schutzhund - Page 2

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I like Hohn Miller's answer       " A Pushy little  butthead."       Im gonna put that in my ads...

perfect discription of a possible canidate for Schutz.....

I laugh when new owners call me back and say     he bites all the time and hes into everything,,,he pulls on leash,,,he wont settle down....what do we do.....??

Answer:    Depends on what you want to do with your pup...house pet / yard guard  or do you want to go to schutz training next week?

My trainer also did not want me to do much OB with my pup unless it was all incorporated into play with toys and treats.  He preferred I did not put any OB on him but I was losing my mind since my dogs are not kennel dogs and live in the house.  So we decided on a happy medium to help me have some order when the pup is in the house but at the same time not creating issues with his bite. 

Behaving reasonably around the house would be considered manners not obedience. It's ok to teach them manners. You can also start on pretty much strictly reward based obedience exercises to build a foundation for later obedience. Just no strong corrections.

Teaching manners without inhibiting the pup is a delicate process that involves much redirection, exercise, and crating. Personally, I only will correct a SchH pup for two things... not coming when called and not dropping what is in their mouth (not the out in prey drive, but anything they pick up off the ground) because both of these things can get my pup killed if they do not listen. As harddawg says, motivational OB exercises mostly with food or in drive with a toy are fine so long as no correction phase is used yet. During this time many seasoned SchH handlers do foundation work on their own without a helper, but for green handlers this is when it is most important to work with a helper - especially if the dog will be both a companion and a sport dog. You can immediately see any issues (handler sensitivity, inhibited behavior, etc.) on the field and adjust what you are doing at home.

LOL, because finding a decent ringsport club is like finding a needle in a haystack!!! Not enough clubs, not enough quality decoys. Ever compare the numbers between shutzhund clubs/members and ringsport clubs/members in the US?