Some bad news - Page 1

Well the other day i had my dogs evaluated to see if they had what it takes to be trained in Sch.

and the trainer told me that my male would probably only be able to achieve a SchII bc he isnt aggresive enough for Sch III.

But my female shouldnt have a problem. He said that my female is more a Independent dog where as my male is more interested in just pleasing me, bc he didnt want to play,work, or get food from the trainer (isnt not taking food from strangers a good thing?)

but heres a question. is there a way too improve or enhance my male's  aggresion level? and make him more confident with out me around?

My male:

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/477603.html

My female:

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/478331.html

O and i say bad news bc i would have loved to take my male all the way to Sch III.

Pray tell, who evaluated your dogs?? I am not going to say much but I think you should look around some more.. any clubs in your area??

That another problem im about three hours from the closest Sch Club. A trainer at Triple Crown Dog Academy.

Well if you love this sport and you love your dog, you will try to get as far as the both of you can together.  If they say you can get to a SchH2, but not a SchH3?  That doesn't seem to make sense, plus your dog may be a sleeper and he may WAKE UP as he gets older!  One of the dogs in my club was sold as a "pet" dog and he ended up winning the Regional SchH3 Championship.

This sport is what you make of it, you may not have a National Level dog, but that doesn't mean that because someone said so, that you should not shoot for higher aspirations!

I had so many people tell me my dog won't do this or that because her mother was not a Sch dog.  Well we got our SchH3 one month before she turned 3 years old.  She is a great female, and if we had a more solid foundation we would be at the higher levels, but we didn't and that is ok!  I love her just the same.

Don't let someone discourage you from this awesome sport.  If your dog doesn't have it, you'll know for yourself without someone saying you CAN'T do it. 

I have seen a number of dogs who just don't have it at all in protection, but have encouraged them to do the OB1,2,3 and Tracking, but that was because the dog was very LAZY and a couch potato and could care less about the "bad man"

Best of luck to you, and don't give up!

Enjoy the sport and your dogs.  Are you south of Austin or North of Austin?   Try going to Canine Workshop in Dallas for another evaluation.

Some helpers/trainers do not want to work with older dogs. Some are very prejudiced by what they PERCEIVE as a dog's breeding ( i.e if hte color isn't great must be a show dog ergo can't work).

You've got good advice. Go for it. What you got was one person's opinion - that and 65 cents will buy you a cup of coffee (oops wait nowdays I guess that should be $4.65 ;)

Sounds like you may not have titled before. If so, you also don't yet know what your stamina and ability will be so the only thing to do is start and enjoy and ignore any fool that wants to put you down.  Now if after time the dog is not enjoying the work then that's different - find him something he does enjoy whether it's tracking, obedience, herding, agility or flyball.

I also suggest you consider getting the Ivan DVD's. They may help you in what you want to do.

If you are close to Austin have you talked to Dave Kroyer? He is in Hutto but not at Triple Crown.

Well first off He didnt discourage me from the sport. only thing that got too me was that my male might not have what it takes to be a Sch III dog.

but neway, I am a beginner when it comes to Sch.

I did train my dogs in basic obedience but the tracking and protection i have no idea how to do.  And a local narcotics and SAR trainer around where i live recommened TCDA. Now the trainer there at TCDA is also very helpful and informative( isnt discouraging me in anyway but in a sense giving me a realistic view of what my dog seems to be capable of) and even Recommended me to try and speak with Dave Kroyer. Bc right now ( he said) he is dominating the Sch scene there. If you have a number or email goose plz supply me with it. I heard that he takes interns as well and would love to be a part of that.

But what ive noticed is that my male has a greater ball drive and would rather keep playing that stop and drink some water and seems as though he enjoys basic obedience (doesnt seem as if he gets bored) so i do believe that he would enjoy doing Sch. and pretty much the same goes for my female but she is much more aggresive or civil i guess you could say and more of a food/prey drive. so maybe i could title her in FH as well.

O heres another question. would teaching my dogs to track for Sch. be enough to get the first level of FH? and how rigorous is the training to receive an FH title?

well I was told that my male couldn't get past a Schutzhund 1 at one point and we are now working towards our Schutzhund 3.  His problems only come from his handler's angst when it comes to trialing!

I don't see how one can truly evaluate a dog just from seeing your dogs once.  I understand that the dog is a bit "older," and it may take some time.  My bitch's mother who was bred more for herding and is an awesome herding dog.  Has the German HGH title was told that she couldn't obtain a 1 either and did so at the age of 7 and is now working towards her 2.  She didn't really start to train in Schutzhund seriously until around your dogs age if not older for her tracking.   Soooo, anything is possible.

Find a club that is willing to work with you, as long as the dog showed something.  Anything is possible.