As the dog emerged as the working partner of mankind in the primitive past selection was hands on, immediate and direct; those dogs perceived as useful were kept and maintained and those who were not were likely one way or the other pushed out to fend for themselves. When times were good the ineffective dog could perhaps hang around and be fed and tolerated as some sort of pet, but hard times would mean that only those contributing to survival would survive.
As the human social structure became more advanced and complex, good dogs would be sought out from neighboring bands, tribes or villages, based on observation of the dogs at their work and perhaps some informal testing. This was effective as long as the social structure was simple enough to allow meaningful observation of the dogs as they went about their work.
At the advent of the twentieth century the industrial revolution was in the process of changing a centuries old way of life throughout Europe, altering the very fabric of society. The population was shifting from rural regions to rapidly growing industrial cities and the police forces were evolving to deal with crime in the crowded working man’s neighborhoods and to maintain order throughout the city. In many different regions diverse groups of men realized that the indigenous working dogs of the farmer, drover and stockman were in imminent danger of being lost forever because of the rapid modernization of agrarian life. Separately and in small groups they sought to gather together and preserve the various regional working types and form them into breeds. Their legacy to us is the German Shepherd, the Rottweiler, the Bouvier des Flandres and the other herding and working breeds as we know them today.
Since the primary objective of these men was the preservation of the working heritage, it is natural that as they created their various organizations and evolved formal standards a number of working trial systems were devised. The primary purpose of these trials was to serve as a gauge of working character so as to facilitate the identification of animals suitable for consideration as breeding stock. In this way, the working trial served the purification of the soul just as the conformation show served to consolidate the desired physical structure. The sporting aspect drew in many who enjoyed the training and then the competitive nature of the trial itself. It would seem that the desire to go out and see whose horse is faster or whose dog is stronger, quicker and more courageous is as old as the domestication process itself.
From the very beginning of
the modern police dog era early in the twentieth century the breed founders and
police canine pioneers devised functional tests or trials to serve the
screening process for breed worthiness and as practical prerequisites for entry
to service. Examples of such trials include the Belgian Ring, the Schutzhund
trial in
Every successful working dog line has been based on such trials. In the homeland the German Shepherd dog from the beginning needed to prove his mettle in the Schutzhund trial in order to produce progeny to carry on this heritage, to be members of this noble breed. In the Netherlands the KNPV trial was primarily a police service eligibility test, but also emerged as the de facto breeding requirement for the males, and the females were in general of the same lines, for the Malinois and the working Bouvier.
Beyond breeding selection some systems, such as the Dutch Police or KNPV trials, were primarily a test of readiness for patrol duty, and only as an ancillary secondary purpose evolved to become very effective breeding suitability tests.
Schutzhund on the other hand was primarily created as a breeding test rather than to produce dogs ready for the police patrol function. Thus in some ways its exercises can be seen as less practical and less directly related to service. In reality this is of very little significance, since innumerable good Schutzhund titled dogs go on to exemplary police service every year with minimal additional training.
The trial, depending on the integrity and capability of the judge and the trial helpers, the men who represent the human threat to test the courage of the dog, has served to set a minimum level for breeding. This is far from a perfect process, for no matter how severe the written requirements and how diligent the judge and decoys, it is still an artificial test and trainers have always been ahead of the curve in their ability to prepare a marginal dog to pass the trial, even if with indifferent scores.
Thus even the KNPV certificate or an impressive Schutzhund score does not guarantee that a dog will succeed in actual service, and every experienced working breeder and police trainer knows this.
But for purposes of breeding selection, this was not of primary importance. Training and titling marginal dogs is lengthy and unpleasant work, and does not enhance one’s standing in the esteem of his peers. Knowing that one’s reputation is based on the actual serviceability of the dogs produced, and that the breeder himself will most likely need to train the progeny in their turn, provides a strong incentive to select for breeding the strongest and most trainable dogs.
Thus in the beginning and for many years it was the selection through the training process itself rather than the actual titles, or the relative scores in obtaining the titles, that were of paramount importance. Dogs had value not only because of a working title, but because they were known and purchased locally by people who had seen them work, or had associates who could provide first hand knowledge. The fact that the dog had a lucky day and barley made it through, or was a very strong dog who lost points only through enthusiasm, was available knowledge that had its own influence on the value of the dog.
The point of the trial was not so much that bad dogs will fail and be eliminated but rather that the breeder and trainer, since he must title each dog, will make a strong effort to improve his lines so that the training takes a reasonable amount of time and effort, and is a much more pleasant experience.
The natural competitiveness played out on the trial field is a fundamental aspect of the process. When I take my dog on the field in my club trial or when a European trainer takes his dog on the field or into the stadium for the most important and prestigious European event, scores, diplomas, titles and who is first or second are of secondary importance. What is most desired is the respect of one’s peers, the people who have shared the struggle on the training field over the years. These people are not fooled, see through the points and the pieces of inscribed paper and know and respect the good dogs and the trainers who have struggled to produce them. This is the mechanism by which the trial system maintains and enhances the working breed, this is why the individual breeders and trainers struggle each year to come back with a better dog and earn the respect of the training community.
In the nineteen seventies
and eighties Americans in increasing numbers became aware of these titled dogs
and were willing to spend ever increasing amounts of money to obtain one. From
purchases for individual need and desire the concept of brokering dogs, of
buying dogs on speculation with the idea of a quick profit through resale in
This was a critical juncture, for it profoundly changed the dynamics of the training community in Europe. Where previously it was knowledge of the work of the dog and the reputation of the lines, the trainer and the training club that determined the value of a dog, the brokering of dogs tended to change the titled dog into a commodity.
In these new circumstances, a piece of paper denoting a working title took on new and unreasonable value. A dog with such a certificate had significant sale value even if the title was earned in a marginal way, on a lucky day, under a known lenient judge or simply fabricated wholesale.
For the European trainer with one eye on the dollar this meant that the quickest route to the title, regardless of the actual quality of the dog or his training, became a primary consideration. Why put extra work into a dog who is going to disappear into the broker’s hands the day after the trial, never to be seen again ? Rather than training the dog with the objective of laying a good foundation for further training and serviceability the rest of his life, training just to get through the trial, by hook or by crook, becomes for the most profitable approach for the quasi commercial trainer.
Thus the trial based training and breeding system is a fragile process, most susceptible to outside money. When ignorant Americans will buy a dog on the basis of the title alone, for what are seen as incredible prices to largely working class trainers, the system is corrupted and weakened at its very core. The desire for the quick title and the money from the export sale rather than excellence can become primary motivation. When the Americans are joined in ignorant enthusiasm by the Japanese and others with big chunks of cash to spend the whole heritage is in imminent danger of collapse.
It is true that the presence of a working title does not guarantee that the dog is a superior worker. Aside from the fact that it might at some level be fraudulent, which does happen, the dog may have been slid through under a lenient judge or just had a lucky day. Every person buying a dog should regard the title as an indication that the dog is potentially worth while, but base the buying decision on more comprehensive testing and his confidence in the seller of the dog.
For the person new to the working dog world, it can be quite difficult to grasp that while the working trial is the foundation of every successful working breed, the title on the individual dog is of only limited value, is not and should not be taken to be an absolute guarantee of working capability. For most of us this is a paradox in the beginning, one only mastered gradually through experience and observation over time.
Thus in the beginning each of us tend to fall into one of two errors; either believing that the title is proof of total working functionality, or the more dangerous converse, that since the title does not always correlate with working excellence in the individual dog, it is not of fundamental importance in the breeding line.
This fundamental principle, the absolute necessity of testing working stock through training, has at times been an enormous difficulty for those in what have come to be known as the "alternative breeds," that is, breeds other than the German Shepherd and the Malinois.
Since it is very unusual, almost impossible, to find lines in these breeds really based on the title as a breeding prerequisite, people are led to believe that these breeds and these lines are or can be viable sources of reliable working stock.
Sad to say, this is simply not true, as many have learned through difficult personal experience. Thus many enthusiasts for these breeds go into a perpetual state of denial, choose to believe things that common sense, the evidence available through observation and the accumulated wisdom have made obviously untrue. But widespread denial of objective reality has accelerated rather than retarded the demise of these unfortunate breeds.
From time to time it will be said of Schutzhund or KNPV that it is "only a sport," normally meant in some sort of pejorative way. This may be in contrast to some other training regimen, characterized as "real work" because it is "hard core." Other times this will be in contrast to herding or some other functionality being proposed as the "real function" on one breed or another. This propensity is in general peculiar to Americans in that in the areas of Europe where these sports are actively pursued their actual nature is in general well understood.
