Vesta German Shepherds

P2, PDOB1 PAM SG Fritz - SchH3, VPG1, TD, RN, CGC, HIC, hips "a normal", ZW 77, DSO Level 1

Registered with AKC, UKC, and USA. Stud Service available. (Shipping available, AKC DNA on file.)

 

 

 

Born 4/19/02, Fritz was purchased from von Fenwald Kennels in IL. He has been with us from the age of 7 weeks, a house dog that is very much part of our family. Out of German lines, he has deep black and red pigment, and substantial muscle and bone. He has a very thick, yet fairly tight coat. He has excellent tempermant, is a happy, enthusiastic worker, and shows no dog aggression. Always clear headed, his strongest scores have been in tracking, where he has earned the prestigious V rating ("Excellent") many times, taking "High Tracking" as well in several trials (not coincidentally, his pedigree shows many generations of FH titles). He is a natural retriever, and will retrieve anything from a paper airplane to a Schutzhund 3 dumbbell! In protection he shows a nice balance of prey and defense, and enjoyes the battle with the decoy during drives.

Fritz is far from a "home field only" type dog. He has trialed in his home state of Illinois, as well as Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Alabama. He has also shown in North Carolina. While participating in many venues and organizations, Fritz has  passed obedience 17 times on 17 different fields, under 18 judges, and has passed tracking 9 times under 8 different judges, several times with V (top, or "excellent") scores. In protection he has passed 9 times on 9 different fields under 10 different judges, while working on 14 different trial helpers.

Fritz has shown in the German conformation ring, and has an SG rating from the Youth Class, the highest rating available for that age. In 2004 he took second place in his class at the North American Sieger Show in Madison WI, the national conformation championship in German style conformation showing. He has also made a few appearances in the AKC conformation arena, won his classes several times, and received Reserve Dog once.

In 2008 Fritz was awarded the prestigious Performance Award of Merit from the German Shepherd Dog Club of America.  

Far from retirement, in 2009 Fritz will continue with SDA/UKC Dog Sport and Rally, while continuing with AKC Tracking (TDX and VST).

Fritz's pedigree can be viewed at www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/399318.html 

 

 Fritz's titles and certificates:

BH - 2003 - White River Working Dog Club, SV judge Karl Krug

CGC - 2004 - certificate from the AKC 

VPG1 - 2004 - Madison Area Working Dog Association, DVG judge Sandi Purdy

SchH1 - 2005 - Greater Chicago Schutzhund Club - SV judge Friederich Reichert

SchH2 - 2005 - Chicago Schutzhund Verein - SV judge Klaus Ambrosius

SchH3 - 2006 - Chicago Schutzhund Verein - SV judge Klaus Ambrosius

HIC - 2006 - Herding Instinct Certified

FO - 2007 - Family Obedience, Judge Allen Brooks

P-1 - 2007 - Protection Dog 1 - Judge Allen Brooks

 

 

DSO - Level 1 - 2007 - Judges Carole Field and Deb Hebeler

P-2 - 2007 - Protection Dog 2 - Land of Lincoln Working Dog Association, Judge Barry Vradenberg

PDOB1 - 2007 - Police Dog Obedience 1 - SDA Athens, Judge Allen Brooks

PDOB1 - 2008 - CCDSA, Judge Matt Aikenhead

TD certification - April 2008 - Judge Pam German

TD - April 2008  - Wiemeraner Club of Northern IL, Rock Cut State Park, IL

PAM - 2008 - German Shepherd Dog Club of America

A few words about Fritz's titles and certifications:

BH - "Begleithund" - The German title for a Companion Dog, which is the prerequisite for full Schutzhund titles. It involves heeling on and off lead in a set pattern, halts, heeling through a group, a sit out of motion, down with recall, and an honor long down. After passing the obedience portion, each dog must then go through a temperment and traffic safety test, which involves distractions of other dogs, cars, joggers and bike riders. Furthermore, the dog must be tied out with the handler out of sight for several minutes and show no reaction to distractions which are presented.  The final test is the dog being crowded by strangers, both in a sit, and later in a down. The handler stands outside the group and then recalls the dog through the crowd.

CGC - "Canine Good Citizen" - An award certificate given by the AKC, demonstrating that a dog is a well mannered member of society. The test is comprised of 10 practical sections, all where the dog must remain under control and demonstrate excellent temperament. These include walking through a crowd on a loose leash, meeting and greeting another handler with a dog, being petted and examined by a stranger, stays and recalls, and neutrality to distractions and loud noises.

