June 01, 2012
I attended a local schutzhund club for an evaluation on my new puppy. I was told not to work on obedience at all, just work on tugging and let the pup be the boss of the house & be dominant over me so he’ll have more confidence when we start training later. I’ve purchased many of the Michael Ellis videos and this goes against everything I have learned, what do you think?
Full Question:
I want to train my new puppy in Schutzhund (would rather to Mondio but can't find any help locally). I have started with bite work on my own and the basic obedience. Last Saturday, we went to a Schutzhund club for evaluation and instructions. I was told I should not be doing any obedience training whatsoever, just work on tugging and getting him to hold the bite. I was told to just let him be a puppy and let him be with no corrections, letting him be the boss of the house, and let him think he is the top dog over me so he will get a lot of confidence before we start working of anything. (He is not shy or reserved). I have gotten a lot of Michael Ellis' videos and gone to his seminars, so this just goes against anything that I have learned. What are your thoughts and would be my next step? 
Cindy's Answer:
Thanks for your question. I don't agree with waiting until the dog is older for obedience, regardless of the temperament of the pup. Personally, I would probably not be able to train with a group of people who subscribed to this philosophy. Letting a puppy be the boss of a house and dominant over the owner doesn't have anything to do with making a confident Schutzhund dog. In my experience (and I trained Schutzhund for years before I ever started doing Mondio), a balanced relationship between the dog and handler is paramount for success, no matter what your goals are.
If everything is done with food and play, it only makes sense to teach the puppy to "learn how to learn." It will make everything so much easier later on. You can also start teaching your puppy the skills of protection via Foundation of Puppy Bite Work and Teaching Protection Skills Without a Decoy.
Cindy Rhodes
If everything is done with food and play, it only makes sense to teach the puppy to "learn how to learn." It will make everything so much easier later on. You can also start teaching your puppy the skills of protection via Foundation of Puppy Bite Work and Teaching Protection Skills Without a Decoy.
Cindy Rhodes
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