GSD - my pups granddad at IPO World Champs Qualifier Videos

Do you think that if i keep showing him this video of his grandad, maybe it will inspire him to actually do something right at puppy club?

Vongalanberg Kai Kkl. 1 SchH 3 AD 1st Place at UK WUSV World Championship IPO / Schutzhund Qualifier A. 96 B. 92 C. 94

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxMw0caWr7w

What a gorgeous dog. Keep showing him the clip and he'll get the message.

I have known Kai since he was 8 weeks old.

C'mon Smokey. Tell us all about Kai. He looks absolutely brilliant!

Travis is a good handler and trainer.

Jeagibear,
I believe Travis supplied and trained the sable GSD used in the opening battle sequence of the movie "Gladiator" starring Russell Crowe. Watch him jumping through fire and attacking the enemy in this clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spvSw-wR6qg

Kai was in the news recently in the Hereford Times:
A German Shepherd Dog from Herefordshire is getting ready to represent Great Britain on the world stage.

Travis Foster and four-year-old Vongalanberg Kai are heading to the IPO World Championships – best described as a triathlon for protection dogs after taking first place at the UK qualifers in Bromsgrove.

The pair, who are based at the Vislor training centre near Leominster, will lead Team GB at the international level in Austria in October.

IPO was created in Germany more than 100 years ago to test and grade dogs that work in services like the Army or police.

The competition tests various skills including tracking (searching for evidence left behind by a criminal), obedience and protection (finding, apprehending and detaining a ‘criminal’).

Kai has been training since he was seven weeks old and is currently ranked the German Shepherd Dog League’s Number One Working Protection Dog’ in the UK.

Thanks Apache. Brilliant reading. I will investigate more, whe i get home. Loved the clip.
All very exciting. Thank you.

Kai looks a very well trained dog indeed.

I wish all the GB team lots of luck in Austria!

I will be honest and say that although I haven't met him, from what I have heard, Travis's type of training is not my cup of tea, but he has done very well with Kai.

The dog in Gladiator belonged to Steve Byfield...........

Indeed, as per this thread

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=149240&page=2

Is electricity rather heavily involved (as I had heard)?

Yes. Each to their own but not for me.

Yes, absolutely.

What is the purpose of the widespread use of e-collars and prongs in Schutzhund circles? I don't know enough about their use within the sport to condemn them outright, but would be interested in their main purposes in the sport context.

Is this rumour, or fact i wonder? Maybe Smokeybear knows?
I seem to remember Vislor advertising their involvement in the making of Gladiator on their website.

Also son Ashley Foster said "His Dad also took part in filming of the opening battle scene of the blockbuster 'Gladiator' where the dog saves Russel Crowe from a big german bloke with an axe (though dad doesn't feature in the film itself and the dog was one of our friends GSD's).
http://www.mygermanshepherd.co.uk/forums/celebrity-pet-gossip-forum/14912-our-dogs-film.html

More movie info.
GSDs Kai and Tilly appear alongside their owners Travis and Ashley Foster in Batman: The Dark Knight Rises .

Father-and-son dog trainers Travis and Ashley, who work together at Vislor Dog Training Centre in Bush Bank, Hereford, play the roles of mercenary thugs in the movie, terrorising hostages being held by the villain Bane, played by Tom Hardy. Filming took place last June when the pair and their highly trained dogs were called to a secret set at the University of London and spent a day working with director Christopher Nolan opposite some of Hollywood’s biggest stars including Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway and Morgan Freeman.

“We were contacted out of the blue for this as we were for all our other film jobs,” said Ashley.

“We don't actually make any effort to advertise or actively attain film work but our reputation in dog sport is such that when producers want a protection style dog for a role, they find us.”
http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/l...ood__the_hounds_starring_in_new_Batman_movie/

people use prong collars and e collars in the Gundog/Field Trial context and others for sports.

I know lots of people who are called on to provide protection style dogs for film roles, they are dotted about all over the country.

Remember, PR does require a deal of spin!

I am not saying they aren't. What I am asking is what is their purpose within the schutzhund sport?

THe same as in any area of dog ownership, sport or otherwise. Control

Over on the protectionK9 forum there is a looong thread discussing e collar use.

Some people use them as a matter of course to teach everything (starting from sits) - it sounds to me like its a kind of clicker training in reverse.....the dog gets a continuous shock until it does the desired behaviour and then the stim is turned off, so the dog learns to obey a command fast in order to turn the collar off.

I think i'll stick to clicker training...