# BH: Has anyone worked a dog to a BH?



## SchH_Addict (Aug 27, 2011)

I am currently working my two German Shepherds in schutzhund and my male was almost ready to trial for his BH, but we have had some set backs as of late. Currently we are working on regaining his focus as this has been our battle for the past year. He is not one who easily engages with you when he knows work is involved. Not toy or food motivated and is so-so when it comes to play/praise. My goal is to obtain a BH with him and hopefully, fingers crossed, a schH1 title as well. Not sure if that is realistic or not, but our club thinks it is.. so we will continue trying.

With my youngest, she is hopefully going to be ready next year for fall trials when she is of age to enter. We all have high hopes for this girl and so far at 4.5 months, she is proving to exceed those hopes. Truly a great working dog and a fun dog to work with.

For those who have obtained a BH with one or more of your dogs, what did you do to ready them for trial in the months/years prior?

I am now working with a great club so I feel competent that I can obtain a BH on both of my dogs (one sooner than the other) but was wondering what others have done?

Did you work with a club? On your own? With a personal trainer? Both?


----------



## loveyourdog (Aug 28, 2011)

I haven't yet, but I hope I will do someday. Don't forget to share your experience.


----------



## MrsBoats (May 20, 2010)

I haven't either...but I'll be watching this thread because this is a title I would like to get for Lars.


----------



## hast (Aug 17, 2011)

Miss Mandy and I got a BH almost two years ago. She's very food and ball motivated so that was not particularly difficult. I had never seen a SchH Trial and had learned the pattern on my own, so I did quite a few mistakes during the trial. The judge really liked my dog though :biggrin1: 

We also have quite a few other titles, (including a Swedish obedience title) because I keep working on obedience on a daily basis. I have a small horse farm and we do some heeling exercises as we walk across the farm, she has an awesome "down stay" since I use it all the time (she has a tad too much pray drive, so moving horses around she's often downed). Oh ... and it's a game. To her it's SO much fun, that is the time her mama plays and focus completely on her.


----------



## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

I did, but it was back in the early 90s, so am not sure if the rules have changed much since then. I was working with a club. Also the dog already had a CD.


----------



## hast (Aug 17, 2011)

Mandy and I got the CD the weekend before the BH. I believe it would be so much easier to work with a club and get help with training and general tips.


----------



## SchH_Addict (Aug 27, 2011)

Thanks for replying everyone! 

I am finding that working with a good club really helps. 

My male and I have had some communication issues (lack of motivation/focus) and we are getting better. Zeffie, my youngest who is only 20 weeks old is doing awesome! I started at the club with her once she came home and I think this has helped out progress tremendously whereas my male and I started with the club at about a year. Before that he did a lot of "pet obedience" where he wasn't really utilizing his drives, so we have had to do a lot of drive building with toys/food/praise/etc...


----------



## dantero (Feb 2, 2011)

I've done BH's with a couple of dogs. Most of them at one point or another I worked with a Schutzhund club. But I train in quite a few sports, with various clubs, so it really depends. The next dog I plan to put a BH on I'm currently not training at a Sch club, although we have in the past, but I am doing AKC obedience and also preparing her for Mondio Ring. It can be done without a Sch club. That said, especially if you are new to the sport, I would recommend people get with a club of some sort. Even if it's an AKC obed club, it will help you with the training, and also working the dog in a distracting atmosphere. Most Sch clubs are also open to having people that are entering their trial come and practice on the field during the week prior to the trial. You might look into doing that, it will give you a chance to practice on the actual trial field, but also you might be able to get some pointers from more experienced handlers.


----------



## Gracie's Mom (Oct 6, 2010)

We are working right now doing private lessons with our trainer. We haven't been allowed to join our Schutzhund club because of some dominance issues Grace has toward the GSD's in the club. Grace is doing great! We are going to our 5th lesson on Wednesday and might be ready in the spring. Our biggest issues are with the down/stay. Her prey drive is SO high and her dominance issues spring up quite often so we are working hard on STAYING DOWN! Loving every minute of it!


----------



## hast (Aug 17, 2011)

My girl used to break her downs too ... also because of an insanely high prey drive. I did two things to help fix it. 
I took a mirror and walked out of site but kept an eye on her through the mirror. It let me pop out in the exact moment she broke her down and she now knows that I truly can see what she does no matter where I am. 
I also USE the down every day. When I move horses around I have to have control of where she is and what she's doing, so I put her on a down. When she was little/younger I kept an eagle eye on her to make sure I would catch a "break" even before it happened. I forgot her (ooops) a little while ago for 1/2 hour and she was patiently waiting. I believe having her on a down randomly around the property several times a day, every day, has helped tremendously.


----------



## SchH_Addict (Aug 27, 2011)

Thank you for the replies everyone, sorry I haven't come back to share.

Still working with both dogs and I have to say that Stark's focus is improving. We are actually utilizing a few different methods/tools at this point and they seem to be doing the trick.

We are working with a private trainer/decoy as well as with the club. I am concentrating on Zefra at the moment now that she is done teething but will get Stark back to the club in a bit.


----------

