How would you go about setting up a new dog training class/club. What is involved and needed.

What do you look for in a training class and how much would you pay for a weekly 2 hour session.

Is there official guide lines that have to be followed, if so were will i find them,

Just a thought but no idea how to go about it, Not talking about a money making  business more a local friendly group.

ideas welcome

thanks

I would have thought insurance and a suitable dog friendly venue are the most important factors in starting a training group.  Then chosing the right trainer (which you already have in mind ;) )

I would pay upwards to £5 per 2hr session... Maybe making it £20 - £25 a month up front would be a good idea?  Or a yearly member ship fee and smaller weekly payment? 

As I mentioned to you before I think a Dog Walking Group with training as we walk would be a good idea and could potentially work out cheaper?

Insurance, adequate parking, smallish class (nothing worse than waiting 10-15min for your turn to try???exercise.) better 2 classes of 10/12 than 1 of 20+
If its basic classes you may find 2hrs - think thats what you meant? - is too long a session for a lot of dogs and owners.

also if you are teaching it then eyes in back of your head to see what everyone in the class is doing while you look at the one in front :-D
Chris

decent size hall/training ground is vital.  only place i could get my current dog to was a total joke.  far too small so 90% of class spent sitting down listening to her spouting off about the totally obvious rather then the puppy socialisation I had paid for.  incredibly boring and pointless.
previous dog went to great class, some old huge church hall but apparently they decided didn't want animals in their hall any more as hall was used for kids etc other times so that one moved miles away :(
all my dog learned was ooo that puppy is barking loads that looks fun-oo that ones doing it too and copied :(

You really have to keep your cool when you get people who will not listen! Or who come to class and tell you how to train their dog and/or other dogs in the class. People who turn up a couple of times then come to class to tell you their friend/relative/vet/uncle Tom Cobbly has told them they should not be training the dog the way you are teaching. Had one recently pay for an eight week puppy course and after two weeks did not come again as the local dog 'behaviourist' had told her she should be taking the dog to her puppy play days not training at this point, and another who said much the same a while back who said the vet had said much the same.

The other thing you will get are the problem dogs who in some cases are too big and boisterous for their owners or simply have temperament issues or may not have had any form of training what so ever and now are set in their ways. We had two come to club one had a bad temperament issue, and the owner would not have it that this was the case, they had been sent to the club because the dog had got a reputation for chasing and attacking other dogs and latterly it chased a little girl one day.

So as you can see you will need a 'rhino hide' the ability to bite your tongue and keep quiet when exasperated, a good club insurance which allows for 'dog bites dog', 'dog bites man', 'man bites dog' and possibly 'man bites man'!

On the plus side you get to meet some really nice dog lovers who really want to learn and make the most of their dogs companionship. I have some really great folk in my club especially in the top class where they really enjoy being with their dogs and doing things with their dogs.

A good sized hall is always a help and good car parking is really essential, (one club I attended I had to park the car on the road and walk two hundred yards along a very busy road to get to the club entrance, which I never enjoyed).

What kind of training would you be doing in a two hour session? The only training I have come across where the session was that long was for gundog training for the field. Most training clubs allow an hour as the attention span of the owners and dogs in the early class where there is a lot to take in worked out at 10 minutes for meeting and greeting others in the class 20 minutes to learn and a further 10 to 20 minutes to remember what they are doing and the final minutes to wind down as young dogs by this stage would be bored. I did have a ringcraft club class where an hour to an hour and a half was spent going over the dogs and the other half hour was looking at movement and breed types, sort of hands on assessment for everyone in the club or we covered ring ettiquette and explaining classes and such like to newbies.