How to I find a new puppy for Schutzhund - Page 2

true, momo but the op stated Schutzhund. 

@gsdstudent many here disagree, but SV tracking (FH) is a perfectly valid focus area for someone working with a schutzhund club.  The dog still needs to earn a BH afterall.  Also if this person is looking at health testing (hips etc), why not throw in an AD too.  The investment level is lower, for a part-timer, if all thier dog is working on is a BH, AD and FH because by the time someone gets far enough to title in the FH, they also will have learned quite a bit about the community at large (due to being present on a regular basis).  It also GREATLY reduces "junk dog syndrome", which is a common excuse used by clubs to get "unwanted newbies" to go away because they don't want to invest the time to get them for IPO ready.

As many here know, based on my previous posts on PDB, USA based schutzhund clubs should ALWAYS start newbies on the BH/AD/FH path, to get them into the community, so they can learn the culture, typical practices and make progress on some training/titling aspect, first hand, without having to focus all of their energy and limited time on all the political minutia that goes with earning an IPO title.  In cases where the handler and dog are focusing on the BH/AD/FH path, the issue of "do you have the right dog for IPO sport" is GREATLY diminished.  However, this strategy for introducing newbies to the schutzhund world is overlooked completely and most schutzhund clubs treat the FH as an afterthought (in fact many don't have good instruction methods for tacking the more difficult FH trial conditions anyway).  But the Fartenhund (FH) is offered at nationals for the WDA, GSDCA, USCA and DVG. Herding (HGH), Rettungshunde (RH) and Stöberprüfung (STp) are also valid focus areas that do involve protection training (the HGH does however have a minor protection phase though, on par with the KKL).

"I did search for a club in Schutzhund and they range anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours away.. one way..which I dont mind driving.  But after your comments...I also searched French Ring and Tracking and they have clubs right here in my area.  I have reached out to see if I could attend a training session.  Waiting to hear."

You are on a good way - Schutzhund, French Ring, tracking, whatever, doesn´t matter in case you and your dog have fun.
Stick in your area, 1.5 to 3 hours one way is a lot for a newbie, and in case you really are interested in the sport you´d be "on the road" at least twice a week ( 3 times/week is normal ). Your dog doesn´t care what he is doing as long as it´s fun - but you need to feel comfortable, otherwise you won´t participate for long.

Take a close look at the "active" breeders within the club - they should know what they breed.
And - please - in case you really buy a pup out of any breed - there is never a guarantee that the dog will be as good as you wish - stronger than the will to do sports with a dog should be your will to love this dog, no matter if he will become the next champion or not.

Hi, I sent you a PM