Spokane Dog Training Club

A Great Place to Train . . .

History written by Joyce Ostby, May 1, 2006

History Locations Club Functions Club Members 1st and 2nd Obedience Trials

Spokane Dog Training Club Locations

The group used a variety of rooms to hold classes, including the old YMCA and the Knights of Pythias Hall on W. Riverside. Rooms available only allowed the Club to offer classes one night per week. According to old articles there were at least 30 people in some of the beginners' classes. When that hall was sold, the group was again on the search for a place. A building at E. 2006 Sprague was located and was one the group could afford. When they moved in, they had to tear out a stage and closets. There were no bathrooms or a kitchen. These facilities were added later. The Knights of Pythias gave the club the "infamous" green benches.

For those of you who remember them, they were home to many a dog and a few million fleas. The couches were moved to new quarters on East Trent and, after several years they met their death. The hall on East Sprague was located up two flights of stairs so any dog regularly frequenting classes had to learn to negotiate those stairs. Later members would curse the decision of earlier members to have a second story location.

Speaking of stairs, anything coming or going out of the club had to be taken up or down those stairs. Some members did get pretty ingenious especially with the show equipment. The Club used to have long heavy metal rods for rings, with fancy striped ring curtains. Ring equipment was often passed out of the windows to waiting trucks below. The hall had a definite ambience, as it was located over a bar below. We did not need music as the jukebox below could be heard quite plainly on the second floor.

The club members remained at the East Sprague location until the summer of 1985. The neighborhood did go through transition over this period of time. For a few years it was a well-known "red light" district. One had only to look out the front windows to see the hookers. One could say that we had our own built in entertainment if we got tired of training the dogs. Towards the last we even had drunks who fell asleep on the front doorstep that the dogs and handler had to negotiate around.

One of the things that forcibly got us to move were two fires on the main floor below the Club, which could have burned what belongings we did have. By the time of the first fire (May 1984), we had many pictures of dogs on the walls. The Club had begun a project of replacing the old wood frames with nice shiny frames, like the ones we use today, made of plastic! A wise choice given the Hall's luck with fires. Fortunately, the frames never melted.

The second fire occurred on the night before we were to have a Bob Self seminar at the hall. Although the Club did not sustain any fire damage the smell of smoke was overwhelming. Our friends at Lilac City let us use their hall. Two of the club members started calling the participants at 5 a.m. to let them know of the location change. A disaster averted. By the time of the second fire (May 1985,) the handwriting was on the wall. Classes were located temporarily at a grange hall until structural damage to the building could be completed. A search began for new quarters. The cost of the rent was a big factor plus facilities that would accommodate the classes.

The club did locate a new facility and moved during the summer of 1985 to the location at E. 6905 Trent. The new area was on the main floor, had one bathroom and no kitchen nor storage area but was a big improvement. It was newer and located in a better area just off Trent. A former member, Lance Elliot, who did general contracting at the time, did the bulk of the interior remodeling. He added a storeroom and was the instigator to get the inside painted and means of hanging the pictures. He did the big signs and one now hangs in the present hall with large letters of our name. He had quite a story. On one Sunday he was working alone and hard the frantic screaming of a woman outside. Her husband was ill and was unconscious. Being a responsible person he dashed to her house across the street and found the man was not breathing and no pulse. He had been trained in CPR and revived the man. When the medics arrived they were amazed by what he had done. Lance wanted me to know that it had slowed his work up a little.

As early as 1991 one of our long term Club members, George Pullman, felt that we should set up a building fund. We had paid rent for too many years and should make an active search for property that the Club could afford. George planted the seed, but it took awhile to germinate. Part of the issue was finding the right location for our customers, correct zoning and a price that was realistic for us. It would be a major step but was well received by the membership as many had wished we had done it many years earlier. The present land was purchased in October of 1994. Improvements on the property began in 1995 and 1996 with leveling, de-weeding, fencing, planting grass and adding a sprinkler system. A shed was built to store agility equipment in 1997. The agility classes could now be held on the property.