This denigration of sport
is peculiar in that the top human sports figures, such as Michael Jordan, are
compensated in a range of over ten million dollars a year while the best paid
skilled workers, such as electricians and cabinet makers are normally in the
less than one hundred thousand range. Thus Mr.
In reality, the fundamental purpose of KNPV and Schutzhund is both to identify those dogs most suitable for breeding and also to provide young trained dogs for police departments and other protective applications. The KNPV dog in general only certifies once in his life. Many, if not most, such dogs, on the completion of training and certification, are sold for police service. The best dogs, particularly females, tend to be retained for breeding purposes.
The KNPV organization has an official relationship with the Dutch police organizations, and often have access to training grounds not available to others. Because of this official relationships, certain criminal convictions preclude participation.
Although Schutzhund and IPO in Europe tend to be a little more sports oriented, the same general principles apply. Many dogs are trained at IPO clubs for social and sport purposes and tend to not be the top level dogs. But there is also a significant population of trainers working more serious dogs, and selling those not retained for breeding for Police service.
Most dogs going into police
service in
The only reason that we do not have significant numbers of American trained dogs entering service is that we are lacking the infrastructure, that is, we simply are not producing enough dogs of sufficient quality to supply the market, which thus goes to the European trainers.
So although these sports provide recreation and a social outlet for many trainers and their families, they are also the primary training ground for actual service dogs and provide the testing ground which sorts out which dogs should be chosen for breeding.
Preparing a dog for the traditional working trials requires a great deal of time and effort, and can be quite frustrating when one or a series of dogs need to be abandoned because they have been found wanting under the pressure of training. Although it is a labor of love, and can be an exhilarating experience, training is always time, money and effort consuming, particularly for those who seek fame and fortune through the keeping and breeding of many dogs.
There are those who from time to time postulate that this training is unnecessary and is in fact an actual impediment to effective breeding selection. The thesis is that by devising clever tests for the "natural" dog we can see his true nature and potential, thus gaining a more accurate insight as well as avoiding the effort of training. In this view of the canine world, training serves to unnaturally conceal and cover over the essence of the dog.
It is true that a fortuitous combination of clever training, a cozy home trial field, a less than ruthlessly diligent judge and a simple lucky day can get a dog, sometimes a truly quite poor dog, through the trial, perhaps even with an impressive score.
It is also true that if you plucked six million Joe Six Packs from in front of their television set on Saturday afternoon and plunked them down at home plate in Yankee stadium in game seven of the world series a few of them, by sheer blind luck, would swing and hit a game winning home run. This is just the nature of life in the probabilistic world we inhabit, improbable things do from time to time occur.
But testing the untrained dog is not the answer. For one thing, as soon as something important hangs in the balance, such as breeding eligibility, every dog will in fact be extensively prepared for the test. There will be no such thing as seeing the dog’s reaction to a new situation, for the situation will be known and well prepared for.
In the big picture, the most fundamental consideration in testing a dog for working potential is that trainability is a primary and fundamental attribute of a good dog. Indeed, the very foundation of the usefulness of the dog to mankind is his natural instincts and his ability to work in productive partnership with man through training.
Dogs are useful to man primarily because the social structure of the wolf pack produces through the domestication process animals that are trainable, that is, willing to respond to the needs and commands of his leader and thus bring the physical and moral aspects of the dog – his power, his quickness, his olfactory capability — into harmonious partnership and service.
The idea that one could evaluate a dog for breeding or service without fundamental validation of his trainability, his inherent willingness to be a partner, is an absurdity only the most novice or ignorant person could postulate. Unfortunately, people profoundly ignorant of the real process of dog use and training become conformation oriented breeders, officers in canine organizations, big deal conformation judges and in general those in control of the canine establishment.
If the canine trials are imperfect, as they are and always will be, the solution is not to devise absurd tests for untrained dogs, but rather to incessantly work to improve trial procedures, require more advanced titles at regional trial fields and move the selection of judges into the hands of regional officials rather than local club officers. No baseball team, after all, expects to select, hire and pay the umpires at the world series.
Furthermore, the nature of the training process exerts substantial psychological pressure on the dog, so substantial that in the inferior dog it can weaken and perhaps break what was perceived as strength and potential in the green dog.
Certainly, decisions about untrained dogs are made every day, every trainer will quickly dismiss candidates on the basis of observation and contrived tests in order to make as good a selection as possible before investing time and effort in training.
And it is true that mistakes are made, for it is not uncommon to select a dog and yet in the future discard him when he is revealed as inadequate under the pressure of training. Indeed, for this reason, the trainer will typically give the benefit of the doubt to the questionable dog for this very reason, so as not to make a mistake and bypass a good dog. And no doubt dogs who under some trainer, some place, some time could have evolved into excellent workers are discarded and lost; such is the nature of life.
But the fundamental fact remains that canine excellence is proven only in the crucible of training, and that projections or evaluations of untrained dogs are mere speculation. The most courageous and hard dog in the world, capable of the most impressive olfactory feats in search and tracking, agile, swift and powerful, is useless if that dog can not be molded into an effective, obedient working partner.
The unwilling dog is a useless dog, and no dog who has not demonstrated cooperation in training is of fundamental use. Making breeding decisions on untrained dogs, to speculate that they have the potential for police style service is, like having untrained people off of the street operate to see if they are potential surgeons.
For the Bouvier des
Flandres specifically, the lessons are clear. In
In the second half of the
twentieth century, the only national level line of serious working Bouviers was
the KNPV line in the
Without exception police style working canine lines are only maintained where a significant majority of the breeding stock obtains a working title as a breeding prerequisite.
This of course would be a longer term goal. In practice, this would necessitate organizations separate from those currently existing under the control of show breeders and play trainers. And it means earning existing titles in established systems rather than the invention of special tests pretending to "take account of the special Bouvier character" which always turn out to be thinly disguised farces, watered down to accommodate the weaknesses of the stock on hand. In particular, credibility would preclude the appointment of special judges specific to our testing programs.
There is a tendency to focus on of the degeneration of the Bouvier in terms of a lack of aggressiveness and confidence. These are of course fundamental components of a useful police style working dog, but only part of the picture. The dog who is strong and brave and confident, but has not demonstrated the willingness to be a working partner rather than a loose cannon is just as much a detriment to the heritage, and the gene pool, as the dog who is willing but not sufficient to perform under the stress of a serious confrontation.
The problem with the currently popular Dutch show lines is a propensity for stubbornness and a lack of trainability as much as a lack of fighting instinct.
A breeding group of very strong, aggressive dogs without the corresponding trainability and olfactory capability is not a "working dog" gene pool but just an ego toy.
Many will say, correctly, that just having a KNPV, IPO or Ring title does not make a dog a great dog, or even a good dog. But the inability to earn such a title, or a character that makes it time consuming and difficult, also means that, however strong and brave, the dog is not a complete or useful working dog.
This is a fundamental reason why all successful breeding programs are based on the working trial, the most important function of which is to demonstrate trainability and olfactory usefulness.
Effective protection training requires simulating an engagement in a way that is realistic for the dog, that is emulates as nearly as possible the situations he is likely to experience in service or the trial, and is safe for the human adversary, variously referred to as the helper, agitator or decoy. In general this can take the form of limiting the freedom of the dog to bite through use of an agitation muzzle or protective equipment worn by the helper to take the brunt of the bite. The helper's protection is either the full body suit where the dog may bite wherever he can or the separate, padded sleeve where the dog normally bites only the forearm. When using the sleeve the helper is also protected from inadvertent body or leg bites by a pair of padded pants, usually with straps over the shoulders to support the weight while still giving maximum mobility. A sleeveless jacket is sometimes also used. In initial training the ability of the dog to bite is restricted by a leash or line and an agitation harness or wide protection collar, usually leather.
In the early days the decoy’s suit tended to be heavy, stiff and awkward which limited mobility and rendered the helper less mobile and more awkward. This was an impediment to realistic training scenarios and drained the energy of the helper. These awkward suits were primarily a consequence of the available materials, usually leather, coarse jute and padding. The old fashioned American pillow suit, looking very much like the old time automobile tire advertisements, was a good example. Photos of the earlier European suits, while still quite restrictive, give the appearance of being more mobile and thus more realistic.
These material and design limitations on early bite suits were probably the primary reasons for the use of the bite sleeve by the Germans. Putting the primary bite protection into the sleeve and making the rest of the equipment relatively light to protect against an inadvertent bite made the helper more mobile and minimized energy expenditure.
