Hi all,
My four BC's and I live in Glen Innes in the New England area of NSW. The nearest dog club is Armidale (100 km's away). I have been a member in the past and also a trainer for the club, but with petrol prices the way they are (and the fact that they train on Sunday mornings, meaning a very uncivilised 6.30 wake up call to get there ) I've been thinking about starting a club in Glen Innes.
I have spoken to a private trainer in Inverell, who is willing to run classes here, however I think that the cost will put a lot of people off (we have a high unemployment rate). The local rangers are supportive, and we do have an RSPCA here, however the woman who runs it has already approached me to help train her rescues, as she (by her own admission) has no idea.
I know of others in Glen who would like to get a club happenning, but again, they have no training experience. I'm more than happy to give my time to run classes, but don't have a clue about insurance, membership costings, affiliation, regulations etc etc etc. I will state here that I am a clicker trainier and have been for seven years, I will not use aversives as I don't know how (and don't want to know). I am not looking at trialling etc, more a basic manners class, as that's what most people want. If they want to go further, I will recommend that they go to Armidale.
To give you an idea about Glen Innes demographics, we have a population of around 10,000, three offleash areas, lots of dog owners and a high dumpage rate of dogs. I would like to keep costs to a minimum, but as a SINK (single income, no kids, the acronym is perfect ) I can't afford to put money into it myself.
Quite a few people have mentioned an interest in agility, I was thinking if we get a club happenning we could maybe have weekend long courses, getting someone in to run them as I'm a 'backyarder' in that respect. We also have a new vet clinic, and the vet there has run puppy classes in the past, so I thought we could tie that in as well.
Any advice, hints, tips etc very appreciated. PM if you like, but maybe there are others in a similar situation that would benefit form advice.
Cheers,
Anne
