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by afwark15 on 19 February 2010 - 05:02
I understand that there is United Schutzhund Clubs of America and GSDCA-WDA as far as two clubs for schutzhund...
What are the major differences?
but my main question....when one competes in a club trial what prerequisites do they have to meet in order to move on to the regionals, and whenone has competed in regionals, when and/or how do you get the chance to compete in nationals. (do you have to be a ScH 3? Do you have to have a certain score??)
Are there different national titles according to showline or working line??
Different titles accoring to USA or WDA??
I really need to understand the main differences in the two groups, and according to each group, how you get to different levels of competition.
All thoughts on the differences between the two groups and how to advance to each level would be news to me....so please enlighten me!!! I find it all a little confusing, and having it spelled out would help me greatly.
Amanda
What are the major differences?
but my main question....when one competes in a club trial what prerequisites do they have to meet in order to move on to the regionals, and whenone has competed in regionals, when and/or how do you get the chance to compete in nationals. (do you have to be a ScH 3? Do you have to have a certain score??)
Are there different national titles according to showline or working line??
Different titles accoring to USA or WDA??
I really need to understand the main differences in the two groups, and according to each group, how you get to different levels of competition.
All thoughts on the differences between the two groups and how to advance to each level would be news to me....so please enlighten me!!! I find it all a little confusing, and having it spelled out would help me greatly.
Amanda
by Mystere on 19 February 2010 - 14:02
There are no prerequsits to go from club to regionals in the US for either organization. ¶With USA, participation in a regional championship and a score of 270 or more in a trial are the requirements to enter the USA National Championship.
With respect to WDA, the requirement is a score in a WDA trial peior to the National Championship. There may also be a minimum 260 score requirement--check the results of the last board meeting to confirm that. (I am not sure whether this is now in place, or not) Contact Danny Spreitler directly and ask about that.
Have you joined a club? Your club members should be able to help you navigate the murky waters and often changing rules. :-) Welcome to the adventure called schutzhund!! :-)
by Kennel von Lotta on 19 February 2010 - 15:02
I just had this explained to me.
For regionals with either organization, you just enter. I believe you can do SchH1, SchH2 or SchH3 at the regionals. Sometimes BH (check with the hosting club).
To qualify for USA nationals, as Mystere said, you need to participate in the USA regionals, and get a 270 (SchH3) score, either at the regionals or at a club trial (USA trial)
To qualify for WDA nationals, you need to get 270 (SchH3) at any WDA trial. You don't have to go to the WDA regionals to qualify.
I hope I finally got it down right!
For regionals with either organization, you just enter. I believe you can do SchH1, SchH2 or SchH3 at the regionals. Sometimes BH (check with the hosting club).
To qualify for USA nationals, as Mystere said, you need to participate in the USA regionals, and get a 270 (SchH3) score, either at the regionals or at a club trial (USA trial)
To qualify for WDA nationals, you need to get 270 (SchH3) at any WDA trial. You don't have to go to the WDA regionals to qualify.
I hope I finally got it down right!
by SchHBabe on 19 February 2010 - 15:02
Amanda,
Have you found a SchH club in your area? If you're interested in training you'll need a good club to help. It really is a team effort between club mates to help each other out.
If you got to the USA and WDA web sites you can search for clubs by state. Also, there is another SchH organization in the US called DVG. Search all 3 organizations to find an accessible club.
Yvette
Have you found a SchH club in your area? If you're interested in training you'll need a good club to help. It really is a team effort between club mates to help each other out.
If you got to the USA and WDA web sites you can search for clubs by state. Also, there is another SchH organization in the US called DVG. Search all 3 organizations to find an accessible club.
Yvette
by Slamdunc on 19 February 2010 - 15:02
Yvette,
Nice to see you here. How is the club doing?
Jim
Nice to see you here. How is the club doing?
Jim
by Mystere on 19 February 2010 - 17:02
Amanda,
Training a dog for schutzhund titles is like the African saying about raising a child: "It takes a village." It takes a club to prepare you for training and titling a dog. You need someone to teach you the ropes, first of all. You will need a "spotter" for obedicence, because it is impossible for you to see everything that is going on with you and your dog as you train. You will need to have someone video you from time to time, so you can assess your problems, status, and handler errors.
