Working Dog Club of Michigan
Constitution
and Bylaws
Article I. NAME OF CLUB............................................................................... 2
Article II. Object of the Club.................................................................. 2
Article III. Non-Profit Status.................................................................... 2
Article IV. Membership................................................................................... 3
Section 4.01 The club shall consist of two types of members.. 3
Section 4.02 Application for Membership............................................... 3
Section 4.03 Resignation................................................................................... 4
Section 4.04 Suspension...................................................................................... 4
Article V. Dues and Special Levies....................................................... 4
Section 5.01 Dues and Fees................................................................................ 4
Section 5.02 Special Levies............................................................................... 5
Section 5.03 Non-payment of Dues or Special Levies....................... 5
Article VI. Board of Directors................................................................ 6
Article VII. Officers and Their Responsibilities........................... 6
Article
VIII. Election of
Officers and Directors.......................... 7
Article X. MEetings......................................................................................... 7
Article XI. Constitutional Amendments........................................... 8
Article
XIII. Training.......................................................................................... 8
Article I.
NAME OF CLUB
(a) The name of this association is the Working
Dog Club of Michigan and shall be known as
such.
(a) To train dogs for the sport of Schutzhund, as well as
Conformation Shows, and Breed Surveys.
(b) Support activities and educational programs that
demonstrate the advantages of Schutzhund training.
(c) Support and organize trials, breed surveys, and
conformation shows under the requirements the German Shepherd Dog Club of
America-Working Dog Association, Inc. (GSDCA-WDA) and according to the rules of
the Verband Fuer Das Deutsche Hundewesen (VDH).
(d) To preserve the German Shepherd Dog in accordance
with the breed standard as a working dog; to promote humane training methods
for the working dog; and to support responsible dog ownership and breeding
practices.
(e) Support the use of dogs by Law Enforcement Agencies
and to promote the use of the Breed Standards for the German Shepherd Dog.
(f) The promotion of working dogs for the sport of
Schutzhund, police work, and search and rescue.
(g) To interest and educate the public about German
Shepherd Dogs and Schutzhund, police, and search and rescue training.
(a) This Club shall be conducted as a non-profit
organization. All dues, levies and other
income shall be disbursed to promote the objectives of this Club along with
associated social activities.
(a) Full members these members shall be entitled to
vote, hold office, and benefit in all the advantages of this organization. They are required to pay full membership
dues.
(b) Open members these members are not entitled to
vote or hold office. They are required
to pay a smaller membership due and per session training fees.
(c) Honorary members these members may be elected by
the Board of Directors from those who have rendered valuable service to the
Club or the police dog movement. They
are not entitled to vote or hold office.
Honorary members are not required to pay membership dues.
(a) Applicant shall attend observe at least one training
session and present their dog(s) to be evaluated by the Training Director
before applying for open or full membership.
Applicants may apply for open membership for $75.00 (seventy five) and
$15.00 (fifteen) per training session before becoming full members.
(b) Applications for membership shall be made to the
Secretary in writing upon forms provided at the first training session where
the applicant brings their dog to be trained.
(c) All membership applications, dogs, and handlers are
subject to approval of the Training Director and two thirds (2/3) vote of
acceptance by the Board of Directors.
(d) The first year of membership shall be a probationary
period. Probationary members can be
expelled by a two thirds (2/3) vote to the Board of Directors. If a new member is expelled in the first six
(6) months of his or her probationary period, the entire annual membership dues
shall be refunded. If a new member is
expelled in the second six (6) months of his or her probationary period, fifty
percent (50%) of the annual membership dues shall be refunded.
(e) The Board of Directors shall appoint honorary
members.
(a) Any member may resign at any time and may be deleted
from the membership upon receipt of resignation, in writing, by the secretary.
(a) Any member may be suspended by a two thirds (2/3)
vote of the Board of Directors or automatically as provided for elsewhere.
(b) Any member under suspension shall not be entitled to
vote or participate in training sessions.
(c) Any member under suspension for four (4) months
shall be expelled from membership automatically.
(a) New members will be assessed a one time initiation
fee of $100.00 (one hundred dollars).
(b) The Individual Membership (one handler with up to
three (3) dogs) annual dues are $125.00 (one hundred twenty five dollars) per
year and every January thereafter.
(c) Family Membership (up to three handlers living in
the same residence with up to three dogs total per family) annual dues are $150.00
(one hundred fifty) per year and every January thereafter. Dues for each additional family member living
at the same address are $75.00 (seventy five) per year and every January
thereafter.
(d) Membership dues are payable prior to the start of
the year, before January 1.
(e) Open Membership: Non-members of the Club who are
considering full membership may pay a $75.00 (seventy five) dollar fee as well
as $15.00 (fifteen) per training session they attend. If an open member should become a full
member, the $75 is applied towards the $150.00 membership fee.
