What is Schutzhund?

Schutzhund is a test for breeding quality and a competitive sport.

Schutzhund was developed at the beginning of the 20th century to test the structure and temperament of German Shepherd Dogs for use in breeding quality determinations. It remains to this day a requirement, along with a breed survey, for breeding German Shepherd Dogs in Germany under the guidelines of the SV.

The competitive spirit of humans continued the evolution of Schutzhund into a working dog sport. A sport whose participants can be found in countries the world over. A sport whose requirements of the dog, handler and level of training are unsurpassed in any other canine endeavor.

Schutzhund consists of three phases; tracking, obedience and protection. There are three levels of achievement; Schutzhund 1, 2 and 3. Schutzhund 3 is the advanced degree and the level competition at most national and international competitions. There are many places on the Internet one can find the details for the exercises required, the point structure, etc and we encourage you to check such information out.

Any dog can be taught to track. Any dog can be taught obedience. What differentiates Schutzhund is of course the protection phase. The exercises of the protection phase fully test the dog's drives, quality of nerve and depth of character. Schutzhund demands the highest level of obedience and control possible from a dog. Schutzhund makes dogs safer.

Schutzhund requires discipline from both the handler and the dog. This is not a once a week "class" you can meander into. Schutzhund requires that you work your dog in some capacity throughout the week. From working on something new, to making something better, to maintaining knowledge to physical conditioning. The sport requires much of the dog mentally and even more from them physically.

MVSV requires that all member dogs and handlers are capable of achieving a SchH1 title at minimum. We require that all members are actively working towards their goals and participation must take place in all three phases.

Although not a sport for every person or every dog - it is an extremely challenging and rewarding experience. Please go to the Joining the Club link to learn more, we welcome visitors interested in learning more about our club and our sport to join us at Saturday training. Please contact us prior to coming out to verify we'll be training.