I get to take my GSD puppy home this week. In preperation, I have been doing alot of reading concerning schutzhund as my breeder is involved in the sport. Is it realistic to train in this sport and still consider the dog as a household pet? I cannot relocate the article in the Question Answer section, but Mr. Frawleys response was something close to "I never let other people touch my dogs". The article had something to do with protection dogs and maybe I'm getting myself mixed up between protection and Schutzhund.

I hope so!

My pup is very much a working dog, and very much a house pet. You just have to be aware of, and prepared to deal with, the hassles, responsibilities and potential problems that come with owning a high drive dog. But these dogs aren't for everyone - I would never recommend a working line dog to my sister, for example.

For the dog to reach his full potential in shutzhund, then you will have to raise him differently than if you wanted him to be solely a pet. If that's what you want to do, then Ed has a new video on raising a working puppy that you should get.

I don't exactly know what Ed's reasons are for not letting anyone pet his dogs, you'll have to ask him. But one important reason for me is that strangers aren't always understanding of a dog that is naturally mouthy and who has a naturally firm grip. For that reason, I don't let strangers pet my dog - anyone else is fine. I also don't let the neighborhood kids play with the dog, even supervised. They don't understand the dog, and the dog doesn't always understand them.

highly recommend the working puppy video.

it is very good and gives some good pointers on how to raise a puppy to be good at schh and decent as a house pet.


umm the biggest differance that it points out is that there is no interaction(or limited interaction) between the dog and the other family members.

that one is tough one to do especially if your like me and have kids.

David,

You stated that the video suggest no (or limited) interaction between the working dog and the rest of the family (wife and kids)? I am new to working dogs, so take it easy on me, but what is the purpose for this? I would think that you would want the dog to be part of the family instead of being isolated from the rest of the "pack". But like I said, I am new with very limited knowledge. Any insight would be much appreciated.

Curtis

get the vid it explans a lot better than i can.

basically the purpose is to show the pup that everything fun and exciting is going to come from you. and everything that he does is controled by you.

ie he can watch tv with the other members of the family only if you are there with him. the pup can have limited play time only if you are present and no training aids can be used.


i do not think it is posible to take it to this extreme in most households but it gives a good idea of what to do.


when i get my working line pup most of that stuff will be easy cause my wife wants nothing to do with puppies.

I hear you David. I have been there, but my wife is actually starting to change in that area! Praise the Lord!!

Learning is extremely contextual. When you go to the library you are quiet, when you go the arcade you get excited, when you go to a funeral you are sad, and so on. All these different places/contexts elicit certain moods in you. It's classical conditioning. Dogs are very capable in learning manners in the house and still putting out all their energy into their work. You can teach your pup that C-A-L-M things happen in the house and crazy drive building happens outside.

No petting is Ed's opinion. I think he's just trying to maximize the reinforcement the dog will get from him. There are some people in the working dog community that do do this.

I personally (my opinion) feel petting is not a problem. Unless it's an actual service type dog.

The problem is when you are not in control of the situation. YOU allow your dog to be pet by someone and you end it. You give the best food. You play the games with your dog. It's when family takes the dog, let's it do what it wants (not have to follow through on commands), feed the dog some of the delicious roast that's cooking, that the dog starts to think "hey life is much better with these guys."

When grandma spoils the kids and then they have to come back home and take orders from mom and dad, who do you think the kids want to be with?

You can actually do exercises to make you look much more appealing than people and still allow your dog to socialize with people. One that comes to mind is have someone offer your dog a treat, when the dog goes to get his treat the person closes their hand and blocks the dog from getting his treat, your dog gives up and gets a treat from you.

There are other exercises. The biggest thing is to make your self the most reinforcing thing.

Hi Mark,

We have a high drive, working line gsd as well who is our house pet. There are 3 of us in the family, one of whom is a teenager, so there are no younger children running around. That said, he is a sook with everyone, including my daughter's friends when they come to visit. BUT he knows who's the one that does the training with him. He could be lying around the house all day long and the minute I arrive home he goes into high gear hoping to go 'do some work'!!!! I have since learned how to calm him down before we start. But the point I'm trying to make is that although he gets to spend time with my husband and daughter and is great company for them, he doesn't get any of his training/work from them , nor does he expect to. All I have to do is make eye contact and he's ready to bolt to the door to go out and 'work' (that is his favorite word!!!)

I can tell you the only reason we have been as successful as we are with handling/dealing with all this drive and still own this boy is from reading many of the articles on this site!!!! Understanding dominent behaviour and pack behaviour have made all the difference in establishing who's alpha in this house. Many thanks to Ed Frawley for making so much information available, in addition to the great training videos.

I just thought I would add this 95lb boy can also do a 'hold and bark' with strangers coming to our door that would make anyone think twice about entering!!! He is no slouch when it comes to protecting us. Although he doesn't shift into this level of aggression with every stranger. We can easily receive people in the yard and he is completely fine. The schutzhund work has gone along way to train both of us what to do and how for guarding and more importantly inappropriate guarding.