About Us

About the Club

History

In 1983, a group of responsible dog owners began thinking about a club to promote dog training in the Bellingham and Whatcom County area.  They held their first meeting in October of that year, with ten people attending.  A couple of months later, they christened themselves the “Chuckanut Dog Training Association” and began plans for their first fun match, which was held Saturday February 18, 1984.  It was a great success, with judges and exhibitors congratulating the club on how well organized and professional it was.

Shortly thereafter, the club adopted its logo and the club began holding informal training sessions at local schools and parks.  In June of 1984, the club held their first tracking seminar.  Again this was a big success, drawing lots of praise from presenters and participants.  Also that year, C.D.T.A. began holding obedience classes for the public, and began their policy of community service by visiting nursing homes with their dogs.

Click here to open the Constitution and Bylaws for the C.D.T.A. in .pdf format.

Club Meetings

General Membership meetings of the club are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 7PM at 1012 E. Hemmi Road, Everson, WA, just off of the Hannegan Road. Bring your canine friend with you. Guests are always welcome.

Click on the link at right for directions. There are some months when we have special programs or activities and hold our meetings in a different location. Check our website for the location and directions. We’d love to have you join us.

Board meetings are held at least 4 times a year. The location is determined at the previous meeting. Notice of the meeting is given to members in the monthly newsletter and on the Yahoo! group site.

If you are not a member but wish to attend a meeting, please contact our President, Nancy Reynolds at 360-671-9074 e-mail or our membership chair - Marian Snapp at 360-676-2716  e-mail. Please put CDTA in the subject line. 

Map of 1012 E Hemmi Rd
Everson, WA 98247-9777

Leashed, well mannered dogs are ALWAYS welcome at the meetings.

 

How to Become a Member

Club Programs

Agility

Our Agility committee is one of the largest and most active in the club.  We hold classes at Canyon Creek Farms on Everson-Goshen Road on Thursday evenings. Classes  are limited in size and are generally eight week sessions. We offer Agility Readiness for the young dogs or those just beginning their agility career. It's a good opportunity for both the dog and handler to decide if this is an activity they might enjoy. Then the dog and handler team can move on to Basic I, Basic II, Intermediate and Advanced classes. In addition, once a dog has completed an Intermediate class, the handler may bring him to the open practice sessions which are held after the Thursday night classes. We frequently put on agility demonstrations and hold several licensed trials each year. C.D.T.A. also sponsors agility seminars and workshops with top competitors in the agility world.

Obedience Classes

Obedience Training Classes are held early Fall through late Spring at Bloedel-Donovan Park Recreational Building.  These classes are geared mainly to the pet-owning public and emphasize how to train your dog to be a well-behaved companion.  Classes are offered both for young puppies and for older dogs.  In addition, we also offer a “polishing Novice” class, for those who wish to go on to compete in formal obedience trials. We have recently added a class for an introduction to the new AKC performance class—Rally.

Classes are taught by club members who volunteer their time. Potential instructors must assist under the direction of an experienced instructor before they are approved to teach on their own.  We encourage positive training methods in all our classes. The classes are for a six-week session, and fees are set according to the prevailing rate of classes in the area.  

Obedience Trials/Matches

We have held a number of fun matches and AKC sanctioned matches. Each year, since 1994, we hold a licensed Obedience trial and Rally Obedience trial, the first weekend in November at the Lynden Fairgrounds.

Tracking

CDTA now offers tracking classes in the winter months. Enrollment is limited. A number of our members have already received their tracking titles and are always ready to “go tracking”.

We also put on an AKC sponsored Tracking Test in November each year and have added a Variable Surface Tracking Test in June as of 2007.

Herding  

Although the club does not have official herding classes, we have several members who are very active in herding and give classes at their own facilities. Contact Jan Wesen, chair of the herding committee, for more information.

Community Service/Public Education

C.D.T.A. members participate in educational programs to introduce everyone to the fun activities we enjoy with our dogs.  We have participated in  “Dog Days in the Park” at Lake Padden, where we demonstrate many of our clubs various activities and work with other canine groups in educating the public in responsible dog ownership.

C.D.T.A. also makes periodic donations to dog related charities.

Library and Programs

C.D.T.A. maintains a library of dog-related publications that are available for the members to check out on a monthly basis.  The library includes videotapes, books and periodicals

At our monthly meetings, we try to schedule educational or informative programs on dog or animal-related subjects.  We have had speakers from the Humane Society, the police department K-9 unit, Canine Companions for Independence,  Search and Rescue, Red Cross and others.

 We also take time to play games with our dogs and of course enjoy some good snacks.

 Social

All work and no play would definitely make C.D.T.A. members dull folks! Our club year includes several planned social events: a potluck dinner, sometimes with a silent auction, a summer picnic held in August and the Holiday Awards Dinner, held in conjunction with our annual meeting in December.  At the awards dinner, those who have completed titles on their dogs are honored with plaques and certificates.  There is always a fun activity included for the humans at this event.

 

The world of dogs is almost limitless, and C.D.T.A. is a good place to start your exploration.  

COME JOIN US!