(You will be SHOCKED to find out what little tics and quirks you bring to the table!! LOL) You will need people to be the group for the group heeling exercise. (Although I have been known to just practice it on my own with trees, cones, parking blocks...) You NEED a helper for the protection phase. You need people with some experience to help you learn to "read" dogs, including your own. You need someone to watch you track to see what handler errors you may be making that will cost you points in trial, or may be hindering your training.
if you really want to compete at the national level, you will need someone to coach you and help you prepare for that in your training. The coach could be a club member with a talent for training and handling, a generous experienced competitor in your club, or a professional competitor you pay for coaching you . It could be some combination of all of the above.
First, find a club! Yvette has given you the information to find the location. Go check out a few clubs in your area, if you can. See whether you like the people and their training methods. Disregard how close or far from your home the club is--you do schutzhund, you travel. Period. Some people drive as much as 3 hours each way on a regular basis to train with the club that is right for them. Some, very few, have the club training field right out their back door.
Warning: Schutzhund becomes a lifestyle, not just a hobby. You will never look at a field of any color the same way--it is all about what kind of tracking it would be. I don't even look at highway medians, cemeteries or golf courses, without thinking about tracking on them. You will purchase vehicles based upon how many dog crates you can fit into them. Your clothing will completely change, too: you will look like you are going camping in the Himalayas, or trekking in Alaska for a good part of each year. When you look at buying a home, you consider a kennel set-up and room for walls and jumps as factors. You will forget how you "used" to spend your weekends. You will never take another vacation that is not related to some schutzhund championship, seminar, or trial. You will not see formerly close friends for months at a time. Your friends and family will talk about holding an "invervention" for you. You will be tempted to bring your family out to club to watch training. You think this will allay their concerns. It will not--it will confirm that you are crazy and hanging out all weekend with other crazy people and their dogs.
There used to be a t-shirt that said it all: " Schutzhund. There is help, but there is no cure. "
You have been warned!
Training a dog for schutzhund titles is like the African saying about raising a child: "It takes a village." It takes a club to prepare you for training and titling a dog. You need someone to teach you the ropes, first of all. You will need a "spotter" for obedicence, because it is impossible for you to see everything that is going on with you and your dog as you train. You will need to have someone video you from time to time, so you can assess your problems, status, and handler errors.
(You will be SHOCKED to find out what little tics and quirks you bring to the table!! LOL) You will need people to be the group for the group heeling exercise. (Although I have been known to just practice it on my own with trees, cones, parking blocks...) You NEED a helper for the protection phase. You need people with some experience to help you learn to "read" dogs, including your own. You need someone to watch you track to see what handler errors you may be making that will cost you points in trial, or may be hindering your training.
if you really want to compete at the national level, you will need someone to coach you and help you prepare for that in your training. The coach could be a club member with a talent for training and handling, a generous experienced competitor in your club, or a professional competitor you pay for coaching you . It could be some combination of all of the above.
First, find a club! Yvette has given you the information to find the location. Go check out a few clubs in your area, if you can. See whether you like the people and their training methods. Disregard how close or far from your home the club is--you do schutzhund, you travel. Period. Some people drive as much as 3 hours each way on a regular basis to train with the club that is right for them. Some, very few, have the club training field right out their back door.
Warning: Schutzhund becomes a lifestyle, not just a hobby. You will never look at a field of any color the same way--it is all about what kind of tracking it would be. I don't even look at highway medians, cemeteries or golf courses, without thinking about tracking on them.
You will purchase vehicles based upon how many dog crates you can fit into them. Your clothing will completely change, too: you will look like you are going camping in the Himalayas, or trekking in Alaska for a good part of each year. When you look at buying a home, you consider a kennel set-up and room for walls and jumps as factors. You will forget how you "used" to spend your weekends. You will never take another vacation that is not related to some schutzhund championship, seminar, or trial. You will not see formerly close friends for months at a time. Your friends and family will talk about holding an "invervention" for you. You will be tempted to bring your family out to club to watch training. You think this will allay their concerns. It will not--it will confirm that you are crazy and hanging out all weekend with other crazy people and their dogs. There used to be a t-shirt that said it all: " Schutzhund. There is help, but there is no cure. "
You have been warned!
by happyday on 19 February 2010 - 18:02
PREACH IT MY SISTER... all so true....I have to add - you will
start avoiding those other kinds of people.... those "non"schutzhund people......
Happyday
by afwark15 on 19 February 2010 - 21:02
Thank you for the information.
I was basically just wondering the prerequisites. I was just curious how one would get to the national level. It seemed more confusing than it actually is....
I actually currently do schutzhund. I have two working line german shepherds. My three year old female has her BH and we are close to getting the 1. We have been training for awhile....but she is highly defensive and we had to take special time to get over her "speed bumps". We may never get her 1, but that's ok- we may take a tracking title route. She is my learning dog! And I still love her!
