Post by Vadim on Mar 8, 2010 23:19:22 GMT -5
Interview with John K from Wustensturm Working Dobermans featuring B Litter Hara's Wustensturm.
Huge thanks to John K for taking the time to respond to our questions. We wish him continued success in all your pursuits.
If you have follow up questions please ask. I believe he will be by to answer additional questions. If you own one of these dogs any pics or video would be greatly appreciated.
Vadim
1) John please tell us a bit about yourself. How long have you been working dogs? What other breeds have you handled? What clubs have you trained with? How/when did you get into Dobermanns?
Not sure if it was the Hollywood hype from the movie the “The Doberman Gang” or my experience with the breed as a kid but I’ve always had a fascination with the Dobermann. I bought my first Dobermann back in 1989, which I found out of the Phoenix newspaper. When I called on the ad, the breeder had 2 males left in the litter so we arranged a meeting to see the pups. I had no idea what I was looking for nor did I know how I was going to decide. Anyway, we were at the breeder’s house watching/interacting with the pups as they played and ran around. I was in the back yard for probably 30 minutes or more and had not decided which pup I wanted. Baron was brown and I thought that was unique so I was leaning towards him since I had never seen a brown dobie up to that point. My decision was finally made when Baron robbed the breeders’ young son of his lunch. He had been asking mommy for something to eat from the time we arrived. She excused herself from our visit to make her son a peanut butter and jelly sandwich As the boy was sitting on the lawn chair outside, very happily eating half his sandwich, , Baron ran by and snatched the other half sandwich off of the plate without missing a step. After all the screaming, crying and laughter had stopped, I made my decision and was taking Baron home with me.
I wanted to do something with my dog but had no idea what to do. So, I first tried the show stuff and signed up for one of those 8 week classes. Anyway, after a few of the classes, I knew this wasn’t for us. First, Baron didn’t inherit any of his parent’s championship conformation qualities and other than giving the dog treats for doing nothing, it bored me to death.
Next I tried AKC obedience training. Unfortunately, this could have been an experience that ended my interest in working dogs. First the trainer would demonstrate with her dog, release her dog, and then have me run through the training. Well, when she would release her dog, the dog would run straight under the picnic bench, with her ears back and tail tucked. I discovered later she was straight out of Koehler’s method of training. She would have me “crank” Baron for every exercise without any reward for doing it properly. The training class lasted 8 weeks but I ended it after the 4th training session, realizing this course wasn’t really for us.
After that, in casual conversation, Baron’s breeder told me about a new Schutzhund club in Phoenix. I called the training director, who happened to have trained a Doberman in the sport once. We went to take a look, were welcomed into the club, and the rest is history.
2) What differences have you experienced handling a dobe vs. other breeds, how about differences from a helpers perspective?
Most of my Schutzhund experience (for handling and decoy work) has come from GSD clubs/people. I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to learn from some excellent handlers and helpers over the years, but especially in the beginning when the help was most needed! Because of my experience and background, I’ve never really believed in different training methods for different breeds. I believe a good dog is a good dog. Obviously, every dog has a distinct personality that will require different levels of both correction and reward, but I don’t believe that is breed-specific. Differences in training methods for dogs are dependent on primarily 2 things: the capability of the dog and the capability and style of the handler. While I have spent most of my time in Schutzhund having the only Doberman in the club, I never felt it created any limitations in achieving my goals for success in the sport.
3) Why/When did you decide to breed Dobermanns?
Everyone has a different vision of a dobermann. I wasn’t really looking to get into breeding, but at the time, I was having difficulty finding dobes in the US that had the characteristics I felt would enable success in the sport. And since I didn’t really have the contacts in Europe yet, and I really liked the female I was competing with at the time (Benga v. Dizen), I decided to try to breed my next competition dog.
4) Tell us about "Eisa" Evita v Dragonerreich. How did you pick her? What was she like as a young dog? What were her strongest qualities as a competitive working dog?
Evita is a great bitch. But how I came about owning her and competing with her was just fate. Over the years, I’ve met some great people in the dog sport, including some of my best friends.. One very close friend shared the same vision of a working dobermann. We decided to work together, and find a strong bitch from Europe that had the characteristics we were seeking. My friend had been to Europe a couple of times to look at dogs and kennels. One of the breeders he liked was Carsten Reichl. He was particularly interested in one female, Gini, so when Carsten planned to breed her to Baron, we called him and asked him to send us a good one. Unfortunately, my friend passed away before he had the chance to see the success of Eisa’s first litter.