Historically the style of
gear has been according to the nation and sport, that is, the removable, padded
sleeve and forearm only bite was characteristic of Schutzhund and thus
associated with
Over the years, but especially in the nineteen sixties and seventies, modern materials such as ballistic nylon or Kevlar began to supplement and replace the heavy leather, fiber and jute padding of traditional suits, making them much lighter and much more flexible. KNPV and to a lesser extent the Belgian Ring program have been conservative and to a greater extent retained original materials, designs and training procedures. But these material and technical developments revolutionized French ring almost over night, changing it into a virtually new sport and replacing the predominance of the German Shepherd at the competitive levels with the lighter, quicker, much more mobile Belgian Malinois, and putting the focus of the sport on the skill and mobility of the decoy. As with any fundamental change there are positive and negative consequences, French Ring has become much more of a game for the agile dog and an arena for the initiative and showmanship of the helper rather than a test for the powerful dog.
The sleeve sports, Schutzhund and IPO, have benefited from modern materials and methods through lighter and more flexible equipment, which has enhanced durability and made the work physically less tiring for the helper, but has not had the profound effect on the nature of the training and trial procedure as has occurred in French ring sport.
In Schutzhund the dog is trained and expected to always go to the arm, which is presented according to rules, custom and style to allow a safe bite even when the dog engages at high speed and with much power. Although the Schutzhund helper usually wears a vest like padded jacket to protect the body in the event of an errant bite, the sleeve itself is a separate piece of equipment. While soft puppy or young dog sleeves can usually be used on either arm, the trial sleeve is specifically left or right handed and incorporates a built up section on the forearm known as the bite bar.
Although not used in formal trials, police and protection style trainers sometimes use more compact sleeves or arm protection, known as hidden sleeves, which are worn under a shirt or jacket to test to see to what extent the dog is reacting to the equipment rather than the actions and demeanor of the helper.
The helper's equipment is always a compromise: the lighter, less bulky and thinner the gear the more quick and mobile, and thus realistic, his performance can be. Thus the willingness to risk contusion, abrasion or an actual puncture by one or more canines determines the potential for quickness and mobility. In addition to freedom in working the dog, lighter equipment is less tiring and thus enables one to work more dogs and for longer periods.
The attraction of the agitation muzzle was that it enabled the helper to work the dog free of the restrictive suit. The agitation muzzle has a long history and was originally usually thick leather with a strap going behind the ears. Such muzzles are relatively massive and heavy, since they must allow the dog to engage and butt the helper with the muzzle, minimizing the possibility of injury to either party. Careful design and construction is also necessary to prevent the muzzle coming off because of material failure or the dog slipping out of it, which has obvious implications for unpleasant consequences.
In addition to the agitation muzzle which enables the dog to engage the helper but not actually bite him, other muzzles, often plastic rather than leather, are intended to simply restrict the dog when he must be near people or other animals.
The use of the muzzle, once relatively common, is very much out of fashion today. In Schutzhund I have not seen a muzzle used in many years, either here or in Europe. It is also absent in the KNPV trial, although it may be part of some training programs. The French ring people use a muzzle during part of the obedience exercise, but not in the actual protection work. There is some muzzle work in the Belgian ring.
The use of the full body bite suit or sleeve is much more than a minor equipment preference, for it reflects intrinsically different approaches to the training and fundamentally distinct national traditions. The use of the sleeve and the forearm bite originated in the German Schutzhund trial and is historically associated with that nation. The rest of the serious police dog world — the Dutch, Belgians and French — from the beginning utilized the full body suit allowing the dog wide latitude in bite placement and style.
Some would observe that the evolution of the modern suit, so much lighter and more flexible, has negated the original rationale for the use of the bite bar style sleeve, that the fundamental reason for the Schutzhund style of training has been eliminated by modern technology. In the Schutzhund long bite the points go to the dog that launches himself without hesitation to make a spectacular bite, relying on the skill and honesty of the helper to make a proper catch. But in reality, that is in a police application, the actions of the man are going to be totally unpredictable, but very seldom are going to be to cooperate with the dog to ensure a good bite.
Prior to the nineteen seventies the trainers in the various nations on the whole followed their national systems, the Dutch doing KNPV, the Belgians and French doing their own flavors of Ring Sport. In this general time frame the Germans, more specifically the SV, began to expand and encourage through the WUSV or world union of Shepherd clubs the practice of Schutzhund as the preferred sport and trial system throughout the world.
The international sleeve oriented sport, under FCI auspices, is the IPO, and although in the past there were significant differences from Schutzhund in rules and procedures, in recent years these have greatly diminished. In general this represents the waning influence of the SV and the serious working dog elements and the waxing power and dominance of the international conformation and show community under the FCI. On the whole, this is has not been a good thing, for it has resulted in an incessant lessening of the physical and psychological challenge to the dog and increasing emphasis on the details of obedience and style irrelevant to real world police work.
The Germans from the very
beginning were focused on the national and especially the international
popularity of their breeds, most particularly the German Shepherd. Max von Stephanitz above all else was the
master of promotion and public relations, tireless in the advancement of his
breed on every front. And promoting the
German Shepherd went hand in hand with promoting
Schutzhund, and from the seventies forward an ever increasing army of SV judges
marched out of
This German Blitzkrieg has
been very successful, made Schutzhund the international sport and primary
competitive arena throughout the world, increasingly even including Holland,
In fact the only real fly in this German ointment has been the pesky Malinois, which has taken to sneaking in and enjoying a nice German lunch at more and more international IPO competitions.
The problem with this Schutzhund surge is that it has in many was suffered the natural fate of seeking popularity, spell that money, been compromised, watered down and put increasingly under the control of show dog dilettantes with little commitment to serious police style dogs. The most egregious offender in all of this has been the SV.
Among the earliest trial systems was that devised by the founders of the German Shepherd Dog, that is, the Schutzhund (protection dog) trial. Schutzhund specifically is a national German sport under the VDH, that is, the German national organization comparable in scope to the AKC. IPO is the international version directly under FCI auspices, and today is virtually the same as the German version.
A review of the objectives of training and working trial systems in general serves as an effective introduction to a discussion of the Schutzhund sport in particular. These include:
· Identification of those dogs suitable to be bred, that is, of sound temperament, willing to work and of correct structure.
· Preparation of the individual dog to serve the purpose of its breed, be it hunting, herding or protection of family and property.
· Provision of sport and recreation for man and beast that brings out the best qualities of both.
Since the Schutzhund program is primarily for dogs of the protective heritage, its emphasis is on those qualities necessary in such dogs, such as initiative, courage and responsibility. The three phases of the program are:
TRACKING where the dog uses his olfactory capability to follow the path taken by his handler or another person.
OBEDIENCE heeling, retrieval of objects and other exercises that demonstrate cooperation and handler control.
PROTECTION search out and hold of an adversary, close in defense of the leader and a remote attack on an aggressor.
There are three progressively more difficult levels of competition that lead to the Schutzhund titles I through III. Many dogs go on to compete repetitively at the Schutzhund III level in order to achieve the highest possible score and to qualify for participation in various annual championship events. There is also an advanced tracking title and a number of other specialized degrees.
Among the factors contributing to the usefulness of the dog is his incredibly sensitive nose, which makes the sense of smell so totally superior to that of a human being that a dog virtually lives in another world. The olfactory sensitivity adds another dimension, a further capability, to the human/canine team. The dog can locate a lost child, detect the presence of narcotics or warn of a hidden adversary in time to save a life.
Tracking is thus an integral facet of the program in order to measure and enhance this most useful faculty. The test is conducted in an open field where a person walks a prescribed route several hundred yards long and drops a number of articles, such as a glove, which the dog must locate. Elementary level tracks are laid by the handler, more advanced competition uses a different person. The track is sometimes laid in a plowed field rather than one with vegetation or in a pasture.
The track is aged for a period according to the title being sought (20 minutes to an hour) after which the dog is taken to the marked starting point and sent out, usually on a line. (The handler has the option of sending his dog off lead, but I have never seen this done.) It is necessary to stay ten meters behind the dog except when he picks up a dropped article or indicates its presence by laying down or sitting. The difficulty of a particular track is dependent on the nature of the vegetation and the weather. Damp, cool, still conditions are generally the most favorable. Early in the morning is often the best time of day.
The obedience exercises require the dog to heel at the handler's side on a pattern with turns, changes of pace and distractions such as gun shots and a group of milling persons. The dog must be left in the down, sitting and standing positions and come when called. Objects thrown by the handler are to be retrieved on command. This is done "on the flat" and over a one meter barrier. The dog must go out away from the handler and then down on command. The gun sure AKC obedience competitor at the CDX level will find the Schutzhund I obedience routine familiar, the only additional exercise being the go out which is introduced at the Utility level under the AKC system.
A fundamentally different character of Schutzhund obedience is due to the arena, that is, the fact that it is conducted in an open field rather than a small, confined ring. This is a significant consideration for the team with a large dog, which is at a substantial disadvantage in the typical cramped AKC ring. Within broad limits the handler has much latitude to adapt the size and order of the heeling pattern to his own dog. That a beast heels a couple of inches ahead or behind or sits slightly crooked is not of earth shaking consequence, for the purpose is to demonstrate control, cooperation and working willingness rather than to turn the dog into an ultra precise heeling machine.
The protection exercises involve a number of simulated attacks by a human adversary who wears padded leather pants and a padded sleeve which the dog bites. (In Schutzhund the dog is trained to bite only the sleeve; in other forms of competition he is encouraged to bite either an arm or a leg or go directly to the body. The agitator's protective equipment is substantially different in such instances.) Once on the sleeve, the agitator will strike the dog with a padded stick to establish the willingness to persist in the face of a counter attack. The dog is trained to respond to an active aggressor, and that when the helper stands still he is to watch and bark but may not bite. Control and discipline are recognized as essential attributes of the well trained dog.
Although tracking, obedience and protection are the three phrases of the program, the divisions are more apparent than real, for each facet of the training must contribute in harmony to the balanced whole, result in a fundamentally sound dog, or they mean nothing. In a correct program there is tremendous synergism, the lessons of one phase positively reinforcing those of the others. The tracking builds confidence and initiative that carries over as an alert, positive attitude in the obedience. Obedience teaches discipline and responsiveness to the handler, which reinforces the precision necessary for high tracking scores and paves the way for the control aspects of the protection work. And the enthusiasm of most dogs for the man work carries them through the long haul, provides the spark that makes training day the best part of the dog's life. The very best Schutzhund program does not train tracking, obedience and protection, it does not even consider the dog as a whole and train him, rather it trains the team, the dog and his leader together.
The trial generally starts with the tracking early in the morning, since that is the most favorable time for the dog to track, and because there is a long day's work ahead if there is a full slate of ten or twelve dogs. The judge begins by assigning track layers and supervising the laying of the tracks. Each team in turn reports and is sent out to attempt their track.
The judge will usually conduct a preliminary temperament test in which he will purposely pressure the dog, perhaps by walking between him and his handler and pushing him with his knee. The dog who shows a fearful or inappropriately aggressive reaction is excused on the spot. It is the judge's right and obligation to devise whatever tests he believes to be necessary to establish the stability of each dog as they progress through the day. It is necessary that Schutzhund judge have significant latitude in conducting the trial in that his duties are by far the most difficult and serious one can take on in the entire scope of canine affairs. Put quite simply, the future of the working heritage is in his hands each time he steps on the field.
When two dogs have completed their track, the judge will in the presence of the handler and his dog, and any others who care to listen, give a brief critique of the performance and announce the scores. A primary purpose of this is education, as the judge will often not only point why he has taken points away, but go on to suggest improvements in training approach to correct the problems. Teaching is in fact the essence of the judge's role, and a trial conducted by a good one is an educational encounter as well.
The judge's critique does a great deal to enhance the spirit of fair play and sportsmanship, for the audience may find out what he has seen that was not apparent from their vantage point. They will often find out that they noted a detail that he in fact missed, for no man can see everything when there are two dogs and two handlers on the field, often widely separated. The noted judge Jean-Claude Balu makes a point that bears repeating: it is the judge's responsibility to score according to what he actually sees and hears, that while he will on occasion know that something has occurred when his vision was blocked or his attention diverted he must not deduct points. It is important that those in the audience be aware of this distinction.
There is no doubt that the necessity of giving a critique and announcing scores immediately after the exercise puts pressure on a judge, as there is no such thing as having a ring steward post the scores and being long gone before anyone knows what went down.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of Schutzhund competition is not that the dog must track, execute the obedience exercises and show protective capability. Rather the real challenge is that each of these three must be done successfully on the same day in order to earn a title. It would be much easier if you could get the beast up for tracking next week, pass the obedience after a couple of tries next spring and then worry about the protection work! The comprehensiveness of the test is the essence of its validity, for the dog who attains the degree under a competent judge is in most instances a legitimate working dog. An occasional unsure dog may have a lucky day and get through, and judges, being human, are on occasion too lenient. There are of course distinctions in that some pass without a high score or are not able to attain a higher title.
There are reservations in many minds about protection training of dogs by private individuals. These questions are relevant, for enhancing a dog's willingness and ability to perform an effective attack on a human being is very serious business. One view is that nobody should be permitted to keep or breed animals capable of harming a man, that the emasculation of our utility breeds is a noble service to mankind. Perhaps the happy day when no man need be concerned with defense of family and property is on the horizon, perhaps our all powerful government is about to introduce a global program to incapacitate the criminal element (surly the best kept secret of recent years!), rendering dogs with the protective potential superfluous. You may not believe it, and I may not believe it, but by and large contemporary American breeders of working dogs are well on the way to being prepared for the new era, well on the way to rendering our protective heritage breeds impotent!
But if the breeding and possession of dogs with credible protective capability is to be a valid prerogative of the individual citizen, there must be a means to encourage responsible ownership and provide the necessary training and support. The Schutzhund movement has a major role to play in this.
Proper training does not create something that was not there in the first place, for the dog that can be effectively trained was physically capable before hand; his reactions simply become more predictable and controllable. The properly protection enhanced dog is truly a more reliable companion, for the most dangerous dog is the one apt to bite out of fear, an inability to deal with the world at large. The strong, confident dog who knows he can deal with whatever comes over the horizon has no need of the preemptive bite, can wait for a real threat before taking aggressive action.
There are those who would have you believe that there is no need to train a dog in order to bring out the protective potential, that a particular breed is made up of "naturally protective" individuals. This is well and good if one finds it of comfort and has no real need, there is after all the place for the placebo. But if one intends to go in harms way, to depend on the dog for assistance when the going gets rough, there are two very sound reasons for protection training. In the first place, the dog that is not tested is simply an unknown quantity, for there are some dogs in every breed that just don't have what it takes, and it is impossible to identify them without testing each candidate. Finding your dog inadequate when he fails to respond to a real attack may mean that you never have the opportunity to replace him with an adequate dog.
The other reason for protection training is that many dogs are taught from a young age that any sign of aggression, even in play, is not allowed and will in fact result in being cuffed in the head. Dogs are sensitive, they can be tremendously inhibited without the owner's being aware of the process. The well trained obedience or show ring competitor is at a particular disadvantage in that they are apt to ignore the mugger thinking he is just another "distraction" and expect you to be pleased at the show of good manners! Many dogs will simply stand confused, not know how to react, when a simulated attack on the owner occurs as part of an evaluation. Their training has blunted the protective instinct, rendered it impotent when most needed.
Since the sport is a gauge of the working potential of the protective breeds, its credibility would seem to be dependent on the link between successful participation in a trial and practical applications such as police work or family protection. It is to be understood up front that it would be most foolish to take your high scoring Schutzhund III to a tough neighborhood and insult the natives, expecting him to spare you the normal consequences of such a foolish action! When the chips are down the dog may realize that this is not a game and head for the hills. On the sport field most dogs understand quite well for the agitator must play by the rules and may only strike back in a prescribed manner with limited force.
It would seem reasonable that the capable boxer would be an effective street fighter and most of them probably would, but this is not necessarily true in every case. Similarly, most good sport dogs have the potential for a real protective functionality that could be readily enhanced with a minimum of additional training. The protection test is a simulated situation, somewhat stylized and not totally realistic. There are those dogs who can by careful training be acclimated to the sport situation and yet who would likely falter when faced with a real, unrehearsed, threat. The more skilled and experienced the judge and helper, the less likely these border line dogs are to pass a protection test.
The experienced trainer will usually have a good idea of which dogs are dependent on the familiarly of the padded sleeve as permission to bite and which would respond to a real situation, attack regardless of the garb of the aggressor. A hidden sleeve, that is one compact enough to be worn under a shirt or jacket, can be used to test a dog's reaction to a more realistic situation and also as a means of more advanced training to insure a realistic protection functionality.
Thus while it is true that some successful sport dogs would fail in an on the street confrontation, just as some soldiers who are sound in training fail in combat for reasons not fully understood, it is not necessarily the fault of the training methodology. Dogs are not machines and it is not possible to be absolutely sure of what they will do in a new situation.
Stability and inherent responsibility are essential attributes of any dog to be protection trained, either for sport or service. Children and people in general are going to walk up and handle the police dog just as they are going to approach the private citizen's sport trained dog. It is pointless to say that they should know better, the simple fact is that it is going to happen. Fair or not, the burden is on the dog and his owner. The dog who threatens or bites innocent people simply cannot be tolerated; and it is a tribute to the stability of the animals and the skill of those doing the training that this high standard is almost universally met.
