First Protection Tournament

[work-n-show]

I was quite excited to be able to attend the show in Victoria, BC this past weekend hosted by Victoria Rottweiler Club.

Even more exciting was to watch my dog Connor participate in his first protection tournament. Having just turned three this summer, and sporting nothing but a BH, Connor and his handler Marty Leggett knocked out a solid 89 point SchHI protection routine for a third place finish!

Congrats to Jane Mitchelmore's two club dogs Echo (SchHIII) and Logan (soon to be SchHIII) who scored 95 and 91 respectively to win the tournament.

The Victoria Club did a great job hosting the event and Victoria is quite beautiful. I look forward to attending their next event.

[Boomer97]

Congratulations!...Now get your tracking and obedience in order and go get that Sch1!...Nice solid score!

[work-n-show]

Thanks Keith!

The tracking and OB are not far behind.

It shouldn't be long now!

Chris

[Mattweiser]

Chris,

just curiouis.. why aren't you handling your dog?

[work-n-show]

Mattweiser,

Excellent question.

Connor is my first dog. I had some trouble training some of the finer skills required to be successful in Schutzhund. Marty is an incredible trainer and handler. He's helping me clear those hurdles.

You could liken it to NASCAR. Marty is an expert driver currently without a car. I have a really fast car and don't know much about driving.

I've asked Marty to take him to a SchHI and he agreed.

Yee-haw!

[Mattweiser]

that is cool... are you doing any handling during training (so as to overcome your personal hurdles)?

out of curiousity, what specifically are you having a tough time with?

I ask because when I was overseas, my wife did some handling for me.. she didn't care for it ;).. she told me that she used to want to handle a dog, for fun.. not anymore! :)

[work-n-show]

Matt,

I wasn't necessarily struggling with handling. I was struggling with some specific aspects of training. Typical things you would struggle with on your first dog.

[laurlitt]

Originally posted by work-n-show
Matt,

I wasn't necessarily struggling with handling. I was struggling with some specific aspects of training. Typical things you would struggle with on your first dog.

But wouldn't it be true that if you don't overcome them with your first dog they will be issues with your second dog?

work-n-show, I understand where you are coming from. I am having issues myself w/ my obedience training (and mostly it's b/c I don't have all the tools I need to problem solve and bring out the best in my girl). Sometimes I just want to say "Here you train her" and have it over with... but each time she shows some improvement I'm proud of both of us...

did anyone get video of the protection tournament they can share?

[work-n-show]

But wouldn't it be true that if you don't overcome them with your first dog they will be issues with your second dog?

Yes. To some degree. But I am also gaining experience through observation. Most importantly, I will able to apply what I am learning to this specific dog. Not the next one. I am more concerned with how far this one will go.

I really put myself in a pickle. I'm told that most people ruin their first dog. This dog went out and got an Am/Can CH. The dog has excellent working ability, so when I got to what I thought was my plateau, rather than ruining the dog, I asked for professional help. Given the rarity of Am/Can CH with working titles, I believe it to be the correct decision.

We'll see.