Schutzhund tests dogs of all breeds for the traits necessary for police-type work. Dogs that pass Schutzhund tests should be suitable for a wide variety of tasks: 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. Some of those traits are: Strong desire to work - Courage - Intelligence – Trainability - Strong bond to the handler -Perseverance - Protective Instinct. Schutzhund training tests these traits. It also tests physical traits such as strength, endurance, agility, and scenting ability.

The goal of Schutzhund is to illuminate the character 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.

Trained German Shepherd dogs have a significantly higher value than puppies. They are a wonderful asset to people who are not able to put in the time necessary to train a dog or raise a puppy.

Hundreds of training hours are needed before a dog can pass the stringent requirements of a training degree. They require obedience training and training should be ongoing and consistent. Trained German Shepherds can be used for protection, service dogs, schutzhund, IPO, and K9 German Shepherds.