CHRISTMAS PUPPIES...........HOPEFULLY

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The Monday after the trials, Sophie went into heat. Unfortunately, we could not use the stud we had previously picked. I failed to ask the owners if they had his hips x rayed. Lucky for us, Ted was able to find a stud for us to use. Below are two  pictures of him

His name is Ness Vom Younghaus, he has excellent  working dog bloodlines. We choose him because of his line and classic German Shepherd looks. We believe he and Sophie will have some gorgeous puppies. For more information on Ness you can type his name into a search engine to see his pedigree. He comes from a long line of working dogs who have some excellent Schutzhund titles.

Classic German Shepherd stance

Cruising on the beach

Sitting nicely

We were thrilled to be able to find such a beautiful dog on such short notice.









If all goes well or should I say went well, Sophie should have her puppies on or around Christmas Day. We won't know for a few more weeks if she is pregnant.

THE TRIALS OCTOBER 14, 2011

It was a gorgeous day and hot as hell. Once we got there, things were nerve wrecking. We were going first then we were going last. It was back and forth for a while. Here's how the day went.

There were four phases of the trials that day, BH, Schutzhund 1,2, and 3. You would think they would do the the trials in that order but noooooo, they did it in the reverse. The BH dogs went last. 

Here is what happened with Sophie and I.

THE WRITTEN TEST 

Here, I am taking the written test

I had to take a written test and pass, in order for Sophie to do the BH. As I stated before, Schutzhund originated in Germany, it is open to dogs of all breeds, even mixed breeds. So why would I need to know how many teeth a German Shepherd has or what is the normal temperature of a German Shepherd? That question I knew, it's a 101, which is for most dogs. Lucky for me and every one else, Schutzhund USA posted the questions on line for you to "study". Still, what do these two questions have to do with the trials?

TEMPERAMENT TEST
 

Judge Ann Marie checking Sophie out!

The temperament test must take place before the beginning of the trial.
  
Your dog is to be on a slack heeling lead, with no commands given. The judge should be able to approach your dog without incident. The judge verifies the documentation of either a tattoo or micro-chip. This must match the pedigree/scorebook submitted by the handler

The following are some examples of traits a dog must possess in order to pass the temperament test.

THE DOG IS,
self-confident; 
quiet, secure and attentive; 
animated and attentive;
impartial and good natured; 
friendly and outgoing.


The temperament evaluation occurs not only at the beginning of the trials, but,  throughout the entire event. A dog who shows any type of bad temperament during any part of the trial is disqualified.

 

ANTICIPATION

 My nerves were shot. Harold took this picture of me with my sister, Joe Feeney. My stomach was tied in knots. I was going over the exercise in my head. After all this was the first trial I have ever done.

WAITING OFF FIELD

Sophie did well with the temperament test, now it was time to get ready for the exercises. Here, we waiting for our turn on the field.











CHECKING IN WITH THE JUDGE

Ann Marie, Teresa & Ka'imi, me & Sophie, Tony & Bond

Here we meet up with the judge, introduce ourselves, give the dogs name and state what phase of Schutzhund we are trying to pass.

There were only three dogs in the BH class. The first dog is a Dutch Shepherd named Ka'imi, Sophie and a Yellow Lab named Bond, as in James Bond.

Because there were only three dogs, we had to do a round robin.


Here is how it worked. Teresa and Ka'imi did the obedience exercise, Sophie and I dog did the long down, well she did the long down, I stood thirty feet away with my back to her. Tony and Bond were off the field. Once Teresa and Ka'imi were done,  they did the long down. Sophie and I went off field. Tony and Bond came on the field to do the obedience exercise. When they were done, Sophie and I came on the field, Tony and Bond did the long down.

I was hoping Sophie and I could do the obedience exercise first.  Don't get me wrong she did the long down perfect. It was going off field and waiting to do the obedience exercise that messed things up. She was waiting for her reward for doing good. Actually I messed that up. I could have given her a reward while we were off field. There were so many "do's" and "don'ts" that I was afraid I'd make a mistake and she'd be disqualified.

