What makes a successful schutzhund club

south central schutzhund training

What Makes A Successful Club!

There are certain key elements that can help to make a club successful. The main emphasis must be on a team environment with everyone helping each other to reach and achieve their goals.

Club members take ownership and responsibility for the whole club and want their club to be successful – each and every member must care about the whole club and its success. Pride in your club is not bragging – it’s a necessity.

Each club member has an overall job in addition to elected roles – finding tracking, coordinating drinks or food, checking the health of all the dogs, bringing blinds, handling lines, etc. This helps everyone to feel involved.

The core members must have the desire to succeed, the willingness to learn, and to help those with even less experience than themselves. But most importantly a club needs a knowledgeable, dedicated and passionate Training Director. The TD sets the overall tone of the club and the kind of people that are attracted to training there. The TD lives and breathes the sport of Schutzhund. Knowledge is necessary to bring the best out of the dogs and handlers, whichever training methods they choose to use, dedication is necessary to be there when a handler wants to work on their tracking/obedience outside of normal training hours, and passion is necessary to motivate everyone to enjoy Schutzhund. When it comes to getting people ready for a trial, the TD is there; at night, before work and on their lunch hour. This dedication not only pays off on the trial field, but it bleeds over to the other members, who in turn are forced to think very hard about not helping someone else when asked. You can travel in a long journey if you don’t have a good driver.

Set expectations for new members correctly and don’t be afraid to direct them to other local clubs if their goals or personality does not match the club. Each club has its own identity and overall raison d'être, whether it is to enjoy the dogs and have fun, or to train seriously towards National level. Members must also have a clear understanding of their dog and its abilities, and it is the responsibility of the more experienced members to help them understand. Members should encourage a new person with a dog and help them towards realistic goals. If the new members are not training all phases, not working towards titles and are just doing protection, their value to the club must be questioned. This sounds harsh, but it is an important consideration for a club whose main aim is to title dogs in Schutzhund.

Each member must be treated equally, no matter his or her knowledge level or dog’s ability. Everyone’s views are important and can lead to a new direction in training or for the club as a whole. We ask everyone to arrive for training on time, stay the entire session, help with group distractions, and participate in setting up the field. We feel observing and participation is very important.

Communication is very important; the members must have a clear idea of the direction of the club and the club’s constitution and by-laws. The club must take time out of training to discuss any problems or important information from their parent organization. An email list helps all members about what is going on.

The club must spend time teaching new decoys and members to become training experts. It is important to disseminate knowledge so that the club does not rely too heavily on its TD. Members must be able to help each other and beginners in the sport. With members teaching members, it helps each other to understand what they are training.

If there is anything above teamwork that could be attributed to success, it’s just good old-fashioned hard work. We tell people who come to visit up front: We train hard, we train often, and we expect people to step on the trial field on a regular basis. Yes, Schutzhund is a hobby, and it’s supposed to be fun. And it is. Every individual is allowed to work toward their own goals, at their own pace – as long as they work. But don’t be surprised when you see the rest of us training 5, 6, or 7 days a week. Or see our helpers gutting through 4, 5, or 6 hour training sessions on the weekends.

When a group member is entered in a trial, we all try to show up to watch and support our friends. It is a team effort and that team is there when you step on the field. We all take credit for winning, passing and failing. We do it because we are a team and we enjoy it. And because the only thing better than spending time doing something you love is being able to look back at the end of the day and see how your hard work paid off – with a new title, a qualifying score, or some bragging rights between friends.

And that’s the true definition of success, isn’t it?

Last Modified March 8, 2006

Visitors count started July 13, 2005