Ladies: how old is too old for SchH? - Page 3

I used to be able to say that I was fair, fat, fifty and a gimp but alas no longer. I turned 60 last year and 61 looms in the immediate future. I have two bone on bone knees plus various other joint & health problems and walk with a cane or canes or two canadian crutches depending on level of pain and how far I have to walk.

Remy http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/485683.html while by no means my first shepherd - having had one since the age of 13- is my first Schutzhund dog. She came to me 6 years ago at just under a year of age. She is both my service dog and my sport (H.O.T.) dog. I am very blessed to have her as she is very clearheaded and strong in temperament, character and the work. She is a big strong dog , very very powerful in the work so not a dog for the faint hearted. ( I like the picture with her pedigree which was taken at her Sch1 because you can see the air under Joel's feet which gives you some idea of how powerfully she hits.) Anyone who has seen her work can tell you that she brings a serious powerful attitude to the table - one that has scared several helpers.  At one trial in the middle of the protection routine the judge said to me "my god have you bred this bitch". Now that's a compliment, distracting as it was. She was brought to this country at the age of 12 weeks for the purpose of producing police dogs. One of her daughters at just barely over two years of age recently certified for CARDA and FEMA and is working as a trailing dog for a deputy who will also be working her in Schutzhund. They just had their first evidence find - bullets in a box in a sock hidden in a yard she was not asked to search but was just walking thru. Bullets connected the parolee to a series of armed robberies. Goodby parolee.

Whoops got off topic but a. I'm proud of her and her daughter and b. I wanted to be clear that this is no pussy footed dog.

Has it been easy. Heck NO. Has it been worth it. Heck YES. Could I have done it without my friends and helpers and a really great dog - don't think so. I've been blessed to work with people that help me when I need it such as a back hand on a long leash, laying track for me and occasionally once she was trained acutally working her for me on the nights I just could not move. Remy herself has a lot to do with my ability to work and trial her. Obedience is the toughest for the two of us - for me walking and for her trying to deal with someone who walks like a drunken sailor and worse yet at a snail's pace that it is very difficult for her to accomodate her size and speed to. Tracking again is all Rem and very little me. She has maybe only been tracked 2-3 dozen times in her life yet she goes out and does the job for me. She does it by free tracking and retrieving the article's to me because she retrieves for me in daily life as my service dog. Then she trots back to where she picked up the article and starts tracking again. We did not teach her that - she figured it out. Pretty neat to see.

VomMarischal, just do what you feel like doing, at your own pace. I'm younger than you, but had some serious health problems a few years ago that prevented me from even touching a dog for months.

I can't "do it all" like I did before I was sick, so I've had to reevaluate the goals I had before and change them to suit the "new me".

One thing that is motivating though, is seeing older folks training and trialing.  I hadn't seen a dog friend of mine for several years. Last year, I talked to him at a trial. He's 84 and still training and competing. He asked me to please get a dog and come back before he dies. lol  Talk about a motivator - He even had heart surgery a little while back.

If you look, there are lots of examples for you to draw on to keep on truckin'. I guess a question you can ask yourself is how happy you would be if you just stopped? I think you'll know when you can't train anymore.

And getting someone to help you with the more physically intenese training is a great idea.

Now comes the frustrations:  Remy has been ready for her Sch3 for quite some time. I am not - the running in obed presents as real problem as does the longer track. ( my tracking mentor thought the increase in length & turns and articles would be too much of our "style" but thankfully not for Rem tho the distance is still a challenge for me). I have made one go at it but we miserably flunked obedience. A combination of faults - the biggest mine - I didn't practice enough 'cause it's the toughest & the part I least enjoy. Then the club's - they put the blind in position 4 a place we had never practiced before & caused error for both Sch3 dogs & finally a bit of Rem's. She was convinced from the position of the blind that we were there to do protection & in fact for the vorhaus headed straight there. Ah well.  I have not quite come to the point of having someone else handle her for her 3 tho it has been considered. Thankfully my "village" is more determined than me that I get that Sch3 club jacket :)).

It is not getting easier with time. Actually more difficult since in her main role as my service dog she helps me so it's tough to turn that off & get her to understand that on the Schutzfield she does NOT know better than me. I have never judge, club or field shopped before but honestly I may look for a judge who can understand that while I can not run, I can do a change of pace (shuffle to fast shuffle) and the INTENT of the exercise is to show the dog's ability and willingness to adapt it's pace.

Which leads to another frustration that you have to learn to let just roll off your back. The comments people make & attitude of judges and competitors. I have been told my dog has an advantage because I lift my cane to point to the blinds on the blind search thus my "arm" is that much longer. They handily ignore the extra time my dog must do the bark & hold because it takes me so long to get up the field.  I have had competitors demand that they NOT be partnered with me because after all I walk so slow that in obedience it would be asking too much for their dog to stay down that long.  We have been seriosuly dinged in tracking because I was not at ALL times 33 ft from the dog (being much much further away - sometimes by 2 or 3 track legs). Hello the rules say at least 33 ft the INTENT being you can't be closer & influence the dog. So who has a greater chance of "tweaking" their dog by leaning back on the leash etc the guy at exactly 33 ft on lead from the dog or me several hundred feet from the dog with no leash connection. Hmmm. I have been told by judges that it's a team sport & if you can't do it "as intended" then find another sport. Hello- which is the better team the one that works w/o a leash and 300 feet away w/ the dog retrieving back to you or the one w/ the handler twitching the lead or running in obed by merely lifting their feet high to give the appearance because their dog cannot adjust to a change of pace. While I have asked for accomodations for my disability in tracking when I have to drop the lead & let the dog free track I have NEVER EVER asked for it to be easier for the dog. In fact it's usually more difficult as in her Sch1 someone else laid the track. The final frustration is knowing that the scores represent my failings & not hers & that I literally have a world podium level quality dog who will never look like she should because I own & handle her.

Good luck and let us know how you do. 
Beth
PS What I miss being able to do is herding. The knees really get in the way for that.