|
|
|
Schutzhund |
|
 Schutzhund
is the sport of advanced dog obedience training, tracking
and protection work.
Schutzhund is often midunderstood or misinterpreted as a way
of training dogs to be aggressive or dangerous. This could not
be further from the truth. All Schutzhund dogs are extremely
stringently tested for their extreme level of dog obedience,
attentiveness to their handler, and mental soundness.
Any dog wishing to compete or even be judged in a ring for Schutzhund
titles must have already completed the Companion Dog test, and
this is no easy feat for most pet dogs either, as it requires
an impressive and rare level of respect, loyalty and obedience
to the handlers instructions.
Schutzhund training takes an extreme
amount of skill, time, dedication and effort on the part of the
handler and therefore both the dogs and the handlers learn a
great deal during the many years of training they are likely
to undertake in order to take part in this sport.
In France the term used for a similar sport is Ringsport, and
this is very much like Schutzhund in that it commands a level
of obedience seldom seen in pet dogs, however all Schutzhund
dogs go home to a normal family household where their behaviour
is usually impeccable and more reliable than a non-trained dog.
Take it from an expert, a guarding type of dog breed such as
the German Shepherd, Rottweiler, or Dobermann is far safer with
this level of obedience and training put into it, than left to
its own devices to seek out a living or role to play in any normal
family household with no specific emphasis on taking the dog's
instincts and natural heritage seriously. I am not saying all
dogs of this kind should do Schutzhund, but i am definitely saying
that i would feel fully safe to be around a Schutzhund dog all
day long, whereas there are many large breeds in pet homes where
i exercise a much great degree of caution before feeling fully
comfortable that the dog is reliable and safe to be around.
My only final comment would be to those 'types' of people who
believe that they can get a big tough dog, and go along to a
Schutzhund club in order to train their dog to be 'nasty' or
to impress their friends. It doesn't work that i am afraid, and
if you don't believe me, go along to a Schutzhund club and find
out for yourself, you won't be very welcome unless you are as
interested in your dog's temperament being SAFE as you are in
it being protective.
Schutzhund Training is for loving, caring owners who are mature
adults and who respect the power of their dog, wish to see it
channelled safely and accurately in the right direction, and
who wish to take their dog's obedience to a much higher level.
Anyone else need
not apply :)
|
|
|
|
|
|
