The Following Article was written by Eileen Jaworowski and Richard Quinn and appeared over two issues of The American Bulldog Chronicle in 1999.

One of the questions most frequently asked of Richard Quinn, President and Training Director of The Long Island Schutzhund Club (the parent club of The American Bulldog Club of Long Island) is, "What is the difference between American Bulldogs and German Shepherds, Rottweilers or Malinois working in the sport of Schutzhund?" People are curious as to why 75% of the membership of the Long Island Schutzhund Club is comprised of American Bulldogs, something unheard of in most Schutzhund clubs in the nation. Before we can answer that question in this column, we must address the origins of the sport and what qualities a dog must possess in order to be successful in it.

Schutzhund was originated in the early 1900s by a German fellow named Max von Stephanitz. Stephanitz was concerned about the future of the German Shepherd Dog, a breed originally created for herding. In the years preceding WW I, the need for herding dogs was diminished as the world’s attention was focused elsewhere. During this time Stephanitz developed a test to prove the versatility of the German Shepherd and their right to survival as a breed due to their utility in working venues beside herding. Thus, Schutzhund was born, proving the German Shepherds abilities in tracking (useful for various forms of police work and an invaluable tool for life saving in war scenarios), protection (again, necessary for police work and also for personal use) and obedience (showing that the intelligent, brave and versatile German Shepherd will lovingly and loyally listen to its master). Over the years, Schutzhund has become an international sport, whose parent organizations in America are the DVG and USA (United Schutzhund Clubs of America, the breed registry for the German Shepherd in the United States).

Beside the German Shepherd Dog, there are several breeds which, over the years, have gained recognition in the Sport. The most well known are the Rottweiler, the Malanois and the Bouvier. Additionally, there are several breeds which are seen competing in the Sport with more and more frequency. These include the American Staffordshire Terrier, Pit Bull, Airedale, Giant Schnauzer and the American Bulldog, among others. Our first question should be, "What are the common qualities these breeds share that allow them to compete in the Sport?"

The nature of Schutzhund is that the sport increases in difficulty by degrees. The very first level is the SchH BH test, which is a basic obedience/temperament test. Every dog that progresses in the Sport must begin with the SchH BH. Many, many dogs never make it through this first exam which tests the dogs strength of temperament thouroughly. Judges have been known to bonk dogs (lightly) over the head with their clipboards, throw large keyrings at the dog’s feet, grab the dog’s muzzle and jiggle its head etc. The dog is put into traffic situations with cars, bicycles and joggers passing closely. The dog is left tied out, without its owner, and is crowded by strangers. Gunshots are fired during the obedience portion of the test. It is an "almost anything goes" test with judges having free reign to test the dog’s temperament in almost any way they see fit. If the dog shows any sign of unwarranted aggression, shyness, extreme stress, fearfulness or any other symptom that might indicate to the judge that this dog has a temperament that is somehow lacking the dog will not pass the test. Another quality that is demonstrated by the SchH BH is a dog’s willingness to obey. Obedience is a very simple concept-- I, the dog, am willing to take orders from you, my master. If a dog is working happily for its owner, it is obvious in the dog’s step and demeanor. This is not to say that a dog that has either been trained through unbalanced methods or, for some other reason, appears to be an unhappy working dog won’t pass the BH, he may, but be prepared for the judge to push this dog a little further to try to expose any faults or weaknesses in its mental stability. If this unhappy dog does pass the BH, its Schutzhund career will not be a long one because this is a sport which values a sense of joy, spirit and plain old "zip" in each dog’s performance.

After the BH level, a dog continues it’s Schutzhund career by trialing for Schutzhund I, II and IIIs and IPO titles. These titles all combine the three phases of Schutzhund. Now the dog must prove itself not only in obedience, but in tracking and protection as well. Many dogs that excelled in trialing for their Schutzhund BHs never achieve further titles. One reason that this happens is that there are many dogs that cannot handle the stress of working three phases at once. A perfect example is an American Bulldog we had in the club at one time. This dog was dynamite in obedience and his tracking was incredible (much to the good-humored chagrin of the GSD owners of the club, he was the star tracker of the LISC!). Unfortunately, when the protection phase was added to his program the dog fell apart in ALL THREE phases!! He did not have a strong enough nerve base to handle the pressure of the triathalon. If it were possible to title for one at a time, this dog would have had titles in Obedience, Tracking and Protection!! The three phases of Schutzhund were too much for him and his career in the sport went kaput. For this reason, many consider the Schutzhund I the most difficult title to achieve. As the Schutzhund levels increase, so does the pressure on the dog. Superior training techniques can mask a weak dog’s shortcomings and possibly help the dog to fake it through a BH and occasionally through a I, but can rarely help a dog through a II and never a III.

We have already discussed what qualities a dog needs to pass at the Schutzhund BH level and the necessity for a strong nerve base and mental stability to progress through the more advanced levels. The list does not stop there.

For tracking the dog needs an excellent sense of scent discrimination. The dog must have drive: Drive to perform for its master and drive for the reward the master has in store for it at the end of the track. After the initial teaching of the skill through food drive, we use prey drive to reward the dog for its work (yes, a good game of fetch!!). Prey drive is used as a release in obedience as well. A dog with strong prey drive is more easily rewarded for a job well done and is more likely to have the happy bounce in its step that is so sought after in our sport. In addition, for all three phases, the dog must posses a strong bond with its handler. The dog must be willing to forgive its handler through any compulsion used or any mistakes made by the handler. The dog must trust its handler and respect his/her authority. The handler/dog team must work together as partners.

