Schutzhund as a Selection Criteria for Breeding

Schutzhund as a Selection Criteria for Breeding

By Martin Wahl

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No other breed can endure as much stress as the GSD.

Dogs that come from generations of trained ancestors are preferable for breeding because they have gone through many temperament tests, and demonstrated their trainability, reliable temperament, sound nerves, hardness, intelligence, sound structure, and endurance for many generations. The key to knowing the potential of a puppy or breed stock is the pedigree. Puppy buyers and breeders should pay attention to the type and consistency in the dog's bloodlines, rather than high scores. One, or even several high scoring or famous dogs may make a good sales pitch for selling puppies, but do not indicate any consistency and usually can not be repeated. Only "fortified" pedigrees have a slim chance of predictability, because they combine two or more "similar type bloodlines", be it "working" or "show" or whatever your preference may be. Knowledgeable breeders will select their breed stock by looking at the type of line breeding of at least 3 or 4 generations (information available from the SV Breed survey books), to combine certain lines in their breeding.

A word of caution: "High drive" seems to be the latest craze, especially in America. Dogs with bred-in (permanent) high drive are hyper-active, which is a fault and not a feature, and can only be handled by very experienced dog trainers.

The Schutzhund-trained dog
for police and rescue work

A dog that performs well in Schutzhund is obviously a very good candidate for police work. Police dogs, like other service dogs, must have temperaments with a good foundation of intelligence and utility. A minimal amount of training makes many well trained Schutzhund dogs ready for active police duty. Such fearless police and rescue dogs can also work around children and in crowds without any signs of aggression.

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GSD's in the Iditarod

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The great life saver hard at work

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