I was talking to a guy I ran into at the club I train at and he was telling me that also trains in PSA, NAPD with the following trainer:

http://www.k9coach.com/default.asp

I was curious to learn more about these sports or organizations. I noticed some people also do ASR on this board. I didn't realize there were so many other Protection Sports/Organizations out there.

With all the European Ring sports out there what is the motivation behind training in these American (?) rings sports. Just curious.

"With all the European Ring sports out there what is the motivation behind training in these American (?) rings sports. Just curious."


Well, first off, there aren't many European Ring sport clubs here in the U.S. to begin with. The total number of people competing in them is very small compared to SchH ( NARA has, what, 150 to 200 members at the most? ) which makes holding trials or even finding a club to train with difficult. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Also, some folks look at the American based ring sports as more of a "reality based protection sport" - which draws a certain type of handler to it.

So does having all these slightly different organizations work against the promotion of the sport? Are these real world sports even higher level than Belgain Ring, etc? I have heard people scoff at Schutzhund, and then boast about Ring sports being the "real deal." I am simply asking out of curiosity. At this stage, I'll be happy if I can pull off a BH!!

Yes, personally I believe that having so many scattered protection sports hurts those that have a serious interest in those types of sport.

There are probably two dozen of these types of sports in the U.S. and many have only 15 members or so - it just appears that many people just made up a sport that nearly anyone could pass just to hang a meaningless title on their dog that couldn't pass a legitimate test in a working dog sport. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

And that just makes people scoff even more at the protection type sports. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Being a newbie to dog sports (my Mal just passed his Schutzhund evaluation test yesterday to start training), but being around martial arts for a while, it seems very similiar with mentalities that people have. Like Schutzhund is like more mainline taekwondo or karate and the other dog protection sports are somehow more "elite" like Brazilian jujitsu or other mixed martial arts, so instead of getting more unified, it just get more fractionated. Kinda unfortunate, really...

A bit off history.

First there was a working dog who's future was in danger due to the changes in society. (end 19th century beginning 20th) Some men saw the qualities of these dogs. They found a way to gain some money out off them by training them to a level higher than ever achieved befor; including controled bitework. These "circusacts" draw big crowds and were the foundation off a new kind of sport (Belgian) ring. The name is derived from the flemish word used to discribe the enclosed area where the shows took place. This new sport had an international succes and other nations changed the rules to thier likings (in Holland everyone has a bike, so lets use bikes,...) and thus other forms of ringsports emerged. Another effect was that policeforces got interested in this form of training and modernday patroldogtraining is derived from Belgian Ring.

In the same time across the border in Germany there was a similar problem with the GSD but instead off looking for a new "job" the Germans were looking for suitable breedingstock. So they created a test which has evolved into Schz. Its another way to try to solve a problem and it has its concequences on the way the dogs evolve. In ring the emphasis is on "doing the job". In schz the emphasis is on "passing the test". As you know both these things aren't easy but each requires a specific type of training and specific types of dogs are more suited for the one or the other sport.

In the US Patroledogtraining came first and you're in the process of creating a "national" ringsport. Who know's in 50 years time you'll get there. (knowing that in Belgium alone there are 3 types off Belgian Ring, not including Mondioring)

To close the circle in 1989 (i think) representatives of different sports (ring and schz) came together and made a mix off what they thought was the best off every sport and the result is Mondioring.

So basicaly train your dogs to the best off thier abilities and have fun

Greetings

Johan

Johan!
Thanks, that was an excellent explanation regarding the European sports! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />