# Time Management *whine*



## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

I feel your pain!!!

At the moment, I can't do classes on tuesdays or wednesdays, they're out. Thursdays and mondays are questionable at best some weeks, and I wouldn't be able to make a class before 7:30 for sure because my dayhome kids don't leave till six, DH doesn't get home till just after that IF I'm lucky and then it's at least an hour to anything. Friday doesn't seem to be a class night anywhere I've found, weekends either. Apart from when things dry out and warm up a bit more and I can go train on weekends nearby but not in a class setting. Or the only classes I found that might work are insane cost wise - $30 an hour for group lessons!!!! For that I've just been entering Nadac, I figure I can go in the ring a few times and work on the sidelines inbetween, not the best but what can you do....

In the meantime I'm working on convincing DH that the mudroom would be better with rubber matting so I can do a bit of obedience out there. Not quite enough for jumps but a bit of heeling and doodling anyway for wintertime.... he doesn't like black floors but he may be out of luck!

Lana


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I don't have any advice, just want to whine with you.

There's so much I want to do with my dogs. I've done some freestyle with my dogs. The nearest instructor? In Houston. Want to do agility? No problem, Flashpaws, one the the most competitive agility places in the country, is in Houston. Lots of really nice OTCH obedience instructors, in Houston. Looking for someone that wants to work with goldens in field work? Go to the nearest golden club, in Houston. Nearest Flyball club? You got it, Houston. Dock diving's in Houston too. Oh yeah, and there's even weekly tracking classes in Houston.

Did I mention Houston is nearly 3 hours away? *whinewhinewhine*

Locally, we offer a CGC class. And a lady had her husband build her some agility equipment for her backyard and she offers lessons. Not that she's ever had lessons herself or titled a dog.


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## CosbysMommy (Feb 20, 2010)

I don't know but I envy you all so much! With my job right now, it's all I can do to fit in play time/cuddle time with my Chihuahuas, work, food, sleep!!!

When we move to WA in April and get Cosby in May, I won't be working for at least 1 year. (Yes.. I'm taking a year off to raise my puppy :-D, which I am so grateful to be able to do!) I know otherwise I would never be able to do anything with him training wise!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

CosbysMommy said:


> (Yes.. I'm taking a year off to raise my puppy :-D, which I am so grateful to be able to do!)


 
OMG I am so incredibly jealous!!


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Okay here is the easy answer....Start you own class. Well, maybe not class persay.. Here is what we do. Let me start by saying we have a beautiful training facility that is free to use for anyone. A group of us get together every Saturday and just train our dogs. We usually work on our own stuff but always do group exercises together. Sometimes we set up the baby gates and do run throughs. It doesn't cost anything and is always a great time. There would be nothing to calling a bunch of your dog training friends and set up a time and location and just get together. I guess it would not be that easy for everyone, but people can get together for silly things, why not for training dogs? I am only able to go on Saturdays as I live 30 miles from town so the rest of the week I am training at home, or the local park and school.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

I feel your pain. Quiz hasn't been in a group class, other than an agility class in 3 years, and agility was just because I managed to find one during the day. But now I'm back in school during the day, so that's out. The best we can do is go to lots of different places in the afternoon between the time I get out of school and time I start teaching at night. It's part of why we're having a group problem in Open- he's not been able to practice around strange dogs and it's throwing him off and worrying him in the ring. *sigh* Now I'm looking into driving 2 hours in LA traffic on Thurs (the one night I don't teach) to go meet up with another group of people who train together often, but it's dogs he doesn't really know. That will be good for a few sessions, but then I'll need to find more new people and dogs.

Makes me want to go back to a "day job" so I have my nights and weekends free. I've been looking.... but it's hard to explain on a resume why you want to apply for a PR Executive position when you've been "playing with dogs" for 8 years. *sigh*


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

I feel your pain. I work 50+ hours a week most weeks in my real job and then teach two or three days a week - interspersed with this are my on-call weeks which can be pretty sleepless.

