I haven't been keeping up with posting events on the blog as quickly as they have been happening so here is a posting from a couple weeks ago...Our family went to the Philadelphia Union soccer stadium in Chester for the World Championship of German Shepherd dogs. Countries from all over the world are represented, such as, Holland, Austria, USA, France, Spain, etc. There are three events the dogs are judged in. We were able to see the Protection and Obedience events while we were there.
In the protection competition, the dog started at one end of the field and ran around each of the six tents to find the "bad guy".
Once the "bad guy" was found the dog could not attack him but had to bark at him until the trainer came over.
The trainer then called the dog off and the dog had to stay by the trainer's side while the bad guy came out of the tent and walked away.
At the trainers command the dog attacked the "bad guy" while he ran a few yards. The dogs had to keep their grip on the guys arm while they were whirled around and smacked with a plastic tube to test their strength.
At the trainers command the dog had to release the bad guys arm.
One event in the Obedience category was the dog had to retrieve a wooden weight thrown over the hurdle by the trainer.
The competition runs from Thursday to Sunday but the one afternoon that we went was very interesting! German Shepherds are working dogs developed originally for herding sheep. Because of their strength, intelligence, trainability and obedience, German Shepherds around the world are often the preferred breed for many types of work. Their work includes search-and-rescue, police and military roles. German Shepherds are the second most popular dog in the United States.