History

The club was started in the fall of 1971, with several dog enthusiasts meeting in each others homes, planning on how to make the club more viable and getting to know just what was involved in setting up the club and getting show dates. As there appeared to be doggy people in the area that we didn't know, it was decided to rent a room at a local hotel and also advertise in the Expositor that a public meeting would be held with the intent of becoming more structured and having new members. The response was overwhelming, with quite a number of people signing up for membership on January 24th, 1972. Our spokesman was Ray Lackenbauer who had Norwegian Elkhounds. A steering committee was selected to put together a formal constitution, which was adopted in February of 1972 The name of the club was Brantford & District Kennel Club. In October of 1973, the Brantford Obedience Club officially joined with the Brantford & District Kennel Club and the name was changed to the Brantford & District Kennel & Obedience Club. This joining of clubs evolved due to the majority of members in each club enjoying membership and activity in both clubs.

Our first Sanction Match was held in January of 1973 at Merritt Hall in Ancaster. Our second Sanction Match was held in February of 1974 and the practice of having these was cancelled due to the work required for our championship shows in December.

The club's first application for show dates was September, 1973. The dates were refused because the Hamilton Kennel Club had shows on those dates. We then applied for December 1 and 2, 1973 which was granted. Our first show chairperson was Joyce Ellis and the superintendent was Don Palanio. Bob Gilham was show chairperson and superintendent in 1974 and we can't keep count of the years he has capably filled the job since then, occasionally taking a year off. The show Secretary's position went to Irene Gilham who held this responsible position until her retirement after the 2005 show.


Our entry at the 1974 shows was 1,276 and 1,186 - an unheard of number at that time, due to Brantford being the last show of the year. When the two clubs amalgamated in 1973, we had to find suitable dates for our shows and trials. The Civic Centre was the only place in town that had wood flooring for the area but was not big enough to hold conformation and obedience.

The club has also been responsible for starting off the judging careers of several of our members, notably, Bob Gilham in 1978 and Ole Nielsen in the late 1980's. Bob is now an all-rounder and Ole now has six groups.

The Club has an average of 40 members whose interest in diverse areas of the dog world include showing, handling, obedience trialing and training, visiting nursing homes and schools with therapy dogs. We have held obedience training and show handling for the public and seminars to help educate the public on what they should be doing when purchasing a new puppy.

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