The Pine Barrens Schutzhund Group hosted a very successful Schutzhund Seminar on October 27th & 28th. with National & International Schutzhund / IPO trainer, handler, and helper John Soares. The teams & spectator attendees for the seminar ranged from novice to national hopefuls and past national level competitors. John has over 20 years experience with training dogs and has had the unique opportunity to have lived in both the U.S.A. and Europe. His ability has brought him recognition in both continents. He has experience training and trialing different breeds; he has also experienced many styles of training. John started off the seminar with an introduction to the Schutzhund dog; he explained the Process of Domestication, Predatory Sequences, and Domestication of Aggression/Defense, which provided us with a better understanding of our dogs. We then proceeded to the tracking phase of the seminar. We had 5 tracking teams on the first day ranging from novice – intermediate and experienced trackers. One of the most valuable points John made on the tracking was we need to connect with our dogs before reaching the track, concentrate and focus on that track, feel the connection with your partner through the line. It is a common mistake to assume that your dog is tracking by looking at it but when there is no connection through the line that assumption can not be validated. He provided us all with some advice and things to incorporate within our tracking regime, so next time we are out there we should clearly have nothing else in mind other than our partner and track! We proceeded with the obedience phase of the seminar which was also very beneficial to see dogs of all levels do a routine or two and how each dog & handler team is different! Based on observation all of our dog training problems results from the dog being confused. The dog should have a clear understanding of what behaviors are expected in certain situations. There were a few handlers who have had their dogs showing some unwanted behavior on the training field who were heard to saying, "My dog never did that before, after just 30 seconds of John giving the right signal." The protection phase of the seminar, again varied in all levels of experience. Each dog maintains a different drive, different approach, some in defense and some in prey. Just like everything else we do within the sport we should apply the necessary discipline within the protection phase as we do in the tracking and obedience and focus. With focus, preparation and repetition you and your partner could connect and be a team! We had approximately 12 Handler / dog teams each day. All participants enjoyed the seminar and everyone walked away with something new to utilize within their own training. The weather was wet on Saturday but the rent a tent came in handy and Sunday was a perfect day to train! Tracking conditions were good and overall the weekend was pretty awsome! John Lattanzi was in charge of our concession for both days, grilling up some awesome lunch! We also received a number of generous donations from the Kong Company, Dr. Charlie Greco, Total Pet Care, John Browne's K9 Center, Servpro Restoration and Luv a Pup in Farmingville. We had an awesome dinner J&R's Steak House in Calverton Saturday night! Good friends, good company, good times! The entertainment for the weekend was an unforgettable skit with the Field Mouse vs Roberta on the A Frame – Field mouse won!!! Never thought I could jump that high! LOL Thank you all again for attending the seminar – we hope to see you all at our next event! Special THANKS to John Soares for coming out to the Island and sharing your knowledge, methods and techniques! HAPPY TRAINING TO ALL! Regards, Roberta J. Lattanzi, President Pine Barrens Schutzhund Group