Eisa was a little hell-raiser as a young dog, the same trait I saw in most of her puppies. But her strength was her work ethic in the protection phase. I think my friend Lance Collins summed it up best during the period he was her training helper…”she knows why she’s out here”. Eisa was very clear-headed in the work, always intent on the helper through barking and eye contact and always strong in her grip on the sleeve. It just came very natural to her.
5) What were your goals with your B litter? How did you come to choose Alfred Haus Mann for the litter's stud? What were the qualities you hoped he would pass on?
My goal with any litter is to produce a dog that can compete at a high level. What that means to me is having strong temperament, high drive, and willingness to work.
Actually, Alfred was not my first choice when I was planning a breeding with Evita. My first choice was Bronco v.d. Doberwatche but unfortunately, my flight plans had been screwed up and I had to come up with a backup plan quickly. The ADA ZTP had just ended and Alfred was entered in the event. Because I did the helper work for the event, I was able to work Alfred first hand. I liked what I saw in him and thought it would be a good match for Evita.
6) What was the litter like at a young age? Was it what you expected?
It was a good litter from the very beginning. The pups were full of drive, attitude and it was never a dull moment while they were together. Honestly, it was really more than I expected. My wife, who is a GSD trainer, almost kept one…if that says anything!
7) How many puppies were in the litter? How many went to working homes? How did you choose which puppy went to which home?
There were 7 puppies in the litter, which consisted of 5 females and 2 males. All of the pups except the smallest female went to working homes. Even though she was the smallest from the litter, she still had attitude and drive and could have easily been worked in protection sports. She ended up going to an owner in North Carolina and living on a horse ranch.
8) How many dogs from the litter have been titled? Please tell us a little bit about each of them. Who are they, what are their titles and who are the owners? Are there others that are in training and should be titled soon? Do you happen to have any pictures you can share?
Of the 7 puppies, 4 are currently titled. One female went to a non-working home so she will never see the working field and another untitled female is currently being worked in Schutzhund and will eventually earn her titles. A lot will depend on the owner’s health as he has a disability, and it keeps him from being as active as he would like. I own the other untitled male from the litter and he showed super potential but was injured early on in his career and is retired.
The dogs currently working are:
Bane’s Family Jewel, Sch 3 (UDC Sch 3 Champion) - owned by Jason Bane
Boeing (Jet), Sch 3 (UDC Sch 2 Champion) - owned by Terri Clary
Brenna, Sch 3 (IDC Competitor), owned by Ali Baker, handled by Matt ??
Bruno, Sch 2, owned and handled by Tammy Kowalczyk
Belle, Bh? - owned by Alvin Clemmons
9) Now that they are older is the litter what you planned? What are the differences? Any surprises?
You never know what to expect from breeding combinations but the pups have grown into what I was hoping for from the breeding.
10) What are your plans for breeding? How do you plan to use this litter in your breeding plans?
I plan to continue my original goal of breeding dobes that can compete at high levels. We just bred Ha’Ras Banes Family Jewel v. Wustensturm to Calle v.d. Burgstette. I feel this will be an exceptional working breeding, and expect the combination to produce the working characteristics I mentioned before. In addition, there have been 2 recent litters sired by Bruno, and one recent breeding.
11) You are known as an always smooth handler, what advice do you have for new handlers getting into competition?
Thanks for the compliment. This is a difficult question to answer because I don’t think Schutzhund is the same sport now compared to when I first got involved. It seemed people were very interested in helping each other, sharing knowledge and working together to build the sport. Today, it seems the sport is dominated by professionals, not all who have enough experience to benefit new handlers. I think it’s difficult for people who are new to the sport to gain knowledge and experience without having to spend a great deal of money on training. I think that’s unfortunate, as this could create obstacles in growing the sport and encouraging new and younger handlers. My suggestion to new people would be to attend as many seminars as possible, gain as much knowledge as you can, try to find one or two mentors, but don’t be afraid to experiment with different training methods. Over time, with lots of practice and experience, a person can develop his or her own style of training and handling. And my strongest suggestion: get out on the field and compete . Things won’t always go well, but the best way to improve is to find your weaknesses and strengthen them.
