quicky and forcefully engage the decoy. At certain points in the trial procedure, the dog is hit on the withers with a soft padded stick. This causes no actual harm to the dog as no pain is involved but there can be emotional side effects such as soft frontal nervous biting behavior on the sleeve and can actually cause dogs to let go as to try and save themselves. The dogs here should be very energetic with full confident calm biting behavior and when the decoy stops his attack, the dog must immediately let go and again remain in the guarding position.

This is the most demanding phase, and 80 points out of 100 are required to pass and proceed on to the next level

Schutzhund today has grown into a sport enjoyed by many with many different breeds of dogs. It allows the handler to learn much about his canine partner while at the same time growing a strong bond only found through hours of training together. One thing to notice about our schutzhund dogs is there happy eager attitudes. These dogs are being allowed to use all of their instincts, and all of their senses and we constantly challenge our dogs abilities. Schutzhund dogs are some of the most stable trustworthy dogs found in the world today.