Although Schutzhund training and competition is a sport, it is also a very serious business with important obligations for those who choose to participate. The decision to become involved should thus be made only after careful investigation of what is involved and careful consideration of the implications of a commitment. Many who become interested are likely to be subject to subtle warnings such as "One of your kids is going to give the attack command, how will you feel when a neighborhood child is mauled by your vicious Schutzhund dog and ends up in the hospital?"
Is protection training a dog in fact equivalent to leaving a loaded pistol on the dining room table? Does it increase the likelihood of a serious incident resulting in injury to an innocent person? The answer is a qualified no, and the qualifications are a sound dog and sound training methodology. It is a simple fact that owning a dog physically capable of injury to a human being involves an element of risk, for several times each year there are newspaper reports of a death of a human being, all too often a child, as a result of an attack by a dog or dogs. In a sense the fact that such incidents are reported in detail is positive, in that very few of the 25,000 deaths that occur as a consequence of mixing alcohol and motor vehicles are interesting enough for much newspaper coverage. But even one death is of course one too many.
The fact is that very few if any of these incidents involve protection trained dogs, although I do not claim that such dogs are less likely to be involved; I simply have no relevant statistical information. What I do know is that by building the dog's confidence in himself and enhancing the handler's control and understanding the properly trained Schutzhund dog is a better canine citizen, substantially less likely to be involved in an irresponsible action after his training than before. One of the primary causes of dog bite incidents is the fear motivated preemptive action by the dog that was not properly socialized and/or of inherently unstable character.
The sport trained dog is exposed to many situations that require restraint and self control as a normal part of his training and living with his partner. In the properly run Schutzhund club, unstable dogs are recognized as such before the protection training begins or advances very far and the owner made aware of the danger he is living with. If a dog is refused training and put down or more closely watched as a consequence the safety of the public is enhanced by one less potentially dangerous dog.
The danger that a child will send a trained dog against an innocent person and cause an injury is simply not a serious concern if proper precautions are taken. The Schutzhund dog is taught to respond only to the active adult aggressor rather than a passive person. He understands full well that it is the commands of adult family members that must be obeyed, those of small children are in general regarded with tolerant amusement. It is the situation and tone of voice that leads to the aggressive response rather than the actual words used.
The owner of a dog of any of the protective breeds takes on important responsibilities, for they are capable of a great deal of damage. Schutzhund training, when applied to a sound dog in responsible hands, is an effective means of fulfilling these responsibilities, for it provides an enhanced level of discipline and control that renders unjustified aggression less likely. Also, the discipline also provides the ability to call back a dog when necessary, thus providing an extra margin of safety.
Although not likely, it is conceivable that a dog could be taught to make an unprovoked attack on verbal command and that a child could then invoke the trained response. But the same child could also abuse an automobile or alcohol with tragic results; and these are much more common occurrences as the reader of any newspaper is well aware. The owner of a Shepherd or Bouvier must teach his children respect for the potential of the dog, just a he should teach respect for the automobile, alcohol, power tools and the many other things that have legitimate purposes but are nevertheless potentially dangerous. This is a very serious responsibility that every dog owner should be made to understand.
As in any physically active sport, there is an element of risk on the training field where a single lapse in concentration can be the cause of an injury. The agitator is the most likely candidate; and he understands the risks before stepping on the field and picking up the sleeve. The point is that it is his own choice, the gratification of working the dog and contributing to his progress is satisfactory compensations for placing himself in jeopardy.
Each of us who participate — as instructor, agitator or trainer — is responsible for the safety of those involved and for producing reliable dogs suitable for living with their families in contemporary American society. Each person interested in participation must make his own evaluation of the overall merits of the program and make his own commitment. He should also contemplate the inherent risks of owning a dog with the protective potential without knowing how it is likely to respond in a situation he regards as provocative, or even which situations will be so regarded. The owner of the Schutzhund trained dog has the advantage of knowing first hand how his dog will respond to a wide variety of stressful circumstances.
Just as the Germans were creating the Schutzhund trial as a means
of training for service, sport and most especially to sort out the dogs which
should be bred other men in other nations were developing their own trial
systems, including the Dutch Police Trials in the
The Belgians, Dutch and French systems incorporate padded jackets and pants, which the dog will bite in the way natural to him and according to his training. Generally leg, thigh, arm and body bites are permitted. In general in KNPV, the Dutch Police system, bites are to the upper part of the body. Many KNPV participants train their dogs to go to the leg in the bicycle exercise in the interest of safety, although dogs going airborne and making a spectacular grab of an arm or shoulder have also been popular.
The French Ringers generally prefer the leg bite because of the style of the decoy work and the scoring of the judges. In most systems the function of the decoy is to present a consistent picture to each dog in the interests of safety and fairness. In Schutzhund or IPO particularly the dogs come in fast and hit hard, the function of the helper is to safely catch the dog and then drive him, that is, push into the dog and threaten him with the stick in an attempt to make him release, which results in failure if the dog does not immediately come back hard. On the long bite the helper is running toward the dog, slowing as the dog begins to engage, so the speed of impact is the combination of that of the dog and the helper.
The suit style decoys do not run at the dog but rather hold their ground and threaten the dog with their stick, which is split bamboo in Ring and a freshly cut three quarter inch sapling in KNPV. The KNPV decoy does not evade, but will strike the dog a sharp below with the sapling before the dog actually engages. This can be very intimidating, and if a dog is going to fail this is likely to be the moment.
The French ring helper on the other hand is expected to evade the dog, that is, make last moment motions to the left or right and otherwise deceive the dog. This results in the dog slowing slightly and looking for the helper to commit. Most French Ring dogs are rigorously trained to go to the thigh or leg because going higher gives the decoy more opportunity for evasive maneuver.
The original equipment in the suit sports was quite bulky, stiff and heavy because of the available materials and the evolution of training methods. Beginning in the nineteen seventies the French ring suits, especially the trial suits, began to utilize modern fabrics such as nylon to produce suits much lighter and more flexible. This revolutionized French ring in many ways, with increasing emphasis on the evasiveness of the decoy. This transformation was dramatic in another way in that the dogs at the championship level became almost entirely Belgian Malinois. Prior to this, the German Shepherd was predominant. Malinois domination is so complete that at the Cup of France the thirty or so finalists, almost always all Malinois, are joined by one dog of another breed, selected on a competitive basis but not directly competing with the Malinois.
European history is in many ways the story of
conflict between the Germanic peoples, merging into nationhood in the eighteen
hundreds and the older, more established culture centered on the French
nation. The armed conflicts of the first
half of the twentieth century were bloody and ruthless, and impacting civilian
populations to an extent unknown in history. In WW II especially the German occupation of
Although much of the angst and anger has been swept under the
carpet in the push for European economic and political unity, culture, the
inherent attitudes of the people, is not so easily modified. Just as remnants of regional conflicts persist a century and a half after the civil war in
Thus conflicts about equipment and style of work and sport can to some extent be surrogates for deeper and more fundamental issues based in age old animosities as well as happenstance, deeply philosophical differences not readily apparent to the casual observer.
Each of these national sport and trial programs are discussed in detail in the subsequent sections devoted to these nations.
Beginning in the middle 1980s there was gradually increasing interest among Americans in the French Ring Sport. By this time Schutzhund was well on its way, with hundreds of trainers in dozens of clubs and reasonably effective national organizations. Interest in Ring was thus for those who, for one reason or another, were looking for something novel and exciting. One factor for some was a strong personal aversion to all things German rooted in war time experience or reflecting attitudes from prior generations suffering under the Nazi yoke. Or a perception that it was set up primarily to promote German breeds and German interests, which it of course was.
A more common motivation was that in a new sport you became an instant player, you knew as much as anybody else. As Schutzhund became more popular and the number of trials and clubs increased, it became much more difficult to play dog expert; you actually had to title dogs to have credibility. In certain Bouvier des Flandres circles it became fashionable to disparage Schutzhund as "not suited to the breed," and posing as a French Ring trainer allowed one to adapt an aura of sophistication and knowledge without the bother and inconvenience of actually doing any real training or going on the trial field.
Thus many of the arm chair experts moved on to French Ring, where the small number of trials, the lack of judges and training venues and, in the beginning, the complex and expensive equipment, that is the open pits and high scaling walls, rendered actual trial opportunities sparse. In addition, the French Ring suits are very expensive and, because of size and other considerations, generally require each helper to have his own equipment. In contrast, a Schutzhund style sleeve and a pair of pants are less expensive and can be used by several people.
