WHAT IS IGP

The National IGP Sport for the German Shepherd Dog is governed by the German Shepherd Dog Federation of South Africa (GSDFSA) via the National Sport Committee (NSC).

The GSDFSA is affiliated to the mother body of the German Shepherd Dog in Germany, the Shaeferhund Verein (SV) and the World Union of German Shepherd Dogs (WUSV).

The NSC is responsible for all matters relating to the IGP Sport in South Africa.

The sport of IGP (International Gebrauchshund Prufung), also referred to in the past as IPO or Schutzhund) has its roots in Germany.

It was originally introduced as a tool to test a dog's working abilities, intelligence, and endurance.

This test was developed to identify dogs with desirable character traits such as:

• a strong desire to work, 
• courage,
• intelligence,
• trainability,
• strong bond to the handler,
• protective instinct and
• sense of smell. 

IGP is a sport that is enjoyed by people of all ages joining together in their common interest in training and working with their awesome German Shepherd dogs.

A completely healthy, capable and sound dog is a must for IGP training.

Character traits such as self-confidence, drive predisposition and pleasure in working must be the distinctive features in the dog.

The sport of IGP involves three phases: 

1. tracking 
2. obedience  
3. protection 

A dog must pass all three phases in one trial to be awarded an IGP title.

Each phase is judged on a 100-point scale. The minimum passing score is 70/100 for each phase.

IGP has three titles, namely: IGP1, IGP2 and IGP3.

A judge may dismiss a dog at any time during a trial if that dog displays a show of poor or weak temperament, including fear or aggression.

IGP is a sport that focuses on developing and evaluating working traits in our German Shepherd dogs enabling breeders to ensure that the German Shepherd dog remains useful, stable and a happier family protection companion to their owners.