I was really pleased with Fagan passing his bronze award and couldnt wait to go to training and tell everyone.  I told my training instructor - and she had never heard of the good citizen awards   so I spoke to the head trainer in the club purely to find out where he could do his silver and gold and she said that she would have to pay £400 insurance to do them so our training club wouldnt be doing them and then she walked off to talk to someone else   I was really disappointed that no one congratulated me on what I feel is a big acheivement for Fagan, and whats more they didnt take an interest and made me feel like it wasnt important :(  now I dont know what to do - I like this club because they do competition obedience and although the trainers can be a bit scary  if you do something wrong (but then I am a wuss :P )  they are very good and know their stuff and they are approachable.  Im wondering if because Fagan is a Setter they dont take me as seriously as the people with collies and GSD's.  I could join the club that my parents go to which do the good citizen awards but are very dis-organised and very over-crowded :(  What do others think ?  Does anyone know where I could do the silver and gold awards ?  I know it isnt the be all and end all but it would be nice to do them. 

Claire (all confused )

Maybe try out one or two clubs, or rather go and watch to see what you feel like. I would be very insulted if the trainers at a club felt that GSDs and BCs were more important than my Belgian. Also, you may disagree but really these days, there is  no need for ANY trainer to be "a bit scary". After all, we are all adults. They are not god at the end of the day.

I have found trainers who can be very "strong" but who are great people and who are as happy to take on say, a greyhound owner as a Bc owner. Im afraid the other sort get very little respect from me :D

I think an overcrowded club doesn't sound much better because, overcrowding can lead to stress unless the dogs are all really laid back and so are the owners. I believe some dog shows hold good citizen awards, that is where i got my first award with my elderly BSd - just saw the Bronze thingy and went for it, good fun it was too. That was a good few yearsa ago now so not sure if they still do that - but if so, maybe you could train more on your own and just find out where to go on the day? :)

Lindsay
X

Many many years ago I went to a dog club for help with my dog; they told me that "I would never do anything with one of those"!

There is nothing I like more than a challenge :D

10 years later none of those trainers has worked one dog in "ticket" in any discipline, but I have worked 2.......

They may have been "doing it" for hundreds of years but not, obviously, that well........... :)

I find it sad that your trainers were not happy for you and that you find them scary

If you contact the Kennel Club they will give you a list of clubs in your area that do run KC GC classes.  These clubs must be KC registered, perhaps the club you attend is not?

Alternatively you can train for the exercises and find out if you can take the test at another club; this has been done before now providing that the trainer is happy that your dog is capable of the test temperament wise.

Every little accomplishment that you gain with your dog is something to be proud of and to celebrate.

I once had a trainer that didn't believe in my red and whites....well this club I was at one night I got completly ignored....They took my money, but I didn't get any training...so I walked out and joined anew club...walked in with my red and white and went "wow you like a challenge" worked her and they were impressed!  She was never going to be as good as a collie and I only ever worked her at training and exemption shows!  I'm glad I went to the new club, and with any pup I will go back there! 

I train with a red and white who works beautifully (when she wants too ;) ) She has won a Pre Beginners and Beginners this year as well has being a full champion in the show ring.

She is rather special and boy does she know it ;)

Sandra

Claire,

You sound in a similar position to us - our club doesn't do the GC awards either, I took mine at a breed show. I'm looking at changing clubs to do the GC awards but I can't find one close to me that I like. I'm fairly happy at the one i'm at now (even though they don't take me as seriously as the others as I have Mals :rolleyes: ) but I would like to go on and do the silver with my bitch. I'd also like to take the Bronze with our pup but I'll probably have to wait until May and hope there's another testing class at our next breed show :)

YOU dont have to pick up the insurance tab for any dog trainer!!!!!
The trainers are getting annoyed at your suggestions because they have been caught out.....they are running your class without third party insurance. I wouldnt touch them with a bargepole. Find a trainer that at least is responsible enough to insure their clients.
Cathy

I'm interested in what people have to say here.  I help out with a training club now and really enjoy it.  We only have a maximum of 7 dogs per class. I own BCs.  The previous club I went to assumed that because I had BCs you didnt need training and just left me to my own devices and to get on with it. This club is different. BCs are hard work and just wish more people would realise this.  Yes they can train easily but then you have to train them not to go through their repatoire(?) every time.  Trainers need to be more sympathetic to all breeds.  They must not just train the dog but the owner on how to train the dog.  What does annoy me is those owners who come every week, having done no work during the past week and expect their dog to just do it!  Best thing is to find a good club and stick with it.  No we dont do the GC awards yet but understand that she is in the process of getting registered so that we can start this next year. 

