Sit, Boo Boo, sit
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My Personal Experience with the Band City Kennel and Obedience Club
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada
Of the three Dog Clubs that I have belonged to, I give this club a rating of "poor" for the way that it has treated some of it's members and users alike. The club has become overly political and cliquey. If you can get past these negatives it is a fairly good Agility Club
The Band City Kennel and Obedience Club was and still is a non-profit organization registered with the Canadian Kennel Club, and was established in 1977 and has been in Moose Jaw ever since. More recently I have been hearing the club being referred to as the "Band City Dog Club, Agility" by those associated and not associated with the club. Even though there was enough room on their parade float, they still used the shortened version to advertize the club to the public. When I asked why they use this name now the President told me that it fits better in the Telephone Book. When I asked why no one calls it the Band City Kennel and Obedience Club any more, my question was ignored. I agree that the shortened version should be maintained because the club no longer represents what it use to be, nor does it offer the community what is use to when I joined in 1997.
Proof Proof
Disclaimer:
I have kept almost all of the e-mails involved in the various conversations over the years as proof of the difficulty I have had with the club. Please note that "e-mail nettiquette" will not allow me to pass along personal e-mails to another person even though I have found that other members of the club are doing this very thing with my personal e-mails. Even if I were to ask permission to forward a member's e-mail to you I don't believe I would get that permission.
I have tried many times to discuss with the President and the Treasurer the issues that happened between 2005 to 2008. I have asked many questions trying to find out the truth of what happened and why I was treated the way I was. My queries have been met with abruptness, evasiveness, dishonesty, and tantrums. Like pulling wisdom teeth it has been difficult to talk to these people. Some of the responses that I do get have been met with an air of not wanting to care or understand, and using cop-out answers like, "get over it", "live with it", "it's not about you", "it's all in your head", and "I'm not going to discuss this with you". Yes, I made mistakes due to the club leaving me in the dark (example: I was not being invited to Club Instructor meetings because Obedience was no longer important to the club, therefore I was missing out on important club business), purposely confusing me (just some of many examples: The President told me to take some time off during the summer of 2007 to think about things and when I came back in September she accused me of avoiding the club and not doing my jobs. I offered to comply to incorporating some agility into my obedience classes. The Treasurer says I don't know enough about agility to do this and then the President accuses me of not conforming to agility. Ask me for other examples). This constant confusion played havoc with my sanity. And early in the "game" I was beginning to have a gut feeling that the club was treating my Obedience classes and I disrespectfully (just some of many examples: Setting up my classes during a time when they are vacuuming upstairs in the library. The vacuum was central and located in the dog club where it was very noisy. The Treasurer was responsible for the grad certificates and these certificates were becoming so bothersome for her to make up that they were getting unsuitable in appearance and either late in arriving for graduation or not at all. Fighting to get the Club to buy a few grad gifts for my classes. They gave in reluctantly. The President e-mailed me two days before my last class to tell me that, quote, "Basic Obedience and Puppy Socialization will be discontinued", unquote. Ask me for other examples). All of this resulted in misunderstandings for which I have appologized for time and time again. The club does not feel the need to reciprocate with an appology, as if they are free from any guilt in this matter. Because my questions continue to not be answered properly or ignored alltogether I have needed some kind of understanding as to what happened and why, and so I have gone elsewhere for answers. I have been talking to other past members and past users of this club to get their feelings of how they have been treated. I have talked to the public about what they want from a dog club. I have talked to other dog clubs about how they are being run so that the club fully respects all those involved. The bottom line is that if the club had been open, honest, and respectful of me from the beginning, when things started to go awry, they would not have earned my wrath. I have recently discovered that many members of the club whom I called "friend" were never friends at all. Since I have not been given the whole truth I can only go by what I believe to be true and what my suspicions have confirmed. The following is my own *****personal experiences***** with the club from the time I joined in 1997 to the time that I was forced to quit in April 2008. I wish you happy and well if your loyality allows you to enjoy this club. I was once loyal to this club as well, giving it my heart and my soul for almost 7 years. I changed over to the "Positive Reinforcement" way of training to benefit the club and dog handlers alike.
