ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996 TAG: 9611120056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE (AP)
SOURCE: KIMBERLY O'BRIEN DAILY PROGRESS
With her dog Fratz vom Teuchelwald at her side, Cathy Jobe stood a football field's length away from the man wearing the huge, leather-covered sleeve on his arm and carrying a stick.
When the man began running toward him, Fratz, at Jobe's command, took off full-tilt down the field until his teeth made contact, firmly clamping down on the man's arm.
The man struck the dog with the stick; Fratz did not let go. The man tried to run; still, Fratz held fast.
Only at Jobe's command, ``Aus!'' (``Out'' in German) did Fratz let go and drop to the ground.
``That's really good,'' said Tim Cruser, regional director of Central Virginia's Schutzhund Club, as he watched from the sidelines. ``When you send a dog 100 yards away, it's hard to get him to do what you want.''
But Fratz did exactly what Jobe wanted, and the team's performance earned high scores in one phase of the USA Schutzhund III National Championship.
The three-day championship last weekend on Charlottesville High School's football field brought 66 dogs and their handlers from across the country.
Schutzhund, a German word meaning ``protection dog,'' refers to a sport involving the performance of a dog and handler in police-style obedience, tracking and protection tests. It tests an animal's ability to track scents and obey and protect an owner under harrowing circumstances.
The sport originated in Germany in 1901 and is designed for German shepherd dogs - but Doberman pinschers and Rottweilers also compete.
The sport is most common in Germany but has attracted more than 5,000 Americans as well, including 10 Central Virginians.
A Schutzhund team from the United States competes in world championships each year. This year's team took first place at the world championship held in Finland in September.
``It's kind of based around what you want in real-life situations,'' said Todd West, a Schutzhund enthusiast from Dallas, who is serving as an alternate decoy - the person who tests the dog in the protection phase. ``Like if you go into a 7-Eleven, you can tell your dog to `platz' [sit] and he'll be there when you get back.''
The dogs used for Schutzhund are sometimes sold to police departments or the military, West said. But if a trainer has a good dog, he'll keep it.
``Some people play tennis; some people ski,'' said Joanne Plumb, a Canadian resident who helps Jobe and Fratz train. ``Some people play Schutzhund.''
Jobe said the sport takes work, dedication, a simple mastery of the German language (all the commands are in German) and years of training.
``That's all I do,'' Jobe, of Celina, Texas, joked after completing her obedience and protection phases. ``I quit my job to train. But you're never really ready. You're as prepared as you can be.''
After scores in the high 90s (100 being the maximum), Jobe was all smiles.
``Anything over 96 is like an A in school, rather than a B,'' Cruser said. ``It doesn't get much better than that.''
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB