July 2004

Wilmington Kennel Club Newsletter

Volume 1 - Issue 1

President’s Message

Welcome to the first issue of the WKC e-newsletter. Many thanks to Lisa Leonzio and Dustin Britton for taking on this monumental task!! I encourage everyone to submit your doggy related articles, recipes, funny stories and whatever else you can think of to support this effort.

We have begun a new chapter in WKC history. We are in a new fiscal year, we have new officers, and some of our committees are being headed up by new folks who are taking on the challenge for the first time. Over the past year or two we have seen a huge influx of new members into our club. “New blood” brings with it new ideas and I strongly encourage both new and old members alike to get involved with the club to help you get out of it what you had envisioned when you joined.

Traditionally we have had a small core of people who have been very active in the club. It would be great to see that core expand, to be able to give some of our instructors who have been teaching since we opened our doors (going on 6 years) some well deserved time off, or to be able to broaden our presence in the community by becoming even more active in public events. In order to do this we need people to step forward and be willing to become involved. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they don’t feel like they have enough experience or that they are afraid they will make a mistake. The only way to get that experience is to get involved – to be willing to say “I will try”. There are plenty of resources in the club to go to with questions. The only “stupid question” is one that isn’t asked.

Currently our WKC monthly show and go’s are being organized by people who are not even WKC members but who were willing to lend a hand in order to prevent the event from fading into the sunset. In a club as big as we have grown to be we should not have to rely on non-members to provide this “service” to the doggy community. Our show and go’s are very well attended and volunteering to take on the chairmanship of this committee would be a great way for a new member to become active in the club. It is not very difficult or time consuming but it is something that needs to be brought back in-house.

In closing I would just like to say a big thank you to our past President Frank Wolaniuk for his years of dedicated service to the club. I have learned a lot from watching Frank run the club over the years. He is going to be a hard act to follow but I will do my best. Lets all work hard together to ensure the future success of the Wilmington Kennel Club!!

Sincerely,

Bonnie

Membership Meetings

WKC meetings are held the 3^rd Thursday of each month with the exception of December at our Training Facility starting at 7:30 pm. The public is welcome to attend and check our website for upcoming programs!

Conformation Corner

Group Matches

WKC will be hosting a series of individual group matches this year at our training facility located in Newark, Delaware. Our training facility is fully matted with both air conditioning and heating, so bring those puppies out to strut their stuff. Entries will be taken the day of the match, the entry fee is $7.

Our series started off this spring with Sporting, Hounds and Terriers Groups the attendance was great and fun was had by all. The next groups in our series are:

Saturday, August 28, 2004 Working and Herding

Sunday , August 29, 2004 Toy and Non-Sporting

Handling Classes

WKC offers handling classes year around on Thursday evenings at 7:30pm taught by our own experienced instructors. Classes are held every week except for our clubs general membership meeting night, which is the 3^rd Thursday of the month. You can either pay as you go at a fee of $15 per class or sign up for a session that allows you to take 7 classes for a price of $85. As a member of WKC the fees for classes are only $5. Classes are held at our training facility, which is fully matted, air conditioned and heated.

Seminars

George Alston Handling Seminar for Beginners, Advance and Spectators - October 30^th and 31^st

Fee: $150 per participant (beginners limited to 20)

$ 75 per spectator

For more information please contact Carol Zielinski at caztcz1@aol.com

Point Show

WKC held it’s annual point shows on April 23^rd and 24^th this year and would like to thank all the judges and exhibitors for making it a success. We are currently working on our shows for 2005 which will be held on Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30 at the beautiful Lums Pond State Park, we look forward to seeing everyone next year.

Obedience Corner

Obedience Classes

The new session of classes began 6/7/04. This was also the same week as my national specialty. I would like to thank Debbie for substituting for me during my absence. I would also like to thank Linda Surmacz who has been teaching the beginners class with me. She took the lead role in instructing while I was away at my national.

Linda came to WKC as a student. She has a wonderful way with both dogs and people. We soon took her under our wings. When she felt comfortable in teaching, she took Janet's place as my co-instructor for the beginners class. Last session Janet "retired" from teaching classes. Linda Surmacz has graciously stepped up and will now be co-instructing both classes.

Show and Go’s

The obedience community has always been very appreciative of WKC show and go's.

Our building is a "gem" of a training facility which novice to advanced trainers have frequently commented on. Added to that, they appreciate our club's members who always greet them with a smile and with open hospitality. Due to time constraints I was unable to run all the show and go's in 2004.

Thankfully, several people came forward to form a show and go committee. Linda Surmacz and Joan Morse (non WKC members), along with Pat Bagger and myself have divided the responsibility of organizing and running the eleven show and go's for 2004. I encourage every WKC member to continue showing our club's hospitality by offering to help at the show and go's. No experience is necessary. The atmosphere is relaxed and we all have a great time. Come join in the fun!

Agility Corner

We are very proud of all of our students’ accomplishments this spring. Whether or not they “Q’d” (qualified) or achieved titles, the working teams represented the WKC admirably. Congratulations to those who DID get titles (you know how you are!). I will refrain from singling them out in the spirit of WKC’s primary goal in teaching agility: Having Fun with our canine friends!!

Many thanks to all who helped with our Spring Agility Trial!

Our next Agility Trial will be held October 2-3, 2004 at Lums Pond State Park. Committee meeting will begin soon and anyone interested in joining a committee should contact me at sibesilly@aol.com.

Shelly Zenorini, Agility Trial Chairman

Public Education

Newark Community Day: Sunday, Sept. 19^th, 2004 at the University of Delaware Green, Newark, Delware

WKC members will be out in force to meet the public and distribute dog related information. Some of our dogs will be there to perform or just to make new friends. It's a fun day for folks and canines.

Legislation

The Wilmington Kennel Club is active in Canine legislation in the state of Delaware and we also try to keep informed of Federal canine legislation. Occasionally some of the surrounding states also have important issues concerning dogs. I try to inform club members who live in those states so they are aware of these issues concerning their state laws.

Currently there are no pending problems in Delaware. We have had some close calls but have dealt with those problems as they come up. In my opinion, fighting breed specific legislation and dangerous dog legislation are some of the main things I like to keep an eye on but also watch the other issues as I become aware of them. I want to thank all those who have written or called their legislators when it was needed to show them we are responsible dog owners and are not going to sit back and let people easily take away our rights or our dogs.

If you have any questions on canine legislation or become aware of an issue that affects our dogs just send me an email and I'll look into it. Even if your breed is not one of those usually targeted (yet), your help is still needed and appreciated. If you would like to see any specific dog related legislation issues addressed in this new e-newsletter, please let me know and I will post the info under the legislation portion.

Here is a link to AKC's canine legislation department.

http://akc.org/love/dip/legislat/

There is a lot of information on this web site from AKC's position statements to how to get involved and some of the issues that seem to pop up regularly.

Another interesting AKC publication is Taking Command. In this issue there is information about Delaware, Maryland and a lot about New Jersey. Take a look.

http://akc.org/love/dip/legislat/tcjune04.cfm

If you want to contact me, send an email to jpfoster@ix.netcom.com

I would also like to thank Dustin Britton and Lisa Leonzio for putting this newsletter together. This could become a valuable tool in canine legislation.

Joe Foster, WKC Legislation Liaison

How to Become a Member

To join Wilmington Kennel Club you must attend 3 meetings, then fill out a application. You will need two sponsors when you do this. The meeting is the 3rd Thursday of every month. Hope to see you there.

Pat Pawley

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