Calgary dog training club hosting North American competition

The K9 Force Working Dog Club is hosting the K9 Force Cup where 72 dogs from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and parts of the United States are coming to compete.

Isabella Oxsengendler, the club's president and training director, says the dogs are typically bigger breeds who love to work and spend years training.

"Schutzhund, or IGP as it's known right now, is a three-discipline sport," she said. "We do tracking, obedience and protection and in order to receive a title, the dog needs to pass all three disciplines in one event."

Oxsengendler says Schutzhund began in Germany in the 1900s as a test to identify and assess qualities needed in a successful working dog and over time it evolved into a sport.

She says IGP is an abbreviation of the German name for the sport and there are three levels of classification. She breeds dogs and her German Shepherd named Cobra competes all over the world.

"I just spent five weeks in Czech Republic where I competed internationally twice," she said. "And in a couple of weeks, we're going to take off again to Europe for another competition."

K9 Force has 12 active members who typically start working with their dogs at eight weeks old. Its mission is to promote and make individuals fall in love with the sport and their goal is to help people learn the disciplines, and one day confidently step on the competition field.

Czort is a four-year-old German Shepherd who loves to work according to owner Adam Karabas who's had him for his whole life.

"He constantly wants to work, he constantly begs me," he said. "We have a training room in our house where we do some exercises in the winter when it's really cold, so whenever we pass by, he gives me that look like, 'come on buddy, let's do something.'"

Juraj Miklos is a member but also a helper. He wears a special suit to protect himself from scratches and a heavy sleeve that dogs bite onto while competing. It's frightening to watch for the untrained eye, but his role helps the judges see the best attributes of the working dogs.

"The German Shepherd and other breeds love the bite," he said. "But what is very important is we teach the dog how to not bite, how to be under control, how to be tested (properly) and how to enjoy the sport and then get home safely to enjoy the kids and families."

Alfred Dewitte's partner is two-and-a-half-year-old Hanzo, an Airedale Terrier who will be working on a certification at the competition. Dewitte says 100 years ago they were the breed of choice before the German Shepherds.

"In the First World War, quite a few were active as messenger dogs," he said. "Lots of them in the U.K. were police dogs."

Dewitte says competitions are a way to test a dog's focus on a circuit in front of judges.

"You start with 100 points," he said. "Every time you do something which is not exactly according to the rule, you know the dog is still sitting straight or it's a bit slow, you lose points and you need at least 70 points to pass."

K9 Force is an all-breed working dog club. It doesn't require any specific breeds, however, in order to successfully compete in the sport, it selects dogs with genetic predispositions who are capable of performing.

The K9 Force Cup runs Sept. 27, 28 and 29 at the club's training facility in the northeast and organizers say it is an entertaining spectator sport. Learn more about it on the club's Facebook page.