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Interested in starting a GSD club in Ontario, Canada.

4K views 25 replies 11 participants last post by  elisabeth_00117 
#1 ·
Since I am sick and tired of living in a dog sport wasteland (in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario), I decided to see if I can get some GSD enthusiasts in my area together to start up a new GSD all-sport club (schutzhund, obedience, tracking, agility, flyball, lurecoursing - everything and anything!). The goal would be to bring dog sports to my immediate area.

If anyone is interested or knows anyone that is interested, please e-mail me!

k9instinct@hotmail.com
 
#3 ·
Awesome! If you're willing to come to K-W, you're more than welcome!

This will be based right out of Kitchener-Waterloo, since there is NOTHING here. :p
 
#4 ·
If you're interested in flyball, you don't even need a sanctioned club (at least not for U-fli). You can train dogs and run on pick-up teams. Most of the tournaments we do are in eastern MI near the border, so almost equal distance for you guys and us (and these are close/home tournaments for us). Right now my club usually has enough dogs for 1.5 teams so we often run pick-ups and need extra dogs to make our second team.

Also, follow the United Greyhound Club, they are based in Ontario and run tons of coursing meets in ON and MI.
 
#5 ·
If you want to attract members to your club I would consider what is most sought after. A well seasoned decoy , with knowledge and practicle experience. That will draw your membership. In Canada they could not even get eligible decoys for their nationals.
 
#7 ·
Its strange that Canada can't get eligible decoys for their nationals-if that is true-because Canada definitely has good helpers-I have visited their clubs-and if the smallest province in Canada can get good helpers-Kitchener definitely should be able to-why not e-mail some area clubs and ask them for suggestions or help-there is a schutzhund club in the Toronto area
 
#8 ·
A lot of negative drama and politics in the clubs out here...

We are still trying to establish an IPO club here, had a good decoy but he vanished. :(
 
#10 ·
Is flyball really all that great though, for the GSD structure?
You'd need other sized dogs on the team, so getting that going would not be inclusive to the GSD.
If flyball would be the goal, then getting on a team shouldn't be a problem, but I don't know if I'd put effort into getting another club going if there are already so many clubs in the area. Just join an established club.

As far as IPO, finding good helpers is a problem everywhere it seems!
In my area there is no club, and only one certified decoy/helper...because he also trains & titles, it would take away from his own program to get something going local.
So he goes 1.5 hours away for training.

For the handful of us that train in the sport, we all disperse to many different clubs hours away from this town.
 
#11 ·
Flyball is, like any sport, what you make of it. If you train it correctly it is not any riskier than any other sport (agility with steep contacts, SchH with a steep A-frame, high jump, and long bites). You don't need any other dogs/breeds unless you want to run Variety teams but are not required to. You can run any size dog. Our club has a variety team (Nikon's usually on it) but a lot of the clubs we race against just have 1, 2, or 3 Standard teams.
 
#13 ·
For me, I am not so much interested in flyball. Zefra was training with the club and a private trainer for schH and we do agility as well.

I think what we would like (at least for myself) is a good group of people to train dogs in and enjoy doing multiple sports with.

Angel and I enjoy doing a little bit of everything with our dogs and having a core group of like-minded people to do that with is the main goal.

As for the decoy's and clubs - yes, lots of great decoys in our area - again, a few hours drive with traffic and I personally work 12-14 hours per day so going to a club that is 1-2 hours away without traffic (with Toronto traffic.... could add 1-2 hours or more to that) is unrealistic.

We have talked to a few people from GSSCC who have been GREAT at helping to get our club going (have been for almost 2 years now) but we need to find people who are as dedicated at making something new work as we are. Also, the area we are in would be perfect for a club, even had some people offer to leave other clubs to come out here... we just need a location to train which has been the biggest issue. I am hoping to buy property soon but am still looking, this will help I believe as this has been our biggest stressor.
 
