Club dues? - Page 2

We came up with a dues scheme.....

$300 year - Individual – 2 dog limit (full membership, must be member of WDA, can hold office and can vote)
$400 year - Family – 3 dog limit (but no more than 2 per person, both must be members of WDA, can hold office, can vote).
$200 year - Student – 2 dog limit (until 6 months after graduation, must be member of WDA,  if under 18 must have a parent in WDA).
  $50 year – Club Helper – 2 dog limit (must be member of WDA, can hold office and can vote) for our club helper(s) who attend more than 50% of practices….
Free - Honorary – 2 dog limit (no vote in club affairs, cannot hold office). 

We have plenty to purchase - equipment and insurance, need to incorporate as a non-profit, and save up for our affiliation event and our show in April.........we have a very ambitious schedule, and we're also very motivated. We're hoping that once the one time purchases are made, we can reduce our dues.

I wish you and your club all the best. More clubs are needed.

Thank you GSDNewbie.

Ive been sitting on my butt and complaining that the closest show to me in Kansas or Atlanta (from Houston)..........so I'm doing something about it.

For the past couple of months, 10 or 11 members have attended.....hope it contunues.

yeah that was a LONG drive from TN to Dallas for the sieger my boy took VP3 in....... I feel ya on that!

Your going to charge the club decoys?   They should not have to pay any dues and be entitled to hold office and vote, IMO.  If you have a whole bunch of decoys that may be a different story, but the main decoys who bust their ass working the majority of dogs shouldn't have to pay.  Many clubs pay them for their service.

I agree with Jim about the helper not paying. Our club does not charge the helper at all. In fact we pay him to work our dogs. Our helper is our TDs son too. We paid for his helper certification as well. Our club just hosted a trial this past weekend, when we had the dinner with the judge the club paid for the judges dinner as well as the helper. Just remember, no helper/decoy no club....lol.

The other dues you have listed seem very fair.

Does your club has insurance? If not we use Sportsmans Insurance Comany... they are very nice and are awesome to deal with.

Just remember, no helper/decoy no club....lol.




    This is exactly why so many clubs are failing and having problems is the feeling that it is all controlled by a decoy and many seem to be in it for ego/ money and not for wanting to help people. Many more people need to train to become decoys IMO. It does take abilities that have to be natural IMo to be a helper and they are needed and wanted but at the same time if the sport dies they will also be without. It is hard to put together a group of people that are just in it for the dogs, no drama, want to train, want to learn, and not use it to just benefit themselves truly wanting to support each other. We should not need to feel there are so few good decoys that they have to be pleased or go wothout. There should be enough so that clubs are not disbanded because there are not enough to go around. There should be more being trained that stick with it instead of wasting a helpers time stopping their training after the helper has put time into them. I appluad the committment of a good helper and the time they took to learn, but I have also met some that think it is funny to make people beg for them to help a club and go to the highest bidders as well and do not care about the survival of the sport rather only what they can milk from it until it dies. How many clubs have fallen apart in the last three months alone?

There's more than enough blame to go around when a club doesn't work.  There are many outside of "helpers" that feel like everything is there way or the else.  LOTS of them.  and being a helper is fun, love it, won't put up with bullshit very long though.  Never ask for money, never accept it either.  Be there to train and we'll all get along.  Know a few that make money from it, good for them, they earn every freaking penny too.  And who wants to be a decoy?  you get blamed for everything :)  

anyway, the point being is everyone shoulders the blame, from the breeders that bad talk everyone, to the TD's that won't let you listen to another soul about training, to the members that don't take the time or responsibility for their own training, to decoys that think they're bigger than the sport itself.

It's also very, very rewarding and fun to train with a bunch of people you fit in well with.  Have a had a few over the years due to some moves, but mostly it's been nothing but a positive experience.  Good luck and just get out and support each other and train.

we plan to send our helper(s) to seminars and also to pay for lessons with teaching helpers........this will cost our club plenty of money.
asking them to pay their part for the required insurnace policy we have to get seems fair.

our club is a social club interested in training dogs.
not all members have the same goals. some just want competition obedience, some tracking, some agility and some want to put IPO titles on their dogs. some want top IPO scores, other just want a title so they can do conformaiton. some just want a place to bring their puppies out for socializaiton. most of our members go to private lessons with some of the top trainers around. each gets their turn to denonstrate the latest things they've learned.

we have a handful of "3" level dogs, some in training for "1" and plenty preparing for BH. working lines, show lines, gsds, dobies, a lab and maybe a rottie. some are VA's, some are rescues.

in our club by-laws we have a "be nice" clause. if you cannot be nice, then you'll have to find another club.

Sounds like an awesome club. To bad we cant clone them around the usa :) Everyone accepted all breeds and working and showline and even rescues. Again, I wish your new club all the very best.