[Hunther's Dad]

To me, a big part of Schutzhund is training a dog how to work through pressure, but part of that is 1) having a dog with the temperament and drive for that type of work and 2) having people skilled at knowing what is just enough and what is too much for the dog. You bring the dog into drive and then work through various pressures and "conflicts" but in doing so you are not beating the dog into compliance but building his confidence and power little by little. I use a TON of different methods and tools to train my dogs and let them problem solve...

I agree with this. Not teaching a Schutzhund dog to work through pressure is analogous to training somebody to be a boxer without that person ever having taken a punch. Schutzhund was, and is, a breeding suitability test as well as a sport. Schutzhund allows a determination as to which dogs should go on to harder task training where somebody's life may depend on the dog (police K9, SAR, etc.)

 

[Hunther's Dad]

How can you judge how different the training is, if you have never been yet.
Also, when you go, take a hard look at the DOGS and see how they are responding to the training being used. If you see most dogs with tail hung low and looking like they wish they weren't there, that tells you something. If you see upbeat dogs doing obedience with tail waggin and full of energy, that tells you something also. Sometimes with training people put more emphasis on their egos than what the dog will thrive in. Its not hard to recognize dogs that are excited about what they are doing. Its really about the dogs in my book!

This is it! The only time I usually use aversive stimuli (E-collar or prong collar) is the protection phase. I have used it very few times in obedience, and almost never in tracking. My dogs always whine and scratch at the crate door whenever I take them out, so regardless of whether or not they are National-class dogs I know they are having fun and look forward to training.