Huge thanks to John K for taking the time to respond to our questions. We wish him continued success in all your pursuits.
If you have follow up questions please ask. I believe he will be by to answer additional questions. If you own one of these dogs any pics or video would be greatly appreciated.
Vadim
1) John please tell us a bit about yourself. How long have you been working dogs? What other breeds have you handled? What clubs have you trained with? How/when did you get into Dobermanns?
Not sure if it was the Hollywood hype from the movie the “The Doberman Gang” or my experience with the breed as a kid but I’ve always had a fascination with the Dobermann. I bought my first Dobermann back in 1989, which I found out of the Phoenix newspaper. When I called on the ad, the breeder had 2 males left in the litter so we arranged a meeting to see the pups. I had no idea what I was looking for nor did I know how I was going to decide. Anyway, we were at the breeder’s house watching/interacting with the pups as they played and ran around. I was in the back yard for probably 30 minutes or more and had not decided which pup I wanted. Baron was brown and I thought that was unique so I was leaning towards him since I had never seen a brown dobie up to that point. My decision was finally made when Baron robbed the breeders’ young son of his lunch. He had been asking mommy for something to eat from the time we arrived. She excused herself from our visit to make her son a peanut butter and jelly sandwich As the boy was sitting on the lawn chair outside, very happily eating half his sandwich, , Baron ran by and snatched the other half sandwich off of the plate without missing a step. After all the screaming, crying and laughter had stopped, I made my decision and was taking Baron home with me.
I wanted to do something with my dog but had no idea what to do. So, I first tried the show stuff and signed up for one of those 8 week classes. Anyway, after a few of the classes, I knew this wasn’t for us. First, Baron didn’t inherit any of his parent’s championship conformation qualities and other than giving the dog treats for doing nothing, it bored me to death.
Next I tried AKC obedience training. Unfortunately, this could have been an experience that ended my interest in working dogs. First the trainer would demonstrate with her dog, release her dog, and then have me run through the training. Well, when she would release her dog, the dog would run straight under the picnic bench, with her ears back and tail tucked. I discovered later she was straight out of Koehler’s method of training. She would have me “crank” Baron for every exercise without any reward for doing it properly. The training class lasted 8 weeks but I ended it after the 4th training session, realizing this course wasn’t really for us.
After that, in casual conversation, Baron’s breeder told me about a new Schutzhund club in Phoenix. I called the training director, who happened to have trained a Doberman in the sport once. We went to take a look, were welcomed into the club, and the rest is history.
2) What differences have you experienced handling a dobe vs. other breeds, how about differences from a helpers perspective?
Most of my Schutzhund experience (for handling and decoy work) has come from GSD clubs/people. I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to learn from some excellent handlers and helpers over the years, but especially in the beginning when the help was most needed! Because of my experience and background, I’ve never really believed in different training methods for different breeds. I believe a good dog is a good dog. Obviously, every dog has a distinct personality that will require different levels of both correction and reward, but I don’t believe that is breed-specific. Differences in training methods for dogs are dependent on primarily 2 things: the capability of the dog and the capability and style of the handler. While I have spent most of my time in Schutzhund having the only Doberman in the club, I never felt it created any limitations in achieving my goals for success in the sport.
3) Why/When did you decide to breed Dobermanns?
Everyone has a different vision of a dobermann. I wasn’t really looking to get into breeding, but at the time, I was having difficulty finding dobes in the US that had the characteristics I felt would enable success in the sport. And since I didn’t really have the contacts in Europe yet, and I really liked the female I was competing with at the time (Benga v. Dizen), I decided to try to breed my next competition dog.
4) Tell us about "Eisa" Evita v Dragonerreich. How did you pick her? What was she like as a young dog? What were her strongest qualities as a competitive working dog?
Evita is a great bitch. But how I came about owning her and competing with her was just fate. Over the years, I’ve met some great people in the dog sport, including some of my best friends.. One very close friend shared the same vision of a working dobermann. We decided to work together, and find a strong bitch from Europe that had the characteristics we were seeking. My friend had been to Europe a couple of times to look at dogs and kennels. One of the breeders he liked was Carsten Reichl. He was particularly interested in one female, Gini, so when Carsten planned to breed her to Baron, we called him and asked him to send us a good one. Unfortunately, my friend passed away before he had the chance to see the success of Eisa’s first litter.
