[untsmurf]

My husband and I just got a GSD. He's almost three months old and he's precious. But my husband and I are considering the idea of training him to be a working dog. But I was wondering what is the right age to start that sort of training. We also haven't narrowed down which field we want them in, whether it be search/rescue, police dog type training, or something else. We obviously don't want to start training until we make up our mind, but I was wondering at what age is it appropriate to start working dog training? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[onyx'girl]

Start with a good puppy socializing class and have fun for the first "training" class, Once you see what your pups strengths are, then decide on where you want to go next. Is there a Schutzhund club nearby? I would maybe start there.

 

[Liesje]

I would start by finding a club (or a few clubs, like a SchH club and/or SAR group) and seeing what they recommend.

 

[untsmurf]

I had never heard of these types of clubs, but I just looked it up. I found that we do have a Schutzhund Club near us that meets Tuesdays and Saturdays. Would this be something to start now, or should we do like a Petsmart training thing first?

 

[onyx'girl]

NOOO petsmart, go to the SchH club! Petsmart can ruin your pup if the trainer hasn't had proper training! This site has so much info. you could be up all night and still not even get to the chat room. The puppy threads alone will be very helpful!

 

[untsmurf]

Okay, thank you! I will get in contact with the SchH club about Pax. It looks as though they will allow my pitt/lab to attend too. I appreciate the advice. I will definitely be spending the next weekend reading through the forum

 

[Heidibu]

Completely agree...no Petsmart. Especially if you want to to SchH or SAR. Go visit the club(s) (maybe w/o pup first), talk to the folks to see if you would like it.

You and your pup definately would benefit from a good K9 Kindegarten class though for initial basic OB training and most importantly socialization

Good luck!