# Working Boxer at 8.5 months old - Schutzhund Training



## Dave Martin (Aug 11, 2010)

Just wanted to share a video of our 8.5 month old Boxer puppy beginning his formal Schutzhund training with my girlfriend. 

Boxnen's Horatio Caine, aka Hudson, is shown here working in all three phases. This is my girlfriend's first sport dog ever, so this first session was a great learning experience for her and she knows she needs to work on several things in future sessions (not letting him get so close to the helper for the Bark & Hold, standing in better positions, etc). They both are definitely enjoying their training though, which is always the most important thing. All feedback is welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVvkBkxtLwo

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## Thomas Barriano (Mar 27, 2006)

Hey Dave,

Nice puppy with a lot of energy and it's nice to see a boxer with a tail  You're doing Schutzhund with a rottweiler and the girlfriend is working with a boxer? You guys don't do things the easy way, do you?


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## Dave Martin (Aug 11, 2010)

Thomas Barriano said:


> Hey Dave,
> 
> Nice puppy with a lot of energy and it's nice to see a boxer with a tail  You're doing Schutzhund with a rottweiler and the girlfriend is working with a boxer? You guys don't do things the easy way, do you?


Haha nope, can't say we do.. but I think a lot of research we did into working pedigrees helped our chances of having success with them on the field. We love the sport, but still want to live with our favorite breeds (for now).


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## Thomas Barriano (Mar 27, 2006)

Dave Martin said:


> Haha nope, can't say we do.. but I think a lot of research we did into working pedigrees helped our chances of having success with them on the field. We love the sport, but still want to live with our favorite breeds (for now).


Both dogs are nice examples of their particular breed. I train Dobermanns so I'm all about working with your favorite breed.
One thing I wanted to mention on the video. I couldn't hear if the GF is using a marker, but we careful when the decoy gives the reward bite. It looks like the dog is getting the bite when he's jumping up instead of when his feet are on the ground?
Jumping up striking for the bite is fine as long as the behavior that you mark is the feet on the ground.


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## Dave Martin (Aug 11, 2010)

Thanks a lot, Thomas. I agree, we need to make a more conscious effort to reward only when he is in the proper position; that particular session was almost more about building his drives for the bite than applying firm obedience (though I _do_ believe the helper was only trying to reward Hudson when he sat). In future sessions, Lauren and the helper will be much more focused on keeping him clean.


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## Thomas Barriano (Mar 27, 2006)

Dave Martin said:


> Thanks a lot, Thomas. I agree, we need to make a more conscious effort to reward only when he is in the proper position; that particular session was almost more about building his drives for the bite than applying firm obedience (though I _do_ believe the helper was only trying to reward Hudson when he sat). In future sessions, Lauren and the helper will be much more focused on keeping him clean.


That's what's nice about using markers. Your timing (or the decoys timing) isn't that important as long as you mark the precise moment. I'd say building drive was pretty successful


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## Dave Colborn (Mar 25, 2009)

Good to see a boxer coming out to work!!! Good luck and much success!!!


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Dave Martin said:


> Boxnen's Horatio Caine, aka Hudson,
> ...


Great looking boxer..looks pissed off, probably because somebody named him Horatio Caine....


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Cool looking Boxer! Euro working lines from the looks of the head??
From my understanding the Boxer was at one time second only to the GSD is Germany for Schutzhund.


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## Dave Martin (Aug 11, 2010)

Bob Scott said:


> Cool looking Boxer! Euro working lines from the looks of the head??
> From my understanding the Boxer was at one time second only to the GSD is Germany for Schutzhund.


Thanks Bob. Yes, Hudson is from some very strong German/Finnish working lines. 

I have heard that as well but never really confirmed it; I do know there are a quite a few very successful competition Boxers in Germany however and our hope is more strong dogs like Hudson's father will continue to be imported into the US.


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## Dave Martin (Aug 11, 2010)

Joby Becker said:


> Great looking boxer..looks pissed off, probably because somebody named him Horatio Caine....


Haha, we owe that to his breeder but it has grown on us :lol:


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Dave Martin said:


> Haha, we owe that to his breeder but it has grown on us :lol:


I often wonder if the producers realize how cheezy "H" actually is on that show, most people I know, myself included, watch it to make fun of him...


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## tracey schneider (May 7, 2008)

very nice to see........ =D>=D>

keep posting updates please.


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## Jenna Lea (Jul 25, 2010)

Nice attention on his OB work, nice pup!


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## Dave Martin (Aug 11, 2010)

Thanks a lot guys, I will continue to update as he progresses.


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## sam wilks (May 3, 2009)

nice boxer! maybe keep him on a line for the bark and hold till he is 100% clean so as not to create a problem down the road.


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## Shane Carter (May 25, 2008)

Nice looking young male. I have worked some nice ones over the years. A lady in LV has some nice ones a while back she worked them for a while however I am not sure what have become of them. I have a little video of her female that I was working nice German import. She also has a even younger male that had potential too.
http://www.youtube.com/user/owners1st#p/u/22/uF6UFHTtR0Y
http://www.youtube.com/user/owners1st#p/u/21/R-ydpJ8_0uE

Hope all works out well with you and your dog. Maybe see you all at the Mondio Ring Trial in Nov. 

