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Protection Sports at AthleticDogs.com

Protection sports evaluate a dog’s ability to protect both himself and his (or her) handler. The tests and trials of the various protection sports are based on the overall temperament of the dog. That is, the dog must be protective, but also safe for the handler and public and responsive to the handler’s commands. Dogs may be trained for personal protection, for work (police and military), or for sport.

Those unfamiliar with protection sports often dismiss them as too closely related to dog fighting. In fact, success in any of these protection sports requires an extremely high level of obedience and self-control on the part of the dogs. Each sport includes its own exercises that test obedience, jumps, and protection in one form or another.

Most protection sports are modeled to some extent on police dog training. The most common protection sports include:

• Schutzhund (US or Canada) Developed in Germany in the early 1900s, Schutzhund was designed to test the breeding stock of German Shepherd Dogs. A very difficult sport, dogs who are not bred for Schutzhund are rarely able to compete at the highest levels.   
• French Ring Sport   The sport involves jumps, obedience, and bite work. Closely related to Belgium Ring, it also incorporates pieces of schutzhund and mondio.
• Belgium Ring Sport The oldest and most difficult form of protection sports, Belgium Ringsport is dominated by the Malinois breed.
• Mondio Ring Sport
• P.S.A.(Protection Sports Association)   Sanctions civilian competitions in obedience and controlled protection, including championships, throughout the US.
• K-9 Pro Sports   The oldest American protection dog sport, the organization now sanctions international competitions in the area of personal protection dogs.
• United Schutzhund Club of America