Schutzhund Titling Schedule - Page 1

Can anyone give details about the titling schedule. How should Sch1 , 2 & 3 be planned for a pup in his or her life span?

Also once the dog is titled, what should be the routine of the dog in terms of daily workout etc..

Does the dog forget Schutzhund exercises if he is not made to practice daily?

Also if someone can give useful commenst on building up focus and drive over the time.

cheers & Thanks

There are age minimums to trial for a title, but different dogs are ready to trial at different times. Depending on the organization that sanctions the trial, those age requirements will be different. You can certainly set a goal for you and your dog to have a title by a certain age, but like most goals it may have to be adjusted.

I dont know if you really need to practice daily, but you should definately practice regularly. Schutzhund is a lifestyle really. It takes a lot of time and commitment and it is not necessarily a cheap activity either. If you have the right dog, then he is going to want to work every day. It is great exercise for you and your dog, and the bonding and the relationship that comes through good training is irreplacable and priceless.

If you are interested in Schutzhund, you should definately find a club in your area as well as educate yourself with good books. There is no substitute for a good club.

Here is a good book or two that are very good for someone interested in learning about schutzhund.

http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DGT151&AffiliateID=45071&Method=3

http://www.amazon.ca/Schutzhund-Training-Methods-Susan-Barwig/dp/0876057318

Here is one of several schutzhund organizations where you may could find a club:

http://www.gsdca-wda.org/

 I don't think there's anything like a "checklist" for planning when you will put the titles on a dog....if there is, I don't think there really should be. People and dogs are all different. I've known people that prefer to hurry up and put all the titles on a dog quickly (even if going to LOTS of events to do it very soon) and then take the time to go back and work on scores, and I've known others that prefer to train until the dog is ready to title and THEN start showing. With my first dog, I trained and trained until I felt he was ready to try....with my current boys I tried to just HOPE that we could pass and try our hand at it whether we were truly ready or not. I think for me it will have to be a happy medium. 

All dogs and lines tend to mature differently too. My first dog didn't seem to get his brain until he was 3.5 years old. Trying to title him before that would have been silly in my opinion. So I think rather then try to micromanage this puppies career, just take it training day by training day and let him grow up, love on him, train him, play with him and when the titles come they'll come. 

As far as training schedule goes, that also seems to be a matter of personal preference as well as what the dog can handle. I at the moment have a dog that would LOVE to work every day, for hours on end. My other dog, if I were to work him every day he would be bored and the quality would start to go downhill. I have seen people try to get the dog trained up perfectly very quickly and at a very young age, which is fine, but the dog will eventually reach his peak and then decline. I'd rather have it happen when the dog is mature personally. I think too that if the dog has less desire to work, and the handler OVERTRAINS you kill the drive the dog DOES have. In that case it may be more prudent to train less often though consistently so the dog can hardly wait to get out and work. For a dog that can hardly wait to work and would go on for hours if you let him, if you don't train often enough then they tend to go nuts, and overly amped up when you do work them. SO I think it's just a matter of finding what works best for the dog. 

For me personally, I work obedience on my pups for their food, just short sessions here and there. When getting closer to a trial I work more regularly with my adults, but shorter more frequent sessions work better then one long one. I agree that schutzhund is a lifestyle, I can't say I have a training schedule per se. I work my boys at the pace we need, sometimes I get too busy and don't get to it and I pay the price come trial day. It all depends on you guys. I tend to track a few times a week, and obedience is kind of interspersed into my normal every day routine though....just not going out and doing a full routine or doing a full training session. Dogs are ALWAYS learning, it's up to you to determine WHAT they learn. So for me, keeping a few exercises here and there interspersed into our lives works. Then I go out and train probably about 2-3 times a week. Protection is worked on a decoy at club once or twice a week depending on if we're getting ready for a trial or not. 

Shasta is right on the mark    about  Maturity...some trainers and owners try to rush their gsd into the trainining....some dogs do not get a
"brain"   as she stated,,,,good adjective-noun correlation......some of the very high prey and ball drive   , hard headed, ones have to take the training at a different pace and it takes longer to do it right.......

There are some people who do use force training on some issues...I do not entertain those methods except by the very professionals and experts.

Yes my line is fero and yoschy. So I know a bit slow to mature. I just feel that at the moment he is not getting enough mental stimulation and I can feel that he is yearning for drive and focus build up. Which I try and do little bit. I'm not using food but more of toys to get him to build up & obedience.

But still I was hoping that I could get a ballpark time frames for SCHH 1,2 &3 titles for relatively slow to mature lines like Yoschy/Nick & Fero

cheers and thanks a ton for help

 you can push him through and title him whenever you want, but how WELL he does, and whether or not you've thrown away points to try to get his titles as fast as you can, and whether or not youv'e pushed him so fast that you'll never fix the problems is up to you guys. I don't think anybody is going to try to look into a magic ball and tell you when you can expect to title your dog? And many people have yoschy/Nick, fero, type dogs...it all depends on the individual. Your best bet would be to find a good club and ask the training director who can see you and know how you're working the dog, and how the dog is working. Then get on a plan to help the dog peak at the right time for you guys. Personally, to me, schutzhund is about the game and the sport and the fun and the training, so whenever we get the titles is when we get the titles....no need to try to rush. The dog will be ready when the dog is ready, nobody can tell you when that is but the dog. Like I said, you can rush to put titles on then work on scores later, or you can train until the dog is where you want to compete and then put b/1/2/3 right in a row. That is up to you. My old guy that matured at 3.5 had his B, 1 (after a couple of failed attempts when he ran amock) I believe before that. We weren't ready to go on until he started working better. I can't remember how old he was when I finished all his titles Sch3 Ipo3 Tr1...I think he was closer to like 4.5. He COULD have done them sooner, but I wanted to do them with better scores so I trained until I knew he would do it, rather then just keep hit and miss until we may get it. My current boy I may try to do things much faster, depends on him.