Obedience MEMBER ONLY Class registration open for session #2, 2021!

Attention members!

Obedience class registration will be open for ONE WEEK ONLY for you to early register as a member.

AFTER THE FIRST WEEK it will be open once again to the general public.

YOU MUST FOLLOW THIS LINK TO REGISTER!
Going to the general website will not work, as I have hidden the registration to give our members first choice.

Important note! If you are using a voucher to pay for the class, you MUST now send your voucher to the registrar to secure your place in the class. The honor system has been taken advantage of, our club needs the money. No longer turning in the voucher is grounds for dismissal from the class and a paying customer taking your place.

We have no Obedience director! This means that while we made every effort to contact instructors, some class times may change in the first week, some classes may be added or removed. Please try to be patient as we work through this!

Exciting news!

As many of you know, we have been in contract to have a new roof put on for over a year now. With the tornadoes devastating so many homes and businesses, we politely agreed that the roofers had more important locations to take care of. Last night we got word that our roofers (Miami Valley Construction Services) will be at our location starting as early as tomorrow (Wednesday)! We are very excited to be able to remove the buckets from our rafters! Replacing the roof could take up to a week.

Our board met earlier this month, and we talked about many other exciting things. As you have all been made aware, we are getting ready to dip our toes back in to classes. Please try to remain understanding as we limit class sizes, limit the number of classes available, and look for new instructors. This also means that in some cases, we will be using the great outdoors for our classes at the Land. We are currently on summer break per our schedule, and to save on cooling costs, have opted to keep that same summer schedule for the most part.

As a board, we also discussed Volunteer hours. Look for creative ways for everyone to be able to gain volunteer hours in a future email.

Many of you have been worrying about our finances. I’m pleased to announce that our treasurer is NOT as worried as many of you are! We may be asking members to pay member price rather than use vouchers for a couple sessions, but do not anticipate a large financial hardship due to having to cancel classes and trials at this time. We will let you know if we need this type of assistance in the future.

Many of you have been going to Facebook to gain information. I know that this seems like an easy way to ask questions, but please remember, the “Friends of Gem City” Facebook group is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. It is not restricted to only club members, and does not always contain the most up to date information or the best path to reach the answers you are looking for. Our website gcdoc.com is kept up to date with the most recent trail cancellations, premiums, and information about classes restarting.

You can log in to our website at any time to gain access to being able to send an email to our Sunshine Chair. Maybe you know someone in the club who has lost a pet or close family member. Please use the form on the website to contact the sunshine chair so they can send out a card to that club member.

We are in an ever shifting world with the pandemic, and much of this is subject to change if Ohio should happen to shut down again. Please continue to play safely with your furry friends, and be polite with providing distance and safety precautions for others who may not be as fortunate as you in their health. I think we can all agree that we want Ohio to STAY OPEN!

Chris Kiefer
President & Webmaster
Gem City Dog Obedience Club

Agility Classes restarting!


The Agility classes will be doing a shortened  “soft opening” for the students who were already in an upper level class beginning June 29. If you were in a class you will be contacted by Maggie Melton with a registration form.  This session WILL NOT include the foundation or beginner series classes, since they may require closer contact with a student.
This shortened session is to see how our Covid 19 protocols will work and if we need to change anything.
Session 4 will start  August 10 for our regular 7 weeks. Our class numbers will be more limited, so that we will only need 1 instructor for the near future. As this shortened session nears the end we will evaluate whether we will have the beginner levels in session 4.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding during our restart growing pains.

Sherri Heizer, Agility DOT

Classes WILL restart!

Classes will resume session 4 starting the week of Aug 10.  Registration
will open on line the week of July 20th.  We will have a few classes at the
land and when times are firmed up I will get a list out so you can plan.
Our intention is to offer classes that our members want to take, such as,
Rally Obedience, Freestyle and Novice Obedience.  We are also offering a
CGCA/CGCU titling class. 

 It has also been suggested that we offer members
an opportunity to earn the rally novice virtual title.  If you are
interested in using the clubs rally signs and space at the club to video for
this title please contact me at [email protected] or text 937-838-6042.  We
will assist with set up and reserve the building for you, you will need to
provide the videographer and trained dog.  There will be a $20 fee, for 20
minutes of ring time (does not include set up time), that will be put toward
building improvements.

Pamela Murn
Director of Obedience
Gem City Dog Obedience Club

Class session 2 canceled

Due to the extreme circumstances from the COVID-19 outbreak, the current class session has been completely canceled. Refunds for PayPal payments will be issued automatically, Checks will be shredded, and vouchers will be credited.

At this time, Session 3 is unpredictable. Watch for future emails on when we will be able to open for regular business again.

THE CLEANING CREW IS NO LONGER CLEANING THE BUILDING. Use at your own risk!!

Because of the unpredictability of the future, many of our trials are expected to cancel. Again, the website event calendar will be updated as I receive clear confirmation of cancellations. Please do not continue to ask questions on the facebook page, as it is a public forum where any may read it. If you truly feel the need to ask questions, contact me at [email protected]

Until we are able to safely play with our dogs together again, please take care of your family, furry and otherwise.

Chris Kiefer
President, Gem City Dog Obedience Club

Classes Canceled!!

Due to the recent announcement from the Governor of Ohio declaring that all large group meetings of 100 people are more are banned, and the fact that we regularly have 100 people in and out of our building every day, we feel it best that we suspend classes for the time being.

At this time we are unclear on how long the suspension will last, and what actions we will take to “make right” any payments made for classes. Please be patient with us while we protect our families first, and make non-life threatening choices later.

Instructors – Please call your students and let them know that we are suspending classes for the time being, with more information to follow.
Thursday evening instructors– please cancel classes if you are available to do so, if not, please run your classes and inform them that future classes are suspended.

For questions/concerns on class refunds or for requesting a refund, please email: [email protected]
Please DO NOT email if you just want a credit. Credits will automatically be given to those who do not wish a refund.

With regret,

Chris Kiefer – President, Gem City Dog Obedience Club