Does anyone have any suggestions on how to evaluate a club? There are 2 in the area. Is it just a matter of meeting the members and determining which one is more comfortable? I'm sure there are specifics that I should be looking for. New to this, so any help is appreciated.

For me the most important thing to consider is the training director. His accomplishments and experience. And second, are the club members trialing and titling dogs. That can help give you an Idea if he's also able to teach and train you. Also you want to be comfortable with the club so yeah go out a few times and meet them.

Thanks! Will definitely be taking a ride out to them. Seems like the one club's training director has titled several dogs and it seems like it is more structured from their website. Looking to just have fun and don't want to get caught up in all the politics even though I know that they will exist. Just want a club that is willing to work with a "newbie".

Ditto what Steve says.

I was able to attend 4 training session at my club before I either choose to join or pay as a visitor. Definately attend 3 or 4 training sessions at each club -- and stay for the duration. The training day can seem extremely long as everyone works their dogs in each phase, but you can really get some insight into the club watching the TD interact the and club members work their dogs.

I belong to a pretty structured club and I really like that. They are a group of like-minded, serious about training people that run an organized training day...and we have fun. There are club members at all levels from newbies to SchHIII handlers that have competed at Regional events.

One word of caution is to not be too put off if you are not engaged in a lot of conversation at first and/or your working sessions seem short. We have a surprising amount of people who visit our club once or twice never to return. The club may also be looking to see how committed you will be before being forthcoming with their time and knowledge.

Katie

Usually if a club has multiple higher level members, don't be put off if they seem to being doing their own thing - they likely don't need the help of the TD.

What the TD *should* be doing is being highly involved with the beginners, so watch the level of interaction closely.
Also, the TD should being acting the part of being a "traffic cop" in keeping the members coming and going onto the field to maximize training time for all.

And although the TD is usually the most experienced and titled club member, not everyone is a good teacher, so I've seen some TD's that were better instructors but had fewer titles than the most experienced club member.
Rare, but it happens.

And another thing to look for in a club - has it been holding the yearly mandated club SchH trial?
A club has to be able to come together to work a trial, so that's a good sign of cohesiveness.

And I'd like to second that comment about the huge number of people that come out for one or two sessions and are never seen again - those types have caused many clubs to simply not invest much time or effort into potential new members until they've shown up on a regular basis.

Great advice. Really appreciate it. The comment about not investing makes a lot of sense too.

Hi David,

Are you planning on working with Sasha or also the ACDs? I would definately follow the sound advice you got above but if you are planning on working the ACDs in protection, I would also advise getting a "feel" for what the club thinks about alternative breeds - and the extra work it sometimes takes to train them.

Some clubs are very inclusive of alternative breeds so long as the owner is active in training and being a valuable club member. Other clubs can have bias against the non-traditional breeds. I have run into both types of clubs during my involvement with the sport of Schutzhund.

However, like the above posters stated, a knowledgable TD who is good at teaching and guiding newcomers as well as a *safe* and experienced helper are the primary things to look at. Plus generally getting along with, and liking, the people in the club is big too. After all, Schutzhund is a sport that takes a lot of training so you will be spending a good chunk of time with these people :-0

Good luck!

Ingrid,

Thanks for the insight. I was planning on just working Sasha since the ACD's are my "wife's dogs". Good to know though since I'm sure we will always have ACD's. They are a fantastic breed!

I kinda experienced what some of the others were talking about. Called one of the clubs and talked to them. Said I was new to the sport. Told them Sasha is 3 and favors the showlines from her breeding (German by the way). They also indicated that she may be "too old" to get started. Also, the showline comment also seemed to be a turn off. They did promote a trial that was coming up at their club though and did invite me to come out to a training day. Who knows, I may have just read it wrong on the phone.

Looking at it from their point of view, I'm sure they get a lot of calls like mine, so it is understandable. I know we are not the "ideal candidate" and know there will be limitations. Just found it interesting.

Thanks again to all who replied.

Another issue is that many of the 'good' clubs -- the ones that actually title, compete, and run trials are often at the limit of the number of dogs they can work.

This limit may come from the number of available helpers, the time they have reserved at a training location (if the club does not have it's own trainng grounds), or some other limiting resource.

So, they have to either close the membership or become more selective on who is admitted to the club. Many clubs will have a provisional status where you must show satisfactory progress -- showing up at training for all phases, getting a dog titled or making progress towards a title, pitching in on club projects, before you are a 'full' member.

When I first joined the local club, one of the guys told me that I'd probably wind up giving up one or more of my other activities as I got more involved in training. That's pretty much on the mark -- golfing has become minimal and flying non-existant. In fact, last year, I blew off the last six weeks of golf league because that night conflicted with 'hup-hup' training for an upcoming conformation show.

Hmmmm,, golf&schutzhund? Carmel is very dog friendly. You could fly out to Pebble Beach, track spyglass, put a sleeve on the caddy. You tee up and drive, he bites and gets driven. Stick hits with your 9 iron. Come out of the ball wash or I'll send my dog. Think out of the box Charlie.