RULES OF THE SOCIETY

1. The Society, (hereafter called “the Club” or the “Society” shall be called the Corton Agility Training Society and its objects shall be to promote Agility in regards to training for fun and competition.

2. The committee shall be comprised of up to eleven members to include: Chairperson, Vice chairperson, Hon' Secretary, Hon' Treasurer (who must be over eighteen years of age) and Trainer. Any one member may not old more than one of the following positions: Chairperson, Hon' Secretary, Hon' Treasurer.

3. The management of the Club shall be in the hands of the Committee who shall be re-elected annually, all of whom shall have full voting rights, except the Chairperson who shall have the casting vote. Meetings of the Committee shall be held as often as necessary but at least every four months. A quorum for Committee meetings shall be four and the Committee shall have the power to co-opt members on to the Committee in the event of positions becoming vacant between General Meetings. Those co-opted shall only hold office until the next General Meeting of the Club at which election of Officers and committee takes place. An individual who has been a member of the Committee and who does not attend three consecutive meetings, without just reason, shall be deemed to be unsuitable for the post of Committee member.

4. Candidates for membership shall be accepted on payment of subscription and approval by the Committee. There shall not be a limit to the number of Club members. The committee reserves the right to impose a limit at a later date should safety reasons dictate a limit on membership numbers.

5. The Society must make a list of members and their addresses available for inspection if so requested by members of the Society or by the Kennel Club, Names and Addresses (including telephone numbers) of the chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer to be given in writing to all members within 6 weeks of their appointment. Names and addresses of other committee members to be supplied in addition.

6. Each member shall be entitled to one vote immediately upon acceptance of membership. In the case of Joint Membership both partners shall be entitled to equal voting rights. Voting shall be by secret ballot for election of the Officers and Committee and for changes of rules of the Society. All other matters shall be as decided by the majority, by show of hands, at the meeting. Postal and Proxy voting shall be allowed providing the Hon' Secretary has been informed in advance. Senior Citizens members (from age 65) receive full voting rights. Junior members shall be accepted from the age of five so long as they have full adult supervision at all times (one adult to one child) until agreed by the Committee that they can train on their own. They will be on probation and the Committee can ask them to leave if they are not considered suitable. In addition the child/dog combination will be assessed by three members of the Committee (two of whom must be trainers) prior to any participation in training taking place to assess their suitability to take part in training. Junior members are not entitled to full voting rights until the age of sixteen years, when they become full members.

7. The property of the Club shall be vested in the Committee. In the event of the Club ceasing to exist, a General Meeting shall be called to decide the disposal of the Club's assets and the outcome of the meeting notified to the Kennel Club.

8. All Banking accounts shall be held in the name of the Society at a Clearing Bank and/or Building society into which all revenue of the Society shall be paid and from which withdrawal shall only be made on the signatures of any two of the following: the Treasurer, Secretary and one other nominated Committee member. The Treasurer shall maintain the accounts and an Auditor shall be appointed by the committee for the purposes of auditing the society's accounts for the ensuring year.

9. The Annual subscription shall be such amount as agreed by members at the General Meeting, and shall be renewable on first (1 st ) January each year and shall be notified to the Kennel Club. No member whose subscription is unpaid is entitled to any of the privileges of Membership and if the Member shall fail to pay the outstanding subscription by the end of February, his/her name shall be automatically erased from the register. Acceptance back on the register will be dependant upon a new application, which shall be approved by the Committee

10. Any member who shall be suspended under the Kennel Club Rule A42.j.(5) and /or any member whose dog(s) is/are disqualified under Kennel Club Rule A42.j.(9) shall ipso facto cease to be a member of the Society for the duration of the suspension and/or disqualification.

