History
written by Joyce Ostby, May 1, 2006
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History Locations Club Functions Club Members 1st and 2nd Obedience Trials |
Spokane Dog Training Club Functions The East Sprague hall had a kitchen, which was often used for lunches and most fondly, the big Christmas party and awards night. It was quite an event. People really got dressed up; sometimes it was hard to recognize who was who, since they had such different clothes and their dogs were not with them. Members helped prepare a big dinner, and then we had awards and dancing. One of our earliest members, Barbara Kuhl, now grown up and known as Barbara Davis, brought her bluegrass band to play for the events. Many of the awards given are the same as we recognize today. Originally we only gave awards for obedience degrees and fairly early on tracking degrees were recognized. Tracking was not always popular so degrees were not earned for a number of years. The Phideaux Award was given as early as 1965 and continues to be valued by any member receiving it. Handlers were always excited to get their one special picture of their dog, and later to see the picture hanging on the wall of the Club; a great tradition that continues on until present. Member received many awards in obedience, comparable with today's numbers. In 1974, members earned 25 CD's, 6 CDX's and 5 UD's. Of course they did not have other distractions such as agility, herding or rally. Another tradition that continues is the Club's newsletter, K-9 Tails ( do not the exact date of its beginning.) The early K-9 Tails had pictures and, of course in the 60's and 70's, had to be taken to a print shop before they were ready for mailing. The content always has been information about members' accomplishments at shows, obedience classes and articles about the care of our four-legged friends. The K-9 Tails has gone through many transitions dependent upon the editors. It continues to be the means of communication among the members and keeps them informed about the many events now available to dog handlers. And that logo you see on everything was developed in 1970 by Doris Woodward. The silhouettes you see are a German Shepherd owned by Kathryn Marshall and an Italian Greyhound owned by Doris Woodward. Other activities included a drill team that performed at the 1974 Expo at Riverfront Park. A picture of the team can be seen at the club. Starting in September of 1975, the Club decided to have a booth at the Spokane Interstate Fair. We started with a little wooden shanty and gradually evolved to a great trailer (now used for storage.) We had many locations, but for some the last location next to the beer garden was their favorite. Many of you will probably remember that time as we manned a booth for 10 days during the Fair and presented many demonstrations. It was good advertisement for classes. We discontinued the Fair Booth in 1995 when the management at the Fairgrounds put too many restrictions on the Club. We no longer needed the advertisement for our classes. In the early 1980s scent hurdle racing was instituted. Each team had 4 dogs and raced against each other for the best time. The dogs had to jump but the biggest challenge was that four scented dumbbells were placed in a box and the dog had to pick the one with the handler's scent on it. Handlers could encourage from behind the start line. It made a great demonstration as the dogs seldom did what was expected. |
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