Dogs are trained for many centuries. Rules and methods of dog training were developed intuitively at the beginning. Then national and international dog training programs appeared. They are called Schutzhund, Begleithund (BH) or IPO. What do these names mean?
Obedient guardians…
IPO is an international system of dog training and competitions, which consists of three disciplines: mantrailing, obedience and protection. The dog can take part in one of several groups depending on its age: 18, 19, 20 months and older.
IPO standards consist of work on the scent, objects search, walking along the handler, lying and sitting at the command, call, fetching. Protection according to IPO includes such dog's actions towards the "enemy" as holding, barking, guarding, defeating of an attack in motion, convoying.
IPO system is the FCI standard, international competitions are held according to it, but nobody obliges the owners to train their dogs according to this system.
There are opponents and supporters of IPO; the first assert that the dog perceive IPO as a game and it won't be able to protect the owner in really critical situation; the second contradict and tell that IPO shows foremost high level of the dog's readiness to work, its concentration, response speed, devotion, courage and agility – all these qualities are necessary for working dogs.
In spite of game-playing, it's not so easy to pass the IPO norms, because the dog should be concentrated and disciplined.
Schutzhund and VPG are more complicated tests, which were developed in Germany. The dog, which is trained according to VPG, can do search and rescue, guard and police work.
…and even tempered companions
For those, who are not going to make a guardian from the dog, Begleithund (BH) is an ideal system of dog training. Begleithund was developed in Germany and is translated as "companion dog". The main task of BH is social adaptation of the dog in the society. The dog has to show calm response at loud sounds (voices, transport signals), pay no regard to the other dogs, cyclers, moving cars, roller-skaters, keep calm being left alone on the leash besides obedience (walking along the owner on the leash and unleashed, sit and lie at the command). All these skills are checked not on the ground, but in an urban setting.
BH training makes the dog controlled, adapted for urban life, in the society. BH standard test is obligatory for some dog breeds in Germany; the dog, which hadn't pass BH, is kept out from further training (VPG).
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