Joining Training Facility

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gar-dog
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Joining Training Facility

Post by gar-dog » Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:42 pm

Well, assuming I get board approval, I will be joining the English Setter Club of America. It is about an hour from me and has 350-odd fenced acres and is also next to a WMA. There is a clubhouse, barn, kitchen ,etc. I understand there are pens and generally birds on the property - not sure if you need to bring birds down when you train. I am pretty psyched about it. It seems like all of my attempts at training so far seem so "ad hoc." I am excited to have a large, safe place to go do what I need to do.

I know Sambuca and some others on this site may be members. If anyone has any tips or advice, please let me know.
Gary

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jetto
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by jetto » Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:33 am

Those are beautiful grounds. You are really lucky to have them so close to you! Have fun! Kristi

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Ruffshooter
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by Ruffshooter » Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:47 am

Isn't your dogs tail a little on the short side meet the setter standard? :wink:
Sound like a good place to train.
The best part of training is seeing the light come on in your little prot'eg'e.

Rick

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Karen
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by Karen » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:51 am

The grounds are really nice and extremely well maintained, and I love that they're all fenced in. I'm sure the board will approve your memberhip without issue. The only issue there is that there are so many members (over 400 I believe) that you have very little control of training scenarios, which can be an issue with young dogs....you may not always be able to set her up for success if you don't know where the birds and other dogs are, and you won't know if there's another dog on the ground that could be a fighter.
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gar-dog
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by gar-dog » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:06 am

Wow, 400 members? The by-laws says 150. Could that number include spouses? I will try to get down on occassion during the week. I hear there is sometimes nobody there then.

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Karen
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by Karen » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:22 am

That number is second hand (and possibly 3rd hand) so could be exaggerated, but even with 150 members the same issues exist. I'm used to a very controlled training environment, and even then stuff happens you don't plan on. There are some really knowledgeable members at that club so if you can hook up with the right people, you stand to learn TONS! Joe & Marsha are great and won't steer you wrong.
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gar-dog
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by gar-dog » Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:54 pm

Ruffshooter wrote:Isn't your dogs tail a little on the short side meet the setter standard? :wink:
All non-Setters will be fitted with a long prosthetic tail, complete with fake bloody tip, for use when on club grounds.

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Ruffshooter
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by Ruffshooter » Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:17 pm

:lol: :lol: Make sure its not latex :wink: Have fun.
The best part of training is seeing the light come on in your little prot'eg'e.

Rick

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Brittguy
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by Brittguy » Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:27 pm

Don't let the numbers scare you. Often clubs have a large membership but very few use grounds. I once belonged to a club that had a large membership but during the week and in the winter there would be almost no one there. Most of the people only participated in the picnics and trap range.

RayGubernat
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by RayGubernat » Sun Jun 22, 2008 8:42 am

gar-dog -

You are correct. The current cap opn membership is 150.

The setter club is a very nice place to run a dog, as you already know. They make efforts to have release birds(quail) available for dog training in a reasonably challenging manner for the dog. They have several release/call back pens scattered about on the property and members can let birds out for training. They are going to restock with birds the last week of June as they normally do, and there will be no bird training for a week to allow the birds to aclimate to their new surroundings. They also have homing pigeons on site for use by members.

You are, of course, free to bring any recognized gamebird, or your own pigeons for training. I generally brought some birds when i went there to train, just so i had control over when an where.

I haven't been up there to train very often since I moved to DE, but when I lived in NJ I did use it fairly frequently. It was a good place to train back then...now it is a great place. The grounds have been manicured for working bird dogs and only a very small portion of the grounds are farmed for crops. I hate multiflora and practically all of it on the gronds has been bushhogged, sprayed, or ripped out. You never get rid of all of it, but so far, it is very well controlled. If anything, the grounds are, for me, a little too well trimmed sometimes, but that is a happy problem.

On weekends, especially towards the fall, the grounds can get a little congested, but virtually everyone there is interested in working their own dogs without interference, so most everyone tries to stay out of each other's way. As noted, during the week you will often see only one or two folkks there training. The real good news is also that those one or two folks might just be some of the most knowledgeable bird dog people you will ever come across.

On weekends in autumn, there is an increasing usage of the grounds for field trials which can make it tough for the hunter who only has weekends to work their dog.

I hope you get selected for membership and perhaps our paths will cross there.

Good luck with your dog.

RayG

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Don
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by Don » Sun Jun 22, 2008 9:16 am

Welcome aboard Ray! Have really missed you on the other site.
Never set your dog up to fail - Delmar smith

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Some people think to much like people and not enough like dogs!

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gar-dog
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by gar-dog » Sun Jun 22, 2008 5:17 pm

Ray:
I met a nice family from DE at the North Jersey Brittany Club trials there back in April. And I think they won. Could that have been you?
Gary

RayGubernat
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by RayGubernat » Sun Jun 22, 2008 6:14 pm

Gary -

There are any number of very nice folks who run Brittanys, especially at the Setter Club, but I run pointers, so... no, it was not me. I used to live in central NJ but currently reside in central DE.

I have cross registered my dogs and will run in AKC trials but my main focus is AF amateur horseback stakes.

I understand that the Brittany trial that they ran up there in April was a top shelf event. You got to see a good one it seems. Good for you.

RayG

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Sharon
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by Sharon » Sun Jun 22, 2008 7:09 pm

Ray! My favourite poster on the "other site". So glad to see you here. We only have dog food fights here. :)
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett

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Karen
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by Karen » Sun Jun 22, 2008 8:21 pm

Gary, you met John & Joanne Perry (and Danielle, their daughter) at the Setter Club (and they did win). Their dog is Blue Rock's Diamond Girl and they did win the AGD stake at North Jersey Brittany Club's trial this past season. They're the people who ran Blaze for me last season while my arm continued to heal. They train with Pete at Water & Wings so I doubt you'll see them at the setter club except for trials.

When is Ginger going to Pete?
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sambuca
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by sambuca » Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:30 pm

Hey Gar-Dog,

I like the ESCA. My biggest problem has been lack of info. Sometime I've shown up and theres a trial going on that I had no idea was going to be there. When theres no trial there are sometimes a few people (2-3) working dogs but with all that land, its easy to stay out of each others way. And, in my short experience, everyone has always gone out of their way to be friendly and helpful. The Luisis work there dogs there and they are always willing to help out. They are the nicest people you will ever meet.

The only problem you will find is that there are released birds that you don't know are there. This might be a problem with a young dog.

I think I met RayG and his wife this weekend at the club picnic. They are another example of the great folks at ESCA.

Cheers!

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tmoneysju
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Re: Joining Training Facility

Post by tmoneysju » Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:37 am

Gar-dog/Sambuca, can one of you pm me with some details about the application process? dues, type of info they ask...

I'm trying to decide whether to apply there, it's right in the toss-up zone for me distance wise to get use out of it on a regular basis (about an hour to and hour and 15 minutes)

if you recall we all got brits relatively close together, I hope you're all doing well!

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