I’m
interested I joining your Club; what does this involve?
1.
A
reasonable time commitment.
A good
number of people join schutzhund clubs, only to drop out of sight within their
first year when they become discouraged over the amount of time required, or
their perceived lack of progress.
Because
schutzhund involves three phases, it does take a substantial amount of
time. Additionally, it is not a
solitary endeavor and we need members who are willing to help one another by
attending training regularly and staying for the duration of the sessions.
Our members are also expected to support club-sponsored events, by
helping out or supplying entries.
The
thing that separates schutzhund from some other training venues is that it is an
on-going process of improvement. There
is no 6-week quickie course that sends you off with a certificate.
A good foundation sets you up for success---miss that building block and
the holes in your training program will become very apparent as you progress.
For people who are used to measuring progress in 6-10 week sessions, this
can seem a tedious process, and this is where folks can become discouraged.
Take
heart, though! We all have personal
lives and other commitments, and as a club, we understand this. That is why it is important to help one another out in
training, and to step up and take your turn.
The more there are people who are willing to help, the less individuals
are apt to become over-used. Introduce
your family to the sport! You’re
going to need their support, too!
2.
Basic
knowledge of the sport.
Do we
expect you to know all about schutzhund when you join? Absolutely not!
But before you do join a club, you should identify your personal goals
and whether a schutzhund club embraces your vision of accomplishment with Fido.
In order to do that, you have to have a basic understanding of the sport.
The following is a link to the United Schutzhund Clubs of America (our
parent organization) and information about the sport:
As you
have read, schutzhund, literally translated, means “protection dog.”
We are a schutzhund club. That
means that obtaining working schutzhund titles is our goal.
Remember the three phases: tracking,
obedience and protection. If your
goal is to obtain tracking skills, as it is with several of our members involved
in SAR, we can help with that but it is important for our members to understand
protection work and support it as a club function.
You are
free to come out and watch training (without your dog) and encouraged to ask
questions. In that way, you can
determine whether the sport itself and also the training style are what you are
searching for. There are many
styles as there are individuals; take your time and find the right fit for you
and your dog. This sport has its
own language, as well, and by observing you can take the time to inquire without
the immediacy of having to act on those words.
Okay,
so you’ve decided that you have the time to commit and have an understanding
of what the training involves. But
do you have a suitable dog?
At
present, Fox Valley Police and Schutzhund Club is a member club of the United
Schutzhund Clubs of America. SchHUSA,
as it is called, is a German Shepherd Dog organization.
The purpose of titling dogs, under this auspice, is for breeding.
This is where we part ways with that philosophy, and more closely align
ourselves with DVG, the all-breed training organization.
While we firmly believe--- and our Constitution supports--- that untitled
dogs should not be reproduced, we also believe that some people enjoy training
for the sake of having a better dog.
Therefore,
we accept and support all breeds in our membership. The titled dogs in this club have been German Shepherd Dogs,
Dutch Shepherd (I believe the first SchH3 Dutch shepherd in the U.S.) boxer (the 4th titled Boxer female in the
U.S.), rottweiler, and laekenois. The breeds that we presently have or have trained in the past include:
GSD, dutch shepherd, malinois, laekenois, tervuren, giant schnauzer, belgian sheepdog,
doberman, rottweiler, presa canario, boxer, small munsterlander pointer,
labrador retriever and (hold your breath) an Italian Spinone! Although not all these breeds did protection work, you can
see that our training styles must be flexible and accommodating to the
uniqueness of each individual.
As a
prospective member you will attend 4 consecutive training sessions, during which
your dog will be evaluated for working ability and temperament.
A stable temperament is foremost. Your
dog will be evaluated as to its reaction to this new place, people and other
dogs. This can be quite overwhelming, so please don’t write your
dog off after one session---we don’t! The
training director will observe and evaluate your relationship with the dog and
its drive. Does it enjoy playing
tug-of-war? Does it love to chase a
ball? What motivates it most?
The Training Director (TD) will advise you of his/her opinion concerning
the abilities of the dog. Please
understand that these evaluations aren’t meant to hurt anyone’s feelings;
they are an honest appraisal of the potential of the dog in this sport.
Sometimes that means that a young dog simply needs time to grow up.
Sometimes a dog doesn’t have the heart to participate.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t a perfectly lovely companion, just that
this particular sport is not the right choice.
We do not believe in forcing participation on an unwilling
candidate…this should be FUN! At
this juncture you may have to make a choice; to stay and work with your dog to
the best of his abilities in those areas he enjoys, leave and find another arena
that you both enjoy working in, or get another dog for the sport.
