Ok, many of us here have been to Europe and more specifically Germany. They have SchH clubs over there like we have Little League baseball teams here,.ie, they're *everywhere* over there. What is the problem here in the States that Schutzhund has such a hard time gaining a foothold in the dogsport world?
Is it just the AKC? Or what?

Yes, partially because of the AKC and their policy of emasculating our working breeds.

This is just personal experience, but when people (these are also GSD owners) ask about my dogs, I tell them they are being trained in Schutzhund. The reaction is often the same "Why do you want an attack dog? *Sigh* I've stopped bothering to explain. They have heard that schutzhund dogs are attack trained. On the other hand I think that AKC doesn't want to share the love.

Well Kim,

I think people fear what they don't understand. From a personal experience, I too many years ago think that Training SCH is training attack dog. Today I still have met may people using the phrase "Attack Training" which I suppose "protection train" would be more appropriate.

To gain more interest in this field there must be more promo work sort like an education to the public so that public ignorance can be changed that SCH is a training for a responsible dog owner to ensure true temprements and reliability for his canine partner.

I would always say to my friends and anyone whom mention to me about "Attack Training" Imagine an untrained dog whom attack out of instinct and a trained dog. Which is more dangerous? At least mine will Aus at command <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Schutzhund is compartively new here in America also.

There is no strong tradition of working dogs here in the US and so there is only a very small population of good trainers, breeders, and handlers to promote the sport.

Public opinion of "those types of dogs" also isn't so great. (i.e. "Dangerous Dog" legislation, inflamitory news coverage of bite incidents, anti anti anti types that have nothing better to do than try to tell other free residents of this country what to do with their lives. . .and protect us from ourselves)

Schutzhund is very challenging and requires a good dog. Lots of people lack commitment, or a good dog.

Schutzhund is expensive, responsible dog ownership and training is expensive, quality dogs are expensive.

Politics, the primary national organization for Schutzhund, USA, has been a negative influence on the sport for many people. All the working organizations can't get along and solve a simple problem. . .like sending a multi-organization team to the WUSV.

There are a whole bunch of reasons. You can't even compare Germany and the sport with the US. It is rediculous to try.

The only positive thing I see is that Schutzhund is growing, interest in working dogs is growing, interest in good temperament from the pet folks is growing, and there is a hard core element of working dog people to HOPEFULLY lead the way and promote the positive aspects of the sport. (not to mention the positive things working bloodline dogs bring to their respective breeds)

I see two main reasons for the lack of growth of Sch in america. ONe is that our country is too big, too spread out. When someone gets into the sport and wants to learn, they are extremely limited on who they can work with within reasonable driving distance. And god help you if you want to learn helper work. It's usually the blind leading the blind. In Europe, if you want to learn from the best, you only have to drive a short distance to work with a huge number of talented trainers and helpers. But the second reason is our "McDonald's" mentality in this country. We want everything NOW, and we want it to be easy. Work two years, every day, before seeing the payoff??? Nope, not most of us. That's WAAAYYYY too much work for most Americans. The combination of these two factors is what promotes the purchasing of trained, titled dogs, so owners can hit the trial field quickly, with less effort, and not require talented coaches and helpers to get them there.

is it true that in europe, people with pets go to schutzhund clubs to get their dogs trained? just basic obedience i mean. here, there are plenty of "pro trainers" who charge plenty of money, write books, yet never competed in sch. maybe if sch clubs offered basic ob training to general public and did a good job with it, people would stick around to watch the schutzhund training and that would foster more interest and possibly understanding of the sport and working dogs. of course, in europe the clubs have their own fields and clubhouses whereas here, at least in my area, it's more a bunch of individuals meeting to train a couple of sessions per week. and most are "pro" trainers who are always looking for the next client. i wish animal planet would do a show on schutzhund, maybe following a few top competitors for a season and showing them training, conditioning the dogs, etc. make sch look like the competitive sport that it is, and maybe more people would get interested that way.

Robert and Lee sum it well I think.

Lets not forget that most countries as another poster mentioned are no larger and many are smaller than California. They have their "own" sport and then perhaps IPO. Here in the US we have Sch, Mondio, French Ring, Belgian Ring, PSA, NAPD, ASR, PP Dog contest, etc etc. There is not one "national" dog sport. The few working dog people we have such a choice in sports, or do what they feel is best for their dog. I think many of the "protection" dog sports have pulled more people away from Sch as they appeal to the "real"....(not my own personal opinion however).. want of protection. They make clear separations between "sport" and "protection." In that many folks have gone away from Sch.

I also feel that many here want to be a BIG fish in a puddle and not just another bait fish in the Sch world. It's much easier to create a "new" sport and be the "king" than it is to compete against many who have worked hard to build a rep.

Just my two cents

Drawing tons of people into the sport isn't necessarily a great idea. Just because they show up doesn't mean they're good contributions. And rest assured that if there's more people, there's more $$, and where there's $$ in dogs, there's AKC <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> .

You will always run into people who say Schutzhund is an "attack" sport; that it's bad because dogs bite people. You will not change their (tiny) minds, especially by running a special on Animal Planet. They'll only watch the part about the bitework, then go tell all their buddies how these attack dogs are allowed to compete in the U.S. Dreadful!

And a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; call it protection, attack, bitework, whatever. Their opinion will remain the same.

As for training, there are many clubs or schools that offer basic obedience-CD, etc. Most protection trainers I've seen in Chicago would be happy to OB train any dog. But the people whose minds you're trying to change don't go there-they go to places like "Hippy-Dippy Hounds R US", or some other soft-serve palace of self-indulgent delusion. They might wind up with a semi-trained dog, but remember that the dog went there with an open mind-the owner didn't.