Shane/Hankdad


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

Dave Martin said:


> Just wanted to share a video of our 8.5 month old Boxer puppy beginning his formal Schutzhund training with my girlfriend.
> 
> Boxnen's Horatio Caine, aka Hudson, is shown here working in all three phases. This is my girlfriend's first sport dog ever, so this first session was a great learning experience for her and she knows she needs to work on several things in future sessions (not letting him get so close to the helper for the Bark & Hold, standing in better positions, etc). They both are definitely enjoying their training though, which is always the most important thing. All feedback is welcome.
> 
> ...


Nice pup be careful with that hold and bark at such a young age I would ask Chris or Minna what there thoughts are on this video.
Some nice OB


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## Dave Martin (Aug 11, 2010)

Thanks guys. 

Sam, he will definitely be kept on a long line and restrained at a proper distance going forward.

Thats a beautiful girl, Shane. Very nice structure and head on her. I would love to get to that trial if possible.

Mike, Chris and Minna were the first to see the video and they keep telling us how much they love it. Seeing as there are a good number of handler errors in this particular video, I know they are likely just showing us their full support and encouraging our work with him. Protection wise, this first session was really more about continuing the drive building with Hudson. Now that it's clear the drives and consistent barking are there, training obedience and control will begin (no more paws on the helper when training the Bark & Hold). Thanks for the comment on their obedience; still a lot of work to do obviously but they are making great progress.


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

Dave Martin said:


> Thanks guys.
> 
> Sam, he will definitely be kept on a long line and restrained at a proper distance going forward.
> 
> ...


I hate seeing people make mistakes like I have with this exercise getting the dogs locked up in prey to early and to young to be able to bring the aggression out that should be in the HB
You girls got her hands full Chris and Minna breed some crazy nice dogs did you see the short clip Troy Seaton posted of the North Central Regional Championships there's a short clip of Minna showing one of there dogs at the event.


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## Dave Martin (Aug 11, 2010)

Yup, Minna actually posted it on her facebook wall the other night so I watched it then haha. That's Tiki; quite honestly, Hudson has great drive, but the way I understand it Tiki really is even more of a firecracker. No off switch and will mow down anything in her way. Chris and Minna are definitely amazing resources for us to have and we get great feedback and tips from them both.


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## Dave Martin (Aug 11, 2010)

Mike Scheiber said:


> I hate seeing people make mistakes like I have with this exercise getting the dogs locked up in prey to early and to young to be able to bring the aggression out that should be in the HB
> You girls got her hands full Chris and Minna breed some crazy nice dogs did you see the short clip Troy Seaton posted of the North Central Regional Championships there's a short clip of Minna showing one of there dogs at the event.


When you get a chance, would you mind explaining what exactly you mean by "locking up" in prey at too young an age? I am learning more and more about different training methods in the sport every day and I always appreciate other's insight. Will a dog's natural aggression really not develop in Protection routines like the Bark & Hold if prey was the foundation of the early stages in their training? It's not as if I thought I would go to sleep one night, wake up the next morning and my dog would have this deep, menacing bark in the blind; but I was of the belief that as he continued to mature and more defense was applied and pressure was put on him, he would become more and more confident in his work and his natural desire to engage a fight would develop (assuming he has it in him). Not that I think I have a weak dog (actually referring to my Rott here, not Hudson), but part of the reason I was becoming a supporter of these methods is that if he didn't end up having the highest levels of aggression in him, I could still compete in the sport utilizing more prey.. To be sure, just because I see a GSD in your sig (very nice long bite btw), are you confident what you are describing is as prevalent an issue in Boxers as it may be in GSDs?


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## Dave Martin (Aug 11, 2010)

Updated training link of baby Hudson at 9 months old (Tracking and working on his Bark & Hold)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0dfdJSyLbw&feature=channel

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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

I don't think the chances of a boxer becoming locked in prey would be as high as that of a GSD on average, personally...I have seen some of Chris and Minna's boxers and they seemed a little on the nasty side from what I remember, which pretty much will ensure that they will not get locked up..


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## Dave Martin (Aug 11, 2010)

Joby Becker said:


> I don't think the chances of a boxer becoming locked in prey would be as high as that of a GSD on average, personally...I have seen some of Chris and Minna's boxers and they seemed a little on the nasty side from what I remember, which pretty much will ensure that they will not get locked up..


I agree, Joby.. I'm really not as concerned with this in Hudson; his mother's lines have some very very strong dogs in her immediate background and his father and his litter out of the Sembacher Flur kennel in Germany are known to be non social dogs. I'm sure whoever raised the dogs account for a part of that, but I know Pfeiffer is a very tough dog.

My Rott is the one I'm still waiting for to mature to see just how much defense can be brought out of him. His immediate pedigree is not quite as strong as Hudson's but I do hope to see a little more seriousness come out if he has it in him. Mike S's comment has me trying to do more research into what to be more careful of when I'm doing his protection training. Hopefully I didn't mess him up too much already :-k


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

the locking up can occur with strong dogs, with very strong nerves and high prey..

If not exposed to things a little more seriously when younger, some dogs will get locked up in prey mode..

Good or Bad? depends on what you are looking for out of your dog, and what you plan to do with him...


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