[Diamond Dog]

Originally posted by Teddyi


Should I keep my puppy crated for the majority of the time we are at the training field or should I let him be with me to watch?

****Depends on how your club is structured. Ideally your club has puppy time with new memmebrs and for puppy owners. Usually the cutoff stage is 6 months. Usually its in an area where adult dogs are not allowed. Its for safety. After a while you will know whose adult dogs are safe. Always look out after your dog, but also other peoples. You want to socialize your puppy as much as possible. Have other people hold it, have it play with others, even play with other breeds. Have it watch protection training if you can, but make sure you have it leashed and under control. Nip growling and agression immediately and let your pup know it will not be tolerated. Some clubs allow the pups to remain in an area that the adult dogs cant be on. So they can socialize all night. Check the rules of the club*****

How much time do you spend working with a 4 – 6 month old puppy each day? I presently do a few 5 minute sessions of reward based OB work with my pup.

***You want to keep it short. I dont know the exact time limit. Puppies have short attention span and you want to be building drive and confidence right now. A lot of obedience early may diminish this. make it fun. Try to stay away from compulsion at this stage and use motivators like food*****

Which leads me to another question about the rag work. I find that in order to keep the rag away from my pup, I have to whip the rag around so fast that he’s literally flying through the air in his frenzy to get it.

***You can mess up a dogs grip and other things by doing things on your own, Simple things you do in play at home may not be appropriate. If you want a Sch dog, you have to do all kinds of things to ensure the precision the sport demands. You really have to decide if you want a Sch dog because if you do you can not just do things as if you had a pet and do whatever you want. There are so many nuances to Sch....its really an art. Our trainer told us to simply show the dog toys at home, wave them around, get the dog frustrated...then put them away (without giving him the toy). That way he was ready to go at traiing and the trainer could play with him correctly with the rag or tug. There are whole videos on just "playing" with your dog correctly so you can build drive and focus. Check out the Flinks video on building drive and grip, and focus (or something like that) at www.????????.com. You will be amazed at all the things you can do with a ball on a string******


We also play with regular toys in the yard. (The rags and tugs are kept hidden away and only brought out for prey work.) Is it okay to have him play with regular squeaky balls and toys the rest of the time? Are stuffed squeaky toys okay? I throw a medium sized soft squeaky ball for him and he loves it. He’s also crazy for a basketball and a rope tug toy. There must be twenty toys in the yard and another twenty in the house of varying sizes and types. Is this okay?



*****See Above******

I use a regular flat leather collar. We got to do a little puppy prey work at the club on Sunday. I was holding my pup on a leash and he was lunging at the tug. This may sound ridiculous, but I worried about his neck and throat. Is it safe to have him on a flat collar for this type of work, or should I use a harness? He also was lunging and leaping trying to play with other dogs when we got to the club. It was all puppy play and I kept a tight leash on him, but I again worried about his neck. He really does hit the end of his leash very hard. Should I not worry?


*****Flat collar should be OK for now. I like using a harness. You can get a good one at k9toolbox.com Your dog is probably too small for a harness at this point. Let him leap and lunge at dogs as long as its not agressive. let them go nuts and get tired. Nothing is better than a tired puppy!********

I would like to title this dog myself and wonder if that’s a realistic goal being that I have never done this before.


*****Sure it is! All the pros on this board at one time had no idea what Schutzhund was*****


I am also concerned that I may hinder my puppy’s training because I am so new at this and I know that mistakes will be made.


*******People who title Sch III dogs make mistakes******


From what I have heard and read, a good prospect can be ruined rather easily and I don’t want to do that. I have been reading books on Schutzhund and tracking, and have purchased several videos on Schutzhund as well. It’s all fascinating and I'm having fun learning, but it’s very difficult to try to train a dog when you don’t really know what you’re doing. Is it this way with everyone, or do most people know what they’re doing before trying to train a dog for Schutzhund?


*****Depends on how good your club is. If its a good club, the trainer and other members should be able to help you******




And lastly, because Schutzhund clubs have very definite rules and ways of doing things, can anyone give me some basic etiquette so that I don’t put my foot in my mouth? (I’ve already done it twice and I’ve only been there once.) It may be inevitable that I blow it at some time or another, but I’d like to keep that to a minimum. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.



*******Go regularaly and don't drop out. Clubs get new people all the time, they invest time and then those people drop out a few months later. That happens much more than people staying with it. Schutzhund is so much work and so many aspects and so much of the work is not glamerous or fun. A lot of people say "ask lots of questions" I say before you ask a lot of questions WATCH a lot. Do what your trainer tells you to do and try not to variate from what he tells you. Always remember that he knows more than you (for now). Trainers hate it when you ask for advice then don't do it. If you feel your trainer is not good, go to another club. But you probably won't be able to determine that until you are int htis for a while. Be careful of taking everyone's advice in the club. There are a million opinions and a lot of people who think they are lot more qualified than they really are may give you wrong advice. Avoiding bad advice may be hard, but correcting a bad habit in your dog is even harder. Read your club rules and follow them. Download the BH and Sch I routine off the DVG website and get familiar with it. Even if you are not ready to do it. This way you know what its about and what you are working toward and people will see that you are serious and putting in the effort. Don't rush your puppy. People tend to have big expectation that are unreasonable with puppies. And remember that the protection phase of Sch is only part of it.

I would also ask the trainer what should you do this week. It may be something simple. It may be, work on getting him to sit. The next week I would say "You asked me to do X, let me show you my dog and the progress I made (once you complete his task) Eventually you should get on a program and the tasks will get more complicated and take weeks or months and that is why you see people doing their own thing on the field.******

Thanks.

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