WLAOTC Club Activities

Club Activities

MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS - A "must" for new members!
When: Third Tuesday of each month
Time: Social Time 6:45 pm. Meeting and Program 7:00 pm.
Where: Please check the monthly Newsletter for meeting location as it may change from month to month. (Meetings are usually held at Westside Pavilion Shopping Mall, Pico and Westwood Blvd. West Los Angeles) For alternate meeting locations, directions will be in the newsletter.

The club convenes membership meetings on the third Tuesday of the month 9 times a year. We skip August, which is the month of the annual match; December, when we host a holiday party; and March, when we hold our annual awards dinner. We have guest speakers at most meetings, educating us on a variety of dog related topics. Members are welcome to come early for pizza and social time before the meeting/program begins.

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
The club publishes an outstanding monthly newsletter, which is the best way to keep up on current club events, meetings and programs, as well as member achievements and activities. We are very fortunate to have excellent columnists and a newsletter that is both informative and interesting. Have you competed in a trial recently or completed a title? Make sure to let us all know! Have you or your dog done something interesting lately? We'd love to hear about it. Submission information is described in the "Kibbles N Bits" column.

CLUB WEBSITE/PHONE LINES
The club maintains not one, but two, phone lines where members can check on class cancellations. The main club line (310-851-6350) is also available to the general public who can leave messages which are routed to the appropriate party. The club website ( http://www.wlaotc.com) contains a wealth of information about the club, including descriptions of special events, class listings, photos, membership forms, etc. Potential students may join our agility notification list from there, and/or pre¬register online for obedience classes.

ANNOUNCEMENTS/DISCUSSION GROUPS
Members may elect to join one or both of our e-mail groups. The WLAOTC announcements group is restricted to announcements about club activities. Members may not reply to these e-mails. Postings are infrequent, typically fewer than three or four per month. Members are encouraged to join the announcements list, since this is the best way to receive timely information. The WLAOTC discussion group is an open forum for members to communicate with each other. Members share information, solicit recommendations about dog services and products and discuss topics of interest to dog owners. If you would like to subscribe to one or both of the groups, please contact the club president using the "General Information" option on our contact page.

TRAINING
The club currently offers 16 obedience classes each week, covering a wide spectrum of training. Our puppy class provides socialization and teaches puppies basic manners. Older dogs may enroll in one of five novice classes, while those with more advanced skills can continue in an intermediate or advanced novice class. Handlers with an interest in competitive obedience can enroll in the Competition Prep class, where teams work on the precision needed for trials. Dogs who are ready may apply for the Advanced Competition Prep class, where, in addition to continuing work on novice skills, teams are introduced to open and utility exercises. Dogs who have earned their CD title or can competently perform all novice and some open exercises may petition for enrollment in one of two Open/Utility classes.

We also offer two or three other classes on a rotating schedule determined by demand. These include beginning rally, advanced rally and conformation handling. In addition, we typically offer 16 agility classes each week for beginning through advanced students. During the Christmas holiday hiatus, we usually schedule special two-hour agility classes devoted to specific skills, such as contacts, weaves, etc.

All classes are held at the Cheviot Hills Recreation Center, on Motor Ave near Pico Blvd, in West Los Angeles. Please go to the club website http://www.wlaotc.com/classes.htm to get a complete and current listing of classes and schedules.

WEEKLY WORKOUTS
Members get together most weeks to train for obedience and/or agility. Obedience workouts are held on Sundays at 1:30pm near the team room/restrooms at Rancho Park. Participants set up a ring or two and take turns putting each other through their choice of novice, open, utility and sometimes rally exercises. This is an excellent way to practice and to assess your dog's readiness to trial. Agility practices are held for one hour on Monday mornings starting at 8:30 in the agility area next to the archery range. Please note that both obedience and agility practices may be cancelled and members are expected to help with set-up and/or tear-down. Notice of cancellation will be posted on the club announcement list. For more information about either workout, see the "Kibbles n Bits" section in the front of the newsletter.

MONTHLY OBEDIENCE SHOW & ASSIST
The club puts on a members-only mini obedience match ("Show N Assist") on the first Saturday of most months. An experienced club member acting as judge will put dogs through obedience exercises in a simulated trial environment and offer training suggestions. Again - members are expected to help with set-up or tear-down and to work as ring stewards. If you have never worked as a ring steward, this is an ideal way to learn. Further information is included in the "Kibble N Bits" section.
Please note this activity is temporarily on hiatus.

