Shelly Leibowitz, President and Head Trainer at Shelly’s School for Dogs in Freehold, New Jersey was granted the highest honor to represent the United States in the dog sport of Schutzhund.

In order to qualify for this distinguished honor, he and his dog Zion van de Hildewaerde SchHlll, IPOIII, KK1 (German Shepherd Dog) had to compete against 55 of the top ranking dogs and their handlers in the United States. The pressure of the competition was fierce and the entire event took place in Tennessee under the watchful scrutiny of three judges from Finland, Germany, and the United States, respectively.

Only 2 of the 55 dogs were selected to be part of the World Team. Shelly Leibowitz and his dog Zion will be on the Team and will compete in Holland in September 2005 against other dogs and their handlers from other countries throughout the world. The World Team competition is considered to be the elite group for the Olympics of Schutzhund Dog Sport.

Schutzhund is a rigorous, demanding sport where dogs and handlers compete against top dogs for points in the areas of.- tracking, obedience, and protection. Each of these three areas have a multitude of highly specialized task accomplishments.

Shelly Leibowitz has been training all pedigree and mixed breed dogs since 1970. Shelly’s School for Dogs specializes in basic and advanced dog obedience; house breaking; chewing; jumping; mouthing; bolting out the door, and other behavioral problems.