Getting Involved

CONNECT:  NWPLC’s purpose is to help owners of Pointing Labs connect with one another so the sky’s the limit on how much you want to be involved.  We want members to connect with each other to organize training days, plan a hunt with your dogs, or put on a fun gun dog competition.  The club will also host upland and retriever training days, seminars from respected professional trainers, and mock hunt tests to introduce newcomers to the sport.  If you like chatting with other Pointing Lab people or have questions to ask, post on our Facebook page or join our Facebook group.

VOLUNTEER:  The American Pointing Labrador Association’s (APLA) objective and purpose is to identify, certify, and promote a strain of Labrador Retriever that points game as as natural act while retaining its traditional ability to retrieve game on land and water. To implement these goals, Northwest Pointing Labrador Club (NWPLC) will conduct hunt tests to recognize dogs that perform in a desirable manner consistent with the demands of actual hunting conditions against a written standard, the APLA Rule Book.  There are many opportunities to help in these hunt tests.  Volunteers are needed to act as bird throwers/planters/gunners, Test Marshall, Secretary, or Stake Marshall.  There’s also a need for cooks to feed everyone at lunchtime and volunteers to set up equipment in the field and pick up birds for use in the test.  For our monthly club training days, our members pitch in to set up retriever marks/blinds, plant birds, throw marks, and gun.  We also staff a booth at sportsman’s shows on occasion and need volunteers and dogs for that.

HUNT TEST COMMITTEE:  This committee’s job is to plan our APLA hunt tests.  Each spring and fall, a HT Committee is formed consisting of a HT Chair, HT Secretary, Stakes Chair, Hospitality Chair, Gunner Captain, and Bird Steward.  If you are interested in joining a HT committee, please contact Lily Lo.

JUDGES DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE:  This committee is tasked with developing a set of criteria for “NWPLC Endorsement” beyond the APLA judges’ requirements to help ensure quality, consistency, and continuing education among the APLA judging pool.  Current committee members are Lily Lo (chair), Julie Moore, Gary Oakes, and Don Banducci.  If you are interested in joining this committee, please contact Lily Lo.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD COMMITTEE:  This committee is comprised of past winners of the Lily L. Lo Distinguished Service Award for our club, a recognition of members who have contributed significantly to advance the goals of the NWPLC.  Shawn Macfarlane, Ivan and Julie Little, Gordon Nichols, Gary Oakes, Nate Haugen, Aman Singh, and Alana & Joe Zittel, as past winners, serve on this committee.

BECOMING A CLUB-APPROVED GUNNER
We require all prospective Gunners to be approved by our BOD before they are permitted to shoot live ammunition at any Club sponsored event, including APLA hunt tests. Our Gun Safety Policy can be found here:   Gunner Safety Policy.

GET DISCOUNTS:  Our club is an official distributor for Radio Systems Corporation, the parent company of SportDOG brand training equipment, Invisible Fence, and PetSafe products.  Our members receive special discounts on merchandise purchases of any of these brands, along with free shipping.

 

JOIN:  Membership in Northwest Pointing Labrador Club offers you access to all these activities, discounts on activities and merchandise, and most importantly, a network of other Pointing Lab people with whom to connect.

To join us, click below for a downloadable membership application:

Membership App 2024