Greater Philadelphia Schutzhund Club Est. 1985

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Dear Prospective New Member,

Thank you for inquiring about membership with the Greater Philadelphia Schutzhund Club (GPSC).

First and foremost, we are about having serious fun and furthering the working dog movement in the United States through United Schutzhund Clubs of America. Some of our members have shown their dogs at regional, national, and international events. We are one of the few “elite” clubs in the United States that can say that every full member has titled a dog, which, as you will learn, is only one of our great accomplishments. In order to get to these levels of competition and to achieve these and other accomplishments, we must take our training sessions and membership responsibilities very seriously and we would expect you to also.

Our club is always “on the lookout” for prospective new members and the membership process is very simple.

(1) After filling out the application and paying the non-refundable application fee of $100.00, the new applicant will come to club for a couple of weeks without a dog. These visits are so you can observe what we do and make sure club life is for you. If you are already a member of United Schutzhund Clubs of America and you already own a current Schutzhund rule book, we will waive the application fee.
(2) On or around the third week, you will bring your dog to club for an evaluation. The evaluation may take a couple of sessions. The dog should be a minimum of ten (10) months old.
(3) If the dog/handler team is deemed suitable, you will be invited to become a probation member. The probation period last at least six months and we will observe how you and your dog “fit-in” with the club. The fee for training as a probation member is $300 per six-month period; the fee is non-refundable and is not dependent on the number of sessions attended or the number of sessions held. The training director and 2 board members will determine if you are to move on to the next phase, remain a probation member for another six-month period or loose club affiliation.
(4) Probation and provisional members may only train one dog per session. The probation and provisional members will usually be the last dogs trained.
(5) We welcome visitors who want to bring a young dog to the club; however, do not bring the dog onto the field without first asking permission. We will be glad to guide you and give you advice in regards to raising a puppy that will someday be a Schutzhund dog. As the great English poet, Alexander Pope wrote,”Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined.” This is the most important time of your dog's life; so, do not take it the wrong way when you are told not to train the puppy too much. You would not undertake a difficult project without first having some understanding of what you are attempting to achieve, so, RELAX, watch and listen. What you see the more advanced dog doing will soon be yours to learn. Pay attention, it will pay dividends.

Important Notes:
(1) When you come to the field with your dog, the dog must be in a travel crate in your vehicle. We have had uncrated dogs jump out of the owners vehicle. We want to prevent your dog from harming itself, other club members, or their dogs. This rule is not optional and you will be asked to leave the field if you show up with the dog uncrated.

(2) We do not own the Armory field. The Armory Officer in Charge has stated that if the day after we train, they can tell we were there, we will loose our training field. So, clean up after yourself, pickup cigarette butts, clean up after your dog, etc. No exceptions!

For a dog/handler team to rise to the level that every member of this club strives to, we must train in all three phases of Schutzhund. Tracking and obedience is every bit as important as protection. We will not train a dog in only one or two phases of Schutzhund; you must attend and participate in all three phases of the training. In order for you to progress, you must train on your own at home. The training director will let you know what you should be practicing and it is up to you to do it.

We work with new members to help them learn the sport of Schutzhund and support them in their quest for greatness. New members, especially novice dog handlers, are time consuming for our training director and helpers. In return for our help, we need your help! We expect everyone to show up on time, learn, teach if you can, and HELP OUT!

For training sessions, you are required to help with things such as field setup, teardown, and cleanup. The field is setup the same way every time, take the initiative to jump in and help. If you are not sure what to do, ask for guidance.

Club events require a lot of member participation to get things organized and setup. If you have a special skill that will help with getting things organized, please volunteer. Getting the field setup requires a lot of work and we need all of the strong backs that we can get. You, and ever other member, will be required to get to the field early and help!

To keep training as a probation/provisional member and eventually become a full member, we will be watching for three things.

(1) You must attend a minimum of 70% of the training sessions and you must train in all phases.
(2) Prospective members must show initiative and willingness to work with the club during training sessions, trials and events.
(3) The dog/handler team must show progress towards titles and the overall understanding of Schutzhund training theories.

If these three things are not met, the probation or provisional member will lose affiliation with GPSC and will be asked not to attend further training sessions. These requirements are clearly laid out in our bylaws and serve to preserve our club’s elite status in the world of Schutzhund and insure it’s future. It is our feeling that being a member of GPSC is a great commitment on each and every member’s part and there are other training methods for people that cannot make the commitment that we require. If you find that club life is not for you, we can put you in touch with a private trainer.

We elect new full members at our annual meeting in January. Election to full membership is based on vacancies in the full member roster and the readiness of provisional member applicant. Time as a provisional member is not a determining factor when electing a member for full membership.

Our training schedule is as follows:
(1) Sunday morning at 8:00 am for tracking at various locations. Obedience and protection starts immediately after at the Sprint City Armory location. We must be off the field by 12:00 sharp so come ready to train.
(2) Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm at the Sprint City Armory location for obedience and protection. Some members arrive at the field around 5:30 pm.

Please attend a training session at your earliest convenience and track me down. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at 609.240.8698 or you can email me at todds@sportk9.com. You can also check out our web site at http://www.gpscinc.com for additional information. If you decide to apply for membership, please fill out the membership and waiver forms and bring it with you to your first session.

Todd Shilkret
Training Director
Greater Philadelphia Schutzhund Club