Just wanted to drop a line about club training. Many people don’t know that there are two types of training available, Paid training where you pay someone to train you or your dog or both, and free training. That’s right, free, and that is my favorite kind J When you train with clubs basically you pay dues to belong to the club, but then you have everyone else’s eyes and ears and years of experience to help you along the way. There are many types of clubs, Everyone knows by now my favorites are SAR and Schutzhund, but we are even playing with Agility this year as well and enjoying that. Belonging to a club also reduces your need for expensive equipment as the club usually owns the major pieces of equipment that you need. Most of all though is the social interaction and support group. The sense of belonging and friendship is priceless. If you don’t have a good club in your area, start one! That’s what I do when I am unhappy with what is available, chances are there are many more like minded individuals in your area that would love to get together and do the same thing. There are obedience clubs, agility clubs, sight hound, earth dog, lure coursing, flyball, freestyle (though I forbid anyone with my Dobies to participate J ) The list goes on and on! What’s your pleasure? Do you already belong to a club? If so please take a moment and let us know where and what so we can share that with others in case they are in your area.

I also wanted to take a minute and plug the Forum again, it still has not taken off like I expected it would, so…. Please go and share some of your great information with people who may be looking, and ask questions of the others that may have answers. You can use the search feature to go through all the old posts to as there is some great info there just hidden J

One last plug, does anyone on the list belong to the UDC? I have been thwarted at every attempt to join, and I really would like membership in the club so I can compete at their nationals. What I need is a member in good standing willing to sponsor me.