Dog Breed Clubs

[Pretty Miss Emma]

I'm just wondering how relevant breed clubs are to people. I have my own thoughts, and those have sort of developed over the past few years. I see good bits and bad bits. I think they are relevant, but I do wonder if their role is changing and I also wonder with the way society is changing in terms of it's thoughts about pet ownership, purchasing of pets, reasons for breeding, etc, etc if breed clubs are meeting the needs of both "the breed" and also of "the members" and "owners of dogs of the breed".

I just don't know. I see so many posts everywhere about membership being down in a variety of clubs (and I see it within the clubs I am a member of) and also entries being down in a range of dog related activities.

It just leads me to wonder why and are all these clubs still relevant in the same way they may have been in the past.

Just interested to hear others thought!

[LisaCC]

I'm not currently, but I'm planning on joining next year :)

[huga]

I'm a member of the French Bulldog Club of Qld.

[silentchild]

I am with the Aussie Shepherd Club of Vic. I enjoy being part of the club and joining in the events and activities when they are held.

[Dory the Doted One]

I think cost can be a bit prohibitive when you start adding up all the membership fees for various clubs and activities. I would imagine people scale clubs by benefit.

I would have at least 4 clubs I'd love to join if not joined. And that's just the priority ones.

[Jemmy]

I'm not, but think they have an important role. I would only purchase my future dogs from breeders that are at least members of the breed club.

[Podengo]

There is no club for my breed in my country so I am a member of the group club (South Island Hound Club).

Thinking of joining up to the UK Podengo club next year, and maybe the breed club in Portugal.

Also a member of an agility club, an obedience club, a working trials club, a coursing club and a sledding club.

[CaseyKay]

I am for one of the 2 breeds we have: Brittanys (NZ). Great club, has an interesting newsletter, is inclusive for everyone who has the breed, of whatever type, NZKC reg or not, and whatever they do with them. Very fast to help any Brits in need of rehoming.

My primary breed: Border Collies, no. The only breed clubs I know of in NZ are for breed showing only and that is of no interest to me (I have the wrong sort of BC for that anyway). I think one of them runs obedience at some of its shows.

Also belong to an obedience club, an agility one, a tracking one and 2 gundog trials clubs!

[griff]

I am currently without a dog But still am a member of the Rottweiler Club NSW and have been for many years.

I like to keep up with the news letter and results and like to think my membership fee helps in some way.

Edited November 5, 2015 by griff

[mita]

I'm not a member but I admire the 2 Tibetan Spaniel Clubs (Victoria & New South Wales). Especially how they gather round to help when there's a problem. Like when a terrible tragedy struck a breeder (in which he lost his wife & some of his dogs), the NSW club supported him & helped him find the best of homes for some of the survivors. And the Victorian Tibetan Spaniel Association acts the same. They keep a list of people anywhere in the country who might be interested in adopting a rescued tibbie & lets them know when one turns up. At same time, they ask to be notified of any tibbie in rescue throughout the country so they can do some alerting & notifying. They're as good as their word, because I've notified the President of tibbies in shelters or rescue or wherever... & there's always acknowledgement. All this on top of lovingly appreciating their beautiful breed & working towards its welfare & advancement. And being a treasure house of knowledge about health, temperament & management.

From what I've seen, Social Media enhances, not replaces, face-to-face activities, events and communications.

Edited November 6, 2015 by mita

[Rozzie]

I'm a member of the MFCA. My dog came from a MFCA registered breeder. The club is awesome, great newsletters, show days are inclusive for members and visitors.

[Airedaler]

I do think with the advent of Social media etc. breed clubs do not have the same appeal to people. Previously most if not all interaction with/about a breed came through the breed clubs but now in the "must have now society" in which we have the interaction is much more readily available over a wider range of people and experiences.

I do think the breed club still holds an important place though as it is the go to organisation for official matters relating to the breed.

To me my commitment to my breed club is most important. While we have seen new groups pop up as advocates of the breed and although they have FB pages with thousands of likes most of those do not have the breed or in fact any dogs and most do not live in Australia so are not active in any way. Typically many of these people are very vocal about the breed but in many cases have no experience in the breed except for having one or two as pets over the years.