And then, over time, slowly but surely, everything that meant anything to me in the club was taken away from me. When the obedience classes were reduced to being the least important aspect of the club, an afterthought really, this also reduced my importance as the Obedience Instructor. This was confirmed when the President told me over the phone that I was, quote, "never important to the club as an Obedience Instructor", unquote. I went from being a part of what had been the main focus of the club before the President and Treasurer took over the club, to an absolute nobody in the end, and as an outsider I couldn't fit into the clique. I felt that they had used a ruse to force me to leave a lot earlier then I did, but I hung on for three years longer then I should have in spite of the cruelty.
I am not telling anyone to not try out this club for themselves. Just be careful of your associations within the club.
Definitions for your understanding before I go on:
Club Politics: Calculated advancement, the use of tactics and strategy to gain power in a group or organization. Some clubs have little to no politics, using just enough power to keep a club running smoothly with due respect to all it's members. Others have strong politics that benefit a few and are usually governed by the clique.
Clique: An exclusive group of people who share interests, views, purposes, patterns of behavior, or ethnicity. A clique is a subset of individuals from a larger group, who are more closely identified with one another than the remaining members of the group, and who exchange something among themselves, such as friendship, affection, or information. In some cases, if you cannot fit into the clique, you might be treated like dirt.
E-mail Nettiquette: Do not forward personal messages that you receive to others without the knowledge and permission of the original sender. Like all mail, the senders of e-mail have the right to expect that their correspondence with you is private. It is common courtesy that you would not break that trust without their consent. I had to break this rule a couple of times in failed attempts for understanding between myself, the President, and the Treasurer.
Rough draft, still working on it
I quit as Secretary May 2005 due to CKC's fussiness on how the minutes should be done. leaving out much of the community in favor of becoming an exclusive agility club. Needless to say I am out of a job as an Obedience Instructor and will one day strike out on my own to continue this much needed aspect of dog care, and the public still wants the "Positive Re-enforcement" method of training. I was made complacent by thinking time heals everything. I received a warm welcome from Club Members when I walked in to watch the October 2007 Agility Trial. But they were still working their wiley ways to push me out of the club. Stoan and I still here to just play at agility for his benefit. I need to volunteer as an assistant for Puppy Agility so he may enjoy this play time. January 30,2008 I was sent to hospital for emergency surgery. Gloria told me not to come back to the club [clique] until I was fully recovered. I believe that this was a ruse as Gloria took this opportunity to find other assistants. She no longer needed me and I could not afford classes. After four years of abuse and disrespect from this asinine club I decided I would let them have their way and I quit on April 26,2008. I no longer support the club nor the businesses held by the club members.
As a member of the club I was not allowed to participate in agility demos because I didn't take classes over the summer.Two years ago I felt a growing disrespect for my position, so I knew something was changing in the club. Because of all this I made a habit of avoiding the club to think about things. I will one day strike out on my own to continue this much needed aspect of dog care. In talking to others I am hearing that the public still wants the "Positive Re-enforcement" method of training. I volunteered as an assistant for Puppy Agility so that Stoan may enjoy this play time.
There's a change in the air..... for the Border Collie
As of October 2007 the club no longer offers Obedience, Puppy Socialization, Conformation, or Clicker to it's members or the public. The club would like to be known now as an agility-only club. Please note that if I had been allowed a vote I would have voted against this decision.
As I still believe that dogs need Obedience Training and the Positive-Reinforcement method of training, I am willing to help you train your dog outside of the club. Offering telephone consultations, 693-9319.
May 2007 was the last dog show that the Band City Kennel and Obedience Club will ever have
due to the disgusting habits of some dog handlers, lack of help from most of the members who thought that an agility trial was more important which left us with an over-worked skeleton crew, and by the poor organization by a few who didn't really want to do the show in the first place. I am angry at myself for not taking on more responsibilty for the show. My lack of confidence in taking over as the director forced me to just back off and believe that the President had the show well in hand.
Dog lovers have visited this site since February 25,2004