I've done a couple of things - Classes don't work for me - I'm spending too much time teaching (and preparing for my classes and working) that even if I had the time I'd have a hard time finding a class that fit with what I needed to work on. I've got a couple of people I like to work with and will try to do sessions here and there - but for the most part I have to be realistic and honest with myself about my goals and what I need to work on. Videotaping my runs and keeping my blog (http://blog.magicagoldens.com) has been a pretty key part of making the process successful for myself.

I'm working Teller in obedience, agility, field and tracking - though we have done some conformation - I'm just not willing to put weight on him right now to have him in the breed ring - not to mention the $$$. 

I do something training-wise every day - in addition to training I try to get in a good amount of conditioning work in three or four times a week...Monday is usually hill work for both dogs. 30-40 minutes for Teller and 10-15 for Murphy. In the winter this means flashlights, cold and dark. Tuesday is typically obedience work, or contact work. Wednesday is typically agility, Thursday is typically a very short agility sequence or contact/weave reps followed by another hill work day or long fetching 500' + sends and retrieves. If I can squeeze in enough daylight I'll get some marks in as well. If I'm really planning ahead I'll thaw a bird. Fridays are typically a bit of light training/tricks and some more conditioning work - in the winter Fridays often become hill work because I ran out of daylight after training Thursday nights. Saturday I teach in the morning and afternoon and I try to get out for a off-leash "free" time walk (nothing formal). Sundays are typically stupid pet tricks and a day off for all of us. This is of course if we're not trialing that weekend - which changes everything. I don't work my dogs after Wednesday if they are trialing that weekend - and tone down some of the physical activity stuff too. The Monday after a trial is usually spent on an off-leash or flexi walk. 

In the summer this gets easier because I don't do much of the long retrieves or hill work, instead the dogs get a couple of 45 minute swims every day - and the pool is at home so it's a time saver. 

I won't say it's easy. I leave the house at 7:45 and I'm home around 5 - for about 10 minutes - I don't get home (and stay home) until around 9pm most nights. I'm lucky if I get dinner before 10pm, then I'll work another hour or so from home so I can bolt out early a day or two a week to take advantage of daylight. I'm extremely lucky to have an indoor heated facility to work my dogs - and in the winter and it's 20 below I can take them out there to run/fetch instead of exposing all of us to -20 and icy footing. I never have time to grocery shop or cook much ahead of time and on the weekends it's pretty typical for me to get up at 3am just to start driving around 4am to save a bit of cash on a Friday night hotel. I definitely take better care of my dogs than I do myself most days and weeks - but it's worth it - most days anyway!

Erica


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Well, I feel good to have some group training (for the first time in my life). BUT, where are all the shows? For conformation and obedience there is only one show the entire year within an hour or two. For the whole stinkin' year. Otherwise you must travel for several hours to get to one  There is no UKC out here either.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

That's why I am currently in credit card debt.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Thanks for all the replies, it's great to hear how others are handling this. I thought I'd been managing okay but recently realized I really am not.

Laura: How did you find people? I know a handful of local conformation folks, but nobody with an interest in obed/agility/etc. My agility group gets together ever 4-6 weeks but that's not quite often enough for what we need to be doing, more often just isn't happening with how far apart we all live. 

One facility I teach at is a super big fancy place, and I can work dogs for a bit before/after class (...almost always after)... but I can't haul out the contact equipment on my own and the other instructors and owners aren't interested in competition stuff, we did once a week training for a couple weeks...until we both went back to teaching every night. 

I'm not comfortable begging and pleading my way into the breed club training groups (...I'd been invited in the past, several times, when I was a member...)...my membership lapsed due to lack of time and they'd probably be happy to have me back...but there's a baseline of competency I'd like us to have first so we don't make a fool of ourselves in too many ways.

Stephanie:... the "regular day job" has suddenly become somewhat appealing. Evenings and weekends off would be so much more convenient!

