# SchH Clubs: In your opinion...



## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

1. what are some of the top "things" that facilitates a well functioning SchH club? 

2. what are some of the top "things" that impede a club from functioning well?

3. What (if any) "processes" are in place at your club to help members and the club as a whole to progress and/or succeed as a SchH club in general?


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## Mika140 (Jan 8, 2011)

1. Good helpers and a club that is committed to investing in helpers (training, paying for seminars, etc); creating a leadership within the group, so that there is a training director.

2. Politics (hard to avoid); lack of structure/leadership, so that new members are confused by conflicting advice by a variety of club members; not enough importance placed on helper development; discouragement of outside training (seminars).


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

*SchH Clubs: In your opinion...
1. what are some of the top "things" that facilitates a well functioning SchH club?* 
Communication within the club(training cancellations, or change of venue for tracking, etc) and support from other members. Helping those that need it instead of criticizing what they are doing. Everyone trying to use their talents to keep it flowing and not have one person be the "power" behind the club...designated jobs within for each member.
Goal setting, talking about progress at the training sessions(with the whole group so others can learn from each dogs progress or lack of

*2. what are some of the top "things" that impede a club from functioning well*?
Not having good helpers or a helper at all! A helper is the foundation of the club, and you support the helper totally. 
Back-stabbing, or drama does no good and just takes away from the goals. 
Inconsistent attendance by members, or their lack of commitment to training when not at club.
Finding good tracking or training venues is always a challenge. Funds for equipment and storage for that equipment. Keeping the equipment in good condition.

*3. What (if any) "processes" are in place at your club to help members and the club as a whole to progress and/or succeed as a SchH club in general?*
Our group isn't an official club, but the members have been together for a few years now. 
Supporting the TD/Helper is _my_ main focus, and trusting his judgement.
Affiliation with USA and/or SDA and hosting trials for gaining titles and fulfilling goals of the group. Hosting seminars is great, too.
We've been fortunate to have a great indoor place to train thru the cold winter months and also a nice field for training during the other times. Though we can't hold a trial at our training field, so we'll be looking for a venue for that, too.


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## mareg (Mar 10, 2011)

Onyx summed it up very well.

The little girl/boy type politics if very hard to deal with......manipulatin....jealousy...

From what I have seen protection is a joke in many cases. Protection should be trained as just that, not a two person obedience routine. If a handler does not want a serious dog they can do tracking, obedience, sar, many other things and there is nothing wrong with that. Just because someone wants to do the protection part does not mean they should.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

1 and 2 are kinda the same (if you don't have 1, you have 2). For me, group cohesion. I like a club to be a CLUB, not drop-in or pay-to-play type training where people are really only concerned as far as getting their turns in and training their own dogs. I like everyone to be involved, helping and watching everyone else, offering critiques and suggestions. Even people who are new to the breed or the sport can show their support and help the group by being involved watching everyone, jumping up to help line handle, offering to be part of a group for obedience. To me this is part of being in a "club". I don't see it as a club when people just show up when they want, work their dogs, chit-chat, and leave. I feel like I've missed out if I don't get to watch everyone's turns.

Training is one thing, being a club is a bit different.


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## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

So what can we, as club members as a whole, do (or what should we be doing) to really try to ensure top functionality within a club? 

It seems that many clubs (not just SchH but any club in general to boot!) stuggle with similar issues and many members have similar thoughts as to what makes a "good" club. 



> Training is one thing, being a club is a bit different.


Excellent point Lies!

In larger centres, I guess for some folk, it is a matter of finding a club that "fits" them. For smaller areas where club availablity is limited, what do you think are some "top priority" topics to help a club gravitate towards truly being a "club" rather than just a "place to train". 

I'm just in thinking mode with all the discussions I've been hearing and reading about as of late, so I was thinking it would be nice to have some discussion (particularly from those persons who train as a true "club") about what types of things you/your club has done that has been beneficial in helping your club become what it has. 

No doubt this is not a "new" topic LOL but is anyone game to share your experiences? What worked? What didn't? Is there anything you would like to see happen in your club?


