Any Shutzhund Clubs in Southern California? - Page 2

Good looking dog.  I like her eyes!!  Best wishes.

@Jasmin Mata, you should have someone at Danubius evaluate you dog ASAP, so you can find out early where you actually stand with them.  From what I have heard Nelli usually does it.  They may or may not like your dog, that will usually determine if they have "space in the club" for you or not.

VERY very good idea Momos!!!!  Looking at your lovely dog, she may not "fit in" with what "they" like.  Just like my two dogs with their light red color.  Better to do that before you pay any dues.

To get an unbiased opinion go to this person who used to be a helper.  He works and teaches real police dogs.  Dogs love him.  Before he will evaluate your dog on his property, you will have to have your papers showing that the dog has all of her shots.  He is not part of any club.  He will give you the pure truth.  I had him evaluate my dog.  He agreed with all I saw plus he said dog has a clear head and an on off switch.  He said he could easily teach my dog protection work.  Decided not to do so as clubs did not like the reddish color and I could not work with any club, so why bother to teach the dog those things.  Go to the web site www.k9adventures.com  or www.unleashthefun.com

Go talk to this guy as he does not have a "dog in the fight" as the saying says.  That lady does.  And if she hurts your feelings, you will feel so sad.  If this guy tells you the truth, you can go forward and do what you and your dog can do while the woman says no without saying it is the dog's color, etc, everyone in the club will know and you will feel rotten.   I did not want my dog to be evaluated for protection work, only for other things and dog passed those things and protection in addition.  Was so funny for me, as I already knew what the clubs thought about a reddish or even a cream dog.  Your dog is more black than my dogs.  And so very funny that Long Beach "wants" new people!!!  Maybe the new people WITHOUT reddish dogs.

Big suggestion ~~ join USCA and get your dog's scorebook and the Rule Book!!!   Read and memorize the rules for getting the BH.  You will have to take a small test when you enter the BH event.  You need to remember all the different number of steps and whatever part goes first and next.  I had to write the # of steps on my hand and I was so scared.  That is no good as it lets the dog know you are worried and in my case dog had not had any practice for 6 months.  We passed.  This is totally opposite to the AKC way of doing their CD.

Hollywood Dog Club offers tracking in the fall/winter.  They allow the dog to air sent as opposed to the schutzhund method where nose cannot be lifted.  Do your research here and if you do the AKC method just have the dog keep nose to ground.  I have trained more than one dog in AKC tracking and also know schutzhund.  Order some different books on tracking, too.  You will need a light weight harrness for tracking and a special metal collar for other work.  May get into tracking again this fall.

That woman can cut you to the bone, so please see the guy above.  Boy did I get treated so nastily by so many unpleasant people.  Keep your head up and again Best Wishes!!!!

Another thing ~~~  I am tired of people being nasty to me and me being quiet.  If the person wants to do that then they need to be held responsible.  See, I drove a absolutely HUGE number of miles to ask the lady if I could get some training on some issue that my dog had that I could not overcome, but that I was so willing to pay for the help.  I had my simple 10+ year old vehicle there.  No, the vehicle was not a fancy SUV, but I have no knowledge if it was seen or not.  Does not matter.  I was also dressed as anyone there.  I asked my simple question and was told in a loud and totally unpleasant tone ~~ "YOU CANNOT AFFORD THE PRICE!!!"

I nearly fell over!!!  How on God's green earth could she know how I cannot afford something?????  How much I have in my accounts?????  How much I want to spend on anything???  If I was told the amount, then I can decide for myself whether or not I WANT to give her that much.  She told me to go to a friend of hers.  Now someone I had spoken to had said that he with his sable dog had gone there and they Never had time for his dog to work.  Do not know if he ever received a schutzhund title or not.  Dog did get herding titles.

What we are trying to tell you is that just because they supposedly talk nice at the beginning, does not mean they will do so after meeting you and your dog.  Now if I try to trial at one of their events, I may not be allowed to pass, I know that before I posted what I did.  Probably will need to go to another club's event.  So, waht?

 

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Wow........I wasn't going to say anything since she seemed to be getting good advice but the comment from @Alamance is so far off base it's laughable. 

