- TRACKING consists of precisely following an aged track of a human and the indication of articles dropped by that individual. This has application in search and rescue work.
- OBEDIENCE is the basis of the working relationship between a good dog and his handler. The schutzhund dog must precisely execute various commands including heeling off leash, change of pace, automatic sit, sit in motion, retrieve on the flat, retrieve or a hurdle, retrieve over a wall, stand in motion, down in motion, long down under distraction, recall, and send out.
- PROTECTION consists of a directed search for the bad guy, guarding, escort, defense of the handler, and apprehension. These techniques have potential application in personal defense, police and military work.
As you can readily appreciate, schutzhund can be a proving ground for those traits and training techniques that make certain dogs stable, useful members of your family. Unstable, nervous, overly aggressive, or timid dogs are identified through schutzhund competitions and not recommended for breeding.
Before a dog is allowed to compete in protection, he must demonstrate his stability around various stimuli including cyclists, traffic, strangers, children and other dogs. Training techniques that
do not work result in dogs that don’t obtain their schutzhund titles. The best breeding and the best training result in the best scores!
There are those who import schutzhund titled dogs, and a growing number who train in schutzhund. Some of these will actually title dogs, a few will qualify for national competition, and a handful of elite trainers will win or place at these competitions. Schutzhund is a very competitive sport that results in the type of dog you need!
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