Without breed clubs these people although well meaning but uninformed would give out misleading advise about the breed and in time this could be damaging to the breed as a whole.

[BlaznHotAussies]

No unfortunately I've got so many horse memberships this year (hopefully I'll be able to sell my pony soon & this year will be my last year of paying 3 memberships) that extra dog memberships would be too much Once I've just got my paint mare who has the ONE sensible registration, I'll be able to look at more dog stuff :)

[Bjelkier]

I was a part of the NSW Samoyed club but left last year. The politics is too much for me and I have no interest in being a part of it.

They do a lot of good work for the breed however getting the dogs out there, helping puppies buyers and taking in rescues.

[grumpette]

I am a long term member of the Rottweiler Club of Victoria. I believe that they are important in promoting the breed in a responsible manner, to the public and the government. I believe that they are important in protecting the health and welfare of the breed, through the enforcement of health testing and the recording of pedigree information. I think that, along with reputable breeders, they are an important source of breed specific information. However, their importance is being diluted by the amount of puppies being bred by non-member breeders. The amount of non-member Rottweiler owners out there is increasing quicker than the number of RCV member dog owners. The RCV also runs obedience training and trials, which I think is extremely important and enjoyable.

I am also a member of the Newfoundland Club of Victoria. I participate in water rescue and carting activities organised by this club with my Rottweilers. The RCV does not run these kinds of events.

[alpha bet]

I was a member of GSDCV from the 1980 till about 2000 (whilst I had GSD) - it was great they run their own obedience, demo teams, showing as well as breed schemes and they are probably the ones who set up the hip/elbow scheme. Always things to get involved in, I was on the Shepherd News for 8 years as well as in the demo team... they had so much going on and where really helpful to get information about breeding etc.

I joined the Aussies Club, but so far doesn't really work for me ... Biggest problem is that all their activities seem to be held down at the KCC park which is more than 2 hours from me, hence can't even attend a committee meeting unless I travel 350kms round trip and have about 6 hours to spare in the evening. I do now get the newsletter online but I guess I plan to stay a member in the chance the club will get bigger and perhaps some activities might happen up my side of the state.

[JulesP]

i was a member for a long time. I tried to go to club days over the years but had some bad experiences.

[espinay2]

Yes I am a member of the Pyrenean Mountain Dog Club of Victoria. It is the pseudo national club for our breed as our breed is not numeric enough to support more clubs. Because of my distance from their main activities I don't participate much beyond sending stuff for the newsletter (which I try to do regularly) and having the club brochures on hand when we do breed info stalls up here (which I arrange for events such as Dogs on Show with the help of some other owners up here).

I am a past Secretary of the Dalmatian Club of the ACT (when I owned a Dalmatian) but am no longer a member. We were very active in promotion the breed and educating on the down sides of ownership at the time which was during the release of several 101 Dalmatian movies - we did movie theatre appearances, department store and shopping centre appearances, parades, info days and stalls and ran fun days as well as a show and even had our dogs appear in an opera.

I am also currently a member of the Great Pyrenees Club of America. They are a lot stricter on membership/joining and required sponsorship from two members and a specific approval process to ensure 'good standing'. It is a lot bigger organisation than here in Australia so a lot more going on. More relevant to me as a breeder with their health programs etc. I get over there about every two years to the National and attend the general meeting held at that event.

Edited November 6, 2015 by espinay2

[Salukifan]

Yes, I am a Committee Member of the Whippet Club of NSW.

The club is focussed on specialty shows but also has an active rescue service. We attend events like Dog Lovers to promote the breed and there is also interest in expanding activities to provide more for pet owners.

However, like all clubs, we are limited by the availability of volunteers. As a State club, members are spread throughout NSW (and elsewhere) which complicates things further.

[Kirislin]

I am a member of a breed club and I joined to support them and the breed, but I have to say it's been a total disappointment and waste of money. I've got nothing back in return, not even a receipt. (and I know they got my payment). There have been no members activities, no social events, no club organised shows, no newsletters, absolutely nothing. I wont bother joining next year.