Stupid questions... - Page 1

Krystin,

First I would like to say welcome to the board!  Now to answer some of your questions:

1.)  Yes, you can spay your female and still title her.  SchH dogs can be spayed/neutered.

2.)  Fero and Mink were like "super studs" that were widely used.  If you have a pedigree free of Fero and Mink then you have more options in your breeding program.

3.)  I like the book by Gotfried Dildei (sp?) it is called something like "Obedience, training in Drive.  And the genetics of the German shepherd dog is a good one too.

4.)  Don't know about the "real german shepherd" site.

Hope this helps but I know you will get lots more help here too!!

Vickie

www.PowerHausKennels.com

Just as a side note you may want to search the board on spaying age.  There are two different opinions on when to spay. One is to wait until the pup has reached maturity (esp. males) and has had it's growth hormones during development. The other is to spay early, particularly if you don't have an extremely safe kennel for when she's in heat. Also to avoid the temptation later to breed a non-breedworthy dog because she's still intact. Or when the owner really doesn't have the experience to make breeding decisions that will truly improve the breed based on superficial qualifications of the dog.

There are many threads that really explain the reasonings and opinions.

Good luck with your dog.

Actually there is a ton of studies and medical information which now shows there are serious deleterious effects to early spaying. If you do not have the setup to handle a bitch in heat - board her in a safe facility that has a kennel that has a roof and solid sides at least half way up.

Laura Surber has done a great job of summarizing much of the research and it can be found here  http://www.saveourdogs.net/health.html

What for me is a biggie - I heard a very well versed vet testify to this - there is a direct connection to early S/N and anterior cruciate ligament and patella problems in dogs.  I had been wondering for awhile about the sudden explosion of these types of problems in all breeds of dogs AS Well as shleter mutts.  In bitches it can apparently can also cause what is known as a juvenile vulva. The cost of fxing either of these problems is thousands of dollars - for the ACL/Knee a minimum of $6-10,000. You can buy a heck of a lot of boarding for that.

Keep in mind - reproductive organs are NOT a disease. They perform many important functions as well as producing puppies. Hormone production and regulation is essential to a healthy body. I agree that if you are not set up to manage a dgos reproductive capabilities that S/N can be essential. But I urge you to try to be able to manage it until they are at leat 12-24 months of age to give their body time to get the essential growing done. I personally have never found it difficult or onerous to manage a bitch in heat and all my dogs are house dogs and would be happy to share tips with anyone in need.

questions 1&2 i agree with powerhaus,,, although line breeding on fero and mink is not always a bad thing.

3- susan barwing, schutzhund training- theory and method

     ivan b. - advanced schutzhund,

both are good books.. but with all training take what you can, and put the rest in your pocket to save for a later date.   how you train one dog may be totally different  from what you will need for you next dog.

i prefer to go to seminars when i can afford them, i  am more of a hands on learner. then i would say video, (that way you can see what they are actually doing)  and finally books.

4- there is good info on real gsd,  i wish it was still active and updated ,  some of it hasnt been updated since 2005

i love your line "recovering am bred"  ,  a couple of our first dogs were american line. 

you know the saying,,"once you go german, you'll never go back"

john

karly,,

i forgot to tell you one thing, and im sure you have heard it before,,

there is no such thing as a stupid question. 

you will have to look out for some of the answers you may get here,, some posters can be taken the wrong way and some people can be down right nasty.  not to mention its hard to tell when someone is joking and when they are serious.

good luck to you in your endeavors with your pup

john

Welcome to the board, and congratulations on your new pup.  I agree about  at least waiting until your dog is mature before altering her.  Another book is Helmut Raiser's "Der Schutzhund".    Prestons' site called schutzhundtracking.com  is excellent and will give you a lot of great help in getting started with tracking.

the thing to remember about Kohler,,, or any dog trainer for that matter,,, is they found a way of training dogs that worked for them.  the hardest part of dog training is finding the method that works best for you and your dog.

i honestly believe the number one reason so many people give up on schutzhund (or any dog sport for that matter) is that when they join a club or training group, someone else's ideas are forced upon them.  you either train like they do, or they dont want to give you much time and/or help.  

i dont now much about clubs in your area, i live with Dorthy and Toto,   you can search USA, DVG, and other club websites and see what they list in your area.  if you dont find much in the way of schutzhund clubs you may check into some other venues, and see if anyone there is able to help you.  i have seen some informal training groups  that are not alinged with any one organization, but will help there members train for whatever  their goals are.

best of luck

john

Actually, I think those are pretty GOOD questions!

Kohler was the first training book I read. He's fallen out of favour now, because some of his methods are very, very harsh (e.g., if your dog digs a hole in your lawn, fill it with water, and stick the dog's head in it... ....look out, here comes PETA~! )

It's been quite awhile since I read the book, but I seem to remember that his basic training principles for teaching the heel, sit, down, etc. are fairly sound. I like that he doesn't use treats,  and allows the dog to choose whether to obey or not, then when it hits the end of the leash, it corrects itself. He also states that one good, firm, correction is worth 100 'nagging', gentle  corrections (which the dog learns to ignore.)

As for the protection training, he teaches GUARD DOG training, not Schutzhund, so you'd do best to look elsewhere for that information. I think his methods for that section of the book are also considered old fashioned, and are no longer used.