I have a question if anybody would be willing to help. I have a 1yr old DDR GSD and my wife and I are really interested in the sport. Because I'm in the military we are currently stationed in Japan. We did some searching and found a "schutzhund club" here. Don't get me wrong these dogs look great on the bite exercise and I haven't got to see any of them work. A lot of them do have Schh 2's and 3's however all they train at the club is bite work. Like I said they do it very well and the dogs look like they are having fun. Is this normal for clubs to train only bite work and the rest is up to you or is it just this club or how does it work? Any replies would be great. Thanks

Jason,

I can't speak for all clubs, but I know in ours most people train all phases. We don't hold formal obedience for everyone, but work on each of the exercise. If someone is having a problem with a specific area then the training director or another member helps them out. Proably the most neglected area is tracking. Most people don't want to get up that early so they just do it on their own. If they are having problems the training director is always there to help.

Our normal training days consists of early morning tracking 7:00 to 9:00 give or take, but usually only a hand full of people for this. Then we go into obedience we usually have between 12 and 20 dogs and each person takes their turn on the field working OB. Typically several dogs are doing long downs during others obedience and or socializing. Obedience usually lasts until about 2 or 3:00. We eat lunch during obedience and start protection once everyone is done. Protection usually goes until about 5 or 6:00.

All in all it's a long day. Most people travel at least an hour to an hour and a half, so you’re looking at a 12 to 16 hr day in some cases. It’s well worth it though.

Good Luck,
Jason

Maybe it is because the helper is available on daily basis and they want to take advantage of it. I would... And these handlers can maybe train the track and obedience on their own.
Well it really depends on the actual handlers and their chedule. I did bite work twice a week, obedience every day and tracking..... maybe once a week... if that. I know it is bad... but who wants to get up so early. Tracking was more trained in summer days... in my case <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

the thing is though they don't start until like 5pm and then just do bite. we only train 1-2 times a week. do most train more then that?

In the summer our club trains twice a week and drop to once a week during the winter.


Jason