darthgsd

I am at Illawarra and District Schutzhund Club. I am learning SO much. I have seen a distinct difference in the attitude of my GSD toward Schutzhund training compared to the Obedience Club I was in. He is a happier, more relaxed dog now. I am a happier handler knowing that my dog is a happier and a more fulfilled dog. The advice and support i have so far recieved from this club is excellent. That there is such a political argument happening between the ANKC against Schutzhund training seems ridiculous to me. My GSD is a mixture of both working and show lines. His temperment is amazing. Dangerous Dogs are a result of Schutzhund???? What nonsense. just last weekend my GSD attended a picnic with a hundred children under 5 and had no problem with them crawling all over him! We are in the early stages of our Schutzhund training ( I need as much training as he does!), and he may not ever become a dog that achieves all, if any, of the IPO awards, but I have no doubt that my dog is receiving a type of training that will keep him sane and happy. I will definitely be spreading the GOOD word about Schutzhund/Dogsport!

a woman from Australia has recently trialled her amazing GSD in Sch trials over in Germany and done very creditably indeed. That's a WOMAN!!!!!!!!! It's not just a sport for men at all I have been to my local Dog Sport club and am having a fantastic time. The people are fantastic! ...and I have to say, the majority of handlers that i have met so far are, yay, women. I apologise for my ignorance. :rolleyes: Please bear with me, I am still trying to figure out how to operate these forum thingys.....

I have a 14mo male BLACKGSD and have been interested in Schutzhund for a long time. I'm closest to the Wollongong one. I have read various literature about the sport and am drawn to it as something that I find would be beneficial to my GSD, and the natural instincts of the GSD bred of working lines. Unfortunately i don't know any GSD owners, let alone GSD owners (or German Breed owners) interested in Schutzhund to gain a better understanding of what it involves. At the moment, from what I have read, it is the articles that I have read that portray the sport as only for a select breed of people, let alone dogs. Any information/articles/further reading that you could steer me to would be helpful to me to know if I should go and take a look(and do you need to be invited?)....and is it a preferred male-handler dominated sport, as I am a female. I did not realise that Schutzhund (Dogsports) was not an acceptable sport to DOGSNSW. What a shame, I just became a member, with interest in entry level obedience and having a young dog, thinking this would be a good forum to get into Dogsports.