First of all, let me make it known that i train with Nelli and Danubius and have since about May. She is a very cool, open and honest person. But she tells
it like it is. The club was formed by people who wanted to compete and title. She will not talk down to you or at you. Danubius as a whole is a great group
of people and all willing to help you. There are no showline GSD's there but it makes no difference. If your dog has the drive in the eval, she'll tell you. If not,
she'll tell you. It's simple and you can then either choose to still go ahead or check out another club. Personally, I want the honest answer. 

Long Beach's Club is all showline for the most part and is not as serious of a vibe. Long Beach is a good group but more in it just to train and that's great for
some not looking for a serious club but wants to learn some things and have a good time. However, they are more expensive than Danubius and doesn't have
a fulltime helper. 

Since I have joined Danubius, I met Stevo Henderson. He owns Checkmatek9. He's probably one of the best helpers (teaching helper and trial helper) here on
the west coast. I am now being mentored by him to become a helper. This is another option as it's all about IPO but a mix of very serious types and those who
just want to learn and maybe title. 

If you go further east, Golden State Sch Club in Riverside has Linoel Madden, another great teaching and training helper. I started out there but it was just too
far, as I live on the border of Long Beach and Belmont Shores. Going north, Anacapa is the place. These are the best clubs in our Region. 


I would not get a scorebook right now, as you can get one a few weeks before you trial. But I would join USCA and get a rules book. 

-Anthony

@gekswag03, I am glad things have worked out for you at Danubius.  It does happen, but not for everyone.  I would disagree about the scorebook though.  The OP should get it now, but I would recommend an AWDF scorebook over a USCA scorebook.  You can put non-schutzhund events in an AWDF scorebook should the need arise later. 

I am not going to discount Alamance's story because I know people with other breeds whom have gotten the brush-off from this club also.  Not quite as rudely as described by Alamance, but a brush-off none the less.  I don't hold it against them, thats their choice, to be selective with membership, but I do think ALL schutzhund clubs need to start making their clubs culture more transparent upfront.  The way things are now they act initially like anyone can come and join in, but in reality they are running things more like a Country Club.  Like I said, thats fine, but nobody walks into a country club with any misconceptions about who's actually welcome and who is not.

I've posted two links below to a well known golf country club in Southern California, once someone see these two pages on the website they will have NO ILLUSIONS about what it takes to join.  As the schutzhund culture stands TODAY, they could learn a LOT from how Golf Country Clubs promote themselves to the public:

http://www.calabasasgolf.com/calabasasgolf/content/view_c.php?s_id=1700187

http://www.golffusion.com/calabasasgolf/pro_shop/lessons.php

What I am saying, is that schutzhund clubs need follow suit and get professional, posting hourly training rates, dues, club rules/etiquette, firm schedules, etc.  Especially, if they want to continue to be selective about membership without simultaneous garnering public contempt from more casual sport dog owners.  They know what they want, they need to start communicating it better to the public.  All it takes these day is brushing-off someone with good political connections, piss off the wrong casual sport dog guy and the next thing you know you have an ordinance being passed to your detriment.

How can my post be laughable when it is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth???  Being called laughable, shows/ proves that it is the truth which is so very sad.

I'm not sure why someone above said Danubis is not WDA.  The helpers they have listed on the website are WDA certified:

http://www.danubiusclub.com/our-helpers/

and the trial entry form they have posted on the website is WDA:

www.danubiusclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/TRIAL-ENTRY-FORM.doc

They seem to be a pretty wealthy group of people to me, a lot of career professionals, Lawyers, Hollywood etc.  In my experience that usually dictates the kind of company a person will keep.  Lawyers don't' typically hang out with dishwashers or stay at home wives on their spare-time, even if they have the same strong interest in dog training.

Momosgarage - That is a bit of stereotyping....  I happen to be an attorney and hang out with all sorts of people.  Personally I have found that that occupations/finances do not dictate whether an individual is someone I want to associate with.  Come to think of it, one of my closest friends (and a damn fine dog trainer) is a stay at home mom ;-)