getting schutzhund assessment today
 

what should I look for? what should I ask?

When I took my dog I was there for a couple hours before they got to her evaluation. She was the last dog up. Ask about the prey drive, how it is, if it needs to be worked on, etc? I had to hold her leash and they showed me how to ground myself so I wouldn't get dragged and knocked down. I almost lost my balance a couple times. Then we ran in circles...it was a workout:) She got to walk away with the toy they tied to the end of the pole as her reward. It was very interesting and you will learn if your dog qualifies right there or if your dog needs to work on certain things. They are also interested in the dogs reaction to other dogs and people.

I'm crossing my fingers... they told me to bring her favorite toy... her favorite toy is our lhasa apso,, they wrestle for hours on end...lol.... i'm bringing another toy I hope he likes

Good luck to you and Yoschi today :)

Good luck and don't get discouraged if they give you things to work on. Gaia's first assesment was miserable it was like she had no drive at all, I was given pointers on how to bring her drive out, had her re-evaluated 4 months later and we're now training for her BH/IPO 1 :)

You will always have things to work on. Bring a video camera, its important to review from time to time to see the progress you don't see incrementally

They liked Yoschi. They said he showed good nerve. He made himself right at home and walked around like he'd been there before. They said his prey instinct could have been a touch better, but was good enough .. $450 for six one hour private lessons to get started... and the money bleeding begins :)

Wow. Is there no club near by that will just charge annual dues for unlimited training?

There are two clubs that I've contacted,, neither one has gotten back to me. I'm going to keep trying to contact them,,, these first six lessons might be good to get started though... I haven't paid it yet, but am thinking about it.

Yikes! I agree. $450 for 6 short lessons is painful! I never got contacted back by the clubs here, so I pay class by class as well to be in a small training group. However, we pay $35 each class and that includes all 3 phases, and whatever else you want to work on.... behavioral issues, any titles your working to get to, and pretty much anything you can imagine. It's $25 if your dog is either not doing bite work or the dog is not on the sleeve yet. Our class also lasts from around 9am until around 3pm. We get demonstrations, watch the police K9s work and train, and get to work other dogs occasionally to see what we are working to get or to just work on handler skills. And many other things mixed in with class.

I feel like I definitely get more then I pay for... However, I still think $450 for 6 classes (1 hr each) is a bit overwhelming. I've never done "private" lessons with my dogs though... so maybe that price is not so unreasonable. I enjoy being with a group and learning from each other. It helps to watch others train.

Good luck with his training though. It's a lot of fun and very addictive!! My bank account bleeds profusely because of it! lol :D