Club dues and annual club cost? - Page 3

Mario- That makes SCSC the very BEST deal in the country in my book. I have trained with Martin and Thomas and David many times in years past. It doesn't get any better than that. Onyx and Cheetah and I darned near lived there in our RV at times. I probably still have the combo to the gate somewhere... Please give them my best regards and tell them I wish they would adopt me and BRING ME HOME TO CALIFORNIA! :-D BTW: Did they ever get any turf on that field? Shelley Strohl (formerly Roecker)

I had sworn that I will not post anymore on this site because I think it is often a lost cause. But this topic deserves a response. Some of you have no idea what it costs to hold a trial/show or breed survey with an SV Judge from Germany. Airline tickets, round trip, from Frankfurt to Denver are in the neighborhood of $1200. One is required to pay a fee to the SV to request a judge, even if one makes all arrangements personally with the judge, in advance. The judge is entitled to a fee of $75 each day he judges. Motel, food and a small gift add up to more than an additional $500. We eat a lot at the facility and we do the cooking, but providing good food and all the rest that takes is not cheap. One must normally pay parking and mileage to the judge as well for their expenses. It costs me more than $12.00 in toll fees and 4 plus hours of gasoline (200 mile round trip) to pick up the judge from the airport. We give a small gift to the property owner where the AD is done and also to the sod farm we track on for the trial. All told, our expenses for last years event were close to $4500. This was giving relatively inexpensive medallions ($12.00 each) for SchH title achievers and show places. We also have to pay a helper for the event as our club has no helper. We train on my property. We pay dues to USA ($150 I think) and Regional dues of $160. I gave up paying for club insurance two years ago because we were paying almost $700 a year and the insurance is really worthless if one reads and understands what it does and does NOT cover. To pay for that insurance I also was assessing all club members a prorated portion, but it was expensive for all of us because we are a smaller club. I paid the difference. I supply all equipment for training and events and I mow and maintain a full sized field. There is plenty of tracking ground here too if one is so inclined. My club members have full access to the entire building, including putting their dogs in inside kennels if the weather or security issues warrant it. (I give them a large discount if they board their dogs here). Their kids swim in the indoor heated pool (which I have to heat for them since most dog owners do not take advantage of this and it is very expensive to heat). We have a full kitchen and a full bath. All club members dogs' must meet strict health/vaccination requirements (as do all boarders, event participants and even dogs who belong to friends). Continued:

No one reimburses me for power, heat, gasoline, cleaning up around here, (*although I have asked club members to help and they do), hours I spend mowing. I end up paying for goodies a lot of the time. For some training sessions and our annual event many club members have pitched in and helped with costs of food, or supplied it or drinks/ice etc., or cold hard cash. Last years event was the first event that I did not personally fund with more than $1000 of my own money, but I still had to put in almost $500, plus the facility costs which I did not calculate. Our club members pay $30 per month. We are now up to 10 members. We do not charge more for more than one dog or for a spouse to also participate. Despite our dues, because we are small, I and others still end up having to contribute money to host our annual event. And when we can get a helper, we always pay at the very least, for his gas, and generally also some cash or gift. For years I even paid the bulk of the money to the paid club helper out of my own pocket. I generally train my own dogs on my own so people do not have to stand around waiting for my dogs because I train multiple dogs at a time. We have a wonderful setup and an excellent club filled with really great people (and dogs) who actually are congenial and get along. We have strict safety rules. None the less, it is expensive to have a club even though the space to train is provided by me. I worry a lot about incidents and make sure I constantly remind people to be safe and responsible with each other and the dogs and especially with any children on the property. During our events we have an appointed safety officer who is empowered by me to enforce facility safety rules. My entire lifes' savings are invested here. I cannot have clients/particpants or club dogs getting sick, or having someone get bitten or hurt. That is how we do it here just in case it provides some perspective.

Hodie- Adopt me please. I can cook, drive the tractor, pick up the judge, converse passably well in Deutsch (as long as I have a way to draw illustrations and a Wortbuch) and clean up poop and post-event trash with the best of 'em, though I stop short of claiming to have "the housekeeping gene." :)

Shelley, come on over.....love to have you! As for my house, the kennel is warmer and probably a lot cleaner at all times than my house this winter. Just ask my friends..... I just broke a rib trying to lift the fuel can to fuel the John Deere.....getting old sucks. Good luck where you are.

One last thing... during, before and after events, my comments above perhaps do not clearly reflect the several hundreds of hours that it takes to put on the event and prepare for it. Club members help and do anything and everything, except deal with kennel issues. They cook, clean, shop, help with paperwork, police the field, run errands, bring in tables, pick up trash etc. etc. To do all this with a small club is quite a feat. When a judge speaks little English, it makes it all a bit more difficult as I am the only one in the club who speaks German, but we still manage to have a good time. And nice to see, we are growing as a club steadily and I look forward to the day where I do nothing!

You always have the do'ers and then the slackers. The GSD is fortunate to have you.

Wow! i feel lucky. dues 120 - 2 dogs family 180 - 2 dogs youth 12 as for paying for judges and shows, my wife is a HUGH begger. she gets all trophies sponsered by someone, usually police depts, and pet stores. beg for more items to be raffled off or silent auction. have had all trials paid for by entries, and usually make a little money. she is diffently a DO'ER! john

Our club dues are 250.00 a year that is all three phase and we meet 2 times a week

hodie, If you were near me I would be there and help you out with everything as well. They are very fortunate to have you. I guess I have to move else where, need to get away from this snow.