Who We Are – And What We Do
Our club is located in Wausau Wisconsin, with our members living in several surrounding counties. The club is comprised of a group of dog enthusiasts and operates as a not for profit organization. We are licensed by the American Kennel Club (AKC). Many of our members are active in exhibiting in conformation, rescue organizations, therapy dog work, national/regional breed clubs, puppy and adult canine obedience education, competition sports and training, and other dog related organizations.
For many years, Paper Cities Kennel Club has had a strong tie to our local communities through involvement in many charitable endeavors, including, but not limited to:
- Canine Ambassadors – visit schools to educate children on proper dog etiquette
- Bite Prevention/Rabies Education – in conjunction with our local Health Department
- Mall Demonstrations – promoting responsible pet ownership and ethical resources
- Rally, Obedience, & Conformation Classes – offering education and training in competition sports
- Public Seminars – animal behavior, training, conformation, and animal health issues
- Annual AKC All Breed Dog Show
- Jaycee Bike Rodeo – educating children about bite prevention & how to stay safe around dogs
- Contributions to local dog related charities
Without a doubt, one of the most important contributions we make to our community is our Canine Ambassador Program. Throughout Marathon County, every grade school is invited to take part in our program, and many accept the offer knowing how important it is to teach children how to stay safe around dogs.
In the classroom, we introduce ourselves and talk about our program, the kids watch a video about staying safe around dogs, followed by more discussion about the video. The highlight of the presentation is when the children get to try out what they learned from the video and discussion. Each child gets to approach one of our dogs to show us that they indeed learned how to ask permission from the pet’s owner, and demonstrate the safe way to pet a dog. We teach thousands of kids every year how to stay safe around dogs. Nothing is more satisfying than to hear a child out in the community ask to pet someone’s dog – we know this program is working! We have been teaching our Bite Prevention for more than 12 years.