I am new to this board and have found it to be very informative. We lost our Rotti on Christmas Day and will always miss him. I will pick up my new Rotti on the 24th, I got him from Fallhammer Rotweilers in Florida. His pedigree is filled with performance dogs that have or do compete. I have ordered a couple DVD already and the ball on a rope, but would like some professional help with his training. I live in Southern CA. LaHabra, which is in Orange County. Can anyone make recommend a professional in my area?

My E-Mail address is billh@myronanddavis.com<br />
web page: MyronandDavis.com

Dear Billy,

I do not know anything about location's in California. But if you are anywhre near Anne Kents I'd sure give her a call. She trains all breeds of dogs, and is active in SCH. Here is her web site. Hope this is of some help to you.

http://www.adlerstein.com/index.html

I live in the Missouri Ozarks, and good trainer/handlers are almost non exsistant here. I would love to live close to a good trainer.

Thanks for the referance, she is about 2 hours away, but she give me the number to Chris Smith, he is only about 20 miles away. Will let you know out come.

Hello everyone. I have a similar question to Billy's. I live in Southeast Pa. and I'd also like to know if anyone can recommend a worthwhile trainer. I have a 9 month old GSD who's done basic obedience and some "for fun" agility. Ultimately, I'd like to look into SAR work. Anyway, if anyone has an recommendations I'd very much appreciate it! Thanks!

Greg

Boy am I glad this question came up. Our pup is 10 1/2 mos. old and we have completed basic obedience, some tracking (scent), and don't know where to turn to find a trainer experienced with shepherds. We have Washington State University School of Vet. Sciences 8 miles away and yet there isn't someone we can find who specializes in shepherds.

We did meet a guy down by the river in Lewiston, ID who asked to meet our dog, Tyr. He said he was incredible. Said he used to work with shepherds, but trains only hunting dogs now. Said he couldn't believe what a "natural" the dog was when it came to calm protective instincts and how hard his bite was on a stick he'd found. Claimed he was a "dream" dog. Right! Wonder how he'd feel if he lived with him!

He did tell us he could never compete in aggressive sports (I assume SH) because he was much too large and would hurt someone. He is 110 lbs now and 30 1/2 " at the shoulder. He also mentioned, though, that it was a shame we had neutered him. Right. Again, he doesn't have to live with him!!!! He recommended we "work" him in someway so that all his potential could be tapped.

So, we thought about Search and rescue, but don't have a trainer near us that we know about. We thought about agility, but, lets face it, he's too large. Since his favorite game in tracking by scent (socks, shoes, other dogs, anything), we would like to train him in Search and Rescue. We also would like to get someone who could help us with a hard come and leave it commands. He latches ahold of things and dynamite couldn't get it out of his mouth. He lets go only about 50% of the time, no matter what you do to him.

If anyone knows of someone in the area who works with shepherds, please let me know. We live about two hours from Spokane, Washington in the panhandle of Idaho. Look forward to any help you guys can give. Many thanks!

http://www.montanasearchdogs.com

maybe they will be close to you or know of someone close by

Thanks Kenneth!

We live about 9 hrs. away from Sedro-Woolley, WA. However, I have e-mailed the kennel to see if they offer training closer to us or if they are willing to have us travel to them in August (when my husband is through teaching summer school) and receive some personal lessons.

Thanks for the help. Tyr is 11 months old and feeling his oats. Folks with experience training shepherds are valuable assets, but hard to find when you aren't located near any large metro. area.