For the protection phase, there are several qualities that are necessary, some of which we have already mentioned. Prey drive comes into play again here, helping the novice dog learn the gripping "game". Later the dog’s defense drive is utilized to make the "game" more real. While defense drive is important in a working dog, there are many dogs that have strong defense drives, but lack courage. Courage is an indisposable trait of the Schutzhund dog. Lack of courage can manifest itself in various ways. It can be seen in the dog who refuses to do a proper in-tight hold and bark, in the dog who jumps off the sleeve during the drive or at the threat of a stick hit and often lack of courage is the culprit when a dog refuses to out (refusal to out can occasionally be attributed to various training mistakes such as putting too much defensive pressure on a young dog or, in the case of American Bulldogs, encouraging the dog in rope hanging before the out is taught. These, and various other common training problems will be addressed in a future article) . The dog must possess fighting drive, the drive which makes the bitework fun and gives the dog the desire to come back at the bitehelper for more. Hardness is another term you’ll hear relating to working dogs. The interpretation of hardness varies with whomever you ask to define it. Our definition is loosely: Hardness is that genetic quality of the dog that allows the dog the ability to take anything the handler, bitehelper or life in general dishes out with an attitude of superiority, confidence and strength. Hardness is that which separates the men from the boys in the sport of Schutzhund.

So, generally speaking, the qualities that the working breeds share are strong prey, defense and fighting drives, courage, hardness, forgiveness, loyalty, trust, scent skills, strong nerve base and mental stability, a bond with it’s handler and one item I have not yet covered, intelligence. Without intelligence all of the above traits would be useless. We expect our working dogs to have the ability to think, to figure out what we want from them and give it to us. A stupid dog will not have a future in Schutzhund.

Now that we have covered what all the working breeds have in common, lets examine the differences between the American Bulldog and the three most proven working breeds in Schutzhund, the German Shepherd, the Rottweiler and the Malanois. We will look at the pros and cons of working these breeds and how the common "working breed" traits manifest themselves within each. For the purposes of this article, we must speak on general terms. It is important to remember that there are superior and inferior specimens in any breed.
 
 

Physical Traits

The German Shepherd Dog and the Malanois share similar physicality, medium boned with balanced muscle and long muzzles. Their medium build and sleek body style allow for blinding speed and excellent agility. These breeds bring oooh's and aaah's from the crowd as they speed down the field for their send outs and fly through the air to take their bites on the courage test. However, because the German Shepherd has far superior angulation than the Malanois, it is able to maintain its speed for much longer periods of time (not necessary for Schutzhund). The lightness of these breeds enables ease in handling for the trainer and ease for the bitehelper in working the dog.

The Rottweiler and American Bulldog, too, share similar physicality, with large bone, heavily muscled fronts and rears and big, square heads. This is where the similarity between these two breeds ends physically. The Rottweiler's angulation is more functional and better suited for work. This is one aspect of the American Bulldog that is still lacking and will only be improved through conformation. When conformation judges award for a particular trait, breeders tend to try to produce it in their programs. This lack of angulation in the American Bulldog is partially due to two factors:

1. Our conformation programs have only been in effect for four years, not long enough to produce improvements in the workability of the breed.

2. Our dogs have the drive to work through the pain caused by poor angulation and the resulting pounding that their joints suffer.

The frontal heaviness of the Rottweiler and the American Bulldog make the agility aspect of Schutzhund more awkward for these breeds. It is extremely important that they are taught how to jump and land properly to avoid over stressing their fronts.

Surprisingly enough, the difference in muzzle length between these four breeds does not seem to effect their tracking abilities. The Rottweiler and the American Bulldog with their short, square muzzles are excellent trackers and can hold their own against the longer-muzzled German Shepherd and Malinois in any tracking event (a fact which we will discuss further in the drive section of this article). The biting ability of these four breeds is also unaffected by the difference in their length of muzzle (an exception to this would be extremely short muzzled American Bulldogs). Since we have brought up biting ability, it should be noted that due to the higher muscle mass in the jaw of the Rottweiler and even more so in that of the American Bulldog, these breeds have a much harder gripping strength. Additionally, the shape of skull and jaw in the American Bulldog gives a much wider biting surface for a harder grip. The muzzle length does, however, come into play when speaking of endurance. Neither the Rottweiler nor the American Bulldog has the endurance of the Shepherd or Malanois. There is also a problem withstanding high temperatures within these shorter-muzzled breeds.

Temperature tolerance is also affected by the coat of the dog. Due to their insulating undercoats, the the German Shepherd and the Rottweiler do extremely well in the cold. Both can withstand the cold almost anywhere in the world. The Malanois and the American Bulldog also have good tolerance for moderately cold weather, but would not survive outdoors in extreme temperatures. The insulating undercoat of the German Shepherd also protects it from extreme heat. In theory, this should work for the Rottweiler as well, however, due to the extra work the Rottweiler has propelling its mass, combined with the shorter muzzle length, its heat endurance is not as great. This also holds true for the American Bulldog. The Malanois, propelling less mass than the German Shepherd, and with much greater lung capacity than any of the other working breeds makes up for its lack of insulating undercoat and withstands high temperatures successfully. While temperature tolerance is not always an issue when training in Schutzhund, it can make a big difference in the performance of the dog on trial day.

In Part II of this article, we will cover the drives, the handler/dog relationship and the varying levels of intelligence within these four breeds.
 
 

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