SCHRC TRAINING DAY RULES OF ETIQUETTE

1. Always do your best to arrive on time to the training sessions. If you can arrive a little earlier and help with the set up, it would be greatly appreciated. If you need to leave early and are not able to help break down the training day set up, please ask if there is anything else that you can do prior to leaving. Please keep in mind that we are all volunteering our time/efforts and therefore, training sessions will be limited to a maximum of 3 hours in duration.

2. Please make sure that you keep your dogs safely secured in your vehicle while we are setting up for the day and when you are reloading wingers, re-stocking birds, bumpers, etc. However, please feel free to get your dog out (on lead) and socialize them throughout the session, as good socialization is also a very important part of training.

3. Please only run your dog one time and then be considerate to take time to help load wingers, re-stock birds, bumpers, etc. If you are unfamiliar with any of the equipment we use, please feel free to ask a more experienced club member, and we would be happy to walk you through it. Once everyone has run their dog and there is time left in the training session, then we will start running dogs through for a second time.

4. Know your dog, their limits and please me mindful of the time spent at the line working your dog. Just because some of your training group is doing a double or a triple, that doesn’t mean you can’t do singles. Train your dog at its level, not at the group’s level. If you are having problems with a concept within a particular setup, please don’t hesitate to ask one of the more experienced handlers for individual help. Treat these sessions as training sessions for your dog, not as test sessions.

5. If you are interested in honoring after you run your dog, please be considerate to ask the next person running if they mind if you honor. Some dogs aren’t ready for the pressure of having an honor dog beside them and it can cause issues.

6. Don’t worry about equipment malfunctions that cause poor throws, it happens. If you get a poor throw or a “No Bird”, look at it as a training experience. You have the option to either immediately run again or get back in line and run a few dogs later.

7. Do your homework. Work on things like obedience, yard work (yard work is a very important aspect of retriever training), recalls and other basics at home. Reserve the time spent in group training for the things that you can’t do by yourself, it is very beneficial.

8. If you have a dog that doesn’t get along with other dogs, let the people in the club know. Make sure to always keep your dog on lead until you are running and keep your distance from other dogs. Please note that an aggressive dog who is fighting with other dogs at a test is an immediate disqualification for both handler and dog and for reasons of safety and liability, will be treated similarly at our training days.

9. If you have a dog that is in heat, it is preferred that you skip all training sessions during her heat cycle. However, if you have to bring her to training, please make sure to air her away from the training area, keep her away from the rest of the dogs and run her last, so to not affect the male dogs of the group.

10. And last, but certainly not least...Please pick up after yourself and if you see any other trash on the training grounds (i.e. paper, cans, poppers, etc.) please pick those up as well. Our goal is to always leave the training grounds cleaner than we found them.

Copyright 2023 SOUTHERN COLORADO HUNTING RETRIEVER CLUB - All Rights Reserved