Ring in
This desire for something novel and exciting has led to a number of other attempts to establish various trial systems, both European based and home grown.
Thus there have been sporadic attempts to establish KNPV, Belgian Ring and Mondio Ring in North America, none gaining much real traction. Quite often these are the same suit oriented or "not Schutzhund" people playing at a flavor of the month dog sport, popping up in every new program.
For many years there have been a series of American based protection style competition systems, from Pro Sports K-9 Rodeo and American Street Ring to the currently popular Protection Sports Association (PSA), but they have come and gone without ever gaining any real traction. Part of the problem is that many of the people involved have been motivated by business and personal promotion, for the founders can assume office and appoint themselves judges without any real demonstration of training and breeding ability, their aura of expertise often coming through the purchase and display of trained and titled European dogs. Their trial systems have often failed to exhibit the completeness and balance necessary, that is, have not emphasized things such as the olfactory capability and the distance attack that characterize complete systems devised by people with mature and sophisticated experience.
Much of the mythology behind these home brew American systems revolves around the theme of the existing Euro based systems being "only sport" as in "not real" rather than in unselfish and not money driven. Thus the word sport has come to have a double meaning, for in the original sense there is a noble aspect, that is unselfish and for higher purposes. Just as in the early years the elite Belgian kennels always referred to themselves with pride as amateur, that is for the spirit of the breed itself rather than money. But others, typically personal protection dilatants, use the term sport in a derisive way, as a code to imply that the trial systems are for sissified play boys, not real men of the street. Somehow on the street is seen as honorable, macho and brave, in spite of the fact that what it really means is that you just can't make it anyplace else.
Schutzhund or the Ring sports of today are open to criticism on many grounds, have drifted from their original rigor, and many of us believe that an effective national heritage will eventually require the evolution of American organizations run by and for American trainers and breeders, free of the yoke of both European and conformation and companion oriented American interests. But in order to be successful such organizations would need the support of a broad base of existing trainers, something very difficult to bring to reality.
These domestic systems have tended to be one dimensional, with emphasis on protection rather than a more complete system reflecting the over all requirements of a police level canine, including tests of olfactory capability such as search or tracking tests. The question thus becomes what precisely is the purpose of these trials and organizations, if they are not intended to be police dog certifications and they are not all round breeding tests because of a lack of search, tracking and long attacks, exactly what is their purpose?
Historically the purebred
in
While European police breeds such as the German Shepherd and the Malinois have been created and maintained through working tests, including strong protection exercises, the AKC has never permitted performance requirements or allowed the conduct of such events either on a stand alone basis or as a prerequisite for breeding and registration. Protection activities were generally disparaged as being low class and of questionable propriety, most certainly not something the respectable person would want to associate with. As a consequence the AKC breeder, who after all was selling these dogs on the basis of their robust macho persona, of necessity became the consummate salesman; when questioned about whether their Shepherds or Dobermans had the potential for protection or police work, they were somehow able to calmly and with a straight face tell potential buyers that of course these dogs could be a fearless defenders or exemplary police dogs, it was just a matter of a little training. Which, of course, they have never had the time to actually do. The truth is that they had little or no idea what they were selling, for breeding such dogs without selection based on performance quickly degenerates into relatively passive dogs, particularly when they discard breeding stock a little hard to deal with or which produced pups coming back as too difficult to handle.
While
Gernot Riedel was the self proclaimed father of American Schutzhund, and there is
little doubt that he was correct, or that he was also a man of very little
false modesty. Mr. Riedel was born in
In 1958 Riedel was instrumental in the founding of the Peninsula Police Canine Corps, which was a group of bay area police trainers and which would become the oldest still existent American Schutzhund club. Riedel was active in procuring European dogs and the introduction of the training methods he had learned there. From the beginning the focus had been on police training, but in 1971 there was a transition as Riedel put the emphasis on Schutzhund, bringing over the first German judge. Most of the police department personnel wanted to go on training in the old way, and there was a split, with the word police being dropped from the name to reflect the new reality.
In a 1982 Dog Sports magazine interview (2), Riedel was sharply critical of the departing police trainers, characterizing them as not interested in control, reliable outs, tracking or the other aspects of police service, but only in biting dogs.
In retrospect, this minor split of a training group was of enormous symbolic importance, for the separation of police canine activities from Schutzhund and other civilian training into two worlds more than anything else has retarded progress in America, predestined us to be second rate in breeding, training and especially police applications even to this day.
Dr. Herbert Preiser in the Chicago area founded the Northern Illinois Schutzhund Club about 1969 and also a short lived National Schutzhund Association. Preiser was instrumental in calling a meeting in Illinois in 1970 with the purpose of exploring national level organizations, which bore fruit in the next year.
In 1971 Alfons Ertelt, Kurt Marti and a few others launched the North American Schutzhund Association. Although they almost immediately changed the name to the North American Working Dog Association, the NASA abbreviation was maintained. NASA’s goal from the beginning was to differentiate themselves from the Europeans and work toward mainstream acceptance, with AKC affiliation a goal of many. The American Doberman Pincher Club was a charter NASA member and held out to become last ditch supporters in the end.
NASA was a purely American organization with no links to or affiliation with any European organization. They created their own set of rules and certified their own judges. Many felt that this was not "real German Schutzhund" and that no one who could speak English without a German accent could possibly be a real Schutzhund authority.
The real sticking point was of course commercial, for there was a strong desire by potential German and American dog brokers to sell European titled dogs, many of them decidedly second rate, to Americans who could thus become players and over night Schutzhund authorities. In the long run the appeal of being really German was hard to resist, and NASA withered and eventually disappeared in the 1980's.
In 1975 the German DVG established a relationship with a group led by Dr. Dietmar Schellenberg in the New York area known as the Working Dogs of America or WDA. After a flurry of activity, this organization also experienced difficulty and its association with the DVG came to an acrimonious end in 1979, closing another transient chapter in American Schutzhund History.
In the early to middle seventies, the German Shepherd Dog Club of America (GSDCA) had begun some tentative Schutzhund activity under the leadership of the Gernot Riedel. Several clubs, including the above mentioned Peninsula Police Canine Corps, had become active.
In 1975 the American Kennel Club cracked down hard on such activities, forcing the GSDCA to abandon its fledgling Schutzhund program. This precipitated a crisis, for there was growing activity and enthusiasm and but a total lack of organizational or supporting infrastructure.
Much of this background information is from Schellenberg, reference (1).
(1) Schellenberg, Dietmar ,"Top Working dogs: A Training Manual - Tracking, Obedience, Protection" 1985
(2) Gernot Riedel, Interview, Dog Sports Magazine, June 1982
As a direct consequence of AKC repudiation of Schutzhund activity, there were meetings in California beginning in late 1975 that led to the foundation of the United Schutzhund Clubs of America (USCA) as a specifically German Shepherd entity with formal links to the SV, the mother club in Germany, thus providing access to German Schutzhund judges and Schutzhund titles with international recognition.
The fact that the words "German Shepherd" did not appear in the name and people with other breeds made up a substantial portion of the membership created confusion and strife that would persist for at least thirty years. Although USCA conformation events and breed surveys are for German Shepherds only, other breeds have always participated in local training clubs, often self styled as all breed, and Schutzhund trials.
USCA quickly became the
predominant working dog sport organization in
For the Germans, there was good news and then there was bad news. The good news was that they had become big time players in American canine affairs. Though the focus in the beginning was on the Schutzhund trials, this connection was to be used as a wedge for German Shepherd conformation guidance in America, a way to bring in substantial numbers of German conformation judges to provide guidance and help, and of course to sell dogs and make money.
The bad news was that while the SV had become mother to a new organization, they already had a petulant child in the GSDCA through their world union link with that organization. This set the stage for struggle and strife that would go on well into the next century as each entity, that is the SV, USCA and the GSDCA, played one against the other in a struggle for influence, control and power.
Over all the American Schutzhund
movement has in many ways enjoyed great success, or at least great
popularity. The United Schutzhund Clubs
of
USCA, which formally came
into existence in November of 1979, is today by far the largest Schutzhund
organization in
The other Schutzhund
organization active in
This second coming of DVG operations in America, the result of a quarrel and split among Americans, turned out in many ways to be the opportunity to be under the thumb of a heavy handed German bureaucracy with well established priorities: the interests of commercially oriented German judges, the most conspicuous carpet baggers of the era, German breeders and their own bureaucrats.
