Although I have respect for the dog sport known as Schutzhund, I have never understood why they do certain exercises. The one exercise that frustrates me the most is known as a blind search. Several tent-like structures, known as blinds, are set up along the perimeter of a field with open sides facing outward so that a decoy can be hidden behind one. The dog knows very well that the decoy is hidden behind the last blind, but is instructed to search each empty blind in succession before ariving at the decoy, which is always in the last blind. On top of all this, when the canine gets to the decoy in the last blind, he does a bark and hold. To me, this makes no sense at all. Why would you send your dog after somebody, to do the bark and hold expectantly, when that person is an armed suspect with a weapon in his hand?
Another exercise in the K.N.P.V. program is the stick attack, where the decoy is running at the dog, full tilt, at 100 meters head on. When they finally meet, the decoy uses his right arm to hit the dog with a long stick as the dog is in mid-air targeting the left bicep of the decoy. Again, I feel that this is a senseless excersize. Why would you allow your protection dog to be hit with the weapon hand? A well-trained protection dog should not only go in for the bite when deployed, but should take out the weapon hand.
The term Schutzhund is german for protection dog. However, it is my opinion that these excersizes show Schutzhund events for what they really are; a sport. A true protection dog should be trained to handle real threats and real dangers.
Tags: Blind Search, dog training, German Shepherd, K.N.P.V., Protection Dog, Schutzhund, Stick Attack