Eisa was a little hell-raiser as a young dog, the same trait I saw in most of her puppies. But her strength was her work ethic in the protection phase. I think my friend Lance Collins summed it up best during the period he was her training helper…”she knows why she’s out here”. Eisa was very clear-headed in the work, always intent on the helper through barking and eye contact and always strong in her grip on the sleeve. It just came very natural to her.
5) What were your goals with your B litter? How did you come to choose Alfred Haus Mann for the litter's stud? What were the qualities you hoped he would pass on?
My goal with any litter is to produce a dog that can compete at a high level. What that means to me is having strong temperament, high drive, and willingness to work.
Actually, Alfred was not my first choice when I was planning a breeding with Evita. My first choice was Bronco v.d. Doberwatche but unfortunately, my flight plans had been screwed up and I had to come up with a backup plan quickly. The ADA ZTP had just ended and Alfred was entered in the event. Because I did the helper work for the event, I was able to work Alfred first hand. I liked what I saw in him and thought it would be a good match for Evita.
6) What was the litter like at a young age? Was it what you expected?
It was a good litter from the very beginning. The pups were full of drive, attitude and it was never a dull moment while they were together. Honestly, it was really more than I expected. My wife, who is a GSD trainer, almost kept one…if that says anything!
7) How many puppies were in the litter? How many went to working homes? How did you choose which puppy went to which home?
There were 7 puppies in the litter, which consisted of 5 females and 2 males. All of the pups except the smallest female went to working homes. Even though she was the smallest from the litter, she still had attitude and drive and could have easily been worked in protection sports. She ended up going to an owner in North Carolina and living on a horse ranch.
8) How many dogs from the litter have been titled? Please tell us a little bit about each of them. Who are they, what are their titles and who are the owners? Are there others that are in training and should be titled soon? Do you happen to have any pictures you can share?
Of the 7 puppies, 4 are currently titled. One female went to a non-working home so she will never see the working field and another untitled female is currently being worked in Schutzhund and will eventually earn her titles. A lot will depend on the owner’s health as he has a disability, and it keeps him from being as active as he would like. I own the other untitled male from the litter and he showed super potential but was injured early on in his career and is retired.
The dogs currently working are:
Bane’s Family Jewel, Sch 3 (UDC Sch 3 Champion) - owned by Jason Bane
Boeing (Jet), Sch 3 (UDC Sch 2 Champion) - owned by Terri Clary
Brenna, Sch 3 (IDC Competitor), owned by Ali Baker, handled by Matt ??
Bruno, Sch 2, owned and handled by Tammy Kowalczyk
Belle, Bh? - owned by Alvin Clemmons
9) Now that they are older is the litter what you planned? What are the differences? Any surprises?
You never know what to expect from breeding combinations but the pups have grown into what I was hoping for from the breeding.
10) What are your plans for breeding? How do you plan to use this litter in your breeding plans?
I plan to continue my original goal of breeding dobes that can compete at high levels. We just bred Ha’Ras Banes Family Jewel v. Wustensturm to Calle v.d. Burgstette. I feel this will be an exceptional working breeding, and expect the combination to produce the working characteristics I mentioned before. In addition, there have been 2 recent litters sired by Bruno, and one recent breeding.
11) You are known as an always smooth handler, what advice do you have for new handlers getting into competition?
Thanks for the compliment. This is a difficult question to answer because I don’t think Schutzhund is the same sport now compared to when I first got involved. It seemed people were very interested in helping each other, sharing knowledge and working together to build the sport. Today, it seems the sport is dominated by professionals, not all who have enough experience to benefit new handlers. I think it’s difficult for people who are new to the sport to gain knowledge and experience without having to spend a great deal of money on training. I think that’s unfortunate, as this could create obstacles in growing the sport and encouraging new and younger handlers. My suggestion to new people would be to attend as many seminars as possible, gain as much knowledge as you can, try to find one or two mentors, but don’t be afraid to experiment with different training methods. Over time, with lots of practice and experience, a person can develop his or her own style of training and handling. And my strongest suggestion: get out on the field and compete . Things won’t always go well, but the best way to improve is to find your weaknesses and strengthen them.
