[draggar]

Originally Posted by Rona

Could you post any photos of him? No that I doubt about it, but a photo would "materialize" him, and maybe increase his chances for a good permanent home

I'd also put him in the section "Adult CSV looking for new homes" This thread will drop at some point and there are new people coming to this site.

Here are some (not so good) pictures (Pucktures?) we took of him the other day:

http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/pets/Pollux/

I'm not a specialist in training, least of all in schutzhund, but from people who have trained their dogs and from what I read on the Polish WD (written by a specialist trainer in this sport) I've understood it's suitable for self-confident dogs with even temperament. The dog should undergo all stages of the training and learn not only to hold/attack, but also to control itself. Otherwise, especially when young, it may get even more confused and unpredictable. Not knowing the future of Pollux, what kind of family he'll stay with and where he will live, don't you think it might be a bit risky to start such kind of training at his 'sensitive age'? CSV mature between they're 2,5-3.

Right now he is in the full "gape" aspect of it. To him the sleeve is a toy and he wants the toy (he's on a padded puppy sleeve now). He gets the toy, he runs around with it, and then he drops it (and on occasion rolls around on it). The helper gets the sleeve, taunts him with it, and then the game starts over again. He's not serious with it at all, to him it is just playtime with him, me, and the helper.

Just recently I've heard of a nice young vlcak that started schutzhund trainings with his owner, but didn't "finish the course" . Later he was adopted by another family (it was out of life necessity, the owner was devastated she had to part with him). Probably the two factors combined caused that in new situtations he started 'playing the schutzhund game' in the street with accidental pedestrians, which he never did before the trainings

IMO the dog didn't have the right training, or at least the wrong training at the wrong time. Pollux hasn't done any "protection" part of it and he doesn't see it as protection - he just sees it as playing. Also, any good schutzhund dog should know when to "turn it on" and when not to, it seems this dog did not.

Our club is very good and non-political (very few of those here in the USA). They are not DVG or USA affiliated (hence no politics) and their primary focus is on the dog. I've seen clubs try to ruin dogs just so they can justify their own methods and get more $$$ for training and others just flat out refuse dogs into their club that aren't good (or just insult the dog until the owners leave).

I also think that CSVs being quiet creatures is their great asset for many owners (including myself). What's the point in teaching him barking if you don't know his new owner's prefereneces?

Don't treat this as criticizm, as I know little about schutzhund. These are just a few reflections based on common sense and on reading you post .

Quiet? Vlcaks are a quiet breed? You've never met our Luna. Pollux, though, I'm trying to train him to bark on command. He never barks unless he sees other dogs (like Luna) go running past his crate and he wants to come out to play or when he and Luna are playing a lot, then they get chatty. Other than that, he's very quiet.