This is a very personal decision.
The
training director may also require that you achieve a “BH” which involves
obedience and temperament testing, before you proceed to protection work.
Sometimes this is a matter of first learning how to be a team with your
dog. Membership does not guarantee
that your dog will be trained in protection work if there are concerns about the
dog or the team.
If you
are interested in the sport and do not presently have a dog, the best advice we
can offer is to take your time! Watch
the dogs in the club and if there are qualities you like about them, inquire
where they came from. Research
other breeders and ask questions. Don’t rush into a puppy without a great deal of thought.
Depending on your abilities, you may wish to begin with a started, or
titled dog. In either case, take
the time to familiarize yourself with the sport before leaping into a purchase.
You
have the time, the knowledge and it now appears Fido has the drive for
schutzhund.
·
You have
already paid $25 to attend 4 consecutive, introductory sessions.
The TD has advised you that Fido has potential.
·
You can decide
to join, or not at this stage. If
the membership is in agreement that you will be a good addition to the club, you
will be voted into Probationary Status.
---Membership
fees are: single $125.00
family $200.00
minus the $25.00 you already paid
---Additionally
there are helper/ equipment fees of:
$ 20.00 per month, for 2 dogs, based on a 10 month
Calendar year
·
You must also
join the United Schutzhund Clubs of America within your first 6 months of
membership. The cost is $60.00 for a single membership, $90.00 for family
membership.
·
We suggest you
purchase a rulebook, for $10.00
·
At the point
you are ready for trial, you will also need to obtain a scorebook for your dog.
The cost for this is $10.00
·
Therefore,
your first year (not including all the toys, food, entries and souvenir
T-shirts) will cost you (single membership) approximately:
$400.00
·
After 1 year,
you will be voted into Full Membership, if you have attended the mandatory
number of club meetings, events and supported the club mission.
Renewals are:
single
$50.00
family
$75.00
·
Equipment fees
can be paid monthly ($200 total) or you may choose to pay in advance for $150.
You may pay 6 months in advance at a fee of $15 per month.
This fee applies only to those dogs doing protection work and routinely
using a sleeve, not those who are doing rag work or tug work or no protection at
all. If equipment fees are not
paid, and are due, then you cannot train.
5.
Equipment
Over
the years you will, no doubt, gather quite an impressive array of toys and
equipment if you remain in the sport, but it needn’t break the bank to begin
with.
·
To begin with,
you will want a harness for protection work.
Puppies will quickly work their way through the smaller sizes. For adult
sized dogs, look for a harness specific to agitation, with good support that
fits well and is padded in areas that may rub. Please, no buckle
collars with plastic fasteners! They
break easily and put other dogs and people in danger.
·
A 15-foot line
for tracking and protection. Later
you will need to acquire a regulation length tracking line, but for now, it will
be impractical to use for training. Make
sure the snap is well made. People
have individual preferences as far as leather, or nylon, and I have even seen a
nice one using rubber as a material.
·
Treats and
toys. Whatever motivates your dog
AND is easily handled (carried in pocket or hand--- no giant fuzzy toys).
The treats should be small pieces, about the size of half a dime, that
don’t have to be chewed up to swallow, such as hotdogs or the commercial foods
“Natural Balance” or “Rollover.” This
is so that the dog doesn’t have to stop what they are doing (forward movement,
for example) and chew up their treat.
·
Many people
purchase a jute roll for play with their dogs, and even a length of milk hose
from Fleet Farm makes a good, durable toy.
Dogs enjoy Kongs, but they are difficult to carry, conceal and deliver,
and their bouncing path is uncontrollable.
A small Kong secured on a rope can be handled and controlled, though.
Always be prepared with a method of reward with you, at training.
We also use pieces of leather/chamois for tug play, but those are not a required
early purchase. Those are a good
investment for home play with your dog, with proper instruction on the delivery
and handling.
·
A crate.
You will need some means of securing the dog when you are away from your
vehicle at training that is safe to the dog and other participants.
Those
are truly the only things you will need in the beginning. The next things you will probably purchase are:
·
A fur-saver
choke collar. The fur-saver is
different from traditional diamond link chokers, as the links are large and
sturdy and therefore easier on the dog’s neck (trachea) and his fur, and
anywhere you fasten your leash is a “live” ring. In a hurry, you don’t have to search for the single ring to
affix the leash.
·
A correction
collar. This collar goes by many
different names; stockel, prong collar, correction collar. Purchase a small link collar that is sturdily made.
The
logic is that the weight remains similar to the fur-saver.
