I am thinking of setting up my own dog training class one evening a week in my local area but am after a bit of advice from anyone who runs a class.  At the moment it's still just an idea, not likely to be until next year anyway but when I have looked at a few village halls they all say no dogs (Not actually made contact with any yet) How do you go about finding a dog friendly one or what sort of things do you say to the hirer to make it sound like you wont be too messy etc? I would plan to sweep and mop the floor at the end of the evening and obviously clean up after any accidents but just wondered how people go about approaching a new venue?

Thanks

We had a problem with our local hall (council owned) wanting to increase the rent so much that it would be impossible to keep using the same venue, and could not find any others.  I know this isn't the same situation, but I wrote to the local MP (who was Ed Milliband) and he managed to get the council to not increase the rent for us, so we could stay. Other members contacted local newspapers. Now the WAY we did this is what I wanted to point out as it may help. What we said all along was that a local dog training class provides an extremely important service, as it helps promote responsible dog ownership and teaches pet owners how to have their dogs wellbehaved and under control, which is vital today as there are so many dog attacks being reported all the time. I am sure this is what did it, pointing out it was helping to address a problem that is widely reported in the media.

I am currently experiencing the same problem at the moment.

Can I ask what the average fee per hour is for a hall?

I have actually been costing out riding schools and from my sums this does seem possible for my set up.

h

In my experience, whilst many will say no dogs, they are prepared to make exceptions for regular bookings.  Our village hall for instance is one such...

Go and look at the hall first (without mentioning the dogs) as you'll want to assess flooring, parking, place for outside toiletting etc, without them trying to put you off. You'll have a better idea of what dogs need than they will.   Once you've worked out how it might suit your needs then you can set about explaining that the hall caretaker/booking clerk etc.  If you don't want an upfront discussion about your needs until after you've visited the hall then try and go during an open event.

The most important issues are that you won't damage their floor surface (as these are hugely expensive to resurface/treat/reseal particularly if wood), that you'll remove all dog waste from the premises (offer to take it home), that you have special cleaning fluids for accidents, and that you understand their concerns (many and varied!).  Noise may well be a concern to near neighbours who are often quite cross about barking dogs but will overlook a loud party!

Many village halls are struggling to survive so you should find plenty that are prepared to be a bit flexible if you are willing to put in a bit of effort to reassure them.

Thank you for the advice, all very helpful :)

Think visiting without mentioning is a good idea, hadn't thought of that!

The halls I have looked at so far range from £5 per hour to £12.50 an hour (thats in Lincs/Notts area)

Let me know if you find one and set up as we may want to come. :) The one we go to will have to close down for the first 6 months of next year as the hall is being refurbished. (Fingers crossed we don't get the huge rent increase problem again!) I will hopefully have pups born February so don't want to miss out on the vital early socialisation at training class for the one we keep.

WOW even the top end of the price is very cheap!

Try local social clubs as well.  They very often have rooms that are not being used on weekdays.
One local to us offered the room for free, as they made money on people buying drinks, crisps etc. They saw it as a good advert as it got new people coming to the club, and in the future they may come back on another occasion or hire the room themselves for a party.
From my experience it was places that hold baby and toddler groups who were worried about dogs using the hall. Also ask your local council, they are very often aware of rooms for hire, and if you make the case for responsible dog ownership they may be able to help.

There is no easy way to do this, you just have to try try and keeping trying every suitable venue you come across.  You may have to try about 30 before you find 1 - but you only need one, so keep going!

You can offer references and say that the hall will be left clean and tidy.  I also sometimes say that I use a clinical grade disinfectant which removes 99.9% of viruses and bacteria and thoroughly mop with this before leaving.  (The only problem is sometimes even mentioning things like viruses and bacteria can make them worried if they weren't already, so including that is a bit of a gamble.)

Make sure you sweep before mopping though - when I first started, I was just mopping.  Then I got a complaint from the pilates class in there the next morning about dog hair on the floor!  So now I sweep extra thoroughly and then mop and haven't had a complaint since - that was several years ago.  My hall is also used by a mother and toddler group, in fact I share a cupboard with them!

Check out church halls, scout halls, equestrian facilities etc. as well, not just village halls. Depending on money available, you might want to consider getting tarpaulin so you can tell them that you will cover the floor so there will be no damage. 

Hi all, thanks for the advice, ive begun to make a list of places to contact so hopefully one will say yes :) I had thought about covering the floor, something we used to do at a club I went to once before so will look into that too.

Pity you are too far away, I do bookings for our village hall and EASBTC have 2 open shows and a fun day every year plus there is a dog class every week.
The hall was closed for 6 months about 3 years ago for a BIG refurbishment - £300k worth, I asked about using the scout hut for dog class and was told 'oh no it is used by Children!!. My son used to go to scouts there 30 years ago and it has had NOTHING done to it in the meantime, not even proper cleaning - think wooden floorboards with gaps full of dirt and splinters!
As the others have said make a list and keep asking, I had no, no, no, Yes of course.

Grrrrr! Had a village hall say yes pretty much as soon as I started to look, I had arranged to start in October, had loads of posters printed, placed an add in the local paper then this morning got an email saying they had a committee meeting and everyone bar the man i booked with was against it! Now back to looking at halls and you guessed it so far they have all been no. If anyone knows of a dog friendly hall near gainsborough or scunthorpe or market rasen please pm me.

Thanks