VPG1 and SchH1 - "Versatility Test of the Working Dog" and "Schutzhund 1" - Nearly identical titles, but awarded by different organizations. The dog must pass tracking, obedience, and protection phases all in one day. Schutzhund style tracking is called "footstep tracking" as the dog must work with his nose continually on the ground. A level 1 track is laid by the handler, approximately 30 minutes old, has 2 turns, and 2 small articles which the dog must indicate. The obedience is now all off lead (including entering and exiting the field with another dog-handler team), and includes heeling, sit out of motion, down with recall, 3 retrieves (one on flat, one over a 1m solid jump, and one over a steep A-frame), a send out, and a honor long down. The dog is also tested for sound sensitivity by gunshots during the free heeling pattern. In protection, the team again must enter and exit the field off lead. The routine begins with a search of 2 blinds.  When the dog locates the decoy, he must guard him with strong barking, but no bite. Later, he must prevent an escape by biting the protective sleeve, and endure threat and several stick hits on his withers. Finally, he must free heel down the field and present a test of courage, a long distance bite and subsequent release. Between each exercise he must be under control of the handler, biting only when attacked, and releasing upon command. Dogs which show lack of control in any phase are dismissed from the trial. Fritz has titles of both the VPG1 and the SchH1.

SchH2 - Schutzhund 2 - All the exercises of SchH1, now expanded. The tracking phase is now longer, aged more, and laid by a stranger. The obedience phase now includes a stand out of motion (from a walk)and a larger dumbbell for the retrieve on flat. The protection phase now includes a search pattern of 4 blinds, a rear trannsport, and more drives, threats, and defenses against attacks, requiring greater control.

SchH3 - Schutzhund 3 - All Exercises of SchH2, expanded further. The tracking phase is once again laid by a stranger but now has more corners, 3 articles, and is aged for at least one hour.  The obedience phase has a stand-stay out of a run (rather than from a walk, as in the SchH2), and a much larger dumbbell - nearly 4 pounds! - for the retrieve on the flat. The protection routine is longer and more strenuous as well - involving a search of 6 blinds, additional transports, grips, outs, and much more obedience throughout. This is the highest Schutzhund title that can be attained by a dog.

HIC - Herding Instinct Certified - There is no training involved for this test. The dog is placed in a pen with sheep (or on occasion other livestock) and the evaluator observes the dog's reaction to the livestock.

"a normal" - The highest hip certification in the German hip rating system. The ZW number is an German assigned value that factors in the hip ratings of the many of the dog's relatives. 100 is considered "normal" for the breed. Lower numbers are desireable.              

FO - Family Obedience - This title is the prerequisite for participation in all Service Dogs of America protection titles. Exercises are on lead, and include heeling in a set pattern, figure 8s through a crowd, a sit out of motion, down with recall, an honor down, heeling though a gate, in and out of a car, and food refusal.

P-1 -  Protection Dog -1 - This title requires off lead obedience identical to the Family Obedience title, which requires a passing score on the same day in order to proceed to protection work. The protection excercises include defenses against attacks, threats, and stick hits by the decoy, alternating with obedience and friendly greetings with the decoy. The dog MUST be able to discern the difference between a hostile and friendly appraoch, must be able to alert on command to a passive helper, must not react to the presence of the protection equipment during a friendly greeting, and must appropriately react to suprise attacks.

RN - Rally Novice - Fun obedience! Less precision than formal obedience, but freedom to show teamwork and enthusiasm. Rally requires navigating through a course with signs rather than having a set obedience pattern.

 

DSO - Dog Sports Open - An annual Personal Protection tournament hosted by Capital City Dog Sports Association near Lansing, MI. Each year has a different theme, and participants do not know the routines until arriving - only the list of tested skills. Level one in on-lead. The 2007 theme was "Jailbreak", and handlers had to dress in black and white stripes and "escape" from prison. This involved digging under fences, hiding, both dog and handler scaling very difficult obstacles, racing through corridors while avoiding paintballs, crawling under "razor wires" and of course, some civil and suit work!

P-2 - Protection Dog 2 - One of the SDA/UKC advanced protection titles. Off lead obedience routine includes some agility, and the protection routine is done in a bite jacket. The dog must stand up to and counter severe threats from the helper.

PDOB1 - Police Dog Obedience 1 - This title was designed to mirror obedience requirements used in K9 certifications. It includes agility obstacles as well as on lead and off lead obedience.

  

TD - AKC Tracking Dog  - To enter this title the dog must first pass a regulation TD test to "certify" that he is eligible to enter. The track is approximately 1/4 mile long, and the dog must find a dropped article at the end of the track in order to pass. Dogs with the "TD" title have passed regulation TD tracks under 3 judges (one being the certification judge, and there are 2 judges for the actual titling tests in AKC).

PAM - Performance Award of Merit - The highest performance award offered by the German Shepherd Dog Club of America. To earn this award, a German Shepherd must title to the highest level in one GSDCA recognized venue, and also title in 2 different GSDCA recognized venues. Fritz's qualifying titles for this award are his SchH3, RN, and TD. This award is a real tribute to the working ability, versatiliy, and excellent temperament that Fritz posesses!