The Schaferhunde News
The German Shepherd Dog Club of Greater Kansas City
Founded 1923
Issue - September 2019
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
2019 OFFICERS
President: Chris S. Kimerer , Vice President: Debbie McHenry , Treasurer: Mike Kennedy , Rec. Secretary: Sally Hamm, Corres. Secretary: Amy Edwards
2019 DIRECTORS
JoClair Gipe, Bruce Hudson, Nancy Kennedy, Pat Robinette, Lynette Stone
• October – No General Meeting
• October 12, 2019, 1:00 p.m., Waggin' Trail Park | 432 E 32nd Ave. NKC, MO 64116, Co-
Sponsored Event with NKC Parks and GSDCGKC
• Tuesday, November 12, 2019, 7:00 p.m., Holiday Dinner, Fried Chicken & Sides, American
Legion, Smithville, Mo – Members Free, Guest $5.00
• December 7, 2019, Holiday Awards Banquet at Shoal Creek Country Club starting at noon for drinks and fellowship with meal served at 1pm.
• Tracking Trial, Sunday, January 19, 2020 – Smithville Lake
Members, Jose & Dollia Lemus are chairing the Howl-O-Ween event for the club. Please contact them to volunteer. Dress up your dogs and come join in the fun.
Bobbie and Charlie Schiffelbein shared a photo from Whitney's win at the Topeka Kennel Club All Breed Show.
Congratulations to Whitney for taking BEST OF WINNERS MAJOR.
Bring your lawn chairs and get ready to be impressed at the 2019 Heartland Police Canine Training and Trials!
This event will be held Rain or Shine Sat., Oct. 5, starting at 10 a.m. at our South Patrol Division, 9701 Marion Park Dr.
Members of the National Police Canine Association’s North Central Region would like to invite family, friends, and businesses to support us at our 6th Annual Heartland Police Canine Competition. This will be a rare chance to see your local canine units compete against each other in a stress obedience patrol course. It will give you a chance to observe your local canines in action as they jump over high barricades and through windows to take down a violent attacker.
Bring some $ (cash or credit) as we will be selling raffle tickets for a chance to win a KC CHIEFS AUTOGRAPHED FOOTBALL along with a lot of other great items! All donations go back into our regional training fund for next year’s competition and local training.
There will also be FREE lunch provided for attendees with brats, hot dogs, chips & water.
Hope to see you there!
2019 Annual Club Picnic
The club annual picnic was held at Smithville Lake on Saturday, September 28th.
The weather was a little brisk but dry after an evening of rain. There was a good crowd and many beautiful German shepherds in attendance.
Bruce Hudson did a great job as master chef. We appreciate him cooking for the club.
2020 Nominating Committee
By Chris Kimerer
Many of our members have been part of voting in Officers and Directors each year for the club. Here are the stages of the process for our newer members who have not been through this very important club business.
The very first stage is selecting and electing the Nominating Committee, who puts together the slate the membership will be voting on at the Annual Meeting which is in January.
Included in the newsletter are the By-Laws on the selection of the nominating committee process for everyone to review/familiarize themselves with. Due to not having an October meeting we selected the committee at our September club meeting which was held at the general meeting held at our annual picnic on the 28th.
The following 5 people were nominated and elected as follows:
The Board selects 2 of the 5 members, Lynette Stone, current Board member and Tammy Peterson, regular member. Then at the business part of the regular meeting, the membership elected Ken Sanders, Becky James, and Bobbie Schiffelbein.
The slate the nominating committee puts together will be announced at the December Awards luncheon.
A. The Nominating Committee shall consist of five persons who have been Club members for a minimun of six months, and only one of whom may be a member of the Board. The Recording Secretary is not eligible for membership on this committee. Two members of this committee are to be selected by the Board of Directors at the regular September Board meeting and three persons are to be elected by the Club members at the regular October business meeting.
B. The Recording Secretary shall notify the appointees and electors of this committee and call the first meeting at which a Chairman will be elected by the Committee from its membeship. A list of all Club members eligible for office shall be furnished by the Recording Secretary to the Nominating Committee.
C. The Nominating Committee shall consider the qualifications and fitness of office of those members of the Club whom it considers to be best qualified to be named as candidates for office and shall investigate and determine the willingness of such persons to serve in such capacities and shall make recommendations to the Club at the regular December meeting of the Club. Members of the Nominating Committee are not barred from becoming nominees for office. The recommendations of the Nominating Committee shall in no way be binding upon the membership of the Club.
D. Every Club member shall have the privilege of nominating candidates for office. Such nominations must be made in writing, not necessarily signed, postmarked no later than November 30th, and addressed to the Recording Secretary who must read the nominations thus made immediately following the report of the Nominating Committee at the December meeting of the Club and must certify whether such nominees are eligible for office in accordance with Article V, Section 4 of these By-Laws. No additional nominations may be made except, in the event of an insufficient number of candidates for any reason, nominations may be made from the floor at the Annual Meeting. The presiding officer shall not call for a vote until every member of the Club who wishes to discuss the slate of candidates has had an opportunity to be heard.
E. The Recording Secretary shall mail to every Club member at least two weeks prior to the Annual Meeting, a ballot setting forth the names of all nominees for office. Members may cast absentee ballots by delivering them to the Recording Secretary prior to the opening of the Annual Meeting. In order to be counted, absentee ballots must be signed. No person who has voted by absentee ballot may vote at a meeting which he attends.
Our annual Wine Pull was once again a huge success raising our $1,000 goal for the National Police Canine Association who we have supported now for the 4th year.
