Schutzhund
Introduction to the Schutzhund Sport
This is one for the uninitiated...
An article by Ron White outlining the sport of schutzhund; including descriptions of the three phases as well as how and why schutzhund came to be.
With the removal of the long established barriers which prevented us from having free movement with our dogs to mainland Europe , a whole new area of opportunity now exists to compete abroad in shows and schutzhund trials.
It is on this latter subject that I have been asked to write, for the benefit of those who are not familiar with the sport of Schutzhund and it's origins.
Background.
At the beginning of the 20th Century, the effects of the Industrial Revolution were sweeping across Europe and changing a way of life that had existed for centuries.Rapid modernisation of rural life made many traditional methods of farming redundant and the value of the indigenous working dogs was in danger of being lost forever.
The early creators of the German Shepherd Dog, led by Captain Max von Stephanitz, were among the first to realize this and recognising that their beloved breed was capable of being adapted to all sorts of utilitarian purposes, they conceived a system of standards for identifying those animals considered suitable as breeding stock.
The conformation show served as the arbiter for correct type and uniform physical structure and they devised a working test to identify those animals possessing the necessary stable characters, strong drives and overall working ability.
It was from these early working tests that the sport of Schutzhund evolved and whilst various elements have been refined over the years, the original objectives and ideals remain the same.
Overview.
Schutzhund is a three level, three phase dog sport.There are three progressively more difficult levels of competition that lead to the Schutzhund titles from Schutzhund 1 through to Schutzhund 3.
Each level comprises three phases --- Tracking, Obedience and Protection.At all three levels, each phase is allocated 100 points and from these the judge deducts points for any errors according to the points system. To qualify at any level, a minimum of 70 points must be achieved in each phase but in order to progress to competition at the next level, a minimum passing mark of 80 points must be gained in Protection.
As mentioned above, there are three phases to the programme :--
Tracking – which is the development of the dogs natural scenting ability and it's willingness to work for it's handler.
The track is laid in an open field and the dog must subsequently follow the footsteps of the tracklayer finding and indicating articles that have been left on the track. With each level, the length and age of the track is increased with Schutzhund 1 level tracks being laid by the handler and Schutzhund 2 and 3 by a stranger.The handler follows the dog at the end of a 10 metre line when working the track.
Schutzhund Rules
