By Jerry Bradshaw, Contributing Editor I recently attended, as a spectator, a local club trial. Although I saw some well-trained dog and handler teams, I also saw a multitude of mistakes, which point to poor fundamental preparation. In the next couple of articles I want to concentrate on some of the basics. I also want to talk a little about showing, and how trial preparation must become an integral part of your everyday training work. SchH I dogs is how many handlers have a hard time controlling their dogs in the report to the judge, the critique, and between exercises.
Many handlers spend lots of time working on the trial exercises themselves.
Failure to prepare for coming on and going off the field can set a bad tone for your whole routine. In Schutzhund training, two of the most important fundamentals are attention and control. Your dog must be attentive to you, and you must be able to exert control. To me, the down is the ultimate control command in schutzhund. Your dog must be able to down quickly and be steady during obedience, and especially in protection.