How old do you have to be to learn shultzen dog training. Are there better dogs than German shepherd dogs?
Where do you buy good German shepherd dogs for working and how much are they? Are there schools that let 15yr olds learn about training dogs or do you wait until you graduate?
That you have to ask proves that you are not yet a candidate.
The first step is to actually TRAIN a dog - of any breed - to a competitive level. Doesn't matter whether the competition is Agility or Companion Trials or Obedience Tests or Tracking - each has its peculiarities, but what they do is demonstrate whether you have the patience & consistency required, plus the observational ability required to interpret a dog's behaviour and know when to teach, when to command, when to distract.
For DogSport itself, the first step is obtain a calm, intelligent-trainable, agile pooch - weakness of character will eliminate it from the "courage" section, weakness of body will eliminate it form the physical section, weakness of intelligence/trainability will eliminate it from just about everything in the 3 sections. Basically, unless both its parents have Breed Survey Classification (BS.Cl.1 or 2 in English, KKl.I or II in German), a litter's chances of producing correct GSDs with HGH and SchutzHund potential are small.
The second step is to join a DogSport club and obtain BH (BegleiterHund) with your pet - see http://www.worldclassgsd.com/Schutzhund/BH_Schutzhund.htm
Only after that - and after your dog's body has matured enough (usually 15-18 months old) will you be allowed to start on the advanced mental & physical activities - see http://germanshepherddog.com/schutzhund/index.htm - but there are many confidence-building and reliability-improving activities that can be used before that.
Now wash your filthy mouth out with battery acid! As if there could POSSIBLY be a better dog than a GSD!
However, the GSD is not intended to be the best at much - being "The Best" requires exaggeration of particular shapes & qualities that suit that ONE thing. You don't expect to see a tennis champion being also a boxing champion and a weightlifting champion and a pole-vault champion. The GSD is intended to be a specialist at the boundary patrolling method of sheep tending, and one of the 3 or 4 best at just about everything else. Its only rival is the Belgian Shepherd Dog - not surprising, seeing as both breeds were developed at the same time (1891-1911) to perform the same tasks on opposite sides of the River Maas! Sadly, show-is-all and pet-is-all breeders have been focussing on ruining the GSD for much longer than they have been trying to ruin the BSD - especially in Britain, Canada, the USofA. But in both breeds you will find excellence and you will find unworthy crap.
To ask your GSD questions, join some of the 400+ YahooGroups dedicated to various aspects of living with GSDs. Each group's Home page tells you which aspects they like to discuss, and how active they are. Unlike YA, they are set up so that you can have an ongoing discussion with follow-up questions for clarification. Most allow you to include photos.
Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_Friendly
"In GSDs" as of 1967
Dog Training: Can Old Dogs Learn New Tricks? Is There Such a Thing as a Stubborn Breed?
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