I have a 14 week old male eichenluft puppy. He is looking promising!
I do not belong to a group but I attend a private trainer.
Mystere,
It is funny that you mention all those things.....My clothes consist of old blue jeans, with plain white tshirts, work boots, and a carhart coat!
Just last year I bought an SUV to better suit my dog lifestyle.
My boyfriend and I are moving into an 1876 farm house located on 150 acres. plenty of hay fields for tracking, and I have already decided where my kennels are going.....
Frankly I think people are tired about hearing about my dogs, and german shepherds 24/7.
But if I was truely a 'newbie' (only been in the Sch scene for two years now) your info on finding a club would have been very helpful...THANK YOU!!
Amanda
I was basically just wondering the prerequisites. I was just curious how one would get to the national level. It seemed more confusing than it actually is....
I actually currently do schutzhund. I have two working line german shepherds. My three year old female has her BH and we are close to getting the 1. We have been training for awhile....but she is highly defensive and we had to take special time to get over her "speed bumps". We may never get her 1, but that's ok- we may take a tracking title route. She is my learning dog! And I still love her!
I have a 14 week old male eichenluft puppy. He is looking promising!
I do not belong to a group but I attend a private trainer.
Mystere,
It is funny that you mention all those things.....My clothes consist of old blue jeans, with plain white tshirts, work boots, and a carhart coat!
Just last year I bought an SUV to better suit my dog lifestyle.
My boyfriend and I are moving into an 1876 farm house located on 150 acres. plenty of hay fields for tracking, and I have already decided where my kennels are going.....
Frankly I think people are tired about hearing about my dogs, and german shepherds 24/7.
But if I was truely a 'newbie' (only been in the Sch scene for two years now) your info on finding a club would have been very helpful...THANK YOU!!
Amanda
by Bob McKown on 19 February 2010 - 21:02
Mystere:
You have just defined my existance, Last Time my family got together for a reunion I showed up and my own sister exclaims"Nice to see we are more important then the dogs today" Then i went back to the suburban got out my dog and tracked in my cousins hay field...
I would not give it up for the world!!!
Is it just me or after a while you get to hate meeting new people but love meeting new dogs?
by Mystere on 19 February 2010 - 21:02
It's not just you, Bob! I have found that I sometimes remember new dogs' names and their bloodlines, but forget the handler's name altogether!!
The good thing about my "obsession" is that at one point in my area, all the Superior Court judges, and the state Supreme Court judges knew all about schutzhund and gsds being trained in it. To them, the word did not conjure up visions of frothing attack dogs. What they associated it with was the pretty, and very friendly, gsd that was at the Chief Justice's house and was so nice with the 2 year old she'd never met before. They associated it with that pretty gsd who followed their tracks that they laid at the Chief Justice's estate with goodies from the hors d'oeuvres at the reception. Only the photos of her doing bitework convinced them that she would bite anything. (Yeah, I had the dog in the car with me when I went to the reception. I had intended to do some tracking afterwards.
)
One Superior Court judge's 4 yo daughter later compared her to Lassie, claiming that she "saved my life, just like Lassie." The bitch had repeatedly put herself between the child and the water, when the little girl wanted to show me the frogs in the lake. She finally pulled the little girl away from the water. The house was right on a lake, and the child wasn't in danger, but the dog did not like her being so close to the water anyway. She made her view clear, and the child understood it. Hence, her report to her mother that the Sch 2 gsd was " just like Lassie."
The good thing about my "obsession" is that at one point in my area, all the Superior Court judges, and the state Supreme Court judges knew all about schutzhund and gsds being trained in it. To them, the word did not conjure up visions of frothing attack dogs. What they associated it with was the pretty, and very friendly, gsd that was at the Chief Justice's house and was so nice with the 2 year old she'd never met before. They associated it with that pretty gsd who followed their tracks that they laid at the Chief Justice's estate with goodies from the hors d'oeuvres at the reception. Only the photos of her doing bitework convinced them that she would bite anything. (Yeah, I had the dog in the car with me when I went to the reception. I had intended to do some tracking afterwards.
)One Superior Court judge's 4 yo daughter later compared her to Lassie, claiming that she "saved my life, just like Lassie." The bitch had repeatedly put herself between the child and the water, when the little girl wanted to show me the frogs in the lake. She finally pulled the little girl away from the water. The house was right on a lake, and the child wasn't in danger, but the dog did not like her being so close to the water anyway. She made her view clear, and the child understood it. Hence, her report to her mother that the Sch 2 gsd was " just like Lassie."
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