The small link collars do not withstand as much stress to the links and
are used for specific attention exercises. A
large dog can bend the prongs of a small link collar if allowed to pull and you
may then require a medium link collar instead. Do not use any correction collar without proper instruction and
supervision until you are familiar with its use.
·
A 10-meter
tracking line. This will be
required for trial, but is not often used in training, especially in the
beginning stages.
·
A back-tie for
the dog. I like the coiled, cable
style rather than chains that are set low and can tangle the dog’s legs.
Do not leave a dog unattended with either of these.
This is solely for the purpose of securing them while you lay a track as
they watch or do some tug play on your own, so that the dog doesn’t chew up
your fancy leather leash.
6.
Training Methods
We
train using primarily motivational methods.
We firmly believe in the adage of “teach, train, and then test.”
The dog must first learn what it is we want.
It isn’t fair to punish the dog for something it doesn’t know how to
do yet. Remember back to one of
those old, basic obedience courses. How
did you teach the dog to sit? Probably
by pulling up on the neck with the leash and pushing down on the butt while
repeating gibberish (to the dog, at least, who at that point had no idea what
the word meant except that it hurt!) Fortunately, many classes have progressed beyond that
stage, but liken that form of teaching to taking a first grader, spreading his
hands out on the desk and then whacking them with a ruler while you tell him
“do algebra!” Well, to be sure,
he would LOVE to be able to comply, but he doesn’t even know what the word
means! Does this make sense?
We have used clicker training in the past with our puppies. This is because we have found it to be helpful for beginners to learn proper timing and reward. It also allows the dog to “think through” its behavior and learn that there are good choices and bad choices. There are many good resources for additional information on this method that we can steer you to.
However, handling clickers along with food and/toy can be difficult. What is one thing you always have with you, to reinforce behavior? That's right! ~ your voice! Therefore, we use verbal markers of "yes", "no" and "good" to reinforce the behaviors we desire. Ivan Balabanov has an excellent tape on the theory, called "Obedience without Conflict, Part 1." We have hosted multiple seminars with Michael Ellis, who subscribes to and masters this method.
In this vein, there is another (oh yes, we have LOTS of them, not always
original!) saying, “Warm-up, Get
the Behavior, Change the Picture, Give it a Name, Make it Harder, and Take it
“On the Road”. This capsulizes
the training process: you get the
behavior first, then name it, then make it more difficult and practice it in
different places. Always be fair to
the dog.
You may
say, well, then, if you believe in motivational work, why do you use prong
collars? This is because the full
spectrum of operant conditioning includes negative reinforcement.
The correction must fit the infraction, be on time and in the right
amount in order to be fair. We do
not teach with punishment, but it is a tool in our toolbox for that time when
the dog has learned a behavior, demonstrated it and is now being willfully
disobedient.
If you
are a handler who prefers to walk with an ears-down, slinking dog at his/her
side and this makes you feel strong and powerful, this club is not for
you. If you think obedience is an
hour-long session of walking in a circle and yanking your dog around, this club
is not for you. If you want
to learn a different way of training, and work with a happy dog, then this club
could be for you. This is where
finding the “right fit” for a club is important.
Yes, we
want you to bring an inquiring mind to the mix!
We don’t expect all our members to be PhD’s (although some are!)
but we want you to learn from the experience.
We want you to attend seminars, and learn from discussions of others and
ask questions and to grow in your understanding of the sport and dogs.
Some clubs do not allow their members to attend outside seminars, or to
suggest any other training methods. Unless
you are familiar with a trainer, it is often a good idea to simply observe
first. Much damage can be done by
allowing someone to use your dog as a demonstration, who has no investment in
its future. While it is important
that you develop a training strategy and not confuse the dog by changing methods
each time you hear a new theory, do listen to new ideas and ask questions.
Our club has hosted helper seminars, canine chiropractic and movement
presentations, and tracking and obedience with Joanne Fleming-Plumb.
Our members have attended conferences by the Association of Pet Dog
Trainers, clicker seminars, seminars by Pamela Reid, Patricia McConnell, Terry
Ryan and Roger Abrantes, and even one on herbal remedies.
And this in addition to the more customary schutzhund based seminars. In
the year 2001, FVPSC held seminars with Fred Lanting, on conformation,
gait and structure and with Ivan Balabanov who demonstrated his
winning methods in obedience and protection work. Since
then we have hosted additional seminars with both Ivan Balabanov and with
Michael Ellis. As you can see, we have a wide variety of interests!
We no
longer offer puppy classes as a separate event.
There are very specific things that you can do to bring up a puppy with a
solid foundation in the sport and we encourage you to work with a trainer who
has those goals in mind, and is familiar with what you hope to accomplish.
