I want to thank all of you for your comments and pm's and I try and answer any questions that arise.

Al Curbow- I know im asking for a puppy that is almost perfect and I also know they are almost impossible to find, im not in a huge hurry to make my decision on a pup. I can wait a year or more for the right pup if need be. I always "aim for the stars and if I hit the moon I will be more than happy. (ive always been that way) the to two dogs our k9 officers have were bought already trained for the most part they said. One guy had to send his first dog back because he was so crazy he was hard to control in high stakes situations and if I remember right he said it was a mal/ not a gsd.

John Haudenshield- thank you for all you incite that helped allot.
I know if have allot to learn still but everyone has to start somewhere and im ready to take the plunge headfirst.

Carol Boche- our to k9s are "patrol dogs" but I don’t know anything about the whole insurance thing. I have seen allot of great sar and bomb detecting retrievers but I would like to get into bite work (as a sport not for the department) and I really like the gsd breed anyways.

Jennifer Kline- thank you for all you help I have done allot of research between the 2 types of gsd's and I know I would prefer a working line. I love starting from scratch and watching a pup grow both physically and mentally. im used to fallbacks and frustrations in training a puppy but that all part of the fun right?.?lol


susan tuck I beg to differ. I think you read the post wrong. Our shifts are 12 hours shifts 6am-6pm.which means its dark when I get home. I will have the same amount of time, it just will be at night rather than the day time which most the training for the sports im wanting to do can be done indoors or at our fair grounds which is lighted.
The problem I had with retriever training is you can’t find a lighted pond or field to train in (which is why made it hard)
again thanks alot guy's help and would love to hear more as wel as other good breeders.
this sunday i will be heading to watch a schutzhund training day a few hours away and cant wait. i hope to meet one of the breeder prospects i have been seriously considering there.

Jeffrey,
Good for you. personally i think there are perfect puppies out there--b/c each of us has our own measruing stick for perfection! my perfect isnt the same aqs many of the hard-core experts here. but i am 100% happy with mine and to ME he is perfect. i also agree w/whoever posted that a perfect puppy can easily be ruined for this or that. but it sounds like you are headed in the right direction, doing your homewk and have access to advice and support. i was involved in SchH about 20 yrs ago and then have been out of it for this long. in an effort not to screw up my puppy--when in doubt (weekly) i have ignored a behavior, then asked a person more informed with current practices than myself before acting--- rather than make a mistake that might be hard to fix later. have fun at the training.

goodluck.
jen

Sorry, you're right, I misunderstood your post. Most clubs do meet in the evenings, after normal working hours, and during the day on weekends, which should dove-tail perfectly with your off hours. Eventually you will need some daylight for tracking, but I'm sure you will successfully cross that bridge when you get to it. The best time to track is at dawn anyway!

I admire the way you are going about finding the right GSD puppy.

I am sending you a PM regarding a breeder you may wish to consider.

Jeff, it sounds like you are going about things the right way.

Find a SchH club now, while you are looking/waiting for you pup to come along. They may be able to recommend quality breeders, and you can start learning a lot before you have your dog.

Most importantly, learn to decoy. With a young dog, it will be awhile before they can begin serious bitework on the helper. You will be doing most of the bitework yourself in the beginning.

Learning to decoy will not only help you in working with your own dog, but it will help you learn a lot about training, building a dog up, and the sport in general. Additionally, you can repay your club's helper for decoying for your dog, by decoying for his.
Learning to decoy is probably one of the best ways to learn the mechanics and principles of bitework.

Decoying for puppies can actually be a bigger challenge than with adult dogs. You have to be so much more animated and really work hard to attract the young dogs and keep them going.
The older dogs see the sleeve and are ready to go. The young dogs need lots of prey attraction.

It's good practice, and will also help you be more involved and part of your club while your pup is too young for serious work.

Personally, I would caution you against decoying your own pup. This job should be left to the more experienced helpers. It's too easy to push the pup into defense, something that can be disastrous with a pup/young dog, for several reasons, not the least being serious conflict. The dogs signs/indications can be very subtle, by the time you recognize them it may be too late.

Young dogs have to be brought up to the level at which they are ready for the helper.
This is done solely by the handler.

Start on the rag, then a small tug. Once the dog is biting comfortably on a large tug, move onto a bite-wedge or puppysleeve.

From there, if the dog is confident biting on a bite-wedge or sleeve, it's probably ready for the helper.

I agree 100% that people need to do rag work and play tug with their pups, beyond that, it's better if the work is left to the more experienced helpers, especially if the owner/handler is new to schutzhund.

yes i can see where itd can be disastorious having your dog think its ok to bite you as the owner handler. if the club i wil be going to sunday will let me i plann on becomming a helper. from what i have been told by alot of schutzhund handlers is they can be hard to come by.

Jeff S

Schutzhund dogs aren't biting people. They're biting sleeves.
Biting people is a whole different discipline.

I think I saw somewhere Ed has a whole DVD about preparing your dog for the helper...

 Quote: susan tuck

it's better if the work is left to the more experienced helpers, especially if the owner/handler is new to schutzhund.

 Quote: Alyssa Myracle

Find a SchH club now, while you are looking/waiting for you pup to come along.
Most importantly, learn to decoy. With a young dog, it will be awhile before they can begin serious bitework on the helper. You will be doing most of the bitework yourself in the beginning.