11. If the conduct of any Member shall, in the opinion of the Committee of the society, be injurious or likely to be injurious to the character or interests of the Society, the Committee of the Society may, at a meeting the notice convening which includes as an object the consideration of the conduct of the Member, determine that as Special General Meeting of the society shall be called for the purpose of passing a resolution to expel him/her. Notice of the Special General Meeting shall be sent to the accused Member, giving particulars of the complaint and advising the place, date and hour of the Meeting that he/she may attend and offer an explanation. If at the meeting a resolution to expel is passed by a two-thirds majority of the Members present and voting, his/her name shall forthwith be erased from the list of Members, and he/she shall thereupon cease for all purposes to be a Member of the Society, except that he/she may within two calendar months from the date of such Meeting appeal to the Kennel Club upon and subject to such conditions as The Kennel Club may impose.

12. The financial year of the Society shall be from First (1 st ) January to thirty-first (31 st ) December. The Annual General Meeting shall be held by the end of March.

13. The nature of the business to be conducted at an Annual General Meeting shall be to receive the report of the Committee and to discuss any resolution duly placed on the Agenda of which prior notice has been given to the Hon' Secretary. No business shall be transacted at an Annual General Meeting unless notice thereof appears on the Agenda, with the exception of routine matters or those which, in the opinion of the Chairperson of the Meeting, are urgent. Notice of such a meeting shall be given, in writing, at least thirty days in advance and items for the Agenda must be received by the Secretary at least seven days prior to the meeting. The Agenda will be circulated at the Meeting.

14. A Special General Meeting shall be summoned by the Hon' Secretary if six members send a signed requisition stating the subject to be discussed and requesting that a Special General Meeting to do so,. No business other than that detailed on the Agenda can be discussed at a Special General Meeting. The Committee of the Society is empowered to call a Special General Meeting at its discretion. Notice of such meetings will be given, in writing, fourteen days in advance.

15. The rules may not be altered by the society except at an Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting, notice of which included details of the proposal to alter the Rules. Such alterations shall not be brought into force until the Kennel Club has been advised and given approval of the alterations. New rules or amendments introduced specifically to meet Kennel Club Requirements shall be adopted immediately and be included in the Society's Constitution with effect from the Society's Annual General Meeting. A copy of the rules of the Society to be supplied to each member every other year unless the Rules are amended at the A.G.M in which case they will be supplied once agreed by the Kennel Club.

16. The Officers also acknowledged that during the month of January of each year, Maintenance of Title Fee will be forwarded to the Kennel Club whether by the Secretary or by Direct Debit, for continuance of registration and that by the 31 st July each year, other returns, as stipulated in the Kennel Club Regulations for the Affiliation and Maintenance of Title of Societies and Breed Councils and the Affiliation of Agricultural Societies and Municipal authorities, will be forwarded to the Kennel Club. The Officers also acknowledge their duty to inform the Kennel Club of any change of Secretary of the Society which may occur during the course of the year.

17. The Kennel Club shall be the final court of appeal in all matters of dispute.

18. The Society shall not join any Federation of Societies or Clubs.

19. No person whilst an undischarged bankrupt may serve on the committee of or hold any office or appointment within a Kennel Club Registered Society.

20. All new dos must pass an appraisal by two trainers, or one trainer and a committee member. Under no circumstances will a dog be allowed to train a club until the appraisal has taken place.

21. All trainers have the right to ask a member to leave their class for the following reasons :-

a. The person is a disrupting influence on the class, making it difficult for the trainer to teach the class.

b. Harsh handling of the dog.

c. Dog and handler are being over faced and need to move down to a lower class.

d. A dog is causing problems with it's behaviour towards other dogs and handlers in the class.

The member shall not rejoin a class until agreed by two trainers or a trainer & the Committee. The trainers and Committee have the right to ask a member to stop training if it is causing a problem to other members or the dog in question.

22. All dogs must be ten months or over to participate in a beginner's course at the trainers' discretion.

23. Puppies and adult dogs can be brought to club for socialising, but must be kept under strict control at all times at the trainers' discretion.

CORTON AGILITY TRAINING SOCIETY

RULES

As modified at the AGM held March 2007