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JJ Belcher, owner of local training facility Sublime Canine, is 蜜柚直播鈥檚 perfect example of the principle of six degrees of separation. If Belcher doesn鈥檛 know everybody in the tight-knit community of dog training, it鈥檚 close.

Seemingly all participants in dock diving, flyball and barn hunt (and their owners) have had help along the way from Belcher.

Sublime Canine offers everything from puppy foundation and socialization to world championship competitive dog training and coaching.

And while Belcher, 41, excels at most types of dog sports, his favorite is Schutzhund.

German for 鈥減rotection dog,鈥� Schutzhund is much more than that.

Schutzhund focuses on obedience, tracking and protection. The skills taught are similar to how protection or guard dogs are trained. But in Schutzhund, the dogs see it as a sport.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a big game for the dogs,鈥� Belcher said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like teaching a dog martial arts.鈥�

The training dogs receive make them more useful companions to their owners and happier dogs overall.

Belcher got his first taste of Schutzhund when he was younger, working as a decoy and donning the heavily padded sleeve that German shepherds or other working-breed dogs are supposed to bite as part of the trial. From there, he was hooked.

To understand how a task that would terrify many instead served as a welcome banner for Belcher, one has to know more about him.

Belcher, 41, was born and raised in 蜜柚直播, graduating from Flowing Wells High School. He initially went into bullriding, but his career was dashed in the late 1990s by injury.

That鈥檚 when he turned his love of animals and talent for taming them to a different line of work. He began training dogs in 1999. By 2000, Belcher had received his dog training certificate. He opened Sublime Canine in 2004.

Belcher initially taught basic obedience. When customers started wanting help with behavioral issues, Belcher saw an opportunity. He began shadowing a behavioral expert on appointments. That鈥檚 when he discovered Schutzhund.

鈥淚n the beginning, watching competitive obedience was never interesting to me, I didn鈥檛 want my dog to be a robot,鈥� Belcher said. 鈥淭hen I realized how wrong I was. The dogs weren鈥檛 robots; the people were just really good at teaching them and creating this picture.鈥�

And while he initially was intrigued by the novelty and adrenaline rush associated with his decoy work, he quickly became more interested in the training aspect of Schutzhund and working with the dogs on an emotional level.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 good enough for my dog to lay down. It had to lay down immediately in a straight-line position while running,鈥� Belcher said. 鈥淪chutzhund made me better as a dog trainer and helped me communicate better with the dogs.鈥�

Schutzhund got its start in America in 1957, going through several governing groups before the 1975 formation of the United Schutzhund Club of America. At its inception, USCA had six full-member clubs and seven affiliated clubs; by 2013, this number had increased to over 200 full-member clubs.

Belcher said that getting involved with Schutzhund helped him level up as a trainer, saying that it 鈥渒ind of put a spotlight on everything I did as a pet-dog trainer.鈥�

There are a handful of Schutzhund clubs in 蜜柚直播, and more in Phoenix, equating to about five trials a year in 蜜柚直播. Belcher takes his own dogs and clients鈥� dogs to trials and has helped dozens of local dogs and their humans get involved in the sport over the years.

鈥淭here are people that breed specifically for the sport, and it can be a lot easier when you have the genetic components that make that dog good,鈥� Belcher said, adding that a dog doesn鈥檛 have to be bred for Schutzhund to excel at the sport. 鈥淚 started personally with dog I adopted from Humane Society.鈥�

Since then, Belcher has competed with several other dogs and these days is working with his Belgian Malinois, Encore, as well as a Doberman and German Shepherd that belong to clients.

While Schutzhund is a three-phase sport, dogs can trial in any of the phases individually. Belcher has helped one client get her mastiff titled in tracking and another client title her dachshund for its obedience and temperament.

It wasn鈥檛 until he鈥檇 explored Schutzhund that Belcher discovered the plethora of other dog sports. Since then, he and his staff have helped clients master them all, with Belcher and other Sublime Canine trainers having competed in obedience, rally, barn hunt, flyball, herding, ringsport, tracking, nosework and dock diving.

鈥淲hen working with pet dogs, I always try to let people know they have options to try other things,鈥� Belcher said. 鈥淭heir dog might not be able to jump a meter hurdle, but that doesn鈥檛 mean they won鈥檛 be good at tracking.鈥�

And given the nature of most of his work, he鈥檚 been able to continue most of his training safely. While Belcher had to reschedule a handful of workshops, classes and out-of-town seminars in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, he was able to continue private lessons and training day camps.

鈥淲e work outside and we work one-on-one,鈥� Belcher said. 鈥淲e can keep enough social distance from each other.鈥�

鈥淚 look a lot at the relationship we have with dogs, and I think getting into something like agility or flyball or whatever interests you really helps create a deeper bond with your dog,鈥� Belcher said. 鈥淭rying some different things can be fun even if you don鈥檛 want to get into competitions. It鈥檚 a great relationship builder with the dogs, and it鈥檚 a great social opportunity, too.鈥�

Belcher can attest to that last part.

鈥淚 met my ex-wife when she hired me to train her dog,鈥� he said with a laugh, 鈥渁nd there鈥檚 a good chance I鈥檒l meet my future ex-wife in the dog training world.鈥�

Dog sports also helped him find a community of like-minded people who get excited just talking about their dogs and ways to improve their furry friends鈥� lives.

鈥淓ver since I started training dogs, I have been preaching that dog training saves lives. Not just the dogs鈥� lives that I鈥檓 saving, but people鈥檚 too,鈥� Belcher said. 鈥淧eople get a lot out of their relationships with their dogs. I want to make sure we keep those guys safe.鈥