From the ofical DVG mailing to Clubs:

The following is the official membership count from Germany as of
January 1, 2006. There have been additional memberships that have been
posted since then, but this is the count as of January 1.

Midwest KG -- 287 members
KG North -- 139 members
Southeast KG -- 222 members
Western KG -- 280 members

Total membership as of January 1, 2006 is 928 members.





This was just an FYI, it'd be interesting to see the offical numbers for SchH USA also.



I can say that in the past three or four years that ASR has increased it's membership around 400% to 500% ( I'm the treasurer for ASR, so I actually know the figures <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) and I'd love to know the offical numbers for PSA, as I believed they had more members than we did ( although that may not be true now ).

Add the NARA membership list and you'd have pretty much have the actual figures for serious working dog people in the U.S. - that'd be a nice number to know.

The more I read about ASR, the more interested I have become. My husband is getting more interested as well, since he feels that is more like "Schutzhund USED to be". (He was last heavily involved in SchH back in the early 80's.) From what we have seen, it really has become more play and less "real". Unfortunately for us, NO one is involved in ASR around here anywhere.

Somehow I thought it would be a lot more than that. That is pretty sad really. I think ring is only around 300. Just a number I heard tossed around.

It is kind of sad that DVG is so small. It is run much better than Schutzhund USA.

I joined USA in 1976 and have become disgusted with it. I see it as a corrupt, mismanaged organization that promotes cronyism. This is why I made the decision (several years ago) to no longer video tape their national events.

I always expected USA to mature and instead it is decaying. It will not surprise me to some day see it desolve.

Ed,I joined not too long after the great SchH "Schism" where Tom Rose and several other early SchH practioner's left SchH USA and sought out DVG as a governing body.

I don't think that SchH USA has more than 4k members total. Those numbers totaled with the other working dog organizations just don't show a lot of serious dog trainers and handlers for a country our size. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Will,
If I undertand things correctly, this country takes a backwards approach. The main registering body, the AKC, discourages participation in SCh style training and competition. This keeps a lot of people from finding out about the sport(s)/training. I wonder how much the internet has effected membership?

I think it is more a cultural difference than anything else. Dogs, for the most part, are viewed much differently in Europe than here. Even if individual breeds didn't exist, per se, European's have been using dogs as working animals for hundreds of years.

With the coming of the industrial age, when a dogs usefulness as a working partner diminished, Europeans channeled that working bond into dog sport.

Relative to Europe, the US is VERY young (230 years old is a fraction of the age of Europe). I don't think there has ever been a serious relationship with dogs in the US (as working animals) aside from hunters, perhaps. And even that is a small percentage of people, relative to the population as a whole. Add to that the shear geographic size of the US and it becomes problematic for any "working dog movement" in the US to grow.

The final negative influence is the simple fact that the VAST majority of people in the country could care less about a dog as a working animal (as most of us view it) and only want a dog that "looks good", is friendly, relatively obedient and is simply put: a good family pet. Whether the direct reason for this is the AKC (and their views) or not, is debateable.

But the bottom line is that the US will never see a large working dog enthusiast population until that sigular view changes. And that has about as much of a chance of happening as I have to win the BSP <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Hallo
I have not had good experience with the shutz clubs. Here in my state we dont even have a helper <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />.
I am getting in to a position.. Well kinda desperate. Maybe you guys know of somebody in Idaho,Boise.
I still have 7 mos time to find somebody. I still have a pup, but I wouls love to support his drives... I still get them confused (learning from this board the names and expenations)
Dvg is not even here, and I dont think that people would join and create a club, nobody here I have met is serious about training like I am. Or maybe there are people but I haven't met them yet. Some people here have great knowledge and great dogs, but nothing to what I am used to from my country, where police would train with publick (for example).
Maybe somebody can help? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Contact Willie Pope in Spokane, WA. He would know who is in your area. You should be able to find him through Schutzhund USA.

Chet, Thank you so much I will contact him, I already found him and I will have chat with him. Hopefuly, he can help me with locating helpers and other people.
Orin, my pup thanks you too.
Martina