What have you done with your dogs? - Page 5

John:

I am relatively new to all this.  Started competing my one shepherd in AKC obedience about two years ago.  Libby has her CGC, TDI, TC, CD and RA (one leg shy of her Rally Excellent).   Her nerves are not suitable for Schutzhund and can go no further in akc obedience because I cannot get her to pickup a dumbbell.  Libby is also a Therapy dog who has visited both retirement homes as well as schools. 

Took more care in selecting my second pup and imported a Zamp puppy and with alot of help over the past 15 months from GSDFAN, have obtained her CGC, TDI, CD, RN and bh.  (GSDFAN handled her for me for her Bh).  In August I started training her in Schutzhund - very new to me and must admit I  find Schutzhund a bit awkward, alot to learn, etc. but am enjoying it all as well as watching my dog improve.  I was so worried that my little showline female would be ridiculed, but have really found everyone I train with to be very helpful and friendly.    I am also working toward her CDX and advance Rally titles in AKC.  I enjoy both sports - so Blitzen, love hearing about your akc obedience days as well as everyone elses accomplishments.

Cheryl

A good friend of mine competes with her 4 yo male shepherd in several venues:  last weekend he earned his PAX title in agility (steady and sure vs. Border Collie frenzy), is one leg away from a UDX in obedience, and is training for VST in tracking.  A good representation of our breed, loved and trained by someone with the time to devote to her passion. What a way to spend your retirement!

First i would like to thank all of you for your response. 

Lorri, thank you.  my wife worked her a** off to put it all together.  we had a few minor complaints, but not bad seeing how that was the first one our club ever did.

mirasmom,,, i know what you are dealing with.  that wasnt a puppy that i bought for my wife,, but one that we bred.  think about having a litter of 7 of those monsters to deal with.  i was glad that we were able to find good homes for the rest.  i dont know if i could deal with them all.

blitzen,  congrats to you and your past dogs.  i agree with gsdfan.. that anything a person does with their dog is better than doing nothing at all.  

finally to all the "newbies".  keep it up!   speaking from expierence,, there is no greater feeling than to try something new with your four legged friend and accomplish it.  keep it up. 

also,,, lets keep each other up to date with our new accomplishments.   threads like this are so much more fun to read !

good luck to all, whatever you decide to do.

john

I have started my boy and 3 pups in Schutzhund training and enjoy it quite a bit.  I see the change my male is going thru with his confidence - he's really getting full of himself, which he already was but even more so now.  Thankfully we live close to Ivan and plan on doing some seminars/training with him in the very near future.  Being new to sch I am looking forward to learning from his expertise.

I am working toward a BH on my female and possibly a FH title because she always has her nose to the ground.  I look forward to learning more about service type titles as that is where my real passion is.

Kenny, I want to say welcome back.  I believe you visited us a few months back talking about getting a pup, but were serving in Iraq at the time.  If I remember correctly (without looking it up) I believe the thread turned really political.  Let me know if I'm wrong.

Thanks Agar, that was nice...it's truly a match made in heaven

Thanks Sig

Shelley, no way jose  You know me...I'm a lover not a fighter

Regards,

Melanie

Well I started in dog sports about 12 years ago with my mixed breed in agility for several years, then got my first shepherd through the trainer/breeder and dabbled a bit with Schutzhund with her, but never quite took it seriously with her.  I also worked with her in herding for quite some time, but again never really took it anywhere.  She has some nerve issues and I didn't quite know how to handle it.  Which led me to my second GSD, a herding/showline import from a herding kennel in Germany, not Kirchental either.  :)  He's achieved his HGH title here three times in the states as well as a Schutzhund 2 and breed surveyed KKL1.  If he had a better handler, he'd probably have the 3 by now too.  :)  I've also competed with him in AKC herding where he is multi titled there and working towards the Championship.   Which led me my third GSD who also has her HGH twice here in the states and is working in Schutzhund as well.  Again if she had a better handler we might be further along in things.  And way back before agility even started I was teaching my sheltie to jump through hoops and over jumps!  Also did obedience with him too, so I was destined to train dogs at 10 years old!

Shelley, no way jose  You know me...I'm a lover not a fighter

CHICKEN!

Ha ha ha ha ha.

Well, it was worth a try. I'm thinking pack her asss off to Steve with a note that says "Return with retrivee: flat, hurdle and wall. If you REALLY love me, now's ypur chance to prove it!"

Love, Shelley

I'm still stuck on the 'spent WAY to much' line, heh, heh, heh......& I haven't actually gotten the bill from my surgeon, yet. But I still love them, and we will resume training when the arm/shoulder is strong enough! I think Beckett needs some mental maturity, too. While I'm recuping he's learning the 'nothing comes for free' lesson. It's tough, because I'm such a softy, jh

Blitz wrote:

I've only participated in AKC events since 1970 and I doubt anyone would be interested in reading about any of them .

Actually I WOULD be very interested in hearing about this.  I am a die hard SchH person at heart... and that will always be my "main thing".... but I have done some other AKC events with my dogs in the past... and just recently have begin helping out with the Obedience Run Thru's at the local AKC Training club I just joined.  I run the Utility ring and help out with Novice/Open dogs.  I have found it very interesting and now want to try it myself.  I am working my SchH2 bitch in Novice and hope to trial her next year for her CD.  I would love to work her in more serious AKC stuff once she gets her SchH3.... would LOVE to try Utility with her if I can get her to that point.  She also has one leg of her RN (Rally Novice) title and I would like to at least finish that with her next year also.

I have been having a lot of fun working in the AKC stuff on the side.... once she gets her SchH3, I will be working her daughter more seriously in SchH and would like to do more then dabble in AKC with her. 

I have also always wanted to at least try AKC Tracking.  I have taken agility classes with most of my dogs to socialize and expose them to the equipment but never trialed there, hopefully someday.

What AKC events have you worked in?  I would LOVE to hear more about and talk to others who have done Utility and hear how you train some of the exercises.  

Valerie

Valerie, only AKC conformation and novice OB - see my post above.  UD is very tough IMO and none of my dogs ever got that far. When I was active, there were no agility or rally classes. I'm old .