This makes perfect sense.  If our dog doesn't work out for Schutzhund that's okay - he's still a wonderful family companion, guardian and pet which is mainly why we want him.  I do want to give Schutzhund a serious go, however.  We have the "facilities" in terms of a large field we can use for training, and I realize the opportunity window for a right start is narrow.

Your advice is excellent, and also what you said in the other thread about developing play/prey drive.  Many thanks!  Will check out Ivan Balabanov resources.

Or as quick to obey.  I read somewhere that police that have worked with both breeds note that Dobes seem to have the edge on quickness; both dogs close on their high intelligence, with a very slight edge to the GSD, but both among the five most intelligent breeds out of 158 (AKC).

We'll be joining you lucky folks among the happy ranks of Doberman owners this Saturday.  I'm like a kid and can't wait!!!

Excitement is palpable around here.  This will be brightest (and most expensive!) purebred dog we've ever owned.  I also expect to put more into him than any other dog.  We saw his picture for the first time this evening - we told this reputable breeder what we wanted to do with him, and asked her to pick for us for these traits, which she did.  His ears are done - medium per my request, which keeps us out of showing and commits me to Schutzhund.

So now his fate as a prospect rests upon his breeding, his drive, my discipline in consistent, and daily training.  Many things have to fall into place for this to pan out.  If it doesn't I've still got a wonderful companion and guard.

I have contacted a local regional club not all that far from us.  My hope is that they can take it from this point.

Now, time to order those videos you mentioned awhile back...

I've given this a great deal of thought.

First of all, he's my dog.  Within his innate limitations, and my own, he can become whatever I want him to become.  I mold and shape him as I do my own children.  That, to me, is the pinnacle of the human-canine relationship dating from ancient antiquity: a companion who is yet entirely subordinate, almost an extension of the human alpha.  It has been well said that dogs take after many of the personality traits of their owners.

The Schutzhund club closest to us does not have a schedule that works for us, which provided a foray into what follows:

My thinking is to learn as much about Schutzhund (and training, and development) as I possibly can, and proceed on my own.  I'm a pretty bright guy, and can see my dog is also.  Moreover, I suspect strongly that I "ain't seen nothin' yet" from Ike.  Will we ever win SchIII title?  I don't know, but the training would be my own.  I've never been much of a competitor - always hated playing soccer, baseball, etc. and tend to be a maverick who does his own thing.  That is not to say, however, that I would frown on or poo-poo a SchI tracking title should we be able to qualify training in our own way.  Quite the contrary:  I covet the same glory everyone else wants.

I doubt there are any here who have taken this approach - learning scholastically what needs to be done, searching out well-concealed trade secrets, making inside connections, etc. but orbiting the action from a distance and perhaps coming up with something entirely new and different.

Disclaimer:  It's late, been a rough day, and the Ambien I take has be in the grips of its hallucinogenic phase.  Sleep is coming, maybe a dream about it.

We're going to start with Schuthund I tracking.  Have been issuing the "Sukh" command per your advice during our little "get over your fear of grass" game.  Tonight when I got home, we ran around the house a couple of times and he followed me like a happy little puppy, so I'm hoping that maybe, just maybe we dodged a bullet with the little beagle incident/fear imprint.  What he had been doing, since that incident, is running out to the edge of the patio and stopping (before he ran right into the grass).

Now reading about how to do tracking the right way. 

How's that lovely girl Paris?  And Boo?

Well we completed our first lessons today in Schutzhund I, two sessions.  I am so proud of my little guy!

http://users.skynet.be/hexental/training.htm#art2

rnd I'll definitely be interested in that article if/when you are able to complete it! :D

You are starting the tracking too?  Is this with Paris?  She is going to be one of the most "complete" Dobes ever!

You certainly seem to love this! :D

Your lofty achievements make my humble inroads seem very insignificant, so I'll ask you very candidly:

Can a person train a dog with just an hour or two a day, as time permits?  From you, I get the impression (no doubt, the wrong impression) that to own a Doberman Pinscher one must devote his whole life to the dog.  In your case, I think it's purely your passion, chasing your own dreams.  It's admirable, all that you do, and your solid experience and obvious love for the breed and protecting the breed.  But very candidly, is this what you would expect from regular American families with jobs that do not allow dogs?  Responsible people, mind you, who would never put their pet in a shelter, and who would not buy a petstore puppy.  Traditional families like mine, where there is almost always someone home, but where I am the main caregiver and trainer.  My small children think the puppy is cute, and like to snuggle with him, but they are too young to know even the most basic facets of training.  "Ike!  Sit!  Sit!", barks my daughter in a sharp voice that echos to a neighboring barn.  Sweetie, you need to say "Ike, sit", gently, and do this gently with your hands.  Since he's primarily "my dog" (he follows me everywhere and looks to me as his "example" - I'm the alpha, after all) I'm hoping I do not have to worry about this, that he will ignore their flawed "training", or about my wife telling him "No!" in a loud voice when he chews the corner of an area rug.

I realize I've strayed far from the original topic, but will bring it full circle: To learn basic Schutzhund tracking, I've learned from my very tiny, myopic, just-getting-started experience, is a one-on-one affair with trainer and dog, not a family fun event.  The hope is it can become the latter when his training progresses.

I am applying some of my logic as a pianist here: To learn a difficult passage in music, you play it several times above the final tempo in one hand.  Then, at the very end of even a short practice session, you play it as slowly and perfectly as you are able to.  Come back the next day and voila!  Franz Liszt would be proud.  It's a phenomenon known as "post practice improvement".  Since I have a music background with classical music as part of my noetic framework, I wonder how much of that will translate over into this new challenge, where the student is neither one's own self nor even of his own species.  Under this theory, one or two short, well-executed sessions a day, consistently applied, might be sufficient to teach the skill over a period.

Thanks for your time answering this sincere question, and I hope you receive it in the spirit in which it is intended.

BTW there was success today, with an 8-foot track with treats laid in baby steps.  Think I used the wrong treat (crackers) - something more like pieces of wiener would be more effective.  Cheese works well too, but it's hard to beat meat.

Thank you so much!  Your passion and spice combined with knowledge is appreciated - even if some find it abrasive, I love it.  It fits with the breed you (and now I) love so much ;)

We had a FANTASTIC training session this evening.