Having found a good club through bitter experience, the acid test for me is:  can I go and watch without my dog first, then are they doing stuff Im interested in, and does it look fun?. If not, no sale. Also watch for the graduates of these classes. A well known Edinburgh trainer seems to have a huge proportion of dogs who leave the class with a certificate but their owners see no change - allowing for those unlikely to do their homework! Also expect your trainer to "rejoice with you and weep with you"  as it says in the Bible. Not to congratulate an owner on their dogs progress is pretty awful.

Thanks for your resposes :)

I entered Fagan in  "new comers" at an obedience competition at a companion show at the weekend.  He did well but needs improvment on his heelwork.  Im going to ask the trainer this week about improving it and see what response I get :) 

I have a list of other clubs in surrounding towns so I might give them a call and ask if there is a chance I can take my silver award there - or perhaps even change clubs :)

Blondebird,

A lot depends on your ambitions for your dog. If you want to do competitive obedience, I would stick with a club that specialises in that kind of training. A reasonably well trained dog should breeze through the GC silver & gold awards without much GC specific training. However, to do competitive obedience you really need to do specific training to reach the required level of precision. 

Perhaps you could find a more friendly obedience club though? Although you could stick with it to prove to them how capable an Irish Setter can be?

Well done on gaining the bronze award.

I would rather stick with this club as they do the competitive obedience and that is the route I would like to go.  I want to do the good citizen awards as an added extra - I dont think I need to do the specific training for the GC awards because I know mostly what im doing - I just somewhere to actually do them.  My parents have spent nearly a year at their club "training" for the bronze award - they were well gutted when I told the Fagan got his ...... and all for the costly sum of £2 :D :D :D

AS you are in Hampshire, would you consider a session at  Anne Bussey's place? she does one to one training and also holds training days - obedience and working trials and both she and her assistant have done extremely well in these disciplines. I noticed that she holds for example, a day discussing "training rounds and what to do if it goes wrong in the ring" and so on. I have been to her once and she was very helpful indeed.

She's actually in Wiltshire but it's not far. Just a thought anyway.

Lindsay
X

Do you know if she has a website ?  If anything it would be good to go on training days :)

she is brilliant as is her business partner susanne jaffa, they are pure clicker,& really know their stuff

anne has a working trials champion
& susanne has the first aussie ob ch

they have all different breeds training there though

look here!

    www.horsesanddogs.co.uk
 

Yes, don't think she has her own website but the phone number's there.

A couple of things i had been unsure about really came together when i went for my one to one.
Lindsay
X

I Know exactly how you feel. When we got our first lab, my daughter and I went to a KC listed training class. My daughter was eight(and a bit), and looking forward to this training.
The then instructor (no longer training now), ask my daughter's age, and said to my daughter- and I quote as we remember it vividly "you sit over there, I have no insurance for children under the age of 12 - and don't bother coming back". Needless to say we didn't.  Find another training club is my advice.

I think my trainer has been reading champdogs   I went to training last night and it was really good, I felt like I was being taken seriously :)  maybe I jumped the gun a bit last week.  We are still really struggling with keeping his attention doing heelwork but his stays and recall were great :)

I own a very difficult but very promising border terrier, I started agility training with him at a club and after spending a good fews months feeling frustrated because they could not really 'cope' with him and I felt that they were uninterested because they did not really know what to do with him, I found myself a new trainer.

I do not regret it fow a moment, my new trainer took us on and saw it as a challenge to find the best way to work him, he spent time at home thinking up new ways to solve my problems and gave me exercises to do at home.  I really cant thank him enough, I enjoy training and doing agility with my dog and the progress he has made is amazing, we still have loads of problems to work on now that I have started competitions but we are getting there.