# Opinion on club stuff...



## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

Currently our Schutzhund club meets at our (my husband and my) dog training club and park. Our business does training,daycare, boarding and has a members only off-leash park. On Thursday and Sunday evenings the Schutzhund club meets here and uses the clubhouse and the training field. Part of the clubhouse is the daycare crate room where the daycare dogs go to nap during the day. We let the Schutzhund club people use the crate room for their dogs to stay in while waiting for their turn on the field. The room is heated/air-conditioned and there is a bathroom and kitchen that everyone uses. We have never charged the club for the use of this space (of for anything for that matter) as the sport is our love and hobby. 
We have always stated that the crates are available on a first come/first serve basis and of course daycare/boarding dogs are there so sometimes there are 12 empty crates and sometimes there are 2, no telling. Of course, during the busy summer boarding months we are pretty busy and there are fewer empty crates on average. The Schutzhund club members are required to clean up the crate room and any crates they used before they leave, but that is about it. 
So we are thinking about re-doing the set up. We have a basement area that we were thinking of moving crates to and charging the Schutzhund club a fee to use. We were thinking of a small fee, like $5 per month per crate. This way the club would have a guaranteed number of crates for their use and we wouldn't have to work around the daycare dogs. (we can fit about 14 crates in this space) This room is not heated/air-conditioned but it is 2/3 underground and stays at a constant temp most of the year. Currently we kennel a few dogs down there that don't do well in the more social clubhouse upstairs. Each person would still be responsible for tidying up their crate at the end of the night. So people that have one dog would pay about $60 per year to have a guaranteed spot and not have to haul a crate around. Also, this area is very easy to get to and from the training field. The Schutzhund people would still have access to the bathroom and kitchen upstairs in the clubhouse. Also, once this is done, we will then be able to put down rubber flooring in the clubhouse and use the entire room for training classes for our business, and the daycare dogs will be moved to a totally different area dedicated for that purpose. 
Thoughts?


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

I like the idea of separating daycare & boarding dogs and club dogs, with dedicated areas for each, and I don't think it's unreasonable to charge a small fee for the benefit of using your crates and space, especially if you're going to have to buy more crates. 

What if people want to use the room on club training days but bring their own crate to avoid the fee? Would that be okay or would you still want to charge them for using the space? It would be good to have a plan in place for that scenario, just in case.


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> What if people want to use the room on club training days but bring their own crate to avoid the fee? Would that be okay or would you still want to charge them for using the space? It would be good to have a plan in place for that scenario, just in case.


My husband mentioned that. I don't think I would care, but from the parking area to this room would be about 75 feet to carry the crate back and forth. If they don't mind doing that, I don't care. My dilemma is whether or not to let them leave the crate there and not have to move it every practice. At this point, if we buy all the crates then obviously we can use them for overflow during non-schutzhund times, but if people's personal crates are there I wouldn't feel right using them, plus I can't use the space without moving their crate? Hmmmm.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Maybe you can stipulate that if people do want to leave their crate there that you may use it, if necessary. That like seems a reasonable compromise - as you said, if their crate stays there that leaves less room for other crates if you do need the overflow.


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

Thanks, Debbie for your input. I wanted to make sure what we are proposing sounds reasonable at this point. I am going to mention this to the club with the hope of getting all of this done by the Thanksgiving break and changing the set up by then.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

So for a measly $5/mth, the ppl would not have to spend the time and energy packing and unpacking a crate? That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Are you providing the crates?


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Okay, another thought:

1) $5 per month to use your crates on training days.

2) Half price if they want to bring their own crate and leave it there for their exclusive use on training days. Waive the fee if they don't mind you using it as overflow for other dogs if you need to. Even though you're not incurring costs by having to buy extra crates, they'll still be taking up floor space that won't be available for you to use with alternate crates, so this way it's up to them. If they're okay with you using their crate, it's free. If they'd rather you not, they're paying to rent floor space for it.

3) No charge to bring their own crate on training days and take it with them when they leave.

What about something like that?


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

Jax08 said:


> So for a measly $5/mth, the ppl would not have to spend the time and energy packing and unpacking a crate? That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Are you providing the crates?


At this point, that's the plan. This way they are our crates and we can use them the rest of the time if we need some overflow room. 

I also plan to put in the agreement that if their dog damages or destroys the crate they must REPLACE it with a comparable crate.


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> Okay, another thought:
> 
> 1) $5 per month to use your crates on training days.
> 
> ...


That sounds very reasonable. 

To all this, we are also planning on charging a club fee for use of the facilities. We were thinking a yearly price of $30 per year per dog that gets paid directly to the business at the beginning of the year. At this point we average about 10 active members over the year, so the business will get $300 a year for the use of the property. This will go toward mowing, lights, water, electricity, that type of thing, At this point we haven't charged anything to the club, but we spend a bunch of time doing maintenance around here. We allow the members to keep drinks in the fridge, we have lights and a tent they can train under, that type of thing. So for a member with one dog their dues would be $180 per year (30 of which goes to the business, 150 is for the club) + $60 more per year if they want to rent a crate for the year.


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## meldleistikow (Oct 24, 2011)

I think that is a great idea. I think $5 is very fair and I would be willing to pay it so that I didn't have to lug a crate around and worry about the temperature outside.


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## huntergreen (Jun 28, 2012)

charge the 5 bucks, no mess no fuss. no bringing their own crate, this way no problems. sounds like you are doing a lot for the club, and the should look be able to see they are getting quite a bit for yhe 5 bucks.


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## Dooney's Mom (May 10, 2011)

I would so willingly pay the $5. Does anyone in the club have a crate breaker though? For me I would not be able to use a plastic crate, mine would destroy it. I would even pay $10-15 a month to put her in a crate she couldn't destroy- LOL


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

I think it is a great idea, but agree with huntergreen. One set process. That way, you do not have to juggle who has what, what fee, crates going in and out, etc.


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

I dont think it's unreasonable to charge something for the use of your facility all around. Our td charges field fees too. Yesh, it's much better paying nothing but it costs money to maintain those facilities.


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