Thread: Schutzhund in Australia

I personally feel the only way to fix Victoria (schuhtzhund) is to create a special interests group, a registered association and lobby through that, with security companies, police and those in the military backing the association.

The call to arms is admirable and I say thank you to Vanessa and everyone that is likeminded on this issue.

I am not a current member of any schutzhund organisation, but I have previously been a memeber of AUS.

Unfortunately I think that the position in Victoria is such that (in my belief) this battle cannot be won without a dedicated, knowledgable resource to strategically carry out the offensive on the governement to force them to overturn these ludicrous laws.

Even more unfortunate is that resources like that cost money and lots of it - we are kidding ourselves if we continue to think that writing some letters, presenting information and scratching together a couple of thousand dollars will do it. As schutzhund stands - it is insignificant to the governement and all governing bodies of the dog world in Australia

From my personal point of view, the "in house" attempts made by the various schutzhund organisations are fruitless - (nobody within these organisations is qualified to carry out such an exercise - nobody has ever done anything of this nature before but it seems we consistently look within for the saviour and the answers). The reason for this is simple - NOBODY IS PREPARED TO PUT THEIR HARD EARNED towards this cause. I cant remember how many fighting funds have been put in place - fight??? more like a whimper!!!! I am not a person with a lot of money but if the various organisations presented a plan that I believed would do the trick - then I would contribute whatever was required - unfortunately there has never been a plan - only meetings, discussion and ego stroking (I know because I have been involved in these meetings) and if there ever was a plan, nobody knew about it because it was top secret - cant let the opposition know what we are doing!!! What a joke - even competing companies everywhere around the world subscribe to industry bodies for the good and protection of their industry!!!

The other point I would like to make is that I personally dont see anything changing quite simply because the people currently involved in the administration of schutzhund (all organisations) in this country have the UNIQUE ABILITY to only see things from their own PERSONAL POINT OF VIEW and cant see anything for the better good of the sport. eg the way we are going we will have more schutzhund organisations than participants.

Schutzhund administrators in this country are like one of those diseases that eat away at your body no matter what you do......if you don't believe me ask the organisations when is the last time they sat as a collective to address the Victorian issue or any other issue of significance...what, no reply.....now ask them WHY???

Australia is so small in terms of dogsports, be it schutzhund, prosport etc that in my belief it cannot afford more than one governing body for any such activity, also an extension of that, the various governing bodies of all working dog activity should be working together for the better good of working dogs in general,. The attitude I describe with regards to the schutzhund community is alive and well within all other areas also.


Enough said....its pretty simple - unless their is a significant paradigm shift to move our attitudes from that of competitivesness, ego driven self centeredness etc to that of community and teamwork.....say good night to all dogsports...everywhere!!! Taildocking and BSL all started in one place and then spread......rapidly....

Thanks for your views Laurie but I for one have faith in the Sch organisation I'm a part of and the knowledge, proffesionalism and commitment of those involved. I also know that the hand is being put up and hopefully this fight will be more than a whimper.If this is to work then support is what is needed.
I for one wont sit back with a defeatist attitude. Laurie you raise some excellent points but with regards to your knowledge of the CURRENT Sch organisations when was the last time you competed.
With the effort you have put into this post you seem like someone who would support change so I ask what are you prepared to do to see change happen.
As you mentioned it wont stop here they will keep comeing after all of us in the dog world so why not try and stop it here.

Hi Andrew,

there is no argument from me re stopping it here - tell us where you would like the letters posted and everyone will send them - we'll petition and we will send them in!!

Your attitude of having faith in the organisation you're involved with is half the problem - this is not a time for the promotion of loyalty to "our" organisation it is about the collective schutzhund, and wider working dog community. That said, I sincerly hope they are successful in their endeavours.

Michael Sutherland said:
I personally feel the only way to fix Victoria (schuhtzhund) is to create a special interests group, a registered association and lobby through that, with security companies, police and those in the military backing the association. ....sounds like a good one to me.....

...will YOUR guys sit at the table with the OTHER guys on this one??? Will the OTHER guys sit with YOUR guys????? are you getting my point yet???? why would any external party (police, military, security etc) like to be involved if the parties calling the shots cant even work together to promote their chosen activity????

They are all as bad as each other when it comes to co-operation - that's why there is 2 organisations - 2 organisations for a NATIONAL participation quota of about 100 people on a good day!!!

I wonder why this thread has had nearly 200 views and only 3 replies....probably because nobody knows what to say or do about it - me included!! I do however know that this needs outside resources to accomplish - we're talking about changing laws of government, not the menu at the school tuck shop....I am not suggesting that the people in your organisation are not professional, committed or knowledgable but are they QC's, barristers, senators, politicians etc that are familiar with these processes?? do they have the unswerving support of someone in governement that can this happen??? are they ready (financially / qualified) to take the government on through the legal system to have these laws changed??? can they influence the governement through strength of numbers to change these laws??

The laws in place are seen by the government as "popular" - we are the minority, unfortunately not a trendy minority that needs to be looked after - do you think the ministers give a crap if we cant participate in schutzhund??? They cant even pronounce it let alone understand it enough to think its good thing. We need to cross cultural, political and ideological barriers - that takes a massive, sustained, collective effort....

You said:
As you mentioned it wont stop here they will keep comeing after all of us in the dog world so why not try and stop it here.....with regards to Victoria, it came and went a long time ago and nobody saw it come or go....

So, what a great opportunity for YOUR organisation to promote themselves and bolster the numbers - show us the plan that will win this battle and I'm sure people will come in droves to join the fight. I personally pledge my support, just let me know what is required.

I'm in security and I'd happily help out the schuhtzhund guys.