The Schaferhunde News
The German Shepherd Dog Club of Greater Kansas City
Founded 1923
Issue - August 2017
With the devastation of Hurricane Harvey reaching far and wide, many concerned citizens are wondering what they can do to assist in the relief efforts. Here are some ways you can contribute to helping canines and humans who are suffering from the storm’s impact.
1. Donate
To help those affected by Hurricane Harvey you can donate to AKC Reunite's Pet Disaster Relief Fund. Click here to donate.
A Challenge Grant is also being offered from Greater St. Louis Training Club Delegates Barbara and Bob Amen. The Amens will match donations to AKC Reunites Pet Disaster Relief Fund up to $10,000 to support efforts for the families and pets in Texas and Louisiana affected by Hurricane Harvey.
2. Purchase Texas Tough Items from the AKC Shop
The AKC Shop is featuring a special Texas Tough collection to support those affected by Hurricane Harvey. 100% of the profits from items sold in the collection will go to help support AKC Reunite Pet Disaster Relief. Shop the collection here.
3. Volunteer
Volunteering is a wonderful way to help with relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. However, it's important to note that you must register in order to volunteer, you cannot simply show up. Doing so may actually hinder the recovery process, so please do your research using the links below prior to donating your time.
To learn more about volunteering in Houston, click here.
For information on volunteering statewide via FEMA, learn more here.
4. Educate Yourself and Share Information
The American Veterinary Medical Association offers a guide to emergency preparation and response. Download the guide here.
AKC Reunite also has information on emergency planning, relief, and response. Learn more here.
For more information on Hurricane Harvey, click here. This page is constantly being updated with new information.
President’s message from Chris Kimerer
Nominating of Officers and Directors is one of the most critical “business” aspects of our club, so I would like to briefly go over the main points of the process to refresh everyone’s memory and also for our newer members who’ve not been part of the process.
The first order of business regarding this is to elect a 5-member nominating committee, which consists of 1 member of the board and 4 members of the general membership. To serve on this committee one has to have been a club member for at least 6 months. The Board of Directors will elect their 2 members at the September Board Meeting and the membership will elect the remaining 3 members at the September Club Meeting. Our By-Laws state that the 3 members get elected in October, but since we do not have an October Meeting due to our National, we will do this in September.
The election of the 3 members will be done from the floor at the September meeting, anyone that qualifies with the 6-month membership rule can be selected to serve as long as they are willing to do so. I will open the nominated from the floor, and once everyone has had the chance to select someone and they’ve agreed to run, I will close the nominations and the membership will vote on accepting the nominating committee.
The committee will present their slate at our December Club meeting.
The Annual Meeting, which is the meeting when the membership votes on the slate of Officers that was presented at the December Meeting, is in January, and every club member will receive a ballot two-weeks prior to the Annual Meeting in the mail. If one cannot attend the Annual Meeting, they can vote by absentee ballot which must be received by the Secretary any time prior to the start of the Annual Meeting.
So, this is a brief overview of the process. I encourage everyone that would like to get involved with the inner functions of the club to consider serving as a board member. It is not hard or difficult, it does require a level of commitment to attend Board Meetings, Club Meetings and our Shows, a Conformation Show in June, an Obedience Trial in July and our Tracking Test in January.
~Chris~
The August general meeting was held at Macken Park in North Kansas City. The weather was beautiful and the hot dogs were delicious. A good time was had by all.
A special thank you goes out to Lew Bunch for assisting in getting our club information corrected on the GSDC of America website gsdca.org. A link to our club website also was added.
Thanks Lew for the action taken to get this accomplished.
Tuesday, September 12, General Meeting 7:00 p.m.,Comfort Inn, 7300 NE Parvin Road, Kansas City, Mo, near Worlds of Fun. The board will meet at 5:45 p.m. All members are welcome to attend the board meeting.
Saturday, September 30, 9:30 a.m. GSDCGKC Annual Picnic Litton Center, Smithville Lake, Smithville, Mo, Learn to Lay a Track for Tracking Test
October 9 – October 13, German Shepherd Club of America Nationals Purina Farms, Purina Event Center, Gray Summit, Mo
Saturday, October 21 10:00 a.m., Heartland Police Canine Training & Trials, 9701 Marion Park Drive, Kansas City, Mo (KC MO South PD)
M I L E S T O N E - 60 Years
In July 1957 Ken and Shirley Petersen joined the GSDCGKC. For the next 60 Years they have served the GSDCGKC as President, Secretary, Obedience Instructors, Futurity Committee, Show Committee, Ring Stewards and everything else they were asked to do but their most important function was welcoming and helping new members.
The club thanks Ken and Shirley for 60 years of dedication, commitment and club involvement. Congratulations on this extraordinary achievement!
Cindy Hartman reported that Willa finished her CDX (Open) title at our Specialty with 2 High In Trials. Saturday she won 2nd place for all breed and 1st place for GSDs in her class. Sunday she won 1st place for all breed and 1st for GSDs. ~
Charbo’s Peeta Mellark V Jalynn owned by Bobbie Schiffelbein and Lynette Stone went Winners Dog two days and Reserve Winners one day at the Topeka Kennel Club All-Breed show. The breeders are Bobbie Schiffelbein and Lynette Stone. All were majors and now needs just 4 points to finish.
Peeta with Tiffany Bartley and Jeff Pyle
Jalyn’s Living the Life of Rylie v Charbo finished her Grand Champion points (AKC notification pending.) Rylie is owned by Jim and Lynette Stone. The breeders are Bobbie Schiffelbein and Lynette Stone.
Bobbie Schiffelbein reported that the club fundraiser at the August Topeka Kennel Club All-Breed show was a great success. We doubled our proceeds from last year.