Uncertainty in national DVG membership counts has always been a consequence of general insecurity and secretiveness in national DVG leadership. Part of this is due to a competitive spirit with the order of magnitude larger USCA; but the fundamental reason is that the DVG Landesverband officers in reality have very little power and serve mostly as clerks and paper shufflers for the home office in Germany.
In the early years of the
Schutzhund movement in
In this environment, exploring the world of Schutzhund, even in the most tentative way, was like opening a door into the sun. Instead of the protective capability being the skeleton in the family closet, the original sin, it was openly an intrinsic and necessary aspect of the canine nature and strongly aggressive dogs were not only accepted but greatly admired.
Americans taking tentative steps into this training found that their obedience background provided a solid basis for their new sport, that there were no mysterious skills to master. Those with tracking experience needed to deal with a new and controlled style of training, where details of the dogs performance rather than the simple finding of the object were scored; but that existing skill sets provided a solid foundation.
The protection work, however, was a brand new ball game. Security style training with the negative socialization, heavy reliance on pure defense and the pillow suit were of no use at all, and the military sentry style training of the era was equally inappropriate. Instead of fear based, non discriminating aggression the Schutzhund dog was required to demonstrate control and restraint as well as aggression.
Moving on up into the new
era meant adapting European ways and methods, and in that era it meant German
Schutzhund style work, since the suit style work of KNPV and the various ring
flavors was virtually unknown in America. Doing Schutzhund meant working with a few Germans resident in this
country, spending time in
Many Germans, and a little later Dutchmen and Belgians, were enormously helpful, supportive and sportsmanlike in the best meaning of the term. Most of us who achieved some level of success received tremendous help from new European friends. Sure, there is the occasional SV judge on an ego trip, and I have met a couple of flat out ass holes, and a few who were and are financially motivated but in the big picture the actual German Shepherd trainers and judges have been what they seemed to be, good people anxious to share their culture and training in a truly sportsmanlike way.
Just as European immigrants
looked to
The European reality for
the American working dog enthusiast has been very similar in that there were
indeed immense resources in terms of dogs, culture and training capability in
nations such as
Although it has been a very
difficult to transplant to
When I spent time in Europe in the nineteen eighties and early nineties, mostly in the
Prospects of excellent working lines were affordable for the novice, especially one with a more experienced club trainer as a mentor. Clubs were plentiful and seemed to work effectively. It was typical to see several men doing the helper work, often with an older man or two mostly directing the younger helpers
When staying with a friend, a KNPV judge, in the Netherlands, near Hilversum, she remarked upon pulling out to drive to training that we were going to have to go a great distance for a specific club, and as we drove she would point out this or that KNPV or IPO club, often with a comment on why that was not the most appropriate for this day. Finally, after a long, arduous twenty minute drive we arrived at the desired far distant club, just in time for training.
I recall a warm late
afternoon sitting at a table outside a clubhouse in
Training in Europe offers many and diverse opportunities, for the casual social trainer
who just wants to enjoy an evening of training with his dog to the driven, ultra competitive
zealot. One man I came to know, a Dutch
Schutzhund judge, trained at a local club where he was either training director
or one of the senior trainers and was not seen on the field with his own dog
much if at all. But on another evening
he drove down into
In the protection sports, the training helper, that is, the man who puts on the suit or sleeve and impersonates the human adversary, is key to the training. This can be quite demanding, both in terms of requisite knowledge and skill and the physical beating taken in the course of the training exercises. Many of these dogs are big and powerful or quick and energetic, hitting and biting hard. Working the novice dogs, trying to bring out the latent aggression, is often physical exhausting. Although accidents in the sense of a bite on unprotected flesh are unusual, most helpers end their day with aches and pains from the physical impact. In the broad picture, there are two kinds of helpers, those with back problems and those whose back problems have not shown up yet.
In the ideal situation, a club has a number of helpers with roles according to their age, experience and physical condition. The older men may serve mostly as teachers and instructors, only occasionally picking up a sleeve or suit jacket to demonstrate a point or fill in. And, of course, there are always a few older men in denial, determined to out work the callow youth, the young whippersnappers. The bulk of the work is carried on by younger men with the knowledge and experience to work on their own, and the macho attitude demands that they ignore, or pretend to ignore, any aches or pains. At the bottom of the pyramid are the novice trainers, young men eager for opportunity and recognition, who will always conceal or deny bruise or strain. Although some helpers prefer the role for its own sake and seldom train a dog, many are also trainers and take for granted that their dogs will receive excellent work. Not every club has this ideal situation, but most have several helpers, so that the serious trainer, one who shows respect and cooperation, can train on good helpers several nights of the week.
Although modern social trends are a serious concern for the viability of the protection sports in Europe, the historical situation still to a large extent predominates. Many clubs have a number of good trainers, so that no one is overworked.
While numerous Americans have developed the professional level of experience and knowledge to identify and purchase good dogs for reasonable prices in Europe, often through difficult and costly experience, perhaps the best approach for the American amateur is to establish personal relationships with European breeders and trainers. This has many advantages in that it gives one access to real knowledge of the European dog world that can be relied on. I do not mean this in a phony or calculating way, that you should make friends just to save money, but rather that in order to become successful in any endeavor one must be able to fit in and establish personal relationships with compatible individuals successful in the field.
Very often one will wind up purchasing a pup or older dog from his European friends, but even when you are interested in something from a stranger your friend can especially helpful. The simple fact of the matter is that often the price to an American is much more than to a resident of the country. I recall years ago going to look at litters of Bouviers in Holland with Ria Klep, a very successful trainer and working breeder. My instructions were to be absolutely silent, as one word of English would automatically double the price; apparently my dress and appearance did not shout American. In this instance Ria just went ahead and bought the pup and explained later that if I did not want it she did, which of course only increased my enthusiasm.
While Europe is the homeland of the working breeds and the foundation on which the protection or police dog culture is based worldwide, it is important to understand that this is a small and decreasing segment of the European canine world as a whole. Most European breeders, in many breeds the vast majority, of these protection and police breeds are in fact show breeders who do not train or select based on character. And it of course follows that these show dogs are no better than the AKC lines, show dogs are show dogs, world wide.
Only the German Shepherd in
Our personal experience is
an illustration of this, for our first Bouvier des Flandres came from the du
Clos des Cerberes kennel of Edmee Bowles, driven from
But there was a serious down side to this, for it led us to believe that the Bouvier as a whole in Europe, there really were no American lines at this time other than du Clos des Cerberes, were serious working dogs, that all European dogs were fundamentally sound in working charter. As a consequence we acquired some dogs of the then very fashionable Dutch show lines, with the expectation that a little selective would enable us to insure the appropriate character. This turned out not to be true at all, the dogs were in general lacking in any drive for the protection work and difficult in obedience and tracking, exhibiting passive resistance rather than enthusiasm in training. These lines were eliminated and we went on to establish relationships with people in Holland who were active trainers with police line Bouviers, which provided us a reliable source of excellent dogs. But it was a major detour, a loss of critical time and money.
It would perhaps be easy to comment that we should have known better, but this was before the internet and the advent of European travel for the typical American training enthusiast. These were difficult lessons to learn, and even today far to many people have spent money and time before coming to realize that German Shepherds coming out of main stream German show breeding are in general weak and unsatisfactory dogs in spite of the generations of Schutzhund titles, that to get a good dog you need to first identify the real working lines and breeders.
When acquiring an automobile or higher end camera there is an enormous amount of information easily available on which to base a selection. Life teaches most of us a number of lessons which carry over into dogs, such as an established business as a source is a good hedge against problems down the road and if it seems too good to be true it may very well not be true; there is usually no free lunch.
Nikon cameras and Volkswagen automobiles are well established products with strong corporate track records, you can purchase from an established dealer with confidence with low risk; if things go wrong usually they will make good. But if you buy your new Nikon from an unknown internet source with an unusually low price you might find out that it is not really new, that not all of the normal and necessary accessories are included and most importantly that if something goes wrong you are up the creek; not only will Nikon not fix your camera under warranty, they will not even take your money to fix it because you bought from an unauthorized source. When you buy a Nikon, you are not just buying a camera, you are committing to a system and establishing a business relationship in that all future accessories such as lenses and flash units must be compatible.
Think of a dog in the same terms. When in the process of acquiring a pup you are buying into a breed, a breeding line within that breed and establishing a business and personal relationship with a breeder or broker.
Although all of these common sense principles apply to dogs, the situation is much more complex because truly reliable sources are much more difficult to identify and dogs are living beings; no matter how careful you are in your research you can only reduce but not eliminate risk; in the end buying a pup is gambling.
