# Switching training clubs?



## MonicaBH (Jul 5, 2008)

So I'm not a member of the training club that I go to, but I enjoy my classmates and especially my instructors. My main instructor has titled a couple of her dogs to OTCH and has been invited to NOI a couple of times as well. This is huge to me.

I thought that this last class was the last session until the fall (according to the clubs' website), so I signed up for classes with another club. I found out a couple of days ago that my current club has one more session, but I've already sent my payment in to the other club (that I have never used).

I am so flustered by this that I am going crazy; it's constantly on my mind. I feel like I'm cheating on my current club and I hate it. It doesn't seem like a big deal to some, I realize... 

I would mostly rather continue going to the club where I'm comfortable and I know what's expected of me. OTOH, I had to argue my way into the new club's classes (since I've never been there, they didn't want me in the Novice classes w/out a CD or previous classes with them) and I'm a little excited for the challenge of something new. I've considered fibbing and telling the new club that a schedule change prevents me from attending, but I'm unclear on whether or not I'd be able to get my $70 back.

What would you do?


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## LynnI (Mar 27, 2010)

Ask them if you can use the payment for a later class and at this time continue on with the club/instructor that you are comfortable with. Can't hurt to ask.


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## MonicaBH (Jul 5, 2008)

LynnI said:


> Ask them if you can use the payment for a later class and at this time continue on with the club/instructor that you are comfortable with. Can't hurt to ask.


I had gotten myself so stressed out that I couldn't even think of that on my own! This is why I can't have DF malfunctioning!  Thanks, Lynn!


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## LynnI (Mar 27, 2010)

Monica,
Your welcome, but try not to stress over this kind of stuff. Life is far to short and if you or your dog (or someone else important to you) got sick all this stuff would seem silly and nothing to stress over, so have fun with your lovely dog.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

MonicaBH said:


> So I'm not a member of the training club that I go to, but I enjoy my classmates and especially my instructors. My main instructor has titled a couple of her dogs to OTCH and has been invited to NOI a couple of times as well. This is huge to me.
> 
> I thought that this last class was the last session until the fall (according to the clubs' website), so I signed up for classes with another club. I found out a couple of days ago that my current club has one more session, but I've already sent my payment in to the other club (that I have never used).
> 
> ...


I would do both if the time/funds aren't constrained, but I'm a little obsessive xD I liked Lynns suggestion as well. Either way, have fun! I figured it up; on a normal week I drive 4 hours for training, and have 4 hours of classes. Best 8 hours of my week!


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## MonicaBH (Jul 5, 2008)

LazyGRanch713 said:


> I would do both if the time/funds aren't constrained, but I'm a little obsessive xD I liked Lynns suggestion as well. Either way, have fun! I figured it up; on a normal week I drive 4 hours for training, and have 4 hours of classes. Best 8 hours of my week!


I would do both ideally, but they're the same day and time each week! We only have one hour of class a week, but I'm driving two hours for it. With gas as high as it is, I'm lucky to keep going much longer. 

I did email the new club and they are fine to refund me and let me back in to another class at another time. All that stress and worry for nothing, whew!


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

MonicaBH said:


> I would do both ideally, but they're the same day and time each week! We only have one hour of class a week, but I'm driving two hours for it. With gas as high as it is, I'm lucky to keep going much longer.
> 
> I did email the new club and they are fine to refund me and let me back in to another class at another time. All that stress and worry for nothing, whew!


Yay!! (And tell me about the gas prices...I close my eyes and say "fill 'er up...")


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## MonicaBH (Jul 5, 2008)

LazyGRanch713 said:


> Yay!! (And tell me about the gas prices...I close my eyes and say "fill 'er up...")


My car surprised me today... I got 27 mpg (mixed city/highway). When I drove highway to FL a couple of weeks ago, I was only getting ±23-24 mpg which is really confusing me. But I'll take what I can get out of her! I haven't hit the $50 mark to fill up yet. That is when I will sit down by the pump and just cry. :'(


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

MonicaBH said:


> My car surprised me today... I got 27 mpg (mixed city/highway). When I drove highway to FL a couple of weeks ago, I was only getting ±23-24 mpg which is really confusing me. But I'll take what I can get out of her! I haven't hit the $50 mark to fill up yet. That is when I will sit down by the pump and just cry. :'(


I don't even know how many MPG my car gets, but fortunately it seems to do well. Both classes I can take the backroads and get better milage than I could going through town, so that's a plus  I have a subaru legacy wagon (fits two pap crates and a GSD in the backseat just perfectly!) and I really, really like my car.


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## MonicaBH (Jul 5, 2008)

LazyGRanch713 said:


> I don't even know how many MPG my car gets, but fortunately it seems to do well. Both classes I can take the backroads and get better milage than I could going through town, so that's a plus  I have a subaru legacy wagon (fits two pap crates and a GSD in the backseat just perfectly!) and I really, really like my car.