Lynette Stone and myself attended their Presidential Dinner on Thursday, October 3rd at the Hollywood Casino. The room was packed with Canine Officers, most from the North Central Region, but some of them were from out of state departments who were instructors for the week long seminar which ends in certifying the Canine Officers for the following year. These instructors were from Minnesota, Texas, and Arizona and two with very specialized training as Bomb Detection Officers.
Lynette and I were presented with a beautiful plaque for the club as supporters for this very important Training and certification Seminar by Officer Ryan Sumner, Director of the NPCA North Central Region. It was a great evening and I'm so very proud of our club raising this money in support of our Canine Law Enforcement Officers.
The Banner made with all the sponsors including our club.
Thank you everyone for supporting this worthwhile endeavor!
Article by: petMD
Halloween can be a festive and fun time for children and families. But for pets? Let's face it, it can be a nightmare. Skip the stress and keep your pets safe this year by following these 10 easy tips.
1. Trick-or-treat candies are not for pets.
All forms of chocolate—especially baking or dark chocolate—can be dangerous, even lethal, for dogs and cats. Symptoms of chocolate poisoning may include vomiting, diarrhea, rapid breathing, increased heart rate, and seizures. Halloween candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can also be poisonous to dogs. Even small amounts of xylitol can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar and subsequent loss of coordination and seizures. “Xylitol ingestion can also cause liver failure in dogs, even if they don’t develop symptoms associated with low blood sugar,” adds Dr. Jennifer Coates, veterinary advisor with petMD. And while xylitol toxicity in cats has yet to be established, it's better to be safe than sorry.
2. Don't leave pets out in the yard on Halloween.
Vicious pranksters have been known to tease, injure, steal, and even kill pets on Halloween night. Inexcusable? Yes! But preventable nonetheless. Black cats are especially at risk from pranks or other cruelty-related incidents. In fact, many shelters do not adopt out black cats during the month of October as a safety precaution. Make sure your black cats are safely housed indoors around Halloween.
3. Keep pets confined and away from the door.
Indoors is certainly better than outdoors on Halloween, but your door will be constantly opening and closing, and strangers will be on your doorstep dressed in unusual costumes. This, of course, can be scary for our furry friends, which can result in escape attempts or unexpected aggression. Putting your dog or cat in a secure crate or room away from the front door will reduce stress and prevent them from darting outside into the night…a night when no one wants to be searching for a lost loved one.
4. Keep glow sticks away from pets.
While glow sticks can help keep people safe on Halloween night, they can add some unwanted drama to the holiday if a pet chews one open. “Thankfully, the liquid inside glow sticks is non-toxic, so it won’t actually make pets sick,” Coates says, “but it does taste awful.” Pets who get into a glow stick may drool, paw at their mouth, become agitated, and sometimes even vomit. Coates recommends that if your pet does chew on a glow stick, “offer some fresh water or a small meal to help clear the material out of the mouth.”
5. Keep Halloween plants such as pumpkins and corn out of reach.
While small amounts of corn and pumpkin can be fed safely to many pets, ingesting uncooked, potentially moldy Halloween pumpkins or corn displays can cause big problems. Gastrointestinal upset is a possibility whenever pets eat something they aren’t used to, and intestinal blockage can occur if large pieces are swallowed. Coates adds that “some types of mold produce mycotoxins that can cause neurologic problems in dogs and cats.” So, keep the pumpkins and corn stalks away from your pets. And speaking of pumpkins… Don't keep lit pumpkins around pets.
If you are using candles to light your jack-o-lanterns or other Halloween decorations, make sure to place them well out of reach of your pets. Should they get too close, they run the risk of burning themselves or causing a fire.
6. Don't keep lit pumpkins around pets.
If you are using candles to light your jack-o-lanterns or other Halloween decorations, make sure to place them well out of reach of your pets. Should they get too close, they run the risk of burning themselves or causing a fire.
7. Keep electric and battery-powered Halloween decorations out of reach.
Electric and battery-powered Halloween decorations are certainly safer than open candles, but they still can present a risk to pets. Pets who chew on electrical cords can receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock or burn. Batteries may cause chemical burns when chewed open or gastrointestinal blockage if swallowed. Shards of glass or plastic can cause lacerations anywhere on the body or, if swallowed, within the gastrointestinal tract.
8. Don't dress your pet in a costume unless you know they'll love it.
If you do decide that Fido or Kitty needs a costume, make sure it isn't dangerous or simply annoying to your pet. Costumes should not restrict movement, hearing, eyesight, or the ability to breathe. Coates warns that pets who are wearing a costume should always be supervised by a responsible adult so that if something goes wrong, it can be addressed right away.
9. Try on pet costumes before the big night.
Don’t wait until Halloween night to put your pet in a costume for the first time. “Any time you want to introduce your pet to something new, it’s best to go slowly,” Coates says. Get your pet costumes early, and put them on for short periods of time (and piece by piece, if possible). “Make it a positive experience by offering lots of praise and treats,” Coates adds. If at any time, your pet seems distressed or develops skin problems from contact with a costume, consider letting him go in his “birthday suit.” A festive bandana may be a good compromise.
10. IDs, please!
If your dog or cat should escape and become lost, having the proper identification will increase the chances that he or she will be returned. Collars and tags are ideal if a Good Samaritan is able to collect your wayward pet, but microchips offer permanent identification should the collar or tag fall off. Just make sure the information is up-to-date. Use Halloween as a yearly reminder to double check your address and phone number on tags and with the company who supports pet microchips.