There are trials within 2 hours almost every single weekend (...in some event/org or another) and often multiple things happening on one weekend. I've checked into all the clubs/facilities hosting these events and the classes are always on the weeknights or afternoons when I'm already very busy. 

Please keep comments and encouragement and similar frustrations coming... it IS helping me to hear about this!


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

GoldenSail said:


> Well, I feel good to have some group training (for the first time in my life). BUT, where are all the shows?  For conformation and obedience there is only one show the entire year within an hour or two. For the whole stinkin' year. Otherwise you must travel for several hours to get to one  There is no UKC out here either.


Here too. I have one conformation/obedience trial that is 5 minutes from my house (nice) and two weekend of agility about 45 minutes away. Everything else is 3-5 hours for me. There is one venue that is about 2.5 hours for me (each way) - I consider that a "local" trial and will do day-trips back and forth (5 hours in my car each day - two or three days). My limit for a day trip is about three hours now - if I decide to do a two day trial three hours away I'll leave at 4am on Saturday, stay over one night and drive home Sunday - or I'll only enter one day and go as a day-trip.

I envy folks around here that trial as a business expense or have sponsors that pay for entries/hotels. As an aside if anyone wants to sponsor a cute young golden let me know ;-)


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Maybe we should all move closer to each other then....

RedDogs--the group I go to every week just rents out a place and everyone puts $5 in. They take turns leading the group so that everyone gets to practice with their dogs, and we play games. Perhaps as others suggested you could start up something like that--sounds like you have facilities you could rent, right?

I guess the good (or not so good) thing about having fewer shows and them being more spread out is the fact that they are not _as_ competitive as it sounds like some areas are! Sad though--one of the conformation shows I am considering going to in May (4 hours away) had only 2 dogs and 3 bitches in goldens entered last year for conformation. *Sigh*


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

If we're local (...5-20 min from home), I don't have anywhere to rent, but there are plenty of public spaces that are workable.

There are quite a few facilities for rent, including the two I teach at. 

But either way, how do I find people to even be in such a group?

The "competition" at and between events can be a problem sometimes... Quite a few of the trials/events are having a hard time filling/breaking even just due to people having so many options, choosing to stay closer to home, entering less events, or going to other events instead. It can cause problems... but at other times is good.

The big "local" group that hosts AKC trials, 8ish a year, is supposedly not going to do any more after this year.... providing another reason for me to frantically be working towards my dog being ready to trial... I'd rather not be going on the 3h+ trips for trials!


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Well then, who said it??? We should all move closer together! 

The group we have just sorta gravitated together. On a good day there are about 6-8 trainers, however consistantly 3-4. The facility has all the jumps, gates, training tools which is really helpful. To find others in your area, maybe place a small add to see if you get any calls. 

Since we had our "no pets" ban at work, last month, I will no longer be able to bring my dog to work so I can train during lunches and breaks and then at Double C after. It will really put a crimp in my training. 

Once the hay is out of our pole barn, I'll be able to work in there in the evenings.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

MurphyTeller said:


> I envy folks around here that trial as a business expense or have sponsors that pay for entries/hotels. As an aside if anyone wants to sponsor a cute young golden let me know ;-)


Hey, as a professional dog trainer, I write off a fair amount of my trial expenses. I call it advertising. I need to be out there working my dog in the public eye -- it's "street cred." I also write off some of my training expenses for when I go get into a class or find time to sneak in a pvt lesson, or even a seminar as education.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

RedDogs said:


> Thanks for all the replies, it's great to hear how others are handling this. I thought I'd been managing okay but recently realized I really am not.
> 
> Laura: How did you find people? I know a handful of local conformation folks, but nobody with an interest in obed/agility/etc. My agility group gets together ever 4-6 weeks but that's not quite often enough for what we need to be doing, more often just isn't happening with how far apart we all live.
> 
> ...