AGILITY "PRACTICOURSE"
Members get an opportunity to practice agility at our "PractiCourse", which is a mini agility match offered, weather permitting, several times a year. An experienced agility handler acts as judge, designs the courses and offers tips to handlers. If your dog knows and can negotiate all the obstacles, but isn't quite ready to trial, the PractiCourse is an excellent venue to train, since you can run complete courses in a trial like environment. Your dog should have a reliable recall and be able to work around other dogs. Members who are trialing their dogs are welcome. Those who are enrolled in a WLAOTC agility class are also welcome, but should check with Danielle, our agility instructor, to confirm their readiness. Participants must help with set-up or tear down and spend an hour working as ring stewards.

ANNUAL PRACTICE MATCH
The club's annual practice match, which we have hosted since 1951, takes place in August. We offer Canine Good Citizen testing in addition to classes in novice, pre-novice, open, utility, beginning and advanced rally, with as many as 250 entries. In doing so, the club makes an important contribution to the obedience community by giving trainers the opportunity to work with their dogs in a trial like environment. The match is also good for the wider dog community since it provides a living advertisement of what a dog can be trained to do. It is a proven fact that a well-trained dog is far less likely to wind up in an animal shelter.

TRIALS
The club puts on a two day CPE agility trial each spring. CPE offers titles at 5 levels and their registry is open to all dogs.

SOCIAL EVENTS
Believe it or not, there are a couple of times a year when we get together and leave our dogs at home. Our holiday party takes places in December. Members will gather for dinner, an optional gift exchange, and certainly lots of dog talk. Our dogs also have to settle for leftovers on the night of our annual awards dinner, which takes place in March, since they aren't invited to that either. At that time, we recognize our volunteers, present title trays and give out club awards. Since we know dogs like parties, too, they are included in our annual fun day picnic. Members dine on fine picnic fare while playing games with their dogs. The games, organized by J9's K9's, are for dogs at all levels of training.

ANNUAL AWARDS
Members who met our volunteer/participation requirements are eligible for several obedience and agility awards. Anyone whose dog received a title or certificate during the year will receive an engraved tray, which is a wonderful way to memorialize your dog's achievements. The dog/handler teams with the highest scores earned towards their titles (CD, CDX, UD, UDX, RN, RA, RE, RAE) may win a trophy or plaque. Any dog who goes High in Trial, receives an OTCH, achieves a perfect 200 or places in any of the agility nationals, also receives a trophy or plaque. In obedience, we recognize high veteran dog and give high in group awards, while dogs with the highest combined scores in each of the agility registries and dogs with the most double Qs, will likewise be honored. The most coveted awards are probably the rookie of the year and versatility awards. Rookie awards are given the team with the highest combined scores in pursuit of their first title (CD, CDX, RN, etc), while one must earn titles in three different performance fields to receive the versatility trophy. Awards and eligibility criteria are on the club website: http://www.wlaotc.com/membersonly.htm#03awards.

FRONT AND FINISH
The club also recognizes teams who have earned titles by placing an annual or biennial ad in Front & Finish, the preeminent dog training magazine.

VIDEO LIBRARY
The club owns a growing collection of DVDs, videos, and audio books, which members may borrow and return at monthly meetings. Titles are listed on the club website,where members may also reserve selections prior to meetings. In addition to many obedience and agility titles, our library includes videos about conformation, health, tracking, herding and general canine behavior.
http://www.wlaotc.com/assist/videos.php

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DOG OBEDIENCE COUNCIL
The club is a member of and is represented on the SCDOC, a council of 21 local dog clubs. We participate in the Top Dog, the council's annual obedience competition, sending handler/dog teams to compete in novice, open and utility classes.

LOGO ITEMS/VOLUME PURCHASES
The club frequently makes volume purchases of items such as bait bags, toss toys and rally flash cards, passing the discount along to members. Members may also purchase apparel and tote bags with the club logo imprinted on them.

SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
The club occasionally sponsors special workshops. Past events have featured well-known canine experts, for example, Susan Garret ("Success with One Jump") and veterinary sports specialist Chris Zink, D.V.M., PhD. ("Peak Performance: Coaching the Canine Athlete").

WLAOTC BYLAWS
69K .pdf file

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Last Updated 6/15/10