#14 ·
Is there a police dept property that you could train on? Set up jump/a-frame(if you have them) and leave them there?
We were able to do this when we didn't have a place to train. And nobody messed with us, because they thought we were part of the LE's or something.
We tracked on nearby industrial park property(Sunday's~ no businesses were open) so it worked for us fairly well. We did pay the helper so it got expensive as compared to club dues, but we didn't have to buy sleeves/equipment for the helper, he provided blinds as well. It wasn't a 'club' but a training group/though it was a core group of dedicated teams.
 
#15 ·
We have all of the equipment necessary and yes, we currently do train on police property (with permission) BUT there are no lights, so especially in the winter months... people tend not to train because we are in the dark and most people work until at least 5, so by then it is already dark dark outside.
 
#25 ·
This is where you need a friend like me, with a horse arena ;)

I'm actually in Puslinch, so not too far from you. Interesting idea for sure, but I'm already with a good schutz. club and on a flyball team. They are a drive for sure, but I wouldn't bail on them now.

Still be interested in what you can put together, always good to have options available!
 
#16 ·
So Sunday's are not doable? No local training place you can rent winter months? We were lucky to use a dog day care on Sunday's, it was small but we could do obedience and work on some protection exercises.
 
#17 ·
Yeah, space is hard because it has to be accessible for the club but not too public or you get random people crashing training. I used to train with a few friends during the week and we used local parks but many times had to leave because all the space was being used or ended up not getting much accomplished because of the distractions (moreso for us than the dogs, it's hard for me to concentrate on something like a problem solving track when five games are happening). Right now I'm not doing any SchH in the winter because my club is too far to drive in bad weather and it's pitch dark by the time I get home so I can't even train on my own. My neighbor has a bright light in the back but my yard is too small for training.
 
#18 ·
Lies - that is EXACTLY our issue.

One of the main reasons I believe our decoy "vanished" was because of this issue. He is a great guy and I hope he comes back when we have a place to train regularly but we moved from location to location (due to light sources) but can't do protection on public property.... just not going to go there... LOL.. especially in our area.. lol.

I have looked into renting a bunch of places but it's too exspensive in this area for club members and because we are a smaller club (most of us newbies) we just can't afford it right now. Hence, why I am trying to purchase a place sooner rather than later.

I am changing jobs right now (promotion) so it might not be until the spring or even summer. :(
 
#20 ·
Yeah it's a bummer. I think our Schutzhund club lost access to the horse arena they used last winter so I'm not sure what is going on now. I guess we just train at the normal place if the weather is bearable enough. I'm OK training out in the snow, it's the driving 2.5 hours on a snow belt that I often have to put my foot down about.

We even have this problem with flyball, though it's now been steady for over a year. It bounced around from place to place for a while. Even now though we get kicked out if there's an event scheduled. We were supposed to have training today but they just assumed we wouldn't train on a holiday and booked another event in our spot. Even though it's a great facility and they give us a good deal, it still is nice if you have some space someone owns so you aren't at someone else's mercy with the scheduling.
 
#19 ·
no daycare's in your area? Usually Sundays are good days for them to make a bit extra...at least pay for heating, and if you get one that is into training with you...then bonus!
 
#21 ·
Maybe one of the flyball clubs will let you rent space during the winter? They have big buildings. If there is a tournament going on it should be free at least 1 weekend a month.
 
#22 ·
I think Southern Ontario in various places needs something like this. Windsor/Chatham area's included also :) If anyone has interest down this way you should make a group for us to :)
 
#23 ·
Steph - if I move back to Windsor, I would totally do it! Especially since I would have the property and facility to do so - and for free! ;)

Also, I would be at the Windsor SchH club in a heartbeat. They were so great to me there when Stark was little.

YOU should start something - you know a lot of 'dog people' and are involved in multiple venues.
 
#24 ·
I would but I totally don't know where to start!!! I have 116 acres just here at home to work with. I have a little training field in the back, plan to expand it this coming year now that my birds are all taken care of and in there own sections and my little shed all done.

If you'd be willing to help me put something together or send me in the right direction of what I'm supposed to be doing then shoot! I'll see what I can do!
 
#26 ·
Which club are you with? I am assuming Saugeen's since you are close to that area?

I will PM you since you are in the area, maybe we can get together and do an outting or some training or something together one day. :)
 
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