How old is too old to start schutzhund work? - Page 2

If she has already done "a bit" of obedience and tracking,
she has started for Shutzhund already !  More to the sport
than bitework.

You may find with the combination of her being a 2nd-homer
and not particularly high-drive that she never gets to the top of
the points;  on the other hand, she may end up surprising you.
I would be the last person to suggest a Shepherd was ever too
old to learn new tricks, and certainly your bitch is still 'adolescent'
at 15 months, she's hardly 'old & set in her ways' !  LOL

Go for it - and have a great time.  She will.

 

I titled a 6 yr. old in SchH 1 once. It wasn't pretty but she got it.
 

it all depends on your level of personal  fitness, free time and your prior experience with dog training. how old are you? quit the cigarettes, ease back on the booze, get a personal exercise plan, good diet and plenty of sleep... you will be fine.

U can start with any age!  Why?  Your goal is to learn the handling skills not train your dog, per say.  Your dog getting better is just a by product of your learning process.  Sch is a handler sport.  Now, 10 years later you want to play with the big boys, you will need a special dog that can play there. 
Just get out and have fun!

Like others have said, don't worry about her age. Have fun with her and both of you will learn a lot!
You mentioned that she is very focused on you right now. This is very common for a dog that has been re-homed. Your dog is showing signs of stress. She doesn't fully understand why she is in a new home. She is looking for someone to bond to. You need to make sure that is you. In my opinion, I co-founded a rescue 14 years ago, it takes most dogs about 60 days before they feel fully comfortable in a new home with new owners. Try not to put any pressure on your dog right now, or at the very least keep it to a minimum. Play with her a lot so that she knows being with you is fun. Keep the fun limited to you and your family. She doesn't need to go to all your friend's houses or have them over playing with her. That will come later. A big mistake I have seen people make over the years is taking their dog to show it off to all their friends and the dog ends up liking one of the friends better than the new owner. This is a good way to get a new dog to potentially run away when it is given a chance. The schutzhund part of the equation can come after the dog feels comfortable with you. My dog never saw a bite sleeve until she was 2.5 years old. She has put up a 96 and 99 so far in protection. As Paul said, your dog has it or it doesn't.
Here is a good place to start on tracking.
http://www.schutzhundvillage.com/nose1.html

Sch should be fun and helpful to you and your dog. Who cares if your dog is good or not, learn to be a better handler. In all of the helper work I have done 75% of the dogs were not worth a crap as far as quality goes, but it is not about the quality of dog it is about the quality of people and the quality of the education in learning about training dogs. The great sch dogs are easy to train and poor quality dogs you will learn more because it is harder to teach the dog to work and work correctly.

The great sch dogs are easy to train and poor quality dogs you will learn more because it is harder to teach the dog to work and work correctly.

I would venture to say this statement makes the pet owner/rescuer very proud.

 

The hard part is training YOU>..the dog gets it easier...GO for it...dog will do great with a good club or an experienced SchH trainer..

Have fun, keep acting like a clown daily and you will go from green to  a  life time SCHUTZHUND LOVER

I KNOW MEN