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## cindy_s (Jun 14, 2009)

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I belong to a really great club. And we are a club. We often get together to go out to dinner as a whole a few time a month just to hang out. We have a wonderful TD/helper, and several other members are also good helpers. When I started going, I was told that this was not a title motivated club. Well, we are all putting in long, hard hours getting ready for our next club trial. The club is very supportive of all members. It doesn't matter if you have a very talented dog, or your dog needs a lot of help bringing out it's drives. Training is generally motivated and positive rather than compulsive. The membership is kept to a minimum to allow everyone the time to train as much as they need. So, the time invested in each dog/handler team is a positve. The comradery is a positive. I was told that if someone was a problem, they would be asked to leave. I haven't seen that in my time there. I think they would be as supportive to someone that had national level aspirations as someone that might take years to get there B. I can't speak to any negatives, since this is the only club I've been to.


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## CainGSD (Nov 15, 2003)

I think one of the things that helps a club be a "club" is a one for all and all for one attitude. Members who show up week in and week out and train and contribute are worth their weight in gold. Also members who are willing to watch, spot and offer their opinion when asked as well as members who are willing to accept all of those things make a club worthwhile.

One of things I find as a drain on a club are people who don't put in their time outside of club training but expect to be spotted or helped week in and week out yet continue to be "in a holding pattern". Also as someone else mentioned those members who are not consistent in attending or helping others.

Currently our club has a core group of "hard core" show up every week, rain or shine, sick or not people. Those people consistently show progress, try to lead by example. We do not have any hard and fast rules to address those issues but try to reward the consistent members by allowing them to train first and continue to lead by example.


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## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

Was hoping to get some more discussion on this, but thanks to all who replied. 

The discussions as of late revolving around "training in SchH" have been timely - our club is currently working on updating/revising our constitution and developing a Code of Ethics/Code of Conduct, and the discussion of doing some benchmarking with the aim of facilitating discussion and ideas during this process came up. 

Thanks again & happy training to all


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## TechieDog (Jan 13, 2011)

I am curious how much your schutzhund clubs charge. Is there a yearly fee or is it by event? Sorry if this is OT.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

TechieDog said:


> I am curious how much your schutzhund clubs charge. Is there a yearly fee or is it by event? Sorry if this is OT.


Different clubs have different fees. It can vary widely. Usually, there is an initial joining fee, and an annual membership fee. In some clubs you pay the helper for each training session with your dog, what I have read here is that it can be between 20 to 50 dollars a session (this in addition to the club annual membership cost). In our club, the helpers do not charge extra (very few clubs in Canada have paid helpers). 

Membership fees can be as low as 100 dollars a year, to several thousand dollars a year. It depends on the club facilities, location, and the reputation of the club. Best thing to do is to contact a local club and ask about the costs.


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## TechieDog (Jan 13, 2011)

Thanks, that makes sense to me. The fee structure is significant to improving the chances of getting committed members that show up regularly. A larger annual fee and small session fee makes sense to me.

Many years ago I worked with a trainer that had open sessions on Wednesday nights. These were protection sessions. It was only $20 per night and you had to have gone through a minimum set of training with him prior to being allowed into these Wed. night sessions. 
On some nights there would be as many as 20 or so people/dogs and on other nights only 4-5. It actually worked out pretty well for the trainer as well as those that attended. 
As you raise the session fee probably fewer people show up regularly. If they pay more up front they may consider their commitment to your club more carefully before joining.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I wouldn't want to go to sessions where you may have random numbers show. Especially if there is only one helper working the dogs. The helper needs consistancy with the dog/handler so they know what they need to work on each session.
When you have it set up the way you describe above it makes it hard on the helper because there isn't consistant commitment for progression.
In our group, it is pay to train, no annual fee's as of now, and we pay the first of the month. If you don't show up, you still are paying for the session~tracking, obedience and protection.

That way the TD/helper is assured of commitment. He travels 70 miles one way to the groups location(as do many of the members of the group).


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## TechieDog (Jan 13, 2011)

Consistency with the dogs was not an issue in our case because everyone had gone through some amount of private sessions first. The trainer knew what each person/dog needed etc. and everyone was at different levels anyhow. Those that attended sessions regularly made more consistent progress of course and there were always enough attendees to make it worthwhile for the trainer. People that are not committed will not make consistent progress, thats just the way it is. There will always be those people. But it should not effect your development.

