What is Schutzhund?
Schutzhund is the ultimate dog sport!
For generations, people from all over the world have been drawn into this unique idea of participating in an active sport with a dog. Schutzhund offers handlers an opportunity to work with their dogs in a way that no other sport can. It takes place outdoors. It is physical, mental, intense and demanding. It is also fun and very rewarding. Training and taking part in the competitions and achieving the goals you have set is much to be proud of!
The initial purpose of Schutzhund in the early 1900’s was a test to determine which dogs could be used for breeding and which had true working ability. As the demand for these working dogs increased due to their use by police, military, customs and border patrols as well as for herding it became necessary to develop more sophisticated training and testing. Over time and with increased interest more of the public participated in these tests to see if their personal dogs could be trained as effectively as these "professional dogs." Rules were introduced to form what we know today as Schutzhund. The sport is now enjoyed by tens of thousands of people participating in countries around the world each year.
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Schutzhund is a competitive testing process in which three specific areas of a dogs training and behavior can be evaluated. It is the most difficult and complex of all dog sports and combines all three phases into one competition.
Tracking - Requires the dog to retrace the path of a person (300-1500 + yards with 2-4 turns) and after 20-60 minutes have elapsed be able to find dropped articles and indicate their locations to the handler. Often this is done under less than ideal circumstances with difficult cover, mixed terrain and bad weather conditions nevertheless the dog is required to demonstrate absolute accuracy and commitment to finding the track. Many find tracking to be the most satisfying experience in training, when only the handler and dog are working together.
Obedience - In this phase the handler and dog are required to demonstrate precise heeling patterns, both on and off lead and not be intimidated by any distractions including the sound of a gun and going through a group of strangers milling around. In motion exercises the sit, down, stand and recall are shown. The dogs are also required to show retrievals of dumbbells over flat ground, one meter jumps and six foot high walls. In addition dogs are required to stay in a long down while another handler and dog team execute the required exercises. The exercise concluding the obedience phase is the send away in which the handler commands the dog to leave his side and run swiftly in a straight line towards the end of the field and on the judges signal the handler commands the dog to down. The handler then moves to his position beside the dog.The competitions are usually held on soccer sized trial fields.
Protection - The dog must energetically search a series of blinds under the direction of the handler and upon finding the hidden stranger respond properly by warning the handler and gaurding the stranger from escaping. The dog without assistance must stop the stranger from an attempted escape and an attack by the stranger against the handler. A secondary attack by the stranger is shown from a greater distance and again the dog must without assistance stop the stranger. The dog must display courage and restraint on his own when the stranger gives up. Upon the completion the stranger is escorted by the guarding dog and handler to the judge.
