Judging in Protection (Schutzhund) - Page 1

Hello all... i have a question for those with vast experience only. Here goes.. How many points would be deducted by a judge in a trial if the dog was very growly but had a very nice grip.. In the re-attack and drive...

Any thoughts....

Laughter... 

Depends on the judge... specifically why the judge believes the dog is growly... aggression or nerves.

This is a "ya-had-ta-be-there" call.

SS 

I had a female a few years ago that could be very growly on the sleeve.  I worried about loosing points for it also, but she was a strong sound bitch.  When we did her SchH1, the SV judge mentioned the growliness in her critique but said he did not hold it against her because she showed no weakness.  She got a 94 in protection for that trial, with just loosing points for control issues. 

So I guess it depends on why the dog is growly and how the dog does in the rest of the bitework routine.  It would also depend on the judge. 

I watched Booker, "Martin Vollraths" dogs win the North Americans. His dog took a hard stomach hit on the re-attack "after the escape" and he got noisy, but he stayed so clear on the grip and again on the out I did not hear anything about the noise in the critique. The same dog got stepped on by the backhalf helper as well but stayed clear and had good grips and correct releases... Noise or no noise the dog did great for those mistakes by the helpers... Super Super dog...

 Remember things do not always go as planned in trial.. You need to be prepared for everything!!