What would Schutzhund enthusiasts like to be called? - Page 1

I am writing up a Welcome Packet to give to new members of our club. A lot of the people we get are brand new to the sport and in order to avoid answering the same questions over and over (where do I get the harness, what is the word for the bite command, etc) I am trying to answer the most commonly asked questions in a format that we can hand out to new folks and they can take home and read and use when they have time.  Anyway, here's a silly question. On my welcome letter I am wondering how to address the reader, my current draft just says "Welcome, Prospective New Member" as the salutation but that seems kind of generic. What about "Dear Schutzhunder". I have heard people refer to other enthusiasts as "Schutzhunders" but wasn't sure if that was ok or what.  I'm also looking for a nice closing thing, right now it just says "Regards" but maybe something like "Happy Training" or something a little more specific to dog people would be good.   Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.   Currently I am up to 6 pages and could easily keep going, but I don't want to overwhelm people right off the bat :). I'm including a page with what equipment is good to start off with plus website links as well as a reading list, a list of the commands,  a contact list for the club, that type of stuff.   Annette

Schutzheads?

AAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Snort. hilarious felloffher I will wear that title like a badge of honor :)

Dear Schutzhund training enthusiasts

or

Welcome fellow Schutzhund training enthusiasts

Annette, I dont have a better idea than Ninja's - but I like your idea on creating a newbie "pamphlet". That sure would save me time. Any chance you would be willing to share the outcome?

Dale

Or Dear Club Member, it implies they're now part of a team, and belong to a club sharing it's values.

Everyone joins a club for different reasons, social, hobby, for the dog's benefit etc. I think it's better to have some one commiited to contributing to the Club, and in return the Club will support them, a club is only as good as it's members, we've all seen clubs that revolve around one big fish or obsessed with competitions to the detriment of people and dogs. Its all about laying foundations and establishing the roots, I think the sport comes after the people and dogs, it has too. This starts with your written message.

Dear new handler isn't too bad a phrase!

regards

Ronin

Schutzhund is a Team Sport!

Our German colleagues use the term: "SPORTSFREUND" in english, "Sportsfriend"

The term describes a special relationship among "schutzhunders" indicating  a relationship of sportsmanship, courtesy, and respect.
This was explained to me that no matter what one thinks of another, once that person with the dog enters the field, that person must be accorded all due respect.

Not a bad concept!

Thanks everyone for the ideas. Although Schutzhead works for me, I'm thinking we'll wait and use that once they get to know us :). I was thinking something German would be good, so sportsfreund might be the way to go!

I will happily share what I come up with and anyone who would like to can modify it for their club, or not. Some of what I have is obviously specific to our club, for example, we have a heated/air conditioned training room with about 15 crates in it that we use for our daycare. We allow Schutzhund club members to use the crates as long as they vacuum and disinfect each crate when they are finished. Other than property specific stuff the rest of it is just info that seems like common sense to most of us, but we realized recently that while it may seem simple to us it can be a bunch of information to try to digest all while you are trying to figure out what to do when it's your turn to get on the field. I've also got a list of books that may be of interest, links to websites to find gear and suggestions for what to get, at least starting out as well as our club rules.

My husband is going to write a page "from the Training Director" mostly to give encouragement, remind the new folks that we were all the newbies at one time and to lay some ground rules for getting the most out of each session. He is a great writer, much better than me, but what I lack in writing skill I make up in speed, so I'll probably have my 5 pages done in a day and will have to put the packet together and add his page later when he gets it perfected :).

Annette

Sir

Old snobs who think they have protection dogs.

I kiiiiiiiiid....kind of.