about to bring puppy home - Page 1

 We are bringing our new baby home in a few weeks.  I don't have any experience with german shepherds so I want to get off to a good start.  My husband wants to train her for schutzhund, but I am afraid that will make her have more aggressive tendencies.  Her grandparents are champion schutzhund dogs, too.  What I want is a family friendly easily trainable dog.  What i don't want is a dog that everybody is afraid of.  We plan on taking her to puppy kindergarten,etc..  Any thoughts?

Schutzhund does not give a dog more aggressive tendancies.  Unless the dog has bad nerves to start with, then it's a nerve issue anyway and no matter what kind of training you did wouldn't help.  Good schutzhund dogs have good nerves and are the safest most obedient dogs a person can have.

Contrary to popular belief, schutzhund training will give you a more controlled and confident dog, not an aggressive one.  My schutzhund trained dogs live with other dogs, cats and travel to horse shows with me with no problems. 

Be careful with puppy classes.  While they can be a good experience as far as socializing, they can also turn bad quickly.  Make sure the trainer knows what they are doing (avoid places like PetSmart classes!) and that your pup doesn't have a bad experience.  Getting attacked by an out of control dog is not a good way to build confidence.  Take it slow and don't try to push your pup into learning anything too quickly. 

Good luck and enjoy your pup!

Contrary to everyone that so far answered to your post. I would not recommend Schutzhund if you not sure about actually working with the dogs on regular basis. Many people that are interested at first in Schutzhund find out that it is a lot of hard work. Which leads to giving, which in turn leads to an owner that has a dog that just loves to bite. :) Schutzhund is a sport for people that are really serious about the commitment. On the other hand if you were looking just for a nice pet, oh you are in for surprise, with strong pedigree with SCh dogs this dog will be active and love to play all the time and I mean it all the time. If you willing to put in the time that your dog will require and all the hard work that comes with it, you will never buy other dog than GSD. Good luck and I wish you best. Please take time to think about Schutzhund and do your research there are a lot of pros and cons as in any dog sport.

Contrary to everyone that so far answered to your post. I would not recommend Schutzhund if you not sure about actually working with the dogs on regular basis.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one snajper69.  We've had "pet" people train at our club that had no intentions of titling their dog but they still had a blast.  One in particular was a complete nerve bag when she started out and wouldn't even come out from between her owners legs.  Within a couple of months, she was an upbeat  and much happier dog.  Her obedience was snappy and she was confident about biting a puppy sleeve.  Mentally, if you have the right training director and helper, I think schutzhund training can do wonders for a dog AND their owners.

I wouldn't be too worried just yet snajper69, she says the line has champion SchH dogs in the grandparents side, I have read many a marketing add for showline puppie that say the same thing.

Margarita, the best thing to do is to see if you have club in your area, and go out to take a visit.  Schutzhund is a very fun and rewarding sport, and when you have a good club you meet lots of really great people who love their dogs!  Yes it can be time consuming IF YOU ARE competeing at the NATIONAL level!  I have several club members who actually prefer to just remain club level and they come out when they have the chance.  They do maintain the obedience when they are at home, and this is one of the most important aspects of Schutzhund.  I have one lady who comes to our club just for the OB, she does not do any bite work at all, but has the OB routine down, they got their BH last year, and they have a great time.

In the mean time when you bring your pup home be sure to have all of the proper crates, and toys and be consistent about how you work on potty training.  I sure hope the breeder is offering you information on all of this.

If you want to send me a private email, I have a word document that I have written up for people who think they want a Schutzhund puppy and some basic do's and don'ts for around the house when they are growing up. my email is luvjakers at yahoo

For more information on Schutzhund go to the USCA Website www.germanshepherddog.com

Best of luck to you.  Also do you know if the lines are working lines or show lines?  Maybe you can post the parents names?

aSK Alabama K9  Marlene how a top schutzhund dog acts . Zidane goe to grannies room in the middle of the night and lets her hold on to him to go to potty...she is suppose to use a walker but cant remember to get it...but she remembers how to hold on to Zidanes head and he goes with her....He is and never has every shown any dog , cat or animal agression,,unless one would attack him first....

He has the button of levels and throw progheny just like him...He  is only one in America , and there are others in Shutzhund training top levels that are the same great dogs....Tammy has Ibo who died a too eary death and he was the same way...SchH3 Ipo 3  and wonderful with kids and learned to cope with the cats...

SO dont let anyone scare you about Schutzhund training...most outside public has no clue about what schutzhund training is all about...they look at a book or article and see dogs on sleeves hanging from them and biting and they think that is all it is about....When that dog comes off that sleeve, he turns a key and becomes Momma baby again....or Hes suppose to...

Here's my Sch.3 boy.

 Thanks, everyone for the replies.  KariM - We do have a local schuzthund club and we plan to take her there to socialize if anything.  Our breeder has been very good at giving us information and answering our questions.  We have also checked out several books from the library, but they all have different opinions on training, etc...  We'll figure it out!

Thanks, again!