What is

What is
Schutzhund?
(pronounced "shoots hooned")

By Martin Wahl

The dog may NOT bite, not even touch, until the decoy makes a move

Schutzhund is a German word meaning "protection dog". Please don’t think for a moment that "protection" has anything to do with "vicious" or "attack dog". It doesn’t. Those rumours that Schutzhund dogs are dangerous, or that training your dog in Schutzhund makes it dangerous, are completely false and usually the result of pure ignorance (lack of knowledge), and/or fear of the unknown (it’s foreign, and difficult to understand). To protect means to prevent or "ward-off" an attack, just the opposite to causing it. Most of the time spent during protection training goes toward teaching the dog when NOT to bite. A properly trained Schutzhund dog knows the difference between an innocent pedestrian or child and a stick wielding attacker. It is under control at all times and trustingly submits to its owner’s commands.

Schutzhund is one of the two legs that are an integral part of the German "system" of breeding better quality dogs. It’s unthinkable in Germany that an untrained dog could be used for breeding, the minimum requirement is a SchH1 (protection) or HGH (herding) title, plus a few other requirements discussed under breed rules.

This 5 year old girl achieved her first SchH1 title with a score of 90-90-90! (with a lot of help from her father, a SchH judge)

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