When it was time to do her obedience routine, it was obvious she was hot and so was I. We started off pretty good. On leash, we walk up the field, she was a little wide on the about turn, we did the normal, fast, slow, back to normal heel just fine. We did the two right turns, she was a little wide again. And by wide I mean she was not next to me. We did the about turn, walked seven paces, which is where I messed up. I was supposed to stop with my left foot which she would then automatically sit. Well, I stopped with my right foot, confused, she sat very slowly, slower than normal. At that point I thought to myself," Aw the hell with it, I already messed up, lets just have fun". 


I totally forgot to speed up the pace into the group and remembered half way into to it. We walked out of the group, lo and behold she sat perfectly. Then we did the whole exercise off leash.

When we did the walking sit, walking down, we lost a few points. As I explained in previous post, you have your dog heel at your side, between 10 to 15 pace you command your dog to sit, which she did. Walk 30 to 35 paces away, turn and face your dog. Wait 3 seconds or for the Judge to tell you to return to your dog. After picking up my dog, we did the walking down. I walked 11 paces gave the command down.

For some reason I am unable to upload the any of the videos for the trials. I really would like you to see how Sophie sits. It's actually quite funny. She leans out to left of me waiting for her reward.

THE TRAFFIC

I haven't explained this exercise before, quite frankly, I forgot about it. This portion of the Schutzhund BH is to test your dog in everyday situations. A person jogging by, a bicyclist riding by and walking up to a person in a running automobile. You dog should be walking calmly at your side as the jogger and bicyclist pass by. Upon approaching an automobile, you should have your dog either sit or in the down position.

The important thing is she passed and for that I am happy.

SOPHIE PASSED THE SCHUTZHUND BH EXERCISE!

I am so proud of my dog. All in all she passed, it was great but she did good. I made a couple of mistakes which threw her off but at least she passed. Next year we will be trying for a Schutzhund 1 degree.

I am extremely exhausted so I will tell you about the trials later. I just wanted people to know she passed.

TODAY IS "D" DAY, TRIAL DAY THAT IS

TODAY IS SOPHIE'S BIG DAY

We went through her routine briefly this morning. She looks good, confident and happy. I on the other hand am a nervous wreck. Wish us luck!

SUNDAY IS THE LAST PRACTICE AT THE TRIAL FIELD

I once again forgot part of her routine. Ted had just got through telling me do the whole pattern off leash. I walked to the start of the pattern, stood there for a moment. I actually went blank, I was standing there thinking what do I do next. Then it came to me, the walking sit/walking down. Of course that was wrong which messed Sophie up for the rest of the routine.

It has taken me two days to undo that screw up. I have all the faith in the world Sophie will do just fine. It's ME I'm worried about.

Practice tomorrow at our field, then Friday, the big day. Wish me luck and hope that I don't screw it up for Sophie!

THE TRIALS ARE NEXT WEEK FRIDAY

Life has been a little hectic this last month. Sophie injured her paw amongst other things. I had a horrible migraine last week, this week I have a bad cold.  I'd like to tell you what has been going on with what I now call practice, since we are only doing the obedience part of her training. If things are a little muddled, it's because of my cold.

A few Sundays ago we went to the field where the trials are being held to practice. We do this so the dogs can get familiar with the field. With the exception of sniffing the ground, Sophie did just fine, I on the other hand, not so good. I was so nervous because were practicing with the Schutzhund Hawaii club, these are people I have never worked in front of before. I actually forgot to do one part of the routine. I was so embarrassed, at one point Ted told me to breath. While Sophie was doing her long down, I said to Ted "I"m sorry I'm so nervous, it's because we are practicing in front of people I don't know." His answer was something like this, " You shouldn't be nervous because of them, you should be nervous because of the people you know." I looked at him and said "Why, they've seen me fall down several times." We both just laughed at that.

The following Sunday was much better. I had relaxed a little, but, I did get a little confused with the pattern. I'm thinking, on our field doing the routine is second nature. I'm in a new area and actually have to think about what I am doing. 

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Last Wednesday was, I want to say, the best practice I have ever had. Ted paid us both compliments. Sophie did her routine so perfect. I got complimented for how well I have been doing with her. He was happy with me for giving the commands correctly and praising her at the right moments. He said he could tell I have been working really hard with her these last few months. 

