Schutzhund in New Mexico
Dog Protection Sport
Schutzhund literally means guard dog. It began in Germany in 1901 as a working temperament and ability qualification for breeding German Shepherd dogs. Originally, if a dog couldn’t perform as a working dog, it wouldn’t be allowed to breed.
Now Schutzhund is a recognized sport worldwide, with precision obedience, scent tracking (transitioning to article search in the US) and protection events all involved in earning titles. In addition to German Shepherds, many large and medium-sized breeds compete today. At a trial, you might see Dobermans, Rottweilers, American Pit Bull Terriers and Belgian Malnois.
Staying put with distractions
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Intense Discipline
The level of discipline in these dogs is amazing. They're trained to stay put after placement in a sit, down or standing position while the handler turns her back and walks away 30 yards or more. Then they'll come when the handler calls, or wait for the handler to return. In another exercise, they stay while the handler throws a wooden dumbbell downfield, and retrieve it only on the handler's release. Then they promptly drop it on the handler's command. They're also taught to ignore the sound of gunshots while heeling or in any stationary position.
Trials and Titles
Before dogs are allowed compete for any other titles, they must pass the BH behavior and basic obedience test. BH tests a dog’s composure around cars, people in different activities and groups, other dogs, and while tied to a post. It also tests basic obedience - heeling on and off leash, remaining in down-stay with distractions for a prolonged period of time, and coming when called (recall) from a distance, among other things.
Scentwork - finding the article
Schutzhund titles have separately-scored tests for scentwork, obedience, and protection. Dogs and handlers need a passing score in all three tests for a title.
Gripping the decoy / helper - protection
In the protection tests Schutzhund is best known for, dogs find a hidden decoy / helper and hold that decoy when he attempts to escape. They'll stop a decoy's attack on the handler, stepping in with a firm grip on the decoy. They're also trained to go after the decoy as he threatens the dog with a foam rubber stick. The dog's mouth grips are on the decoy's arm padding only, and promptly stopped on the handler's command or when the decoy stops the fight.
American Schutzhund offers three title levels. In AS1, dogs search for articles, hold down-stay while a distracting dog walks by and perform other obedience tests, and undergo protection tests. For AS2 and AS3, psuedo-narcotics scent detection substitutes for article search. Levels of difficulty increase at succeeding levels. These title levels roughly correspond with European Schutzhund's SchH1 / VPG1, SchH2 / VPG2 and SchH3 / VPG3 titles.
Spinning…
New Mexico Hundesport practice and trial
I was fortunate enough to photograph Schutzhund practice and trial events with the New Mexico Hundesport Club in Albuquerque, New Mexico, under the rules of American Schutzhund. In the practice, club member Rishard Wood served as decoy for most protection exercises, and also practiced with his own dogs. The dogs’ tenacity and discipline were obvious as they maintained their grip while being spun fully airborne, yet releasing on command. Rishard also lurked behind one of four hides, and charged at the dog under test as it approached. The universal problem for handlers was holding on to a dog ready to go after and grip Rishard as he appeared to menace dog and handler. This was much less of a problem for experienced dogs, who waited for commands before heading in to grip.
Through the tunnel
At the trial, there was a tunnel test and walk up and down an A-frame ladder, in addition to walking on a slippery surface. Response to a sudden pop-up dummy was also tested. K9 training expert Kevin Sheldahl pointed out that it was best to have a dog react to a pop-up dummy or suddenly-appearing human, then make a quick recovery, remaining under the handler's control. The dog that doesn't react at all is OK, but not as good.
Reacting to the pop-up
Rishard had raised his dog Piccolo as a pet for three years, but he'd recently been training Piccolo in Schutzhund at home. While the pup didn't pass all the tests needed for a title, he did pass the dumbbell retrieve he and Rishard had been working on very hard for the last three weeks.
Schutzhund is definitely for all ages of humans and dogs, and very social. A handler's son practiced obedience and protection with his young German Shepherd, while another young Shepherd puppy worked on obedience basics and played with his handler. And handlers talked with each other about changes in the sport and its history. All in all, I came away very impressed with the club and the Schutzhund community.
Shot Notes
I used two cameras with four lenses. Flash was not allowed due to its potential distraction, and I had to be careful with my own position to avoid any further distraction of the dogs.
I'm used to zooms in the 24-70mm and 70-200mm ranges for pro bike races, but thought I might need some extra reach from my experience with dog herding trials. I brought an RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OIS Art and RF 24-105mm f/4L IS lenses, plus an SP 35mm f/1.4 for casual pre-competition shots with narrow depth of field. As it turned out, I could have shot everything with the 35mm and 70-200mm lenses, though the extra reach from the 100-400mm did help.
I used Leica's SL2 mirrorless camera and a Canon EOS R, also mirrorless. The EOS R lacks the SL2's in-body image stabilization or IBIS, which reduces camera shake with any lens you mount. But since the RF 24-105mm, RF 70-200mm and Sigma 100-400mm all have their own in-lens image stabilization (IS), I didn’t worry too much. I was careful to shoot at faster shutter speeds with the unstabilized SP 35mm f/1.4 to avoid problems.
I ended up cropping a lot of the shots in post from all lenses, especially the 70-200mm. I was paranoid about missing dog/handler action with poor framing, so I shot everything fairly loose. I usually prefer to crop in the camera. But large pixel-count cameras let me crop later without losing too much resolution, especially when I'm not shooting for wall-size 2 foot by 3 foot enlargements that need every pixel.
More Information
Facebook - American Schutzhund (November 2, 2020), Training opportunity for scent detection. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y5xzg827
German Shepherd Dog HQ (nd), What Is Schutzhund Training? Retrieved from https://germanshepherddoghq.com/what-is-schutzhund-training/
Leerburg Dog Training Blog - Kevin Sheldahl (September 01, 2020), American Schutzhund, continuing to grow and continuing forward! Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y4tbm8vf
Mittelwest German Shepherds (nd), German Shepherd Titles and Abbreviations Explained. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y6yydxkf
Pittsburgh Dog Training (nd), History of the German Shepherd Dog and Schutzhund/IPO. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y62v5m2k
PSAK9-AS (nd), A.S. Club Resources. Retrieved from https://psak9-as.org/as/
