Youbeyouibei - French is very different from Schutzhund. In French Ring the dog bites a full body suit, and are able to bite any where on that suit. My boy is just about ready to start on the suit They use the clatter stick, which is a peice of bamboo that is split to make a lot of noise instead of the whip. There is not as much focus on the obedience looking pretty, more on functional obedience. They put a lot more pressure on the dog in French Ring to really prove that the dog has the nerves and drives to do the sport. There are also a palisade jump which is like a 7 foot wall the dog has to scale, and a long jump that is like 10 to 12 feet long that they have to clear along with the 4 foot jump. And there is no tracking in French Ring.
I have trained in Schutzhund a few years back, but I really enjoy French RIng more