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Age to start SchH Club?
#637 - 01/21/2005 06:31 PM |
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At what age is preferred and/or most beneficial for a GSP to start "going too" a schH club?
We have a 12 week old purebread GSP that we have plans for schH and/PP work. It has been suggested that not only should we start our own ground work (which we have since the age of 8 weeks), but we should actually take the pup to the club we plan to join, and that by doing so, will help prevent later corrections in training that might otherwise be needed. Having said that, the club I have visited in my area is very strict about the dogs not socializing with each other. In otherwords, all members work with one dog at a time while all other dogs are far from the training areas/and/or in their travel kennels. (so there would be no other dogs around our pup if we took him)
Is this a good idea? Would this be beneficial with our goals and our early imprinting?
Thanks for any advice in advance.
We are very new to the sport.
Laura Taylor
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Re: Age to start SchH Club?
[Re: LauraTaylor ]
#638 - 01/21/2005 11:10 PM |
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You're doing schutzhund with a German Shorthaired Pointer? After all, that is what GSP stands for, perhaps you meant GSD pup?
As far as age, it all depends on your experience level, the experience level of the club members, etc. I start tracking the day the pup arrives (if bought from someone else, otherwise I start at 4-5wks of age). From there it's all motivational OB stuff, not asking too much of the pup from 16wks to 12-18mos of age (depending on maturity). Most of this I do myself and only do little things with my dog at club trainings to get input from other members.
Mike Russell
BANNED FROM THE LEERBURG BOARD |
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Re: Age to start SchH Club?
[Re: LauraTaylor ]
#639 - 01/21/2005 11:47 PM |
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I started homework with my pup at 7 wks old. Drive building, scent imprinting for SAR and tracking, bite training for puppies (Ed's tape) with a rag, etc. It wasn't till he had all his shots that I brought him to the field. He just turned 1yr old this week and is on a hard sleeve now. Everything has been done with motivational training, up to this point. A good TD can tell you when your individual dog is ready, and for what.
old dogs LOVE to learn new tricks |
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Re: Age to start SchH Club?
[Re: LauraTaylor ]
#640 - 01/22/2005 09:41 AM |
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Originally posted by MikeRussell:
You're doing schutzhund with a German Shorthaired Pointer? After all, that is what GSP stands for, perhaps you meant GSD pup? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> LOL. Yes, I meant German Shepherd Pup. LOL. Sorry for the confusion, I'm used to that abbrev on other GSD lists with reference to a "pup".
I admit, I am abit confused as to what the right thing to do is. As I'm sure you can understand, I really want to do all the right things from the start with our Pup. It had been suggested to take him to the club, which allows the trainers to begin all the "intro imprinting" with myself, help guide us and avoid later corrections from improper training techniques (which im certain i'll do!!).
Lastly, I'm abit foggy on the "tracking" portion of this sport. Just how to begin this imprinting with our 12 week old pup. I' need to do more reading. I think i'm just overwhelmed with information!! 
With that said, we are in no rush..we just want to take advantage of all the neat, fun things we can do with Zeus as he grows and matures.
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Re: Age to start SchH Club?
[Re: LauraTaylor ]
#641 - 01/22/2005 09:54 AM |
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Originally posted by Old earth dog Bob Scott:
I started homework with my pup at 7 wks old. Drive building, scent imprinting for SAR and tracking, bite training for puppies (Ed's tape) with a rag, etc. It wasn't till he had all his shots that I brought him to the field. He just turned 1yr old this week and is on a hard sleeve now. Everything has been done with motivational training, up to this point. A good TD can tell you when your individual dog is ready, and for what. Thanks for your reply.
So you never took your dog to a club until recently?. I guess the question is, would it do any harm in taking our pup to the club at this point, would it have any benefit?. I have been reading through the great pages of info that Ed provides and also spending an abundance of time reading over posts in this forum. It's all proving very helpful. As I mentioned in a reply in this thread, I think I'm overwhelmed with information and having difficulty sifting, sorting and putting it all info into phases.
I will be ordering several of Ed's tapes shortly. I'm sure these will will prove to be more then helpful.
Oh, in regards to shots:
This is another area I've become abit confused over. The on going controversy of going through the series of shots..vrs the one booster and a rabies. Zeus has had is one booster, soon due for his rabies. Any personal opinions on this would greatly appreciated. The more info I have , the more useful to make my own decision on the matter. Basically, what's neccessary and best for the pup?.
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Re: Age to start SchH Club?
[Re: LauraTaylor ]
#642 - 01/22/2005 02:40 PM |
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Laura, I took him after his puppy shots were over. That was aprox at 16wks. Many clubs will allow only one dog at a time on the field. Even with that, I'd wait till puppy shots were done. Although there is a big controversy about shots, I still get the puppy shots. Also, being in SAR, his shots are manditory because of the out of state work we sometimes do.
When I commented on him being on a hard sleeve now, that was just to show where he is now at one yr old. Where a dog is in his training has much to do with who and how the TD brings your dog along. At many clubs, he might be to early for the hard sleeve but ours is no defence at this point. We have a few young dogs that are starting defence work, but that's up to the TD to recognize when that's possible. My dog is still a puppy at one yrs old. Finding the right TD/Helper is the key to training for a novice.
old dogs LOVE to learn new tricks |
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Re: Age to start SchH Club?
[Re: LauraTaylor ]
#643 - 01/22/2005 06:55 PM |
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I understand.
However, this bring another good question..
How to find and know you have a good helper?
Especially for a first time SchH handler.
Does Ed have anything on his site about this topic?
((running to go look)) :-)
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Re: Age to start SchH Club?
[Re: LauraTaylor ]
#644 - 01/22/2005 11:22 PM |
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Laura, what part of the country do you live in? Put that up here and, hopefully, someone in that area will see it here and advise you.
old dogs LOVE to learn new tricks |
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Re: Age to start SchH Club?
[Re: LauraTaylor ]
#645 - 01/23/2005 09:55 AM |
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Laura,
For what its worth I started taking my GSD pup to a Schutzhund club when she was 10 weeks old for the very reasons you mentioned. I wanted to make sure I handled the puppy part of her life correctly. I found that it was helpful to be around people that understood working dogs. The training director has been very helpful working with me and my pup on building her drives since that type of training was new to me. The pup doesn't get much time out of the crate on these training days since most of the time is spent working the older dogs but I find that the actual training time she gets is worth the trip. Also I find it helpful to watch the other dogs being trained and listening to the comments from handlers and the TD. Hope that helps.
Jim Rice
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Re: Age to start SchH Club?
[Re: LauraTaylor ]
#646 - 01/23/2005 10:47 AM |
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