Marysville Schutzhund Club September Helper Certification

2007-10-05T21:21:00Z

On September 21, 2007, the Marysville Schutzhund Club hosted a helper seminar and certification with SV Judge Wolfgang Böttger and teaching helper Thomas Grewe as part of our September club trial. Our newest club member, Josh Coleman, worked toward becoming a certified club helper and our club President Thomas Sauerhöfer worked towards becoming a Regional helper.

Teaching Helper Thomas Grewe had Josh out on the field first. Thomas Sauerhöfer has been teaching Josh helper work for the last two months. Even though he has only been working for a short time, with Thomas’ expert guidance, Josh gave a solid performance, as he always does, and he became a certified club helper. Thomas Grewe told Josh that he hopes he sticks with working dogs, because with a combination of his natural talent and ability along with a few years of experience, and absorbing the knowledge that Thomas is passing along to him, he sees Josh going to a National level to work dogs. All of our club members are impressed with Josh and we look forward to a long future working with him.

After Josh was finished, Thomas Sauerhöfer was out on the field. Thomas has over 27 years of experience working as a helper and a handler. As he performed out on the field it was obvious that working dogs is second nature to him. He makes it look easy. There was no hesitation from Thomas Grewe as he gave the critique and told Thomas that he was unquestionably a Regional helper.

The Marysville Schutzhund Club looks forward to the next year as we plan on hosting several events, including club trials and a show.

Congratulations to Thomas Sauerhöfer and Josh Coleman from all of us in the club and thank you to both of you for all of your hard work and dedication to each of us and all of our dogs.

Marysville Schutzhund Club September Trial

2007-10-05T20:55:00Z

The Marysville Schutzhund Club, located in the beautiful town of Marysville, CA is predominately made up of individuals new to the sport of Schutzhund. Our September trial was host to SV Judge Wolfgang Böttger and for all but our club President, Thomas Sauerhöfer, it was our first time trialing a dog in a Schutzhund event. This was the largest event in the history of the club, with a showing of 11 dogs for the BH, 1 Schutzhund 2, 1 Schutzhund 3 and 7 Ads.

A combination of nerves and intermittent rain made for un-ideal conditions, but all of the dogs and handlers gave it their best. The positive side about the overcast and rainy weather was that it finally cooled off from the 100+ degree temperatures that affected us all summer.

Everyone from the club as well as family members and friends showed up to cheer on those of us showing dogs on both Saturday and Sunday. It was a great atmosphere with everyone watching performances, waiting for critiques, and cheering each other on as we passed. Knowing that we had the support of the entire club was comforting to each of us as we made our way onto the field.

Saturday morning started out with the SchH2 and SchH3 track. We were lucky enough to have clear weather the night before, so the freshly plowed dirt fields made for excellent tracking conditions. Both Schutzhund dogs belonged to Thomas and both dogs tracked well. Pike earned a 98 on his SchH2 track and Pasco earned a 94 on his SchH3 track. Right after Thomas finished the SchH 3 track with Pasco, a light rain began to fall. We were extremely happy that the rain held off until the tracking was completed.

We returned to the training field and waited for about an hour for the rain to subside before we began the BHs. Everyone in the club was nervous as Marje and her Rottweiler “Kiss” and Angela and her American Pit Bull Terrier “Dottie” walked onto the field. There was excruciating silence as they performed the BH and a painful wait as judge Böttger reviewed his notes before he gave his critique. All the club members huddled around the fence as Judge Böttger began his critique. Our club member Tina Hopper acted as translator for the judge, since he did not speak English. When she passed on the news that both Marje and Angela had passed, we all cheered and a since of relief passed over us. In succession, Lynn and her GSD “Hans” performed with Jennifer and her GSD “Phoebe”; Laurie and her GSD “Tango” with Tasha and her Belgian Malinois “Biko”; Angela and her American Pit Bull Terrier “Tank” with Thomas and “Dante”; and to finish up the BHs for the day, Laurie and her GSD “Pedro” with Tina and her GSD “Jesse”. After the obedience portion was completed we moved onto the traffic portion of the test. The training field sits right on Hwy 20, so we have plenty of traffic and distraction for the dogs during testing. The dogs all remained calm and relaxed and made it through the traffic test with no problems. That was 10 dogs for the BH on Saturday and all of them passed.

After the BHs were finished for the day, we took a break for lunch. All of the club members brought dishes to share and we had a huge lunch. We extended the lunch break for a couple of hours as the rain had started up again and we were hoping it would let up so that we could do the ADs. It remained overcast, but the rain let up enough that we headed out to one of the country roads that wind through the rice fields for the AD. With 7 dogs for the AD, we had a pretty big group of cars and people traveling down the road. The 12 miles was long and hard, for the riders, the dogs were all ready to go another 12. The cool weather definitely made the trek easier. We didn’t have any incidences and all of the dogs and riders completed the exercise. It was a great way to complete the day.

On Saturday night, the club took Judge Böttger to the Tack Room, a local restaurant known for their great steak dinners. We had a fantastic time, but headed home relatively early so that we could all get enough rest for Sunday. We still had a BH to finish up and the obedience and Protection for the SchH2 and SchH3.

Sunday morning started off with the last BH. Lana and her GSD “Amitty”. Jennifer and Phoebe headed back onto the field to act as the dummy dog and handler. After she completed the obedience, Judge Bötter had Lana and “Amitty” complete the traffic test. They passed as well. Everyone in the club was excited that each of had passed the BH. Hugs and congratulations were flying around all over the place.

We had to get refocused though, as Thomas still had to finish the Obedience and Protection for his SchH2 and SchH3. It was obvious that the dogs felt good in the cooler weather and they were pumped up and ready to go. Thomas and both dogs performed well in each of their obedience routines. With the completion of the obedience, the field was prepped for the Protection work. Our newest helper, Josh, who was certified during the previous Friday’s Helper Seminar and Certification, was a little nervous as he got ready to perform as a trial helper for the first time. Josh did his job as a helper well and Thomas handled both dogs with expertise. With Thomas completing the SchH2 and the SchH3 and earning both titles, we completed a very successful trial in which all of the dogs passed and earned titles. The success that we had with this trial, has each of excited for the future and we look forward to the next few years as we continue to work with our dogs and continue to trial.

Congratulations to each of the club members that showed a dog for the first time; Marje Yerkes, Lynn Ezzell, Angela Kovacs, Tina Hopper, Laurie Richardson, Lana Getz, Tasha Pluim, and Jennifer Kiehn.

Congratulations also go out to Thomas Sauerhöfer who successfully earned a BH, a SchH2, and a SchH3. He also deserves a huge Thank you from all of us in the club for all of his help and guidance in helping us to achieve our first in a long line of titles.

Dog Training

Marysville Schutzhund Club September Helper Certification

Marysville Schutzhund Club September Trial