About the Richmond Hill K9 Klub

 

Founded 2007

Click Here to download the Richmond Hill K9 Klub’s Constitution.

 

Purpose:

  • To service its membership and the Richmond Hill community at large by promoting responsible dog ownership.
  • To support the interests of dog owners with respect to facilities, policies, and practices in cooperation with the Town of Richmond Hill and its community.
  • To encourage and support the establishment and development of off leash parks within the Town of Richmond Hill.
  • To work with the Town of Richmond Hill’s staff in sharing the responsibility for operation and maintenance of off-leash park areas.

 

History of the Klub

Richmond Hill K9 Klub (RH K9 KLUB) was founded in 2007 by Ana Nair who realized a need in the community for a networking group for dog owners and their families. The K9 Klub exists to provide York Region residents with the opportunity to connect with other dog owners, promote responsible pet ownership, and to assist and run Richmond Hill’s first dog park.

In late 2008, Ms. Nair called a public meeting and asked for volunteers to form a Board which could act as liason between the Town of Richmond Hill and community dog owners and then stepped back from the Klub to let it grow. In early February of 2009, those volunteers came together and adopted a constitution and elected a board of directors.  In the months following, the new board worked to formally assemble and grow a rag-tag membership while working with Richmond Hill’s Parks, Recreation and Culture Dept. and attending Council meetings regarding the establishment of Richmond Hill’s first off leash park. 

On July 6, 2009 Town Council approved the proposed site for the year long pilot project and finally, the remaining eight board members and quickly growing membership, could see the park becoming a reality.  After long months of planning and construction, the Off-Leash Dog Area was officially opened on October 25, 2009 and quickly became the Town’s busiest park.  It is now up to the K9 Klub’s board and its members to ensure this one year pilot project is a success and remains open long after it’s initial year.

The K9 Klub has participated in various community events to seek support from the public for an off leash park eg. Winter Carnival at Mill Pond, Heritage Village Day, Canada Day and the Santa Claus Parade. We also organized the first annual Pooch Party on September 29, 2007, and our Mayor, the Honorable Dave Barrow, inaugurated this event. The Pooch Party was a fun filled, family oriented day for York Region residents and their canine friends! The tradition continued in 2008 as we celebrated the second annual Pooch Party on September 27th & 28th at the Richmond Green and, once again, brought the community together with one reason in mind – our beloved dogs.

About the K9 Klub Website

  

In the months since the opening of the off leash park, we discovered a need for an accessible form of communication between park users, the Klub and the Town of Richmond Hill. 

 

In January 2010, we rebuilt the website and added some interactive features like “Public Forums” to serve the very important purpose of posing questions and concerns and have them answered directly by the Klub, others users or even a Town representative.  In addition to the Q&A, we anticipate the forum area will also become a popular stop to catch up with other park users, set doggy play dates and more.

 

Our website is generously hosted by Garth Morton on his servers. Garth, a family friend of Neal Nicholls (Current Co-Chair), built the website’s framework and he continues to assist us in adding new interactive features.  With Garth’s assistance and supervision, David and Wendy Walker (Current Co-chair & Secretary/Treasurer) handle day to day maintenance and content.  Moving forward, we hope that it is our members and community that bring this website alive! 

 

freewebsWe began our web presence in 2007 with a very simple website hosted by Freewebs, created and maintained by our Founder, Ana Nair.  If you would like a step back in time, it still exists at:  http://www.freewebs.com/rhk9klub/ . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

netfirmsIn early 2009, the Klub reserved the www.rhk9klub.ca name and moved to NetFirms to host our site.  The first year fee was generously donated by Phil and Christina Cyr (Former Co-chair & Secretary).  Shelley Paterson (Current Director Photgraphy) took over the development and maintenance of the website until its retirement in January 2010.  It served us very well keeping everyone informed of upcoming events and the progress of the building of Richmond Hill’s first leash-free dog park. 

 

 

 

 

We sincerely hope you love the new website and that you will visit it often.  Please help support all of our activities by donating below and/or taking some time to become a member via the membership page.

 

It’s all about the dogs!