People tend to think of the breed as the starting place in the dog acquisition, and for those with a deep emotional attachment to a particular breed this is of course perfectly valid. But breed selection has serious implications that can make an emotion based decision irrational and likely to lead to disappointment. If you live for French Ring and love Rottweilers you have a serious problem, and if the problem is not obvious to you then you have an especially serious problem. Breeds come with history, purpose and an established community, and a good Rottweiler is a massive, headstrong, powerful dog but not a quick dog, agile dog or easily trainable dog. French Ring is an elaborate, sophisticated sport that favors the prey driven, agile, trainable dog; everything that the Rottie is not. If you buy a Rottweiler for Schutzhund training after a lot of research you will in the process have identified the people that can provide the emotional and knowledge support that are so important in training; when training problems arise, and they will, there will be people to go to who have been through it. But if you buy a Rottweiler for ring training you will pretty much be on your own; people will think you are crazy, even those polite enough not say it to your face. The Malinois out of ring lines is the right sports equipment for that venue, and going with anything else is like taking your catchers mitt to the basketball team try out.
The first step in the acquisition should be to identify yourself in one of these categories:
Companion dog owner. You have no interest in training beyond practical obedience to make the dog easier to live with and perhaps an introductory level to some sort of guard dog training. Breed selection is purely a matter of emotional preference and practical considerations. The individual dog needs to be middle of the road or less; the intense young Malinois out of KNPV lines is probably going to be unhappy living with you, and in turn make you unhappy and frustrated. You need to go to a local breeder who breeds for character and diversity, which translates into a serious breeder not involved in conformation shows. The show breeder is almost always a bad choice, not so much because of a lack of performance potential but because the close breeding for champions becomes associated with health problems and dull, stupid dogs, which are what you really need for a show line kennel. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a carefully selected mixed breed here, and going through one of the breed rescue organizations is in general a good option. You need to realize that you are getting a dog someone does not want and carefully evaluate temperament, and have a complete veterinary evaluation before a final commitment, but many good dogs are acquired in this way. In general it is best to avoid the show oriented breeder as paying their exorbitant prices is basically just rewarding stupidity.
Casual trainer. You enjoy dog training and the social aspects of a dog club, but titles are of secondary importance. The breed should be generally appropriate, that is big enough for the jumps and aggressive enough to be interested in engaging the helper; even if you do not aspire to trophies a dog who likes the work is a lot more fun and you will fit in with the club better. You need to look to a local working line breeder and select a more or less middle of the road pup.
Serious trainer. You really do want titles and trophies, and tend to be impatient with the casual trainers and other non serious people. The dog should be from a breed historically successful in your preferred sport and specifically from strong working lines within that breed. Good dogs from the alternate breeds, that is other than the Malinois or German Shepherd, are very difficult but not entirely impossible to find.
High Level Competition trainer. The reality here is that today only the Malinois and German Shepherd are successful in IPO or Schutzhund and that the Malinois absolutely predominates in all of the suit sports, that is, ring and KNPV. Going with another breed is in the big picture irrational.
Purchasing a serious dog from among the protective heritage breeds is always a complex and risk laden venture. Even the most experienced people often wind up eventually placing a young dog because he did not seem to be fulfilling his promise as he matured. Sometimes this is a mismatch between the man and the dog; sometimes the dog will achieve excellence in other hands. Buying a pup is never anything more than a roll of the dice, which is why many trainers will pay a big price for a promising young dog who has passed relevant health, stamina and character tests.
For the inexperienced person with hopes for serious training in the sport or professional arenas, there is the possibility of buying a poor prospect out of simple ignorance. By definition such a person is not aware of the reputation of the various working lines and the various people and is a prime candidate to be sold a dog with a weak or problematical background that every experience person would pass up without a second thought.
Assuming the new person is focused on a single breed, the beginning steps are to get to know the active working people in that breed and to attend as many accessible working trials as possible. Even if focused on a particular arena such as Schutzhund or Ring, it is wise to observe all of the sports. Schutzhund and IPO are the principle arenas where the bite sleeve is used. The other sports are primarily bite suit sports, where the dog has great latitude as to where and how to bite. There are good reasons put forth for either approaches, and the new person should take a good open minded look at both. If you are focused on Schutzhund, do not be drawn into their nonsense about the superiority of this over the sleeve programs, go see for yourself. I say this as a dyed in the wool Schutzhund trainer, by the way The beginner in Ring or one of the other suit sports should not blindly buy into the Schutzhund is an easier sport nonsense but rather observe if for himself. The person not drawn to a particular program should choose the one in which there is the most available quality training, which in America usually means Schutzhund, but if their are a bunch of people around a corner training two or three times a week with clacking sticks and bright colored suits, you really ought to go take a serious look. If this is your story you should probably buy a lottery ticket, for it is your lucky day.
Thus the best way to acquire a dog is to find and observe an active training club or group and focus on the people in your particular breed. If you are into Shepherds then you may have a number of local options, and you should pursue these in preference to out of town sources. The advantage of the local breeder, especially one in your preferred club, is that you will have a real chance of getting a good dog, one a good match for you, and good local support. Every breeder wants to have people training his dogs in his club, and will do everything possible to help you succeed.
If you, as a beginner, go on the internet or pick a breeder out of a magazine you put yourself at extreme risk of winding up with the least dog in the litter because preference is going to go to the local people and the established people. Most such queries are from people who are not going to turn out to be serious, and most of the dogs are going to ship and never be heard from again. As a beginner, you have a much better chance to sell yourself as serious to the local or regional breeder and obtain a high expectation candidate and the support to back it up.
If you are interested in something other than a Shepherd you are likely to find that you have to go out of your area to obtain a really good dog, most of the local offerings are probably going to be the pets, that is not rated as high level show candidates, from the conformation oriented kennels, and if you are dumb enough to buy into that then nothing I can say here is going to help you.
The problem is that beyond the Malinois and the German Shepherd all of the traditional alternative breeds for police patrol style service are in steep decline in terms of numbers and over all quality. As a result finding a good dog is more and more difficult, and many self styled working kennels are really small time businesses selling mediocre and less pups to the gullible. Why you ask ? Because they can, and because it can be easy money.
Those looking for a high
potential pup or a good young dog must first do their research and get to know
the bloodlines and most especially the people. You get good dogs from good people, breeders and trainers who have paid
their dues, built a real reputation based on accomplishment. So attend any trial you can find, for that is
the place to meet the trainers and breeders rather than the posers and
salesmen. When the opportunity presents
itself, visit their kennel and seek their knowledge. When I began I was fortunate enough to spent a lot of time in Europe, under the guidance and support of an experienced Dutchman in my breed
residing in
I will say it again, because it can not be emphasized enough, in finding a good dog the first and most important step is to identify a breeder or mentor willing to help you, not only in finding a dog but in finding training resources and knowledge that will enable you in turn mentor others and thus repay your obligation to the heritage.
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Sidebar: Shipping dogs When you receive a dog at the airport, resist the temptation to let the dog out of the crate unless he is in obvious distress; put him in the vehicle, take him home, put the crate in a run or other confined area and let him out cautiously. Adult dogs shipped to an unknown person are under a lot of stress and may become aggressive or bolt and run; a strange dog loose in an airport is a really bad thing, for recovery is going to be a problem because he has no reason to come to you.
The working trial today is seriously misunderstood, and also seriously flawed in terms of administrative structure and practice.
Many will contend that trials are "only sport" and do not provide a real world functional test. Mostly these people are lazy dilettantes who keep aggressive dogs to prop up fragile male egos, but there is an element of truth in what they say. Many of our trial systems have been subverted, watered down and set up to test trivialities such as straight sits and arbitrary, stylized responses and diminish the real tests of working willingness in a recall and courage under pressure, and resilience in the presence of gun fire.
Among the fundamental themes of this book is that control of working dog trials by national and international all breed entities inevitably weakens and trivializes these tests. Successful systems such as the Dutch Police trials and the independent Belgian ring clubs serve to emphasize and highlight the deterioration of the Schutzhund trial and other, similar systems under leadership with agendas other than excellence in work as their primary priority. Schutzhund began as a system under men taking work seriously because von Stephanitz and his associates were such men, but, as we shall see, the successors would come to be less diligent and faithful. In addition, when the SV came under the umbrella of the VDH, which in turn came under the FCI, increasing layers of companion and show dog control and administration separated the decision making and policy process from the trial field. The subservience of the German Shepherd community to the show and pet dog bureaucracies was perhaps the most unfortunate and negative process of the twentieth century working dog experience.
The restoration of universal ultimate control of the working
dog trial to working dog people is the fundamental prerequisite for the long
term prosperity of our protective heritage breeds. The American community needs to reexamine the
dependence on Europe and look to a future based on
American trials by and for Americans.