Ha. I have an outback legacy wagon (same thing, I think). If I lay the backseat down, I can fit all four dogs. I don't put my dogs in crates when we ride, but I imagine I could easily fit a small-medium sized crate or two.


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

OK. so now before gas goes any higher you need to enter a trial and go DO IT. 

infodog.com is your friend......


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## Indigo (Mar 31, 2011)

MonicaBH said:


> I feel like I'm cheating on my current club and I hate it. It doesn't seem like a big deal to some, I realize...


Yeah the clubs around my area are really competitive with each other, but even then people go to multiple classes and are part of multiple memberships. The people who care about stuff like exclusivity are often people you might not want to associate with anyway. No one really has any right to talk badly about you for checking out different clubs; its your choice.

At one point I was going to 3 different agility classes a week... 'cause I could. We got a well rounded education, that's for sure.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

Indigo said:


> Yeah the clubs around my area are really competitive with each other, but even then people go to multiple classes and are part of multiple memberships. The people who care about stuff like exclusivity are often people you might not want to associate with anyway. No one really has any right to talk badly about you for checking out different clubs; its your choice.
> 
> At one point I was going to 3 different agility classes a week... 'cause I could. We got a well rounded education, that's for sure.


This is how I feel, too. 
(Silently wishing I could go to 3 separate agility classes per week; I'd be in heaven!)
One club I go to has AKC rally only. Another club I visit has AKC rally along with C-wags, ASCA, and APDT rally (and obedience as well). Plus, different locations means different smells, sights, sounds, people, dogs, and _IDEAS_. I'm not in this to be blood and guts competitive, I'm in this for fun, to hopefully trial well, and to make new friends. Plus, I like working my dog in as many different environments as I can.


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## Indigo (Mar 31, 2011)

OMG so true with all the different sanctioning bodies... they all have slightly different rules and equipment. I haven't kept up with rulebooks lately but at one point I could take on any kind of trial and know what I was doing. I'd get a bit annoyed when I saw 90% of the people going into an AAC snooker game and not know the rules and therefore complain that the game was stupid and no fun. I LOVE snooker agility, it's so strategic.



LazyGRanch713 said:


> different locations means different smells, sights, sounds, people, dogs, and _IDEAS_.


That's mainly why I did the 3 classes a week for a while. I wanted my dog to get used to training anywhere, on any kind of equipment (I've seen dogs shy away from jump wings that look weird to them), and around strange dogs and people. I liked getting different perspectives on how to train things, and got to see what was more effective on what kind of dogs.
I eventually stopped as it became expensive on the gas, and I found training on my own at my main club was the most productive after a point. You can pick up a lot by watching good handlers and reading books too.

I think my dog was the only dog in my main club that knew how to navigate the crossover (which in all honesty, is a dangerous obstacle) before it as taken out of the game. Why? Cause we went to another club that actually had that piece of equipment and practiced extensively. It was the same with the long jump. Those rarer obstacles that not all clubs have can show up in a trial, and it's amazing how many dogs and handlers they trip up. Gotta be ready for anything!


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

Indigo said:


> That's mainly why I did the 3 classes a week for a while. I wanted my dog to get used to training anywhere, on any kind of equipment (I've seen dogs shy away from jump wings that look weird to them), and around strange dogs and people. I liked getting different perspectives on how to train things, and got to see what was more effective on what kind of dogs.
> I eventually stopped as it became expensive on the gas, and I found training on my own at my main club was the most productive after a point. You can pick up a lot by watching good handlers and reading books too.
> 
> I think my dog was the only dog in my main club that knew how to navigate the crossover (which in all honesty, is a dangerous obstacle) before it as taken out of the game. Why? Cause we went to another club that actually had that piece of equipment and practiced extensively. It was the same with the long jump. Those rarer obstacles that not all clubs have can show up in a trial, and it's amazing how many dogs and handlers they trip up. Gotta be ready for anything!


What's a crossover?

I think doing so many classes has morphed Tag into a ham. He works MUCH MUCH better when he has an audience, and I'm wondering if early exposure to so many people watching him has contributed to this. Last week (when Tag stuck his head in the wrong weave entry and immediately corrected himself without so much as a peep from me), the trainer kept saying "WHAT a boy! GOOD BOY Tag!"...when this kind of thing happens, he looks at whoever is cheering for him, then looks back at me all smiles and grins. If he's in mid-run and someone cheers him on, he runs faster and grins harder. It's a riot.
We're currently working on CWAGS obedience level 1, which I'm hoping he'll pass. It's much, much easier than AKC Novice. Next week we'll be doing a run through as if it were a trial, and hopefully will see what we need to work on. (I considered starting in level 2, because you can start your dog in Level 1-3). I figure starting in Level 1 won't hurt us, so that's what we'll do. 
When I watch a good handler work their dog, I stare shamelessly. When there's someone not quite as good, I make a point to look away. I'm such a visual learner, I literally imitate what I see. Don't need to imitate bad habits!


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