My Final Thoughts on USA By-law Change - Page 6

I just noticed Kessy's post - Kessy, both DVG and WDA accept members without belonging to a club.  In DVG a member at large cannot compete in Nationals nor vote as voting is done through clubs. 

WDA membership does not require a sponsor if you are 18 yrs. of age or over.  If you are 17 or under, you have to have a sponsor.  You just read the app wrong.

Most clubs will allow people to come train, visit etc.  You may have to pay a fee to train, but for the most part they do not. Eventually if you come all the time and all get along, then of course you would need to join the club.

Hope that clears it up for you.

That it does, thanks!

All,

It was the OWDA trial/show/breed survey in Tulsa that was canceled for lack of show entries, specifically due to this bylaw change. Numerous entries from the trial and show were pulled or not entered due to this bylaw change. People could not justify the expense of USA registration when they would not ever be in a USA event again, since they were not keeping their USA memberships.

For us, at combination events like this, we plan on making enough money at the show to cover the costs of the trial. In this case, due to scheduling issues with the judge, we were only able to have a very limited number of trial entries (only had 1/2 day for the entire trial!) and had to count on the show entries to cover a large portion of the expenses. After this vote by USA, we saw that we would be unable to cover the costs of the event by a large margin (in the realm of $800 - $1200+ by most estimates). So, we had little choice but to cancel the event.

Normally, our shows are well attended, but with the economy the way it is, and piling the USA vote on top, there was no way we would be able to afford the event. So we canceled.

It was very unfortunate, as several members had already registered their dogs with USA, and we had several entered for the breed survey, but it was not something that we could afford to do, as a club. (We don't have a sugar daddy.)

For me personally, this was just the final nail in the coffin with my issues with USA, going back many years. I have been a member of USA since the mid-late '80s, and I, for one, am not looking back. I don't care whether or not this vote is rescinded;  I will not rejoin. The direction that USA EB is going is not my direction, and I am tired of the organization being driven in a direction that is not in the best interests of the "whole dog" or whatever slogan they are currently pushing. I feel that I can spend my time more productively in the WDA, and hope to make it a better organization by my efforts. That is something that I feel I cannot do in USA, for various reasons. (By the way, I am not joining WDA in spite: I have been a member of WDA for 5 or 6 years,  and the GSDCA for 3 or 4 years.)

(/rant on) Also, as an American, I also STRONGLY resent being told what organizations I can and cannot belong to, as a condition of being a member of a club that is one of several clubs that sanction trials for a hobby that I happen to spend a significant amount of my time on (man, that is a long sentence.. sorry!). Most members of USA are not professionals in the schutzhund training world, do not care about WUSV team membership, and do not like being told that they cannot belong to a GSD organization that issues their registration papers, by a supposed GSD organization that does not have any standing as a registration organization. It is insane. I would really like to know what the USA EB was thinking and their motivation for pushing this... I think... I have read several emails from USA officers trying to justify this, and they are not really coherent, unfortunately. Also, the conflict of interest argument is bogus, a red herring. (/rant off)

Larry Pinkston

No Nia,  I called Becky and stayed on the phone with her until she removed my name.

Resignation is by letter to the USA Secretary.

Follow-up question to Kim Gash. re. Kessy's question: 

I looked at the DVG member-at-large application.  A member-at-large may compete only in local trials, right?  It says:


Sammelgruppen Membership (Membership-at-Large) entitles you to:
(1) Participate in local trials. (2) Scorebook(s) at no charge (3) Subscription to DVG America Magazine. Members-at-Large may not compete in Regional (KG) and National (LV) Championships.
So I'm confused.  If you join as a member-at-large because there ARE no local clubs... doesn't that mean there are no local trials?  If you can't compete in regionals or nationals, and there are no local trials, what can you compete in?  Or does this mean you can travel to someone else's local trial and compete?

I'm not being sarcastic, I really want to know.  I am in an isolated area too.

Thanks Nia,  I will do a follow up letter...

Yes, you can travel to other DVG club trials, but cannot compte in regional or national trials. Many DVG club trial entry forms require the signature of the club training director, too. I don't know, however, whether it is an issue, if there is none. Never have figured that one out, as I had my USA Training Director sign.

You might also find a DVG club and ask if you can be an affiliate member - even if you don't actually train with them- you pay yearly dues and are on their membership roster for DVG.  This is what I do, so that I can be a member of a DVG club and trial, if I wish to, at a Regional or National event.

molly

The Alpha K9 Schutzhund Club (USA) has been terminated. Its officers and members have made the right choice.

The USA BYLAW change will not benefit the GSD. USA will not take away our freedom of choice, it is un-American.

Our members are happy to be free of this socialist intent. We are members of the GSDCA/WDA and will continue to support this organization by working closely together.

Carlos Rojas