'Berlin' going to national Schutzhund trials

Berlin gets his reward by getting to play with the protective sleeve after a morning of hard work while Smith and owner Krista Wade look on. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Order this photo]

"Good boy!"

Good boy?

Carl Smith braces himself as Berlin practices the protection aspect of his Schutzhund trial. (Submitted photo) [Click to enlarge]

The beautiful German shepherd Berlin vom Glücklichen Tal -- or just Berlin, if you want to save yourself a tongue-tying -- was only doing his job. The officer, Lt. Carl Smith of the Franklin K-9 division, was only doing his hobby. He was working with Berlin's owner Krista Wade of Bell Buckle (Glücklichen Tal means Happy Valley, where the family kennel is), getting him ready for the national Schutzhund competition to be held in Iowa next week.

In control

Schutzhund means "protection dog" in Germany and is a fast-growing sport here in the States. On the surface, it appears as though the German shepherds who compete in the sport are being trained as police dogs, learning how to track and attack, but like the police officer being bitten that rainy morning, things aren't always as they appear to be.

"It's all highly controlled," said Wade. "There's a lot of obedience, a lot of rules they have to learn, We just have to teach them what is acceptable and what is not acceptable."

In fact, there are three aspects of the competition, not just the tracking or the protection. The most important one is obedience.

"Any dog, like a Lab, the sweetest and nicest dog will bite if put in a situation where it feels threatened," she said. "We teach the dogs they can't just chase down kids because they're screaming and yelling. They're actually safer around people because we teach them what they can do -- and what they can't do."

Building a breed

The Schutzhund trials were created, in fact, to make sure that ability to obey and the calm temperament were passed down through the bloodlines.

"In Germany, a dog can't breed until he's passed at least the SchH 1 level," said Wade.

Schutzhund offers three levels of titles, and there are three phases to each title. One must obtain a passing score in all three phases in order to obtain a title, and be able to advance to the next training level.

Wade, a native of Maryland, came to Tennessee for the equine program at MTSU. With her animal science and secondary education degrees in hand, she went on to teach science. It is her love of teaching and her love of animals that brought her to the Schutzhund competitions.

"I started out training horses, but they got too expensive, so I switched to dogs," she said, laughing. "I had a Rottweiler and he was so big, I wanted to know I was the one in control."

As she took the dog through obedience raining, she became aware of Schutzhund -- and fascinated by it. As the dogs progress to the highest level of accomplishment, the partnership between dog handler evolves, with the handler always in control.

Bright futures

She breeds some of her five dogs also, although they have no pups on the ground at the moment. She has seen the youngsters go off to be personal protection dogs, pets, police dogs and military K9s.

"One is in Afghanistan," she said.

There are differences between police dog training and Schutzhund training, she said, although you will find many trainers who do both, such as Smith. In Schutzhund training, the dog is trained only to bite the protective arm sleeve and nowhere else. In police training, the dog is taught different bites. In Schutzhund training, the dog's attention should be on his owner, waiting for his next command at all times.

"In police dog training, they could care less if that dog is looking at them all the time," she said. "It's supposed to be keeping an eye out for trouble."

Close relationship

The third level, SchH 3, is referred to by some as the "master's degree" of the sport and Wade is more than happy to announce that her star pupil, Berlin, has reached that level. Placing fifth in the mideastern regionals last month, he'll be competing for national honors next week. It has special meaning for her because unlike some of her former champs, such as 7-year-old Sybill, Wade has worked with Berlin from the very beginning.

"Most people work with dogs that others have already started," she said. "But this dog, I started from scratch. I've had him since he was 7 months old."

Listed as handler owned and trained, it means just that -- his handler owns him and trains him and has from the beginning of his Schutzhund career. While she gets together with other enthusiasts, such as Smith, and they train together, Berlin's training is her responsibility.

Not that she minds -- that's her favorite job in the world. She homeschools her two boys, and works with area 4-H groups, establishing dog programs across the midstate.

"I like teaching children, I like teaching dogs," she said. "Kids, horses or dogs -- I like watching them evolve and change and use what they've learned. It's my passion."

On the web

www.happyvalleykennel.com/index.html

www.germanshepherddog.com/

www.workingdogs.com/doc0035.htm