Saturday, October 30, 2010

Schutzhund Training Equipment Items Are Largely Self Explanatory

By Fritz Adler

The Schutzhund testing, training and titling program is conducted around the world to evaluate German Shepherds for breed standards. The program has developed over the decades since early in the 20th century. It involves many equipment items. Most of the required items however are fairly standard and will be familiar to dog handlers.

The sport involves the three stages of tracking, obedience and protection. Tracking training is used to assess scenting ability, mental discipline and physical endurance. The obedience stage tests the predisposition to obey commands. Protection phase requires the dog to engage and release a decoy on the command of the handler. See these schutzhund training tips for insight on earning titles.

Both a short leash (usually one meter) and a long tracking line (up to ten meters) are needed. The most popular material for a short leash is leather. A synthetic light material similar to biothane is common for the long leash.

Soft dog toys and tugs are employed to teach a pup to bite some items but not others. Well designed tugs are have a diameter of about an inch and length of up to about a foot. They can be made using many materials but leather, canvass and rope are popular. Toys should not be stiff since pups like squeezing and sinking their teeth into the toy.

Dumbbells are used for retrieval training. Schutzhund has specific dumbbell requirements, based on weight, for each level of the program. SchH1 requires 650 grams, SchH2 1000 grams and SchH3 2000 grams. In all cases, the SchH1 dumbbell is used for jumping.

Both a standard short leash (usually three feet) and a long tracking line (usually thirty three feet) will be required. Popular materials are leather for the short leash and a light material like biothane that will not retain dirt or become heavy when wet for the long leash. Body harnesses are optional. They assist control since their effect is to position the holding point closer to the center of mass of the dog. A harness should fit snugly but not too tight. As a guide, it should be possible to slide a human hand between the harness and the dog. The harness should have a strong D ring on the top of the back of the dog to attach the leash or line.

Other equipment items include tracking line, blinds, dumbbell ramps and stands, whips, sticks, puppy rags, jute rolls, coveralls, leather aprons, sleeves, sleeve covers, tracking articles, muzzle, and prong collars. Owners wishing to embark on the program are advised to spend some time becoming familiar with all the required items and how best to use them.

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