User:Tholin37/sandbox3

= Geography =



Location
Munich and Berlin happen to be some of the very first locations where the now world popular dog sport Schutzhund was created. Schutzhund is the German word meaning “protection dog”. In the early days of the sport it was designed to test breeding stock for drive,personality and positive characteristics, and today it’s a worldwide hobby designed to test all skill levels. In the dog sport world, it is one of the oldest events to watch and be involved with. The core concepts of the sport are focused on three phases: tracking, obedience and protection. Mastering each of these key factors is what is deemed by the dog community in having the perfect well-rounded companion. To truly exceed at this sport and have a dog ranked at a successful level the dog must be able to endure a test of its overall temperament, nerve and most of all a drive to work and please its handler/trainer.

The beginning days of this sport was created by the very people who bred the German Shepherd in the first place. The founders of the German shepherd wanted a dog that would and could be a jack of all traits. Max von Stephanitz, an ex-cavalry captain and former student of the Berlin Veterinary College was attending a dog venue and found the first German shepherd from generations of breeding from certain herding stock. He purchased the dog and was responsible for the advancement and the growth of the German shepherd dog. The very first Schutzhund competition was held in Munich in 1901, with the purpose to help individuals find the perfect temperament and skill levels of the German Shepherd dog. People now, after generations of breeding this dog wanted to test for what could be the best stock to start breeding programs. The breeds founder's in Munich and Berlin are responsible for the development of all the characteristic some of the best lines have today such as good nerves, sound temperament, self-confidence, utility, courage, willingness to work, scenting ability, physical soundness, trainability. All of these are characteristics which the breed's founders strove to develop and wanted to maintain, and all are tested by the Schutzhund exam. Schutzhund involves three phases: tracking, obedience and protection. Each phase has specific tasks or exercises that the dog and handler must perform, and each phase is graded on a point system with a maximum score of 100 points in each phase. A dog and handler team must score a minimum number of points in each phase (70 in obedience and tracking, 80 in protection) to pass and earn a title. All this must be done at the same trial on the same day. There are 3 levels of Schutzhund titles: SchH1, SchH2 and SchH3. Each title is progressively more difficult to accomplish as the individual exercises become harder and the overall level of accuracy required increases. The SchH3 is the highest level. Today the sport has evolved in many ways involving various breeds and many other breeding clubs compared to the very first gathering in Munich and other popular cities throughout Germany. However, German Shepherds remain the most popular highest scoring dogs within the sport and Germany and Munich remain one of the most popular locations for the sport.

One of the most popular competitions that's held each year is WUSV World Championship IPO & Agility,held at Viborgvej 92, 8920 Randers Denmark in 2018, Some of the top ranked dogs and teams for the last few years would be Qvido Vepeden a dog who's won the competition for the last few years with both the dog and his handler are from Czech Republic. The second highest ranking dog and handler is Duke vom Spektefeld from Germany. The stud fee for these topped ranked dogs and they desire to breed them is always in very high demand, Like the early days of the sport its creation was to test dogs for all around excellence.