Good points.......agree with most of what you say (particularly about testing) the way you said it...

It is also true that we need to ensure that a dog without bite training responds appropriately to conditions that may induce biting. There is a lot to be said for being able to out a dog when they are in the height of excitement on a bite.

I have always had more problems with the person with the exhuberant lab who jumps on the victim (and the response -"so what if they knock them over - they found them" ) without regard for the frail bones of the elderly (and the possibility that the broken bones my drastically reduce the quality of whatever life is left) than the possibility that a PROPERLY trained schutzhund dog with a good temperament would do damage.

This has been an interesting post for me. Since my dog is trained in both SAR and Schutzhund, I can only say
it's all about the individual team AND the individual training. Most on the team I was on were aware of my dog Thunder's dual training. The people that really understood dog training had no problem with the Schutzhund. In fact, they often helped me proof my dog against bad bites even though we all agreed that Thunder was very clearheaded about the whole thing.
Unfortunately, the team leaders were people that started with dogs trained by someone else and just hung onto the leash of a couple of good dogs. I left for a million and one reasons, but the Sch training had nothing to do with it.
The new team I'm looking into has a fantastic TD and has no problem with the dual training I do. She tested my dog under a number of different scenarios and said he would be wonderful for the team.
I pretty much agree with everything John had to say.

I have really enjoyed being able to discuss the topic without insulting each other <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> and have gained some new insight.

Just got back from a team business meeting and asked what the team leadership felt on the topic since our standards do not specifically address schutzhund trained dogs and got a pretty informed answer that we are more interested in assessing the individual dog and handler than prior training (and we do have very stringent standards with zero tolerance for human aggression) -

It can be an emotional topic and I do think the schutzhund folks can do better at informing the uniformed than many of them are... When I realized the obedience side of bite work, I saw it in a whole new light, but my first introduction to the sport was the beer-testosterone-macho thing which was not interesting to me and actually put me off.

I also agree with John that in the Southeast US things HAVE improved over the past few years (at least since I got started in 99) and I also washed my own first dog as he had nerve issues and I was concerned he might fear bite one of those strange people in the spooky night. Current dog is unflappable in that regard and was obtained with SAR in mind after much research - having pulled numerous poky things out of her I also know that she does not freak when she gets hurt either..