Thanks to all that donated wine or money to purchase wine and those that picked up wine from donors.
Bobbie stated that it was hard work but was fun seeing the results. “There were even a few clubs wanting to try this at their shows. Everyone loved it and even the judges were buying…they loved it as well.”
Diseases passed from dog to dog
If a dog is showing any signs of illness (e.g., diarrhea, vomiting, depression, staggering or unsteadiness, breathing problems), don’t walk the dog. If a dog doesn’t seem to want to walk, or a dog that is normally excited about walks is reluctant to walk, it may be a sign of a problem and you should contact that dog’s owner.
Avoid free-roaming or unrestrained, unfamiliar dogs because they may present the risk of disease exposure or a dog fight. What seems to be harmless contact between two dogs could still spread an infectious disease and pose a risk to your dog. If you encounter unfamiliar dogs, even leashed and restrained, the best course of action is to politely decline contact between the dogs.
Distemper, parvovirus, kennel cough, rabies, adenovirus, coronavirus and canine influenza are just a few of the diseases that can be spread from dog to dog. All dogs should be properly immunized against distemper, parvovirus, adenovirus and rabies because these viruses are easily spread and potentially deadly. A dog owner might also choose to have their dog vaccinated for Bordetella, leptospirosis, canine influenza, and some other diseases if the dog is determined to be at risk of exposure to the diseases; the risks and benefits of vaccination for these diseases should be discussed with the dog’s veterinarian.
Disease can be spread in a number of ways, including:
Direct contact between dogs – this can include the simple act of touching noses or sniffing each other
Contact with the feces (stool) or urine of infected dogs
Sticks, toys, equipment and objects with which other dogs have interacted
A person’s hands, clothes or shoes after they’ve had contact with an infected dog
Submitted by Marion Baker
Ray and Betty Laughlin have been members of the GSDCGKC for almost one year. They are very supportive of the club. Ray and Betty are always willing to help in any capacity. They are very generous in providing many meals and snacks for our club meetings.
Ray shared a little about his background and their love for the German Shepherd bred.
“I was born and grew up in the hills of Oakland California. When I was a young teenager my mom got me my first German Shepherd named Sabrina. I regret not getting to know her better. She was an outdoor dog mostly off the leash.
In my early twenties I married Betty, who is from France. I worked on cars in the evenings and could often be found in the garage at home. I met Betty who was a “nanny” for a customer of mine.
Soon after getting married I developed a strong urge for another German Shepherd and found an available litter of “silver shepherds”. We picked a female and named her Crystal.
Betty worked in San Francisco at the airport as a ticket agent for a small airline called “Piedmont”. Piedmont was bought by US AIR. US Air was slowly losing market share on the West coast and Betty as well as many others were reduced to part time and eventually facing being furlough. I owned an Automotive repair garage with a partner and my lease was ending. We decided to apply for relocation with Betty's job and at the last minute there was an opening with US Air at Kansas City Airport.
We moved here in 1995 and bought the house that we still live in. I moved here with Crystal who was a real tough dog to make the journey at her age. There were three days of driving which was a total of 24 hours of driving, Crystal still had stitches from large fatty tumors being removed. Crystal also ended up with a leaky heart valve however she had a relaxing two years before having to be put down. Crystal taught me how to watch a dog like a hawk. She liked to fight and bite, it would take days for her to take to most people and once she excepted them they had a best friend forever. It would be easier to name the few people I knew that she didn’t put a light bite on their calf. People either loved her or despised her. She was a very loyal dog who followed me like a shadow to the very end.
Soon after moving here I started working for Sprint in Lenexa (Residential Sales.) Two years later I went to GTE selling yellow page ads. During that time, I started missing the joy I had with my previous two dogs so I asked my vet at Crossroads Veterinary in Liberty, Mo. They gave me the name of Anne Mackey so I gave her a call. She introduced me to Tom and Patty Brown who gave me another person’s name and number who had just sold a female to who was expecting a litter. We picked a female “American Shepherd” who we named MEGAN. We took Megan to Anne Mackey’s obedience class where she earned her CGC. While in Anne’s obedience class we also met Nicky Bunch who was training a long-haired GSD named Gismo.
While Megan was around three we got a male GSD we named Max who died at a short 3 years young. To this day I do not know why. We then found a breeder in Stone Ridge Kansas who had West German red and black GSDs. We got a male who we named Charlie and a couple of years later we got another male long hair (red and black) we named Rebel. All of these GSD have enhanced my life. The one thing I count on, and expect, no matter what kind of day I may have had is to an enjoyable dog walk at the beginning and end of each day.
I currently only have two GSD’s Harry and Jager who I got from Shane Meuschke @ Vertrauen German Shepherds. Harry and Jager are as close as possible replacements for Charlie and Rebel who I lost a couple of years ago. Shane put me in touch with Debbie McHenry who owns Gero, The sire of Harry. Debbie put me in contact with Sally Hamm who taught us Tracking last fall and winter. Debbie also introduced us to Rosi Von Fintel where both dogs earned their CGC in Rosi’s Obedience classes in Liberty. Debbie also persuaded us to join the GSD club where I have found just a vast amount of knowledge about dogs and dog events.
~Ray~
When: Saturday, September 30, 2017
Where: Litton Center Shelter House, Smithville Lake, Smithville, Mo
Time: 9:30 a.m.
You won’t want to miss this year’s Annual Picnic. Arrive early to participate in some Tracking Fun. Sally Hamm will be teaching us how to lay a track and also provide some basic instructions on tracking with your dog.
Ray Laughlin and Brad Baker will be manning the grill.
