The Schutzhund Trial has three parts, Tracking, Obedience, and Protection.

In the Tracking phase, a track is laid by a person walking at a normal pace on natural surface, grass or dirt, which includes a number of turns and a number of small man-made objects left on the track by the track layer. With a 10 meter lead, the handler follows the dog, which is expected to scent the track and indicate each of the objects. The length and difficulty of the track various with the title the dog is being tested.

In the Obedience phase, a heeling pattern with various tasks that the handler and dog must do with precision and under some degree of distractions, such as milling group of people and gun shots. This phase also includes retrieval of a dumbbell of various weights and over various terrain, such as flat ground, one meter hurdle, and a six foot slanted wall. The dog is also expected to do a series of in motion commands, such as the send out where the dog is commanded to go out on a dead run and after about 30 paces, on command, immediately downs. The dog must also do a long down with handler out of view and with distractions of another dog going it’s obedience routine.