I'm curious about the sport of Schutzhund and was hoping to get some more information here. I have an 11 week old St. Bernard/GSD mix pup that has drive to spare. He loves to play tug and we're working on teaching him that pants legs, shirt arms, and random objects aren't appropriate tug toys. He's also a problem solver and already keeping us on our toes. (At 8 weeks, he figured out how to unscrew the bolts on our baby gates.)

I'm looking for something to focus that drive and give it a healthy outlet as well as something fun we can do together. I am not looking for a personal protection dog out of this and my interest in this is purely as a dog sport. I also want him to be a good family pet and have 2 children, ages 7 and 9.

I know my dog will likely turn out bigger and slower than most of the other dogs doing this sport and that his size may cause issues. I don't mind not being the absolute best out there, I'm more interested in seeing him reach his potential as well as giving us a healthy outlet for him to do what is in his blood. I've reached out to our local Schutzhund club, but I have to say that I'm rather intimidated. They limit membership and prefer to focus only on people serious about pursuing titles and at this point, I'm just trying to determine if he'd be suited for it and if we'd enjoy it.

Any advice you could give would be great. Another factor that might come into play is that I'm not the largest person and he is on track with growth charts for full-blooded male St. Bernards. So...he's likely to outweigh me at some point.

Thank you for your time!

Whatever 'club' you get into will likely want to test your dog to see if he is suitable for the work before even considering you for membership. Many clubs want only members & dogs that are capable of titling. Clubs can only usually have a limited amount of members...due to the fact that most decoys can only work so many dogs in a day & to give each dog the individual attention that it needs to train.

Sometimes you can find some 'training groups' that are just a number of folks that get together to train their dogs but are not seriously pursuing any particular titles.

You might like to also look into some of the AKC titles that you can put on your dog. There are rally,OB & tracking & other titles. Even some agility clubs. All of which require a good partnership of handler & canine partner. All of which are outlets for your channeling your dog's drive

Hi, Karen. Welcome.

Try not to be intimidated by the schutzhund club. Everyone there started somewhere. Pursuing titles does not necessarily mean over-the-top competitive, and not everyone there is going to have highly-bred, working/line dogs.

Titles are awarded only in progression, so many people will be pursuing beginner's titles. From there, you go as far as you feel you can go with your dog. It's only natural to set another goal after you get your BH. You will want to keep improving your OB by that time, you are already interested in the protection work, and you and your dog will learn the tremendously gratifying discipline of tracking. The other club members will probably be glad to help you get an AKC CGC.

As Anne set, you will benefit from having the club evaluate you and your dog. Tell them that you are a beginner, and that you do want to pursue whatever titles you can accomplish with your dog. You will do fine.

In addition to "all the above" I would be VERY careful about your pups hips. Stairs are terrible for HD and to much to soon with a pup can rush any future issues.
Don't let it become a rolly-polly puppy. Keep it lean yet healthy!

Thank you all. No matter which path we ultimately take, I'd like to go as far as my dog is capable of. I love seeing something new "click" with him and he's the type that if I don't keep giving him a job to do, he'll find one.

I have a time scheduled to talk with the club president and plan on just seeing what the club thinks, being honest about the dog I have. They do have some off-breeds in the club, so you never know.

Either way, he's a great dog and it's going to be fun watching him grow up and seeing what traits stick from which side and what he'll be like mature.

And yes, for now we're the ones getting the workout, carrying him up and down the stairs at 30+ pounds to protect those growing bones and joints!

 Quote: Karen Tunkel

Thank you all. No matter which path we ultimately take, I'd like to go as far as my dog is capable of. I love seeing something new "click" with him and he's the type that if I don't keep giving him a job to do, he'll find one.

I have a time scheduled to talk with the club president and plan on just seeing what the club thinks, being honest about the dog I have. They do have some off-breeds in the club, so you never know.

Either way, he's a great dog and it's going to be fun watching him grow up and seeing what traits stick from which side and what he'll be like mature.

Good for you, I say, in your determination to find the right job for the dog!

"And yes, for now we're the ones getting the workout, carrying him up and down the stairs at 30+ pounds to protect those growing bones and joints! "


Do you switch off sides to avoid one really muscular arm?

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

"And yes, for now we're the ones getting the workout, carrying him up and down the stairs at 30+ pounds to protect those growing bones and joints! "


Do you switch off sides to avoid one really muscular arm?

We really should! LOL!

So...an update.

I went to my first practice last night, without the pup or family, just to meet everyone, ask questions, and observe.

I was really impressed. While the training methods used were strict, I didn't see them as being overly harsh. No dog was corrected in anger and there was a lot of praise and rewarding. The more experienced dogs were amazing with such focus and obedience and all the dogs, from the pups that were just playing tug and socializing, to the older dogs preparing for trials, obviously LOVED being there and working and each was excited for their turn on the field. I'd love to see my dog have that kind of enthusiasm as well as reach that level of obedience, although I realize that a LOT of work went into those dogs to reach that point.

I tried not to get in the way or be obnoxious as I realized that these people were there to train their dogs and that training time is at a premium, but they went out of their way to answer my questions and introduce themselves to me. I did get a few raised eyebrows at my pup's mix and he would definitely be an outlier there. They have all GSD's, a couple of Belgian Malinois, and one Rottweiler, all purebreds.

I think, for now, I'm going to keep going and learning since even if my puppy doesn't turn out to be suited for this sport, it can't hurt to learn from these people. I'm going to do just basic puppy obedience with him and keep working on tug games to preserve his drive, which right now is a bit overwhelming at times. Ideally, after he's done teething, I'd like to have him evaluated and hopefully start working on a BH title, which I understand is an achievement in itself. We can always see if he's suited to the rest as he matures.

I did get some advice on what to avoid as far as teaching puppy obedience. Most of them try not to teach too much before the pup is about a year old to try to preserve drive, but with my pup's size, I'd like him to have just some basic house manners. They mentioned that some regular obedience classes can slow down a Schutzhund dog. Any advice there? I'd like to leave his options open at this point so that if he does take more after the GSD side, we can see what his potential might be.

When I got home, he was after the arms of my shirt again. :P I think he was spying on me while I was out and was rarring to go! LOL!

Are you planning on marker training?