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The sport I train in has three phases. Tracking, Obedience and Protection.
Two phases you can train with other experienced people who also train and compete in this sport. The Achilles Heel in this sport is the protection phase.
A decoy Training a dog in protection sport must be very skilled and specialized. It takes tremendous experience on literally hundreds of dogs and years and years to become a truly competent "training helper."
The result is there are (in the US) very few really good training helpers who can read the dog in front of them and apply the correct skills and pressure/release of pressure to bring the dog along to perform on the trial field. People pay large money and travel many miles for good training helpers. I have done exactly that for 10 years.
The current dog was coming along well (I thought) but there seemed to be some bits and pieces missing. I left one training group and then was shut down for months due to Covid. I found another training helper who was much much better.. and 3 years of "holes" showed up. The dog is a very good dog.
Yesterday it was time to see if the dog was ready to trial in 6 weeks. His tracking and obedience were beautiful. His protection work in the basic trial routine, while exhibiting lovely deep, calm grips and confidence was clearly not trial ready. It would not be ready for another 6 months.
As noted above, good training helpers are scarce. Scarcity in any market drives price.
I evaluated what I would have to do and spend and I decided it was time to stop.
Another $10,000 over about 18 months (at least) including training fees and travel expenses stripped me of any desire to keep going. After that.. another $5,000 to keep him "tuned" to compete at higher levels.. and these are conservative estimates.
This on top of the thousands already spent to buy the dog, equipment, and training to this point.. some of which was not good and left holes which now must be "plugged" (so it will take longer).
The sport is awesome and very challenging. The protection training truly tests both handler and dog for many aspects. Titles prove the training and test the dogs for breeding worthiness (especially at higher level competitions).
As with many competitive things involving animals it has also come to be prohibitively expensive. A wealthy person's sport for sure if you decide to do it well and not damage the dog in the process. I could own part of a race horse for less!
After 10 years and on my 4th dog I hung it up yesterday. I made the decision. I have a very very capable well bred dog. I have become a better than sufficient trainer and handler. Between covid and a 6-7 month training break coupled with finding what I thought was good was not so much, I had to go forward or stop.
I simply can no longer tolerate the tremendous outlay of cash. I am sad, but accepting. My Signature should now be 3GSD no longer 4IPO... 🙄
Two phases you can train with other experienced people who also train and compete in this sport. The Achilles Heel in this sport is the protection phase.
A decoy Training a dog in protection sport must be very skilled and specialized. It takes tremendous experience on literally hundreds of dogs and years and years to become a truly competent "training helper."
The result is there are (in the US) very few really good training helpers who can read the dog in front of them and apply the correct skills and pressure/release of pressure to bring the dog along to perform on the trial field. People pay large money and travel many miles for good training helpers. I have done exactly that for 10 years.
The current dog was coming along well (I thought) but there seemed to be some bits and pieces missing. I left one training group and then was shut down for months due to Covid. I found another training helper who was much much better.. and 3 years of "holes" showed up. The dog is a very good dog.
Yesterday it was time to see if the dog was ready to trial in 6 weeks. His tracking and obedience were beautiful. His protection work in the basic trial routine, while exhibiting lovely deep, calm grips and confidence was clearly not trial ready. It would not be ready for another 6 months.
As noted above, good training helpers are scarce. Scarcity in any market drives price.
I evaluated what I would have to do and spend and I decided it was time to stop.
Another $10,000 over about 18 months (at least) including training fees and travel expenses stripped me of any desire to keep going. After that.. another $5,000 to keep him "tuned" to compete at higher levels.. and these are conservative estimates.
This on top of the thousands already spent to buy the dog, equipment, and training to this point.. some of which was not good and left holes which now must be "plugged" (so it will take longer).
The sport is awesome and very challenging. The protection training truly tests both handler and dog for many aspects. Titles prove the training and test the dogs for breeding worthiness (especially at higher level competitions).
As with many competitive things involving animals it has also come to be prohibitively expensive. A wealthy person's sport for sure if you decide to do it well and not damage the dog in the process. I could own part of a race horse for less!
After 10 years and on my 4th dog I hung it up yesterday. I made the decision. I have a very very capable well bred dog. I have become a better than sufficient trainer and handler. Between covid and a 6-7 month training break coupled with finding what I thought was good was not so much, I had to go forward or stop.
I simply can no longer tolerate the tremendous outlay of cash. I am sad, but accepting. My Signature should now be 3GSD no longer 4IPO... 🙄