Titling Age Limit - Page 1

Is there an age limit on when a dog can be trained? I have a very nice male, well a male that I think is very nice and I would like to put a Schuzhund 1 on him. He has not had any formal training and but I would like to. He will be two in June is it too late to start? Here is a link to his pedigree: http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/577999.html

Please tell me what you think about him I'm not the best at stacking but just give me your opinion on titling him and how is structure is.

Thanks

Hi!   He isn't too old by any stretch of the imagination and while there are minimum ages there are no maximum ages.  As far as the dog himself, I don't know anything about show lines, so I will not comment on whether these are good lines for sport.  What I will say is if you like the dog, and you like his drives, then that's what  counts.   The only other thing I will say is you might have to overcome some stuff if he was brought up in a pet home, he might start out a little inhibited, but if I really liked the dog I wouldn't let that stop me.  Actually 2 is not old at all when it comes to schutzhund.

Your dog has some nice show line dogs in his pedigree. Keep him lean!!!

However, what matters is your dog. What kind of temperament he has, drives, and what you have done to date with him will all be important factors in whether you succeed and title him. It is never too late to try, within reason, assuming the dog has the right drives. That is something you will have to find out with some assistance from others already involved.

In the meantime, if all you accomplish is a BH, you will have learned a lot (at least if you have a good club or mentor to work with). The problem with starting late, rather than having "prepared" the dog very early on for SchH, is that you have undoubtedly done things that will stay with the dog, regardless how hard you try to change it. For example, if the dog knows "sit" and you never worked on speed, or position, you will find it difficult to change to the requirements of the "sit" in SchH. But again, you will learn and if you stick with it, hopefully both you and the dog will enjoy it. 

For what it is worth, I started in the sport years ago with a male who was 2.5 years old at the time. Up to that time, I could have cared less if he "heeled" as is required in Schutzhund. I was happy if he was somewhere near me on my left side. It was hard work, more for me than the dog, to learn what was the goal and how to train for that goal. I met with a lot of skepticism and a few told me neither I nor the dog would succeed. But in the end, the dog made it to SchH 2 before I decided to retire him. I could not see risking injury to him just to go over the wall. I also had a female who was 6 months old when I started and had a different set of skills, and I titled her to SchH 3. Since then, I have trained many dogs and enjoyed it. So what I am saying is "go for it". Find a good club, or someone who will help you. Don't waste their time if you are not serious. Watch video, read everything you can, ask questions, go to trials and conformation shows, and learn. The next time you choose a dog you will do so with a new found understanding about the breed and about individual dogs, and you will also know more about what to do with the dog early in its life to increase the chances of success.

Good luck!

You have been given some knowledgeable replies, as someone new to the sport with a young and older dog I agree it is difficult to reprogramme an older dog as they have already learnt a response good enough to get rewarded for following commands like down, come and sit.

I gave up on the reprogramming and introduced new commands for my older dog e.g. platz and here instead of down and come. Sit I am ashamed to admit has become 'bum' but hey she does it fast, I may never get her titled but I'll settle for BH.

I have found it a challenge teaching my older dog to track. Older dogs know dinner times and they do not have the same appetite to search for food like a pup would, also if you introduce articles too early ( yep I made that mistake) they go searching at great speed and it's hard to slow down a fully grown shep.

Shonnag

Gimme10mins,

You have been given some GREAT information to start. Everything they said pretty much sums it up. You obviously have done some homework and bought yourself a nicely bred dog- a good start!
I have a working line dog, who I originally bought as just a pet with some interest in schutzhund. I did not start doing any kind of tracking or bitework till she was 14 months old. I, like many pet owns, taught the sit, down, come....and I actually encouraged my dog not to bite or tug on things she was not supposed to (a no no if you are raising a pup for schutzhund).

When I realized I wanted to really pursue schutzhund I would incorporate my english commands with German ones, to help her cross over. Down, platz..good girl...she got the hang of it pretty quickly, and now my dog is bilingual..haha

Even though she had all the wrong obedience foundations, her obedience is to die for. Amazing straight and fast sits, quick and straight recalls, and she tracks like a bloodhound. She has amazing drive for the bitework!! Loves everyminute of it, and I dont think me telling her no as a puppy as hindered her on the sleeve at all..nice calm full grips. She is quite defensive which may hinder our title capabilities, but we got her BH- so it can be done!! We have been trying for awhile, and we train a lot at home. It is fun, and great bonding, even if you don't title. But I am just saying that it most certainly can happen!!

Good luck with everything!!

Amanda

I am in the process of training my dog for a BH and AD right now - I've only had her since she was 2 and we have had to relearn quite a few things.  What has worked for us, since she already knew sit, down, and come was to train the schutzhund commands as new behaviors so that "sit" is different than "sietz."  This has been the easiest way to teach her that speed and position matter.

It's a work in progress, but we both enjoy it so that's the most important thing.  Good luck!

Opal

 Opal,

I agree that using a different sounding word can help in this situation. However, the German word for "sit" is "sitz". Other than a "z" which is pronounced more as a TZ, there is very little difference and as you can see, there is no "e" in the word. So you could easily use something else as well.

There's a gal that just bought a pup from me that started doing SCH with her bitch at 5yrs old. They are going for their BH in May and now she is going to start from scratch with a pup to continue with the sport.  She seems to feel it will be easier for her to accomplish things faster and with less frustration on starting a pup.

I'd recommend you just get your feet wet with the dog you have. Never know he might just be a natural and catch on fast. Only way you're gonna find out is to just take him to a club and see what he does.

I started my boy at 7 yrs of age. Yes that's right, 7 years. By the time we stopped, he was walking the BH, and doing the entire SchI protection routine. He loved it! A deteriorating back injury kept us from continuing, and doing the jumps and wall. We pretty much retired him from any intense training, but he still occasionally will go out and get a few bites for fun. He is now 10 and a half, and wants to go do bitework whenever he can. He has the heart of a young buck! Go and have fun. You never know until you try. :-) He's the guy in my avatar. Theresa

I say go for it! No matter how far you go, you'll learn a lot and it will good for your dog too. You'll enjoy working as a team.