Editing Schutzhund (section)

==Traits of Schutzhund dogs==
[[File:Schutzhund trial, guarding test.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Guarding the decoy (man). A schutzhund dog must have confidence and self-control.]]
Schutzhund tests dogs for the traits necessary for police-type work. Dogs trained in Schutzhund are suitable for a wide variety of working tasks: [[police dog|police work]], specific odor detection, [[search and rescue]], and many others. The purpose of Schutzhund is to identify dogs that have, or do not have, the character traits required for these demanding jobs such as a strong desire to work, courage, intelligence, trainability, strong bond to the handler, perseverance, protective instinct, and a good sense of smell. Schutzhund also tests for physical traits such as strength, endurance, agility, and scenting ability. The goal of Schutzhund is to illuminate the character and ability of a dog through training. Breeders can use this insight to determine how and whether to use the dog in producing the next generation of working dogs.<ref name=lopez>{{cite web|url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/downtown/las-vegas-club-trains-german-shepherds-for-sport-in-style-similar-to-police-k-9s/|title=Las Vegas club trains German shepherds for sport in style similar to police K-9s|date=May 27, 2016|publisher=[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]]|access-date=February 7, 2019|first=Sandy|last=Lopez|archive-date=February 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124326/https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/downtown/las-vegas-club-trains-german-shepherds-for-sport-in-style-similar-to-police-k-9s/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The German Shepherd was developed from working [[herding dog]]s around 1900 as an all-around working dog. Within a few years it was clear that the dogs were losing their working ability. Schutzhund was developed at this time as a test of working ability for German Shepherds. Only German Shepherds that had passed a Schutzhund test or a herding test were allowed to breed and thus have their progeny registered as German Shepherd Dogs (GSD). This is true in Germany to this day. It is only by testing the working ability of every generation that the strong working characteristics of the GSD have been maintained.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.canidae.com/blog/2014/06/why-do-guardian-dogs-excel-at-schutzhund/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124029/https://www.canidae.com/blog/2014/06/why-do-guardian-dogs-excel-at-schutzhund/|archive-date=February 9, 2019|date=June 10, 2014|first=Linda|last=Cole|title=Why Do Guardian Dogs Excel at Schutzhund?|access-date=February 7, 2019|website=canidae.com}}</ref>

Today, any breed can participate in the sport, though some [[Breed club (dog)|breed clubs]] run trials for just their single-breed members. The intermediate and advanced levels of the sport and the top titles are dominated by [[German Shepherd Dog|German Shepherds]] and [[Belgian Malinois]], with [[Doberman]]s, [[Rottweiler]]s, and [[Bouvier des Flandres]] also quite successful.<ref name=dvgstats>{{Cite web|url=http://dvg-america.com/trial-center/trial-results/|title=Trial results|website=dvg-america.com|date=11 July 2017 |access-date=2020-07-15|archive-date=2020-07-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717032004/http://dvg-america.com/trial-center/trial-results/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fci-ipowm2019.at/en/fciipowc2019/|title=FCI IGP World Championship results 2019|publisher=[[Fédération Cynologique Internationale]]|access-date=2020-07-15|archive-date=2018-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126204046/http://www.fci-ipowm2019.at/en/fciipowc2019/|url-status=live}}</ref> At the beginning levels such as BH level (Companion Dog test) and OB (Obedience), a wide variety of breeds and sizes participate.<ref name=dvgstats />