Hey Folks,

Ok, I know the standard heeling routine and the walk through the group part of the BH. However, I've heard that they will also involve bicycles, car, joggers, and other things.

I'm working hard on socializing my GSD, but being that he is from show lines it hasn't been easy. He is fine as long as people pay him no attention, but the moment someone looks at him while walking toward him (he is fine if they just walk by him without looking) or comes from behind on him and is loud he goes into a defensive barking avoidance thing. How far do they push your dog in the BH are people going to be trying to press his bottons or are they just going to pass by us again and again? He has zero problems walking into a super tight group or having people or bicycles/skateboards go by him, but the minute they look right at him he gets very upset. He is seven months old and I have been training with a trainer for about two months now making slow, but steady progress.

What should I expect?

P.S. When I have taken him through huge groups of people at the local university (talking hundreds if not thousands) he couldn't care less, but one at a time is more difficult. Has anyone seen this before?

Here is a good article on the BH:

http://www.bigskyschutzhund.com/bhbook.htm

As the article says though, the rules have changed a bit. There is now no gunfire <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

My pup is a six mo old german showline also and if the prong isn't on she gets really bezerk and jumps and nips ( but not hard). I think I may have the same problem as you but I haven't tested much in crowded places with people, only a couple of times at the local petco and once at a kids park. when she was at the petco for the first time at the check out line, all these people were giving her compliments and she was just ecstatic, so the other times I had her on the pron and she calmed down. There wasn't a problem at the park because nbody payed attention too her.

I would use the prong while on walks and to give a gentle nudge if your pup shows some irratance to someone. I don't know about the BH much, except that the man that sold me my dog got the BH for his dog.


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The minimum age for the BH is 15 months. So, you have some time to work on things.

If you haven't titled a dog before, there is a test you will need to take. It's a short multiple choice format test. It mostly focuses on the rules for the BH exam. You can find a copy of the test somewhere on the USA site, http://germanshepherddog.com/index.html .

The long down is probably the hardest for most dogs. It's difficult to just lie there and watch all the other (fun) activity.

From what I've seen the second part is a bit more challenging. Your dog will be tied to a post or tree and the other dogs will be paraded past him. He should not react aggressively. You will be out of his sight for this exercise. The crowd portion has a large group milling around in close quarters. Some judges will pull the crowd in fairly tight on this exercise. If your dog has a problem with people looking at him, this is an exercise you need to work on.

The BH is essentially a test to see if the dog can be safely out in public and around other dogs.

Even though it's no longer a part of the BH exam, its probably a good idea to work him on gunfire. He will need to be non-reactive to that for the Sch degrees.

remind me daniel why you have a prong on a 6 month old?

Don't want to take over the thread but I have it on her because she is almost seven mo, I'm teaching her Fuss and so she can be more calm when there is company over, especially children because my parents are friends with other parents and they bring thier kids. A whiny child that complains about your dog "biting" them when she is just playing hard is annoying. Some kids just don't get it when you tell them to not scream and fling thier arms.

So in shorter terms, socializing, obedience corrections and to learn to walk by my left side.

I see nothing wrong with having a prong on her, I do know how to properly use it and it's not like she has it on all day just 10-15 min. max.

James,

I hate to say this, but it often depends on the judge. I've seen some judges 'push' dogs a lot more than others in the Bh. I've done the Bh under SV, SVF, and DVG judges. In the Report to the Judge, two of them asked if they could touch my dog, and one of them just reached down and pet my dog.

From what you're describing, I think you'll be OK. I'd practice the 'Reporting to the Judge' and the 'Tie-Out' part of the Traffic Phase if your concerned about 1-on-1 interactions. If your dog is OK with a standard, non-interactive 'Report', then start adding things in that might happen; like the judge dropping his/her notebook or reaching out and petting your dog, etc...

Good Luck.

John