Eurasier Club of Canada

The History of the Eurasier Club of Canada (ECC)

The Eurasier is an extraordinary companion dog. A medium size dog fitting easily into either rural or urban environments, he is intelligent and empathic, a genuine and comfortable family member. Developed in the 1960’s in Germany by Julius Wipfel, the sole purpose of this member of the Spitz group of dogs is to be a companion to people. Not only does the Eurasier form a close bond with his family, but frequently bonds of friendship also form among Eurasier owners, who may have little else in common but the fact that they share their lives with Eurasiers.

And so, in July 2000, the tiny Eurasier community in North America began to share stories and pictures online with one another as well as with folks in Europe, where the Eurasier was born. One recurring theme of the conversations in the first couple years of the new millenium was how to protect and preserve the Eurasier in the form that everyone had come to cherish. People were aware of breeds which popularity or fashion had radically changed from the original. There were concerns that the same fate may befall Eurasiers, especially when the breed become more known to the general public in North America.

In 2002, members of the Eurasier Forum on Yahoo! decided among themselves to form a committee to explore how best to safeguard the new breed. There were Canadian and American volunteers. The Committee named itself the North American Eurasier Committee (NAEC). Over the next 3 years a North American perspective on ethics and guidelines was developed, a perspective which still adhered to the original, German “Eurasier Way” philosophy. The focus was a non-profit, family/hobby oriented, and extensively Club-supported approach to both breeding and to keeping Eurasiers. They developed newsletters, a DVD, a website and a Eurasier Rescue organization. An invitation to come to the fall Eurasier gathering in Marmora, Ontario (near Peterborough) in 2005 to present an educational workshop was accepted by one of the German clubs. The NAEC also established that, in the best interest of the breed, national Canadian and American Eurasier clubs should be set up.

In April 2005, the Canadian members of the NAEC regrouped along with other Canadian Eurasier owners, to create the Eurasier Club of Canada (ECC).

The Canadian Kennel Club, which adopted the FCI standard when it recognized the Eurasier breed in 1995, has the authority to approve a variety of clubs such as local, regional, tracking or rescue, but only a national breed club can propose amendments to the breed standard, if it chooses. The ECC founding members felt it was important to be able to protect the standard, so it was agreed to seek national club status from the CKC.

It was also decided to take steps to protect the club name. This involved applying to Industry Canada (the federal government) to become a Federal Non-Profit Corporation. Of course the government also has very specific protocols, and, as ECC founding members were to discover, exact wording requirements. The challenge was to make sure the requirements of both the government and the CKC were met, while not losing sight of the Eurasier Way and the Club’s goals. After several months of extensive discussions, the Constitution (Bylaws) were successfully submitted for Industry Canada’s approval. The Letters Patent were granted April 3, 2006.

For the application to the CKC, transcripts and minutes of every weekly meeting starting from May 2005 were kept. A Mission Statement was developed, and a Code of Ethics. The work previously done on the NAEC was a valuable resource in this process. We also had to prove we were active, and national in scope. A seminar about the Eurasier was presented to CKC judges at a meeting on Canada’s west coast. Another activity was a comprehensive, weekend long educational conference in Nova Scotia in July 2006, attended by Eurasier owners from across Canada and the U.S., as well as representatives of several European Eurasier clubs. An informative pamphlet and a newsletter were also developed. Our application to the CKC was submitted September 30 2006.

We are pleased to announce that as of April 5, 2007, we have been accredited by the CKC as the National Breed Club for the Eurasier breed in Canada.