# Closest club is 2 hours away



## Honeybee1999 (Mar 2, 2006)

I am interested in trying out IPO with my new pup when he is old enough, but doing a search on the USCA website shows that the closest club to me is a two hour drive away.

How often would I need to go to the club for training? Is it realistically something we could do once per month? I could maybe get there every two weeks. Maybe.

If it's not realistic, I will focus on obedience and/or agility instead. 

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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Depending on your dog and your own abilities, I think every other week you could make progress and train a fairly good amount of things. If you were to get serious about trialing your dog, I think there's going to be periods where that wouldn't be enough.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Sometimes the locations listed on the USCA site are the location of the contact person and not the club. I would call and find out where they actually meet.

As someone starting out you might find that even twice a month isn't often enough for you to progress. If you are serious about titling, even once a week isn't always sufficient to make any progress especially in protection.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

My club is a 2 hour drive...you may find someone within the club that is local to you to train with mid-week. Or meet up half way in a public location. 
I trained with two clubs plus had private lessons with an obedience trainer a few years ago, because I was so into it and needed instruction. I'd also take advantage of any seminar locally from good trainers to get more tools for the toolbox. But consistency is key, especially when setting up a good foundation. So don't bop around but stay within a program, even though getting different training perspectives is very important.

My goals weren't for the podium but to become a better handler/trainer.


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## astrovan2487 (May 29, 2014)

One of the clubs I go to is close to 2 hours away and I usually go once a week, I'm lucky enough to also be able to go to another club that is about 45 minutes away so ideally I go to club twice a week. This is the first time I'm doing any kind of training with a dog so I'm very inexperienced and I feel like once or twice a week is good enough. All the other days I will do short training sessions with my pup at home. If I were in your situation I would go to the club that is 2 hours away and see how much you like it, you'd be surprised how short of a drive 2 hours is if you're really enjoying it and getting a lot from the training. You might also want to ask your breeder if they know of any other clubs or people close by willing to train, some of the clubs are very small and may not be listed on any website.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

My club is 3 hours away. I go to Mass and MD to train - both 5-6 hours away.

It all depends on what you are willing to do.


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## Honeybee1999 (Mar 2, 2006)

Well, the thing is, I do already travel about halfway there once a week for horseback riding lessons. I could try to make a day out of it and continue on to the club after my lesson...but I don't know what I would do with my dog while I am riding. Keeping him in the car is out of the question, and having him hang out in the barn with me is against the rules. I just wish everything wasn't so spread out here. I may drive down once or twice to check out the club, and maybe see if anyone lives closer to me.

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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Where is your general area? Maybe someone knows a good group that is closer to you.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Honeybee1999 said:


> Well, the thing is, I do already travel about halfway there once a week for horseback riding lessons. I could try to make a day out of it and continue on to the club after my lesson...but I don't know what I would do with my dog while I am riding. Keeping him in the car is out of the question, and having him hang out in the barn with me is against the rules. I just wish everything wasn't so spread out here. I may drive down once or twice to check out the club, and maybe see if anyone lives closer to me.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


Why is keeping him in the car out of hte question? That's where he'll be while others are on the field at the club. Park in the shade, open the doors and turn a fan on.


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## mycobraracr (Dec 4, 2011)

Honeybee1999 said:


> Well, the thing is, I do already travel about halfway there once a week for horseback riding lessons. I could try to make a day out of it and continue on to the club after my lesson...but I don't know what I would do with my dog while I am riding. Keeping him in the car is out of the question, and having him hang out in the barn with me is against the rules. I just wish everything wasn't so spread out here. I may drive down once or twice to check out the club, and maybe see if anyone lives closer to me.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk



Go check out the club a couple times without the dog. Generally club days are all day events. Not usually a show up when you want and leave when you want type of thing. It's a lot of work and everyone has a role to play.


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## Honeybee1999 (Mar 2, 2006)

Jax08 said:


> Why is keeping him in the car out of hte question? That's where he'll be while others are on the field at the club. Park in the shade, open the doors and turn a fan on.


I just didn't think it was a safe option. I could try that. What kind of fan? Just the car's system or is there some kind of fan I can get that runs off the cigarette lighter?

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## Honeybee1999 (Mar 2, 2006)

mycobraracr said:


> Go check out the club a couple times without the dog. Generally club days are all day events. Not usually a show up when you want and leave when you want type of thing. It's a lot of work and everyone has a role to play.


Ah, ok. I have no idea what they are like. I think I will contact them and see if I can visit. Their website actually says they are full but they have trainers willing to work with new people...does that make sense?

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## Honeybee1999 (Mar 2, 2006)

lhczth said:


> Where is your general area? Maybe someone knows a good group that is closer to you.


La Crosse, Wisconsin

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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Honeybee1999 said:


> I just didn't think it was a safe option. I could try that. What kind of fan? Just the car's system or is there some kind of fan I can get that runs off the cigarette lighter?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


He'll be in the car a lot! I use an Endless Breeze 12V fan that plugs into a car port. I use solar shields, bought from clean run, to reflect the sun. And a vent lock for the back door so nobody can get in or shut the back door. Windows down, shade and fan. 

Unless you live in extreme temperatures, your dog will be just fine.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

These are very good fans that many people are using and they run off of their own batteries. Get the better batteries for long use. 

https://www.amazon.com/Ryobi-18-Vol...TF8&qid=1467210631&sr=8-1&keywords=Ryobi+fans


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Jax08 said:


> He'll be in the car a lot! I use an Endless Breeze 12V fan that plugs into a car port. I use solar shields, bought from clean run, to reflect the sun. And a vent lock for the back door so nobody can get in or shut the back door. Windows down, shade and fan.



I use an Endless Breeze fan also for one of my crates. They are very good, though they do drain a battery when used all day. I have two batteries in my truck so hasn't been an issue except when one battery was bad.


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## Honeybee1999 (Mar 2, 2006)

Wow, thanks for the suggestions. I have another question...if he stays in the car, he should be in a crate right? What kind of crate for the car? His wire crate at home doesn't fit in my car. I have a Ford Explorer. Would an airline crate fit better? Would that be too hot?

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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I have a new deep cell battery. Start the car for a few minutes every 4-6 hours and it's all good  One of our electrical engineers hot wired the port in the back of the car for me so it's always hot. Just solder a jumper on the fuse.


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