Charley Bartholomew
Janet Birk
Bernard Comet
Johannes Grewe
Walter Koch
Jack Lennig
Jurgen Lorcher
Rudi Muller
Helmut Raiser
In addition, our thanks to our extended family—the members of the Rampart Range Working Dog Association of Denver, Colorado, many of whose fine dogs appear in the photographs in this book.
Rick Williams (Captured Moments)
Betsy Duffner
Stewart Hilliard
Richard Holley
Elizabeth Hilliard
George Hilliard
Teresa Brashear
1
What Is Schutzhund?
The ideal dog possesses certain inherent qualities of character. It is a friendly, good-natured family member; an alert, courageous protector and an obedient, reliable companion. These qualities are not only the products of its upbringing and how it was taught to behave. They are also the result of its genetic endowment—the quality of its parents, its grandparents and their parents, too.
Schutzhund is a sport whose purpose is to evaluate a dog’s character by giving it work to do, and then comparing its performance with that of other working dogs. In German, the word Schutzhund means literally protection dog, for that is what a Schutzhund is meant to be. The sport evolved in Germany around the turn of the twentieth century as a means of testing and preserving the character and the utility of working dogs.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Western Europe was well populated with many types of rural shepherd dogs. These animals herded sheep, cattle and other livestock for their masters. They also guarded livestock at night and gave warning of the approach of strangers to innumerable small farms and hamlets. Shepherd dogs were an indispensable part of the farm economy.
These dogs did not belong to breeds per se. Rather, their size, build, coat and color conformed to types that were traditional in various regions, and blended smoothly from one region to the next. At this time, ownership of actual breeds of pedigreed dogs was primarily a privilege of the noble and the wealthy, who devoted themselves mainly to sight hounds, trail hounds and other dogs of the chase. In contrast, rural shepherd dogs were kept and bred by generation after generation of peasants and farmers. People of means and wealth had as little regard for peasant dogs as they did for peasants, and in comparison to a noble hound of St. Hubert, a shepherd dog was little more than a cur.
It was not until some time later, near the end of the nineteenth century, that some members of the leisure class who had both the time and money to keep and breed dogs simply for pleasure took an interest in the common farm dogs of the countryside. For perhaps the first time these animals were viewed as altogether more valuable than the livestock they guarded, and in various areas of Europe certain unusual men began to take steps to preserve and develop them.
One of these was an aristocratic young German cavalry officer named Max von Stephanitz who in 1899 founded the German Shepherd Dog Club of Germany (called the SV). The importance of von Stephanitz in the establishment and development of the German Shepherd cannot be overestimated. Almost single-handedly he built the breed. He presided over the club, began the stud book, wrote the standard of the breed and appointed the judges who would select the most worthy specimens. He also organized training contests for the SV. Well before von Stephanitz’s time, numerous informal contests were conducted in small villages all over Europe, but it was he who formalized these competitions under the auspices of the SV and structured them to include tests of performance in tracking, obedience and protection. These training contests became the sport we know today as Schutzhund.
Von Stephanitz was totally committed to the idea that the German Shepherd is, and must stay, a working animal whose worth is derived from its utility. He strongly encouraged the use of dogs by the German police and military. There was a great need, he felt, for an animal that possessed a “highly developed sense of smell, enormous courage, intrepidness, agility and, despite its aggressiveness, great obedience.” Von Stephanitz was a man of vision. From its founding in 1899, the SV prospered for thirty-six years under his absolute control. In addition to building a prosperous and effective organization, he also put in place a system of strict controls that guided the breeding of the German Shepherd in Germany during the first half of the twentieth century.
Today the SV is the largest and most influential breed organization in the world, and it continues much in the tradition of von Stephanitz. The system he put into effect decades ago still serves to preserve and develop the best physical and temperamental attributes of the breed, and Schutzhund is an integral part of this system. Among the SV’s regulations for controlled breeding, the most basic requirement for breed worthiness is the Schutzhund examination.
A German Shepherd Dog in Germany cannot receive official registration papers unless both of its parents have passed a Schutzhund trial. Furthermore, unless the dog itself also passes a Schutzhund examination, it cannot be exhibited in conformation shows; it is not eligible for the coveted V rating (for Vorzüglich, excellent) in beauty and structure; it may not compete for the title of Sieger (Champion) of Germany; it will not be recommended for breeding by a Körmeister (breed master).
By ensuring that a dog will only be used for breeding if it has the necessary character and working attributes to pass a performance test, the Germans have guaranteed a long legacy for the German Shepherd as a working animal.
The Schutzhund trial is a day-long test of character and trainability; it is an evaluation of the dog’s stability, drive and willingness. The animal must be a multitalented generalist that can, in the space of one day, compete successfully in three entirely different phases of performance: tracking, obedience and protection. Schutzhund I is the most elementary title awarded, while Schutzhund III demands the most challenging level of ability.
The tracking test assesses the dog’s perseverance and concentration, its scenting ability and its willingness to work for its handler. The animal must follow the footsteps of a tracklayer, finding and indicating to its handler objects, called articles, that the tracklayer has left on the track. With each category (Schutzhund I, II or III), the length and age of the track are increased.
Obedience evaluates the dog’s responsiveness to its handler. The obedience test involves a number of different situations in which the dog must eagerly and precisely carry out its handler’s orders. It must be proficient at heeling at its handler’s side, retrieving, jumping and performing a variety of skills.