(f) All members and volunteers must sign the Waiver of
Liability Form before participating in the Club events, as required by WDA, as
well as the Clubs own waiver. All
active members must participate in at least one event per year, either as a
volunteer for support activities such as meal provision, registration, etc., or
as a participant in the event with one of their dogs.
(a) The membership may approve by a majority vote the
collection of special equal levies against the membership to meet the expenses
of the Club.
(a) An active member, whose dues remain unpaid for one
(1) month after the due date, shall be notified in writing by the
Secretary/Treasurer. If said dues remain
unpaid for another thirty (30) days, the membership shall be automatically suspended.
(a) The control and management of the affairs of the
Club shall be vested in the Board of Directors, consisting of at least three
(3) but not more than five (5) members.
(b) The Board of Directors shall consist of:
1.
President
Terri Haas-Whittman
2.
Vice
President Judd Snyder
3.
Secretary
Lies Rosema
4.
Treasurer
Caron Wharnsby
5. Training Director Warren Miller
6. Co-secretary Julie Richards-Mostosky
(c) Meetings for the Board of Directors shall be called
by the President. Board meetings may
precede or follow regular General Membership meetings.
(d) Special meetings of the Board of Directors shall be
called by the President or three Directors acting in concert.
(e) A majority of the Directors in office being present
shall constitute a quorum to conduct regular business. The Board shall have the power to fill any
vacancy that may occur between elections except that of President.
(f) The Secretary shall keep minutes of the Board
meeting.
(g) At least one General Membership meeting must be held
per year.
(h) The Board shall have general supervision over all
disbursements of the Treasurer.
(i) The Board shall have the power to appoint committees
and assistant officers from among the membership.
(a) President.
The President shall preside at all meetings and act as the chief
executive of the Club. He shall be a
member of all committees. He shall
officially greet visitors and control their location and movements at the
training grounds while dogs are in training.
He shall also answer questions, offer explanations and in general,
provide good relations for the interested public.
(b) Vice President.
The Vice President shall in the absence of the President, perform all
duties of the President.
(c) Secretary.
The Secretary shall have charge of all correspondence; keep the records
and roll of members, the minutes of meetings and Board meetings, and election
results. The Secretary, with assistance as needed, is responsible for the
preparation of the official registration for events; acquisition of supplies,
trophies, and official forms for recording the events; official catalogs for
the events; and, submission of all required forms and catalogs as prescribed by
WDA for each event sponsored by the Club.
(d) Treasurer.
The Treasurer shall receive, collect, and disburse all funds of the
Club. Disbursements shall be made only
be signed vouchers, which shall be kept as part of a permanent record system,
which shall include an account book of receipts and disbursements. He shall render a formal statement regarding
the Club funds annually and informally at all regular meetings.
(e) Training Director. One shall be appointed for an
indefinite term by the Board of Directors.
He shall fulfill all requirements to maintain a satisfactory and
successful training program. He shall be
in charge of all Club activities during normal training hours. He shall be a member of the Club.
(f) Vice Secrectary. The Vice Secretary position will be filled by one
whose presence on the board is necessary and when needed will assist the Secretary
in clerical duties, as well as any other Board member in other Club duties.
(g) An officer may assume more than one responsibility
if approved by a majority of the Board of Directors.
(a) The Officers and Directors shall be elected by the
Active members in good standing at a general meeting of the Club. All Officers and Directors shall assume
office immediately after the election results are known. Each active member may vote for only one (1)
nominee for each office.
(b) Nominations for Officers and Directors shall be made
by the Board of Directors at a general meeting.
All nominations must be seconded.
Nominees for Officers and Directors must be members in good standing for
at least one year prior to the election.
(c) Any active member whose membership fees or levies
remain unpaid on election day shall be disqualified from voting or holding
office.
Article IX.
Meetings
(a) The general membership meeting to conduct business
shall be held in conjunction with the training sessions.
(a) The Constitution and Bylaws may be amended, altered
or repealed by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the active Board of Directors in good
standing.
(b) Any proposed changes to the Constitution and Bylaws
shall be formally read at the Board of Directors meeting and shall appear in the
minutes of that meeting.
(a) It is the policy of this Club that one (1) dog per
person will be given priority over extra dogs.
The training of extra dogs at any one session can be done only with the
consent of the Training Director and must not interfere with the timely
training of other dogs. Extra dogs (and
non-member dogs) may be trained last in the session.
(b)
Extra dogs
owned by Club members that are under six (6) months of age may be tied out
during training sessions, or brought to sessions for socialization, provided
that such action does not interfere with the training of other dogs. Puppies may be worked briefly by a helper
with the consent of the Training Director.
(c)
Prospective
members and guests of members may attend any training session. They may not enter into training activities
of the Club except by the consent of the presiding officer of Training
Director, only after completing a Membership Application with Training
Agreement & Understanding of Liability.
(d) A member cannot participate in training sessions
unless their membership dues are paid in full.