New Member Welcome Info

Welcome to CATS! We’re delighted you’ve joined us and look forward to getting to know you and your dog(s). This page is intended to help you make the most of your membership and ensure you know the club’s communication channels. You will also have a CATS Buddy assigned to help mentor you on all things CATS and getting the most out of your membership.

CATS Buddy Program (aka Mentor)

You will be assigned a fellow CATS member as your buddy. Their job is outlined below.
Mentor responsibilities and suggestions:

  1.  Make the new member feel welcome and included by initiating friendly contact occasionally.
  2.  Early on after they join, confirm that they are seeing the Google group messages and mass emails.
  3.  Ensure that they are aware of how to use the indoor and outdoor arena calendars, and understand the guidance for using each practice space that is on the CATS web page.  
  4.  Check that they are included in the Equipment Safety and Use Orientation that is offered each summer and required in order to use the outdoor arena on their own.
  5. Encourage them to attend and if they are willing, help out at some club trials and activities.
  6. Encourage them to attend a club meeting.
  7. Help them get involved with a committee, maybe they can help you with the ones that you are on, and at the end of the mentoring year perhaps you can help them pick a committee to be on the next year.
  8. Be available for questions and moral support.
  9. You are not responsible for teaching them agility, but you might consider inviting them to practice with you once or twice.
  10. The mentoring period is the first 12 months.

Communicating with Club Members

  • Official club news and announcements: The CATS Google Group is used by the Board to announce classes, seminars, run-thrus, policies, and other information pertinent to members. Members also use the Google Group to ask questions and discuss things of interest to the membership. Items and responses posted on the Google Group go to all club members who’ve joined the Google Group. It is important that you join this group in order to receive the full benefits of your membership.
  • Contacting another club member: The membership list is available from both the Club Secretary and Treasurer and is posted in the Files section of the Google Group. Many club members communicate via our Facebook page and we encourage members to use that page.

Being an Active Club Member

As an all-volunteer club, we rely heavily on members’ active participation in our trials, committees, and activities. We very much hope you will contribute your time to help keep the club healthy and strong.

  • Volunteer to help at our CPE and USDAA trials.
  • Attend our 6 membership meetings either via Zoom link or in person in the Community Room of the Monadnock Humane Society. Meetings are Wednesday at 7pm on March 13, May 8, July 10, Sept. 11, Nov. 13 (nominations & amendments announced), and Dec. 14 (Annual Meeting with elections & bylaw amendments). These dates are easy-to-find, in the sidebar of each page of this website.
  • Submit your agility titles for our annual meeting celebration and post your brags (Q’s, ribbons, non-agility titles, etc) to our Facebook page.
  • Attend agility classes (offered both by CATS and the Monadnock Humane Society), seminars, run-thrus, and trials.

Using Our Agility Equipment & Training Independently

Getting approved to use CATS agility equipment/outdoor training ring: New CATS members are evaluated/approved by the Training Committee or Equipment Manager and given a “lesson” on the proper usage and storage of CATS equipment prior to the Member training independently on equipment in the outdoor ring. Contact a member of the Training Committee to arrange for your “Advanced Handler” training session.