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END

Thursday, everything seemed fine. We practice and she looked good. Friday, not a good day. Sophie was once again limping, only this time it was really bad. I had taken her up to the National Park to practice in the ball field, we stopped by to see Mr. Aloha. He helped me check her out, as this is a very difficult thing to do by myself. She's a big dog and I'm a small person. Unlike the last time she was limping, this time we found a cut on her pad on her right paw. I think she may have cut it on a rock in our drive way.  I sprayed her paw with a topical antiseptic called Gentocin which heals sores quickly. I also kept her crated until practice last Sunday.   I have to say, by Sunday, her paw looked much better.

This past Sunday was an even better day for us. No mistakes, well that's not exactly true, I may have made one or two. I really don't remember, I just know I did the pattern correctly.

Here are some videos of Sunday's practice.

   
Checking in with the Judge

In this video, the dogs who are competing in the BH obedience segment of the trials must walk together up to the Judge. You are to introduce yourself to the Judge, (your dog should be sitting properly at your side) give the dogs name and what Phase of Schutzhund you are doing. You then decide who is going to do what first. It will either be the Long Down or Field Exercise

The Long Down                                                     

An explanation of the Long Down: You walk to the other end of the field, when you come to a stop your dog is supposed to sit without you telling it to. You take the lead off, tell your dog "down", then walk 30 paces away from your dog, stand with you back to him/her for about 7 minutes. When the judge tell you to return to your dog, you walk back all the while your dog is to be in the "down" position. Tell him/her sit, put the lead back, have him/her heel then start the Field Exercise upon the Judges say so. If you have completed both the Long Down and the Field Exercise you then return to the Judge  to check out.

   HEEL ON LEAD (problem loading video)

In the heeling on lead, your dog should go willing with you, be attentive and close to you. Your dogs shoulder blade should be approximately at or near knee-height through all of the changes in pace, turns and in the group. Once you have gone through the group with the leash on, you take the leash off go through the group again, and do the field exercise again.

Starting from the sit position, give the command heel, you walk down the field roughly 50 paces. Make an about turn, give your dog the heel command, walk 10 to 15 normal paces, 10 to 15 fast paces, 10 to 15 slow paces, 10 to 15 normal paces (you give the heel command each time you change paces). Make a right turn, walk 10 to 15 paces, turn right, walk 10 to 15 paces, about turn, walk 7 paces come to an abrupt stop. Your dog should be sitting at your side. 

Wait 3 seconds, give the heel command then walk 7 paces, turn and walk into the group making a right turn and then a left turn, stopping by one of the people in the group. Your dog should be sitting at your side. 

Walk out of the group, take your dog off leash, walk through the group again, then do the field exercise again with the dog off leash.

Once you are done with this exercise, you go on to the next exercise. The walking sit/walking down.

 

WALKING SIT/WALKING DOWN

Here you start from the basic position, the sit. Tell your dog to heel, walk 15 paces, while in motion tell your dog to sit. Walk about 35 paces away from your dog, face your dog. Wait for the Judge to tell you, you can return to your dog. Walk back to your dogs side, give the command heel, walk 15 pace, while in motion tell your dog down. Walk to the end of the field, wait for the Judge to tell you to call your dog. Give the command here. Your dog should run to you fast, stop close and sit in front of you, wait 3 seconds give the command heel. Your dog should be sitting close and straight on your left side.

So, there you have it in a nut shell. It's a lot to remember. Hope I didn't confuse any of you.

GREAT NEWS!

Sophie has been to training off and on for the last couple of weeks. She still limps now and then so I don't push her. Besides, she knows the routine, I'm the one who needs work.

SOPHIE HAS A HUSBAND

Above is a picture of Whiskey, he is the perfect mate for Sophie. He has wonderful drive just like Sophie and a good disposition. As soon as she goes into  heat sometime at the end of this year, they will meet and mate.........hopefully. Will keep you posted. If you  or anyone you know would like to purchase a high drive working German Shepherd, leave a comment.

 Also, Sophie's hips and elbows are now certified which means no hip dysplasia.