training question - Page 2

Just FYI, the purpose of the BH is to show your dog is obedient and social. The rewards of owning a well behaved dog are worth more than any title. Dont feel like you have to rush. I put a BH on a 5 year old female that spent her whole life in a breeding kennel until I got her, she didnt know sit from platz, but we worked it out. Her lines weren't anything special either.

I guess my point is, the joy is in the teamwork. And even 10 minutes a day will lead you to your goal over time. The rewards of training your own dog are well worth the wait. AND you will have something to be proud of. My "couch potato" isnt anything special but his OB is very good and I trained him myself. Compared to the average joe's dog he is Lassie squared and I still get a kick out of people saying "wow, who trained your dog". I just smile, cause we haven't actively trained in 3 years, but at 6 my boy still remembers.....

If you do just want to pay, I would say $500-$1000 is about right. 2-3 months is an acceptable time frame. Good luck!

For most of us it is the joy of doing the work together, the team work.  For some it is better to have the dog trained.  I'm sure you know if you send the dog for training, at some point you will need to work with her and the trainer too in order to understand the commands, body language, etc..

Since she knows basic and advanced ob she is essentially ready for her BH.  It's my understanding it's the German equivelant of the CGC.  I have never done a CGC, so I don't know that for a fact.  When you do the BH it's basic ob, & traffic safety stuff.  For the "ad" she just needs to be in very good condition since it's an endurance title, nothing to train other than being able to have her trot next to a bike.

So really, the expense is going to be putting her with a handler who will train her then show her in an SV type show.  Plus you will want at least a "g" rating in a show.  As you can see, people are estimating anywhere from $500 to $5,000 and I am thinking it would be more towards the higher end, but much will depend on the experience & skill level of the handler.   As far as how much time, there is really so many variables like show dates,  training, conditioning. 

I think your best bet would be to get with an experienced german show line breeder for an evaluation of your dog.  That person would be in the position to give you a good idea of the cost, what's involved & the time it would take.

venzosmom- I think flipfinish said it best.  I completely understand where your mindset is right now because a year ago I was right there with ya.  I tossed around the idea of sending the dog out  for his next title, I knew who I wanted to send the dog to, knew I could trust them and it was affordable and worth the money to me BUT I talked myself out of it because of the very reasons flipfinish mentioned and sueinnc stated-a. there's no rush and b. the more I got with a trainer and began learning with my dog the more I enjoyed that time with him and we bonded tremendously.  It sounds like your life gets as crazy as mine and finding the time to putz around with training dogs is limited...welcome to my world. lol  BUT, somehow between the kids, business, husband, housework I do manage to sneak out with the dog for 20 minutes or so each day to train with him.  I have to go out every day for "poop duty" so this is usually the time I stay out a little longer since I have to be there anyways.  If there is no extra time then I'll even do some obedience just in the house.  Every Sunday morning is our real training day that a trainer comes out and does a more intense session.  Unless he has to cancel I treat this day like I had a job to go to and I MUST be there.  It's the only way I can condition myself and my family to understand that this is something I enjoy-it's my hobby and it's important to me so that for that one day- a couple hours this is MY time.  I make enough sacrifices all week long for everyone else; I don't think it's much to ask of them to pick up the slack around here for a couple hours one day a week.

Unless you're in a hurry to breed then give yourself some time to ponder this decission.  If it's for breeding purposes then I can understand you not wanting to wait it out until you feel confident enough to try to title the dog yourself.  Either way there's nothing wrong with it, so long as you are comfortable with the trainer.  And in either case, you should have a good one.  Best of Luck.

I don't know if you have read this thread that is currently going on, but go down to Louise P.s check list about trainers.  It's very good:

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/bulletins_read/130835.html

Training a BH is elementary obedience and control that should be attainable by ANY pet owner of ANY breed.

ALL training takes time, and beating a dog into work is not TRAINING it is abuse.

As for the AD all the dog has to do is run beside your bike for several kilometres, if you have not got time to exercise your dog to this level perhaps you should not have a dog.  No specialised training is required for an AD.

However, if you have absolutely no idea how to get a dog to walk to heel, recall or lie down for some time or be able to walk it around people, joggers, cyclists or other dogs etc then obviously you do need a lot of help

sueincc, Bringing her to a breeder for an eval. is a great idea, I did not think of that, it there any  good showline breeders in MA. ? if so i'd love to have someone evaluate her, GREAT IDEA! im not in a hurry at all, I have not decided one way or the other about breeding her, she just turned 1 july 24th. I do work with her everyday, for 10-15 minutes twice aday (she's my smoke break)I work from home which is good & bad. I do still take her to training once a week & we go to dog social every thusday night from 5-7, we do a-frame work,balance beem,jump through tires,weave polls(which she sucks at-not graceful)I just dont know the sv or akc rules, what needs to be done,where when how ? Like I said i've never done this before, I don't want to screw it/her up. The trainer I work with doesn't breed or show so he can't eval. her for that.              Agar  

agar, i know the cazy feeling-it's my life!!!!!     I think your right about not being in a hurry, I'll keep thinking. I do try to take time for her/me everyday, shes very happy & friendly her o.b work is good, so maybe that's enough right now. I did like the idea of having her evaluated by a showline breeder, so if you know of a good one somewhere around MA. let me know, thanks for the help & ideas . Katie 

Lang, I have know idea what you talking about !!! I never said one word about beating my dog or having her beat to do anything, maybe you need to re-read what I wrote, befor you write. Just to let you know my dog does heel,sit,down, recall on & off leash. yes I do want help, thats why I asked. 

venzosmom-  I too work from home lol  and yes it has it's advantages SOMETIMES. lol  I tend to think if I had to go to an office by a certain time every day I'd be more productive.   I don't know much about the showlines other than what I have picked up on here and there from others on here.  I have a workingline.  Is there any SCH clubs your way within a reasonable driving distance?  If there is I'm sure they'd be happy to evaluate your dog for you and that is always a good place to start to learn.  Even if you aren't interested in doing bitework there's a lot of other things you can do that you and your dog would benefit from. 

Agar is (as usual) spot on!  Here is a link to UScA club list in your area.  Pia would probably be the best to point you in the right direction:

http://germanshepherddog.com/clubs/new_england.htm