Could you organize and hold an agility match at your fancy schmancy training center? Matches are hugely popular around here. You could get the name/email of everyone who came, and then shoot out a "thanks for coming/BTW, anyone interested in starting a training group" email after the fact.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

RedDogs said:


> Stephanie:... the "regular day job" has suddenly become somewhat appealing. Evenings and weekends off would be so much more convenient!


Ugh. I've been training dogs full time for 8 years and never thought I'd want to go back to an office job, but I'm seriously looking. Not having nights or weekends to myself sucks in terms of wanting to work my own dogs and not being able to, as well as personally. At this point, I fear I'm terminally single!


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## BayBeams (Jan 3, 2010)

OMG, such a relevant topic for me. I have a job I love but it requires driving 400 to 600 miles per week just to get to it. Because the driving eats into my work hours, I spend enless evenings catching up the paperwork, leaving precious little time and energy for training. I make a point of getting out at least 3 times a week in all sorts of weather but usually it is only grabbing an hour or 2 here and there...
I would so love to work reduced hours or take a year off...what a luxury but that is certainly not an option. I think my pet sitter sees my pups more often than I do!
I have an almost 9 year old that I am trying to get ready for utility before she is too ancient to jump...yikes, the time seems to be flashing by and we are barely getting any closer.


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

FlyingQuizini said:


> Hey, as a professional dog trainer, I write off a fair amount of my trial expenses. I call it advertising. I need to be out there working my dog in the public eye -- it's "street cred." I also write off some of my training expenses for when I go get into a class or find time to sneak in a pvt lesson, or even a seminar as education.


Not really possible for me since the dog stuff doesn't bring in an income...All of the teaching I do is in exchange for rentals, even the privates I teach go to "the house" - this worked for a long time because of taxes, not having a second income - but it's gotten a bit lop-sided in the last year so I probably need to change that - still it's been nice not to have to pay for rentals several days a week. No dog related income means expenses aren't deductible as a business expense...or even as a hobby there's have to be income and even then it'd only be the hobby income part that would be affected.
Erica


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

We've done run throughs and are working on competition-oriented seminars and this year should be hosting non-AKC (...not enough space/not a club/etc...) trials. There's not been a lot of interest in the run throughs, we were begged and pleaded to start those and told people would flock for the opportunity, but it just didn't happen. We need to experiment with other times/days. Would matches draw a different crowd than run throughs? I can't take the student list to contact about a training group with building policy, but I've begged and hinted outside of class to the students I know well about this... just not a lot of competition interest.... It drives me crazy!

The business expense comments are great too... I'm completely inept about figuring a lot of that out...I've kept information/receipts to ask about what dog expenses can be written off.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

MurphyTeller said:


> Not really possible for me since the dog stuff doesn't bring in an income...All of the teaching I do is in exchange for rentals, even the privates I teach go to "the house" - this worked for a long time because of taxes, not having a second income - but it's gotten a bit lop-sided in the last year so I probably need to change that - still it's been nice not to have to pay for rentals several days a week. No dog related income means expenses aren't deductible as a business expense...or even as a hobby there's have to be income and even then it'd only be the hobby income part that would be affected.
> Erica


Ah. Didn't realize you didn't draw an income from training. Yup. Won't work then.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Matches are hugely popular around here, both obedience/Rally and agility. $5 per run. Put fliers out at local trials in the 6 wks or so leading up to your match. How far is your facility from a typical trial site? How often are there trials in your area? The key is getting the info out to the people who generally compete, not just your regular pet students who might be interested.

Go to a trial and buy a catalog and send a postcard (or email of the catalog includes email addresses) announcing the formation of a Yahoo Group where people can come together to make training plans/groups as well as to help keep each other informed of matches, etc.


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

FlyingQuizini said:


> Ah. Didn't realize you didn't draw an income from training. Yup. Won't work then.


Like I said, it worked really well for a long time - I thought it made my taxes simpler - not sure that's the case any more...
Erica


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