Schutzhund/IPO:

The most internationally well-known and popular dogsport for working and service breeds is Schutzhund, which was originally developed in Germany more than a hundred years ago. In the beginning, Schutzhund was designed as an examination to evaluate the German Shepherd Dog's temperament, trainability, and physical soundness for breeding purposes.

In German, the word "Schutz" means protect, and "Hund" means dog. Schutzhund is a very exciting and competitive sport. It requires a genetically well-bred dog and a talented trainer and handler. It is widely practiced in Europe and North America. It is gradually gaining popularity in Australia and Asia.

There are 3 phases in Schutzhund. They include Tracking, Obedience, and Protection. Each phase contains 100 points, making up a total of 300 points in the examination. Every handler and dog team starts off with 100 points in each phase, and points are deducted by the judge from mistakes made by either the handler or the dog. The handler and dog team has to pass all 3 phases to earn their Schutzhund title, which means obtaining no less than 70 points in each of the three phases. The scoring system in the sport is extremely strict. There has never been any handler/dog team that has ever achieved the total 300 points in world championships. The breeds that currently excel in international level Schutzhund competitions are the German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois.

Schutzhund has three levels. Schutzhund 1 or SchH1 is the beginner level. SchH2 is the intermediate level. SchH3 is the master level of the sport and it is the most difficult to achieve. Before a dog can compete and enter the Schutzhund examination for his first SchH1 title, he has to pass his BH or Companion Dog Test to ensure he has sufficient character for further evaluation.

In some countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, Schutzhund is also called IPO, GHP, and VPG, but they are basically the same program governed by different organizations.

Every year, there are 3 most prestigious and highlighted international events in the sport of Schutzhund/IPO - the FMBB (Belgian Shepherd Dog World Championship), WUSV (German Shepherd Dog World Championship), and FCI (World Championship for All Working Breeds). Beside these world events, there are also other major national championships such as the Belgian National, American National, and the Bundessiegerprüfung and DMC in Germany.