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ooh - lookie. a guy in a padded suit. watch as i run around and grab his pantlegs while he swings his arms up and down and fires a blank pistol. scary.

I didn't know you fired real bullets in schutzhund, that's awesome!

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oh, and i'll put my head between his legs and wag my tail with my tongue hanging out while he walks super slow trying to avoid accidentally stepping on me

Isn't it the "helpers" job to catch the dog safely in schutzhund? And most schutzhund videos I've seen the dog is wagging his tail... happy to be there, and do the work I imagine

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and take a cheap shot or two when my questionable nerve and high drive takes over any control i might have compared to, say, an 8 week old puppy...

There are crap dogs in Schutzhund/Ring Sports/Working service dogs etc. To generalize is simplistic, and unrealistic.

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P.S. - what's the over/under on how many stars i lose for making fun of the "über impressive/way more realistic than schutzhund could ever be" ring people? i'll start the bidding with 2...

Generally, I assume that "stars" are earned by constructive advice, or a thought out comment. To simply post something to make mockery of what someone else thought was worth sharing is a waste of time. Seeing as you only have one star, I'd say you'll stay snug in your notch for now. And as far as the comparison between the two sports? They're both sports, neither are real. But both sports have dogs competing in them that have the potential for real work I'd bet.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jKjU9BYkbtE
Another fun ring video. I'm loving this sport!

So many of those exercises to me are mondane but I guess as a sport, it's pretty cool.I don't like so many exercise that have no use for later on "in real situations" but that's my thoughts only
I like one of the helpers in that video, very quick and athletic.There is nothing like a slow helper, I know the suits are heavy but we have couple guys in our club that are quick and the dogs are much sharper when they are being worked by these 2 helpers.I imagine in that sport the helpers have to be on their toes not to let the dogs get dirty.

 Quote: Diana Matusik

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jKjU9BYkbtE
Another fun ring video. I'm loving this sport!

my favourite part was about 20-25s in, when the dog bowls the guy clean over. absolutely awesome. not sure if it's allowable in the rules or not, but it sure impressed me

Chris, LOL!!! Not to "dis" sports, but you said it exactly right...they are not to be confused with "real." The dog absolutely is aware of this. Sorry about your stars, buddy. Happens to the best of us, or at least those of us with opinions, lol. Don't feel bad; when I say stuff like that, I often find myself (gasp, sob) kicked off of other forums .

Grant, I think you took that too seriously. I don't think it was meant to degrade FR any more than any other sport; they are what they are, and they have their place. But to mistake the "mode" the dog is in during some of the exercises can be dangerous to the person who is looking for "real" protection. I don't know Chris personally, but I've only known him to be helpful, and really took his post as a joke, not a bash.

On the original post, regarding that position, I don't really get it either. Nearly every week, I watch the "ring people" do their thing before I get my dogs out of the car, and not one can really give me a good reason as to WHY the between the legs thing??? My dog is waaay too tall (or perhaps I am waaay too short) to do this... Someone explain...why do you use this position???

Some of those exercises are to show control and that is what judges look for , almost every exercise in a "sport" is about control. I like to see a high drive dog doing great obedience exercise during a protection phase and show total control by the handler.But I also like to see dogs that have been trained mostly without the e-collar.I have seen horrible handlers that have no control of their dogs in obedience and want to do protection work.NO WAY.On those videos you don't even see the handler, everything in on a send out, I like closer contact and more obedience.You can always tell a dog that has been trained on an e-collar for every phase, something I don't care for.Some of those exercise mean nothing other than show how much e-collar the dogs has had LOL hummm how many stars am I going to loose this time.

Yeah, I get the control part, but I just don't get who came up with the between the legs thing and WHY? If there's no real point other than show, fine; I'm just curious. I think lots of people have dogs that aren't the right size for this. Is it mandatory? I'd have to use a substitute dog, lol.

Since she's the only one that felt that way, maybe it just means Jenni is as sadistic as I am. But yes, it was meant as more joke than bash. Kinda. There's a lot schutzhund "bashing" tossed around by ring and PSA guys, I just like to ruffle thier feathers once in a while.

Speaking of stars - I had four when I wrote it. Apparently Grant only saw one and was kind enough to let me keep it. Now I'm back up to three. The only other time I lost stars (I had five for a long time, believe it or not) was the last time I talked sh#% about ring or PSA.

Hm. Weird.

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..... Speaking of stars - I had four when I wrote it. Apparently Grant only saw one and was kind enough to let me keep it. Now I'm back up to three. The only other time I lost stars (I had five for a long time, believe it or not) was the last time I talked sh#% about ring or PSA. ...

I lose 'em every time I rail against casual breeding and oops litters. Even when I talk about neutering pets or the shelter problem....

OK, not to hijack -- back to French Ring Video!

Chris ,I think had you not I would have. All in fun of course
I hear people making comments about Schutz dogs all the time, good ,bad and ugly.But I love the ones that come from people that have never done Schutzhund or own a Schutz dog.Hummmmm so interesting.....

I bet I lost my last 2 stars about the shelter subject, so worth it