Can you skip your monthly fee if you know you can't make it or is that frowned upon?
The thing about paying a larger monthly fee at the start of every month is OK but peoples schedules often change. Sometimes you just can't make it and losing a larger payment because of an unplanned issue would irk me a bit. I do understand that the trainer wants some minimum commitment to travel out of course though.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

In our club, full members must pay their monthly fee whether they show up or not. It is not a huge fee and we have waived it for extenuating circumstances. If your job situation changes and you were unable to attend enough sessions per month you are permitted to drop down to associate member status. Then you pay when you come. Associate members have no voting rights and must go through a probationary period again if they were to move back up to full member status. Our helpers do not get paid.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

This is a great thread - thanks for posting it!

Our "club" is just re-establishing itself after our TD/Helper and a few other important members left to go to another club. Our TD fell ill and "retired" so members instead of pulling together to make it work decied to bail.

The members that are left (5 of us, plus our dogs) are now just starting to get things going again. We have continued to do obedience and will do tracking (hopefully next week!) but we haven't done protection work in months as we are without a helper.

We have welcomed in new members, one who will be training as the new club helper. We are going to be sending him to seminars and training days at local events/clubs. There is an established club offering help to train our helper for a small fee so this is a step in the right direction. 

We are NOT affiliated with GSSCC.. YET, but hope to be this year or next.

I think a club with members who are committed, passionate and there for the purpose the club was created (to learn, train and title our dogs) is what it is all about. People pulling together for a common goal; willing to put the time, effort, money and energy into making the club a place of pride, a place to learn and a place to work your dog(s).


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## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

I can certainly see why some clubs utilize a fee schedule such as those that have been outlined. We did have this discussion in the past and we did decide not to pursue it, primarily because we have limited helpers in our club (both our certified helpers are also shiftworkers) and we are geographically restricted in terms of "bringing helpers in". Many of us are now taking the initiative to learn how to do some basics of helper work (great fun but indeed quite a learning process  ) in an effort to begin cultivating the club's resources in terms of protection work. 

That said, we do have a yearly membership fee for all members in addition to a one time fee that must be paid upon a member's approval as an active member. 



> I think a club with members who are committed, passionate and there for the purpose the club was created (to learn, train and title our dogs) is what it is all about. People pulling together for a common goal; willing to put the time, effort, money and energy into making the club a place of pride, a place to learn and a place to work your dog(s).


Absolutely! I think all "monetary" discussions aside (though the money is of course needed for operating costs, hosting trials and seminars, etc), a club that embrances and encourages this philosophy is the one that facilitates a well functioning SchH - no?


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## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

lhczth said:


> In our club, full members must pay their monthly fee whether they show up or not. It is not a huge fee and we have waived it for extenuating circumstances. If your job situation changes and you were unable to attend enough sessions per month you are permitted to drop down to associate member status. Then you pay when you come. *Associate members have no voting rights and must go through a probationary period again if they were to move back up to full member status*. Our helpers do not get paid.


Interesting about the having to go through the probationary period again. We do have a membership class of "inactive member" but they are not subject to having to go through the probationary period.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

That is to keep people from bouncing back and forth from one to the other when they don't want to spend the time training or spend time at the club helping thus having to pay the little $20 monthly fee. That isn't fair to the other members who are there every week, working their dogs, helping each other and working to make sure the club keeps functioning. We also have a minimum attendance requirement for the same reasons.


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## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

lhczth said:


> That is to keep people from bouncing back and forth from one to the other when they don't want to spend the time training or spend time at the club helping thus having to pay the little $20 monthly fee. That isn't fair to the other members who are there every week, working their dogs, helping each other and working to make sure the club keeps functioning. We also have a minimum attendance requirement for the same reasons.


Completely makes sense - I think that is a very fair approach. I can see that for someone who utlizes it for a valid reason, he or she would have no problem with going through the probationary period again. Good food for thought!

Lisa, can I ask how/get more info on how the attendance requirement works at your club? Again, this is something else our club had briefly discussed in the past.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

From March 1 through December people must attend 2/3 of every Sunday training day (unless we cancel). Trials and seminars are considered as part of attendance (and judging since we used to have a judge in the club). When we meet in January and February people get extra credit. If people can't make attendance they have the option to move down to associate status. I do keep attendance, but am not the attendance police and if someone if a day or 2 off then I won't make a big fuss.

Our yearly meeting is also mandatory as is helping at any trials or seminars unless there are extenuating circumstances.


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## TechieDog (Jan 13, 2011)

Thats pretty reasonable.


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## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

Thanks Lisa 

That seems pretty straightforward and really quite fair IMHO.


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