CKCoJ President's Report for the Annual Meeting on October 8, 2023

Welcome everyone to the annual meeting of the Capital Kennel Club of Juneau!

I'd like to take a moment to remember our beloved longtime member, Jill Grose who passes away on November 3, 2022. Jill was an integral member of the Capital Kennel Club of Juneau, and was instrumental in getting the club's agility program started. She and her Westies, were active in many dog sports, titling in Obedience, Rally, Tracking, Barn Hunt, Earthdog, Conformation and Agility. In her memory, our club has established the Annual Jill Grose Memorial Versatility Award. In recognition of how important our club was for Jill, her estate gifted funds from the sale of her dog equipment and other miscellaneous household goods to the club. Pat Kalbaugh organized an online sale for several items. These funds have been, and will be used, to help us purchase new equipment. In her memory, her family also purchased a lovely bench for the Lena Dog Park, which was installed with volunteer efforts from contractor Peter Cross.

It's been a very busy year for the Capital Kennel Club of Juneau with many new events. Here's a breakdown of what's been happening:

In January, the club held UKC Obedience trials with Gina Vose as the judge, Marty Phelan as Trial Chair, Patti Kalbaugh as Table Steward and Sandy Harris as Trial Secretary. Thank you to all of these people for their tremendous volunteering time and efforts to make this a successful trial. Thank you also to everyone who volunteered as stewards or transporting equipment, and/or setting up and breaking it all back down.

This past winter, Sharon Moore organized our first ever Grooming Workshop. Amanda Hinners of Anchorage, brought her sister and dog down to help us learn how we can wash, clip and groom our own dogs to keep them both healthy and beautiful. It was a fun rainy weekend activity and a great success.

Throughout the fall of 2022, and winter/spring of 2023, practices were held at Jumbo Gym every Saturday for obedience, supervised by Sandy Harris, and Thursday evenings for agility, supervised by Sharon Moore. Sharon and Vicki McLaughlin started teaching Introductory Agility courses as well. Agility has really taken off in popularity drawing in many new participants. In February/March, Patti Kalbaugh taught an obedience and rally course. Patti's continuing commitment to promoting our obedience and rally skills is really appreciated and the results were evident in the dog/handler accomplishments at the trials.

In April, agility practices moved outside to Lena Dog Park. Vicki McLaughlin and Donna Leigh began new Introductory Agility classes and simultaneously we held two agility practice sessions at Lena. The weather was mostly kind to us and we were able to complete most of the sessions with few cancellations or delays. Also over the summer, Marty Phelan and Mary Meiners facilitated obedience practices at the Auke Bay School covered playground.

In late June, Lori Hoover and Donna Leigh taught a Puppy Kindergarten class. That was super fun for all of the participants and a real success. We hope to keep these types of classes happening. There's a real demand in Juneau for puppy and dog training.

During the spring, Sharon Moore organized a group of virtual sessions in AKC Scent Work with Instructor Deb Gillis. These Introduction to Nosework courses culminated in a summer workshop held in mid-July at Lena Dog Park where Deb Gillis was able to give in person instruction with the handlers and their dogs. A Nosework Trial is being planned for this winter, 2024.

Also in late June, Sharon Moore facilitated bringing up Sandra Katzen from Washington, for a weekend Agility Workshop: Improving Your Agility Handling. We had two stunningly sunny days at Lena Dog Park where we attended lectures and had some hands-on guidance on various skills we need for handling our dogs. With everyone wanting more individualized instruction, drills and practice, Sharon then went on to organize yet another workshop in late August. This 2nd workshop was taught by the excellent trainer and competitor, Judy Strom of Montana.

During July and August, George Utermohle graciously offered a course for Canine Good Citizens. There were many participants and several members and their dogs received the Canine Good Citizenship certificate.

This September, the Capital Kennel Club of Juneau hosted both UKC Obedience and UKC Rally Trials with Jill Perry of Yakima, WA serving as the judge, with George Utermohle -Trial Secretary, Marty Phelan and Pat Kalbaugh as Table Stewards , and Kristy Totten- Trial Chair. Thank you not only to all of these people for their countless volunteer hours, but also to the many members who volunteered to move equipment, set up the various courses, work as Stewards and Timers and then helped us break it all down.

Our fall weather has once again brought activities back into Jumbo Gym for both Saturday obedience practices and Wednesday agility practices. We are fortunate to have this space that CBJ Parks and Rec allows us to lease for our fall, winter and spring practices. Nonetheless, we are always on the lookout for any other spaces which we might be able to rent that would allow us to expand our opportunities for teaching classes and holding more practices.

I'd like to thank and acknowledge the CKCoJ board: Judy Gustafson, Erika King, Sue McGowan, Marty Phelan and interim member Sharon Moore. Another special thank you to Gina Vose who has donated her time and expertise as a trial judge, photographer and has opened her home to our visiting instructors or judges. I'd also like to thank all of the members for pulling together to make this a successful year. Training, practices and trials take work – sharing the work whether it's stewarding, instructing, organizing, hauling equipment or setting it up and tearing it down , makes everything easier and more enjoyable. Thank you everyone for all of your work.

Many people work hard to keep this club active and productive, but this year one person really stands out for her enthusiastic, energetic development of new programs and opportunities in the club which we have ALL benefited from in one way or another. You've just heard her name mentioned over and over again in this report.....Please join me in giving a huge applause and thank you to Sharon Moore!

I'd like to open up for discussion now. This is a good time to bring up thoughts about long term goals, activities you would like to participate in, changes to policies you think are needed, or directions you would like to see the club take.

Reported by: Kristy K. Totten, CKCoJ President