Hello Everyone,
My (Official Name by Leerburg Protocol) is Billy, feel free to use this or Shawsea (what my friends call me) from here on in. I am the proud owner of a beautiful GSD of Czech working bloodline. She is 4 months old, High Energy, High to Extreme Prey Drive, and a pleasure to work with. I Live in the PNW on that beautiful Island North of Seattle and West of Vancouver, in Victoria.
My question today is about Schutzhund Training, from all my research, Schutzhund is the only Dog Sport locally available, to be clear, protection oriented, yes there are other options like agility, herding and Treiball, but no Mondio, French etc..
I have conversed with the people at my local club and they leave me with the impression that there dogs are not remotely capable of being pets, but simply Sport Dogs. With what seems to be dogs that they train and put in crates and harbour outside. I have seen the titles my Breeder has acquired and met the dogs that earned them and I thought they were wonderfully behaved dogs, who I played with for quite a few hours, tug, fetch etc.. He thinks that just because a dog is Sch III doesn't mean it is a killing machine, it should be both protector and family dog. So before I subject my girl to this, I was wondering is this just a club with old school ideas, or is a Great Schutzhund dog really never going to be able to go to the park and play fetch.
For background my girl has completed basic puppy obedience, and have been following the Michael Ellis system of Food/Tug/and advanced concepts in Motivation. Any opinion will be greatly appreciated

If you have a stable good tempermented dog, properly socialized, well trained,in complete constant control, it should be able to go where ever you go.

My female is a VERY high drive, serious dog with a very high work ethic all the time, but is social & has gone to elderly client's homes with me. She lives to work, especially protection work. My dogs are worked regularly at school sport fields with kids participating in gym classes & sport games going on at the same time.

My dogs live in my house & my female even sleeps on my bed with me. They are my companions in addition to their ability to work.

The school of thought in some clubs is that if you keep a dog kenneled it will be so loaded with drvie that it will live to work & work exceedingly well when taken out to work. I personally believe that if a dog needs to be pent up in order to 'create' the drive needed to do the work, then the dog needs a different job. Either the dog has what it takes or it doesn't.

Also many sport people don't really want to 'cope' with dealing with the time it often takes to teach a high drive dog to live in the house. Some high drive dogs don't have a great 'off switch' & can be difficult to live with in the house. But with time, patience & persistance & adequate mental & physical exercise they can learn to behave in the home. Also some sport folks have multiple dogs & then the effert is bigger. (I had 3 GSDs here at one point...a 9 wk old, 9 mo old & 3 yr old all living with me in the house) I guess there are also some folks that just don't want dogs & dog hair, dirt ect in their house. Or maybe the spouse doesn't.

Bottom line is....if your dog has what it takes to do sport work..she should be able to live in your lifestyle of choice & not dictated by your club. JMHO

All of the dogs in our club are pet/house dogs, with the exception of TD's GSDs, which are kennel dogs. Because of the number of dogs he raises/trains, that's his only option. He is a bit old-school and definitely has some biases about housedogs being good sport dogs, but he is in the minority at our club.

Thanks guys, that was my opinion as well, her temperment I think is great for it, but will get it tested first to make sure, as for socialization, right now she is wonderful, very good meeting dogs and humans, yet even at this age she seems to know the "On/Off" switch, when we are training, there is me and only me. Then 2 minutes later she'll be running around playing with her friends.Maybe this was conditioned by the puppy kindergarten I went to I'm not sure, the pups would play in an xpen for ten minutes, then we would disperse and work on training for 10, then play for ten etc..
Now I guess the real question is, if the club really does have this orientation is it worth taking her there, or should I look for some other stimulus for her. Possibly use the club for their facility and tools, and listen to their guidance, but continue researching and watching the Ed Frawley and Michael Ellis of training and just ignore what sounds or looks like some thing I don't want to do ?

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I have conversed with the people at my local club and they leave me with the impression that there dogs are not remotely capable of being pets, but simply Sport Dogs.

To me Billy, that just means they have dogs that need to do something. Not dogs that are content to lay around the house all day.

Go spend some time there without your dog & watch & see how they train all the different dogs. There should be no 'one size fits all' kind of mentality. Each dog is an indiuvidual & learns a bit differently & at their own pace & may require different training techniques to achieve a training goal.

They also don't need to know how you live at home with your own dog & where she sleeps. Doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the training if the dog has what it takes to do the work.

Keeping an open mind will allow you to learn many ways of teaching the same behavior. You can never learn too much.

You can participate with the club regardless of their opinions or your training preferences. Club members don't typically dictate how you train, though they may offer some advice. I learn a lot from being around trainers of different persuasion.

Even if they are old school, you will most likely benefit from the association.

IMO, don't just use them, but take a shot at being an active member and contributing new fangled ideas and methods. You will benefit more than if you just tolerate them and their ideas. You should always keep building on what you know, from all sources available..

Some clubs have TDs with the 'my way or the highway' kinda attitude...which is why I suggested going & seeing how they train at clubs before seeking membership. Most clubs will let you come & watch without your dog for a time or 2 to see what it's all about & ask questions.

My two GSDs are outside dogs only because of the hair. Most ALL the dogs at the club I belonged to were house dogs.

No advice on your club dilemma but I just wanted to say welcome!

And a four month old shepherd! Oooooo...any pictures?