Chimera Kennels

First, I want to thank ALL OF OUR SUPPORTERS! We appreciate the support as it has permitted the growth of the Swinford program.

Membership Status & Membership Fees

Forum Membership is free. We welcome anyone that conducts themselves appropriately to participate on the Chimera Kennels' discussion forums free of charge.

Supportive Membership is $100 per year. This fee allows members to attend training days as an observer and allows the posting of litter announcements (which meet the criteria described below) on our announcements forum.

Club Membership is for people interested in training with us and has a one-time fee of $300. Club membership includes three months of training (six consecutive training sessions) and the Supportive Membership privileges for one year. Once three months have passed, the Club Membership fee becomes a monthly training fee of $30 for the 1st dog and $15 for each additional dog. Dues will need to be paid prior to training regardless of attendance at previous training sessions. Failure to pay membership dues for three consecutive months will result in termination of Club Membership status (unless previous arrangements have been made and agreed upon).

READ BEFORE POSTING ANNOUNCEMENTS

For 2011, we are changing our policy on posting announcements on our forum. Despite membership or affiliation, all litter announcements that do not meet the criteria below will be removed from the announcement forums.

• ANYONE (Supportive Member or not) may post equipment for sale; however, such posts must include a ligitimate contact name (not an alias) and a valid phone number.
• ANYONE (Supportive Member or not) may post special K-9 events such as training days or competitions.
• ONLY "Club & Supportive Members" may post litter announcements on our forum.
• Any forum member MAY contact any breeder to inquire about breedings using our Private Messaging feature should they choose to do so, but we do NOT allow breeders to privately solicit the forum members unless they are asked to do so by a previous inquiry. Doing so will result in a termination of posting privileges.

Litter Announcement Requirements

1. All litter announcements must include a verifiable three generation pedigree.
2. All litter announcements must include photos or video of both parents displaying working drives. Additionally, at least one of the parents should demonstrate at least a basic level of actual PP work (allowances may be made for PP titled dogs).
3. All litter announcements must include a video of both parent dogs loose and behaving safely with their family. Please realize that people who come to our forum are PRIMARILY looking for family guardian type K-9s, meaning they are looking for personal protection companions more so than sport dogs or patrol dogs; therefore, we are trying to ensure that any pups resulting from breedings advertised here will be from dogs that are safe around family members of all ages.
4. All announcements must include a display of what health exams have been conducted. If none have been done then so be it, but one must disclose such if that is the case.

Club (Training) Membership changes for 2011

It is time to "raise the bar" of expectations of our members. We love working with the dogs and therefore enjoy sharing our resources with others. We have also been pleased to provide members with a platform to communicate and/or allow the use of our equipment. Unfortunately, club expenses for equipment, maintenance, and other such supplies is rather extensive and is often taken for granted. Additionally, although this is a "freewebs" account, we do NOT have a free package. For years we have purchased a very advanced package that allows us to store a great deal of information and to provide the high amount of bandwidth needed to maintain the traffic this website recieves. In reality, these expenses should be shared by all of those that benefit from such resources. The Club Membership changes for 2011 are as follows...

1st - Club training sessions will be twice a month year round. Weather permitting; these sessions will most likely occur on every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. Training will begin at 8 AM and run to 12 PM unless otherwise stated on this forum. Training days that are cancelled due to weather will be made up on the 2nd or 4th Saturday of the month.

2nd - PLEASE BE ON TIME FOR TRAINING. Some members arrive very hours late...and then expect me to "jump" to help them train despite not calling or making previous arrangements for such delays. Regrettably, this is a major inconvenience and one that I can no longer ask my family to endure. When training is over, it is over. I love working the dogs, but I need to balance my time with my children so they grow up learning what "Daddy" has to offer.

3rd - I have come to the conclusion that yearly and monthly membership dues are simply going to be necessary. I can no longer endure all the labors and expenses required to maintain this website, maintain our training field, provide all the training equipment, provide all the educational materials, be exclusively responsible for photo and video documentation of training, and provide all the other supplies such as food and drinks as I have typically done in the past. Although we will continue to help people photograph and video their dogs, training members who want photos or videos of their dogs are now required to bring their own camera, as editing such media is simply too demanding of my time and I no longer have the time needed to provide such services.

4th - In the past, we put extensive time in not only our dogs, but also dogs owned by other people. During the last few years, the training of our dogs has somewhat taken a back seat to our member's dogs (many of which had a free ride as I enjoy working the dogs), but unfortunately some of these members were not willing or able to return the favor. Therefore, at this time, our club simply lacks a supply of decoys needed to work my own dogs. However, to help solve this problem we will be seeking to hire or train another decoy. Volunteers for such training are welcome, but each volunteer will be required to sign a liability waiver in which they accept the risks of such work. New decoys will only be permitted to work green dogs on back ties AND/OR they may work clean targeting dogs on or off leash...but for safety reasons, they will not be permitted to work green dogs on or off leash until they have the appropriate experience. It is my belief that most decoys are bit as a result of poor handling; therefore, green handlers will not be permitted to work with green decoys under any circumstance on my property.

Clubs are the best way to go. Everybody contributes and work together for the cause. Not only will the dogs benefit, but all the members will also benefit from consistant training.

I can certianly understand the need for change. I would love to be at least a "supportive member" if only I lived closer.......  :-)  Oh well, it is good to be here at least.

Thanks for the supportive words guys. What a long day. Been making some updates on the dog yard today getting everything up and ready for next year. We have some really nice up and comers that I look forward to putting some work into...as my website is in need of some serious updates...including...

Sampson, Delilah, Sharkboy, Little Hurtin, Razzle Dazzle, Freedom, Indy, Lava Girl, and probably a few others in the near future.

I recieved an email asking about the pricing...so let me give some examples.

There is NO CHARGE to participate on our forum.

One ONLY needs to be a supportive member if they wish to advertise breedings, which can be posted on our announcement page only...not in private messages and not on the working secion, other bandog pages, etc. There is NO CHARGE to advertise events or equipment for sale.

For a club member tthere will be a ONE TIME EXPENSE of $300 for the first 3 months, then $30 per month for the remaining months for the first dog and $15 a month for each additional dog. This $300 does NOT need to be paid every year, as it is a ONE TIME expense as long as members remain in good standing by paying their monthly training dues. What this means is...

Example 1...If you had one dog and were a member for 2 years and 2 months ...

1st year - $570 total for the first year ($300 for the first 3 months & $30 per month for the next 9 months.

2nd year...$360.

The remaining 2 months...$60

Example 2...If you had 3 dogs and were a member for 15 months.

1st year... $750 total for 2 dogs for the entire year ($300 for the first 3 months for the first dog, $15 a month for the first 3 months for the second dog, and then $45 per month for the remaining 9 months)

The remaining 3 months of the second year would be...$45 x 3 = $135