Schutzhund Obedience
Historically, the Schutzhund obedience tests were started in Germany to ascertain whether a German Shepherd dog was up to its function or not. The German Shepherds were developed as a protection dog, but in some years of developing them, it was found that they were not as strong and fearless as they were initially. Thus arose the need of testing them for their usefulness. Originally meant only for German Shepherds, today Schutzhund obedience is used also for American bulldogs, Boxers, Dobermans, Giant Schnauzers, Rottweiler, etc.
It is possible that you might have enrolled your dog for Schutzhund obedience training too. But very few dogs pass this strict training test. It will help if you know what exactly Schutzhund means and what the judges are looking for. But first, you must know what Schutzhund means. Schutzhund is a German word meaning 'protection dog' and that is indeed what the judges will need to see - how good the dog is at protecting you.
There are three main parts of a Schutzhund obedience program and various ways here where the dog can be disqualified. Let us check these ways here. Remember that the judges reserve the right to disqualify the dogs anytime during the courses if their performance is below par, if they disobey their instructor or are too timid.
Tracking Schutzhund obedience school begins with their tracking ability. The dogs are meant to track several objects that are strewn along a course. They must indicate that there is an object by holding it with their paws and lying on the ground with it. Problems in this test might occur if the dog fails to track objects. The dog must get a score of 70 out of 100 to pass this test. Obedience Obedience is the second test. Here the dog will be expected to follow basic commands such as running away or to the instructor and lying down on the ground. There are oftentimes two dogs used at a time to check buddy compatibility among them. One of the dogs may be made to lie down in a corner while the other is tested, and then their positions are interchanged. Dogs that disobey commands, do not understand them clearly or are too fearful through the test are considered to be problem dogs during this part of the training and are given less scored. To pass, the dog must get at least 70 out of 100. Protection This is the most challenging test in the Schutzhund obedience schools. Here the dog is checked for its ability to protect its owner from an attacker. The dog moves along a course with its owner in a testing area while another person (a decoy) will try to attack or intimidate the dog or the owner. The dog has to stop this decoy by biting their hand (the decoy's hand is protected by a highly padded sleeve). The dog has to do this spontaneously and has to keep the decoy at bay as long as the owner can get help. This is an entirely simulated exercise in which the dog is made to pass through real-life situations, such as when a mugging might take place. Here, it will be a problem if the dog is not energetic or enthusiastic about the exercise. Cowardly dogs will be scored poorly too. The benchmark set for this test is high - the dog must get 80 out of 100 to pass. Every state and city has its own Schutzhund obedience training rules. A test in Seattle will be quite different from a test in Orlando; hence you need to check out local rules of conduct and scoring. You must also check out what supplies might be needed for such tests at a local level.
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