We
don’t have any World Team competitors (yet) in our club.
We haven’t resorted to kicking out members who aren’t competing on
our timetable or doing well enough. Our
by-laws do require that a member be working toward a training title, however,
and that can only be measured by your participation and progress if you
haven’t yet attained a title. We
prefer to lead by example, and that example is fair training that is fun for dog
and handler. We have K9 handlers,
folks involved in SAR, competing in agility, herding, gundog trials (okay, we
don’t play tug with those!!) and obedience, and several registered therapy
dogs. We also encourage our members
to participate in the AKC Canine Good Citizen Test, in addition to their BH and
other accomplishments, in order to demonstrate to others outside our working
community that these are social, stable dogs.
In spite of the fun we have, or perhaps because of it, we do have a
number of respectable accomplishments within our group:
SchH3
CLUB DOGS (those dogs taken from no title to SchH3 by their handlers)
 |
Deb Krsnich and Eros |
|
Deb Krsnich and Sofie |
|
Deb Krsnich and Digit |
|
Minna Nousiainen-Becher & Kia |
Dogs Past
 |
Deb Krsnich
and Eros, SchH3, DPO2, WPO, PSP (working dual purpose patrol and narc dog) |
|
Deb Krsnich and Senta, SchH1, HGH (herding instinct certificate) |
|
Deb Krsnich
and Lex, SchH1 |
|
Judi Miller-DeBroux
and Zeke, BH |
|
Judi Miller-DeBroux
and Haley, SchH1 |
|
Mark Plonsky
and Schatze, SchH2 |
|
Kari Leuthold
and Eich, BH (working dual purpose patrol and narc dog) |
|
Jerry
Lingnofski and Niko, BH (retired dual purpose patrol and narc dog) |
|
Rio Demers and
Traffic, BH |
|
Lisa Hansen
and Justice, BH |
|
Jeff Benzow
and Aero, SchH1 and working SAR dog |
|
John Novosad and Apollo, BH and FH |
|
Kathy Brotzman and Chas, SchH1 |
|
Kathy Brotzman and Ty, BH |
|
Bea Truchinski and Hans, BH |
|
Tony Barbiere and Jack, BH |
|
Donna Matey and Yak, SchH2 |
|
Chris Becher and Pomo, SchH1, WH, TD1 |
|
Bob Fronsee and Katie, BH |
|
Shari Blohm and Coach, BH |
|
Pat McFall and Brea, BH |
Dogs Present
 |
Minna Nousiainen-Becher and Kia, SchH3 (only the 4th SchH titled Boxer female in the U.S., and the 2nd female Boxer in the U.S. to earn the SchH3) |
|
Deb Krsnich and CH. A-Digit vom Foxtal, UCDX, 6 x SchH3,DPO2, 2x IPO3, FH |
|
Eric Lund and
Keasha, SchH1 |
|
Aida Flick and Beau, SchH1 |
|
Wendy Wied and Dillon, SchH1, SAR dog |
|
Chuck Johnson and Heidi, BH |
|
Lisa Boerst and Hendrix, BH |
|
Kyle Taylor and Kaiser, SchH1 |
|
Deb Krsnich and Quinn, SchH1 |
|
Deb Krsnich and Roya, SchH A |
|
and untitled club dogs, up and coming: Haley, Jinx, Cez, & Jackson. |
9.
Training
Rules
As a
prospective member, you will receive a copy of the club’s Rules of Conduct,
but here are a couple very basic training rules. All dogs must be currently
vaccinated. Ask permission before
interacting with another dog, either by yourself or with your own dog; those are
just good manners! Pick up your dog
waste.
10.
Where
do I find forms and information I need?
Our
By-Laws are quite strict and you should be aware of them before you consider
joining. Some points to consider
are:
·
Club members
cannot have been convicted of any felony, or convicted of a misdemeanor charge
of cruelty or abuse of animals, or misdemeanor drug offenses.
·
No dog being
worked in the Club may be used for breeding unless it has been determined free
of hip dysplasia (OFA, “A”stamp,
or comparable certification) and has earned a working title.
·
All dogs
working in the Club must have submitted to hip X-rays (OFA, “A” stamp or
comparable certification) prior to reaching the age of 30 months.
11.
Communications
Much of
our communication is done via e-mail, using our club discussion list on
Yahoo.com. All members are able to
sign on. If you do not have e-mail,
then you will need to call the TD and confirm training times and locations.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FoxValleySchutzhund
We also
publish a newsletter at various times throughout the year. All members are encouraged to supply stories, jokes or
articles for the enjoyment of others.