Part 8 - Dog Training Clubs and Insurance

John is an extremely experienced member and trainer of Gun Dogs. Hints, tips and general advice can be found in here which will build into an extremely useful souce of informatation

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Part 8 - Dog Training Clubs and Insurance

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PART EIGHT

Dog Training Clubs and Insurance

Before we get to the meat of this article I’d like to have a word about Third Party insurance. Vet cover is very much up to you. Long term it is unlikely that you will get your money back but it is nice to know that in the unhappy event of a serious illness or injury that the cost is covered. Third Party cover is a totally different thing. We all hope we will never need it but in the event of our dog causing an accident on the road we could be sued for sums well in excess of a million pound! Looked at like that Third Party cover is essential! Before looking any further check your house insurance. A lot these days cover your dog for third party risks as a part of this cover and if so there is no need to look further but some don’t. There are several companies offering this cover. The one I use cover two dogs for something like seven million pounds for around thirty pounds a year.

Dog training clubs! Are they any good? Are they any good for someone who knows how to train their dog? The answer to both is yes! The socialising side is worth it’s weight in gold to the dog whether you need the training or not and a good instructor should be the font of all wisdom.

So how do you find a good club? That’s always going to take a little work on your part. There are several organisations training instructors, amongst them “The Association of Pet Dog Trainers” who have a web site listing their members. Of course, this is no guarantee of competence, some are going to be good while others, no matter how much training they have had are never going to set the world alight! By the same token there are instructors who have never attended organised courses who are quite brilliant so the only way is to get out and see what the club has to offer. You need to be clear in your own mind what sort of training you are looking for. Is you’re dog purely a pet or do you have secret aspirations towards show, obedience or maybe even gundog work? For pet dog clubs your local vet may be able to supply a name. Some public Libraries keep lists of local organisations as do some pet shops. If you find one which is out of your immediate area it could be worth a phone call, dog people are a close knit community and people at one club tend to know others so one thing can easily lead to another. For show training, a trip to a show and a brows through the catalogue will often yield the name of someone who lives in your area who might be able to give you a phone number. With this kind of detective work a phone number should soon be forthcoming.

How do you tell if the instructor is any good? It’s never easy but there are clues. Obviously look to see how the dogs are doing although that may not be a good guide. Some clubs run fixed length courses others allow people to start whenever so without knowing how long the dogs have been attending you cannot really say how the training is going. Sit and watch the class. Listen to the instructor, particularly if he or she is handling a dog. Don’t listen to the words, pretend you are a dog and try to understand from the actions of instructor just what he or she is trying to get you to do. If you can’t understand then how would your dog manage? Some instructors don’t touch the dogs. Others are of the “Hands On” variety. There is a lot to be said for both types of instructors although I must admit that the hands on kind does occasionally end up getting a nip from an irate dog (As I know to my cost!) is the instructor approachable? Does he or she seem to have a rapport with the dogs and owners? Thank goodness the days of controlling by fear are a thing of the past and almost all instructors use reward based training these days. Some instructors like you to take a small toy with you to use as reward, other prefer food. This is all things to discuss on your first visit. At the end of all this is there the feeling that you trust the instructor? I don’t mean so much “gut feeling” as a sum of all feelings. Sometimes we have the little thought, something we can’t quite put our finger on but it is something I always feel I should take notice of.

One last thing about dog training clubs. Your dog is just that. Your Dog! No one has the right to tell you to do something you don’t want to do! Some instructors are very good at summing up a dogs nature but you have the advantage of being around your dog all the time so no one should know it as well as you.

Regards, John
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Post by Glenys »

This is excellent information written for our rescue by John Weller to share with people especially if you are looking to own a dog for the first time or to help with any training you may need with an existing dog.

Also do not forget to ask if there are any questions you would like to put to John in particular I am sure he would be able to advise.

We have always been grateful for Johns advice in tha past and of course the book he wrote A simple approach to gundog training has now sold out this book was written for our rescue to sell to help the rescue.
500 copies were printed,the book took on another surge of sales thanks to the Lab forums llisting it and also the online shop.
We are going for a reprint in 2008 so watch this space.

Glenys Fryer Rescue Founder / Coordinator.
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Re: Part 8 - Dog Training Clubs and Insurance

Post by Glenys »

Bump up for George and Mum
Glenys Fryer(Coordinator)

Email: labrador.rescue@btinternet.com

Gina Boyd(Coordinator)
Telephone: 07572 438871 (Available Between 10am - 7pm)
Email: ginaboyd2021@outlook.com

Carole Fairhurst(General Enquiries)
Telephone: 07377 215996 (Available Calls between 10am to 5)
Email: C.fairhurst@ymail.com

Lin Jackson(General enquiries)
Telephone: 07507 646082 (Available Calls between 10am to 5)
Email:
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