Thank-you for your interest in becoming a member of the Maryland Sporting Dog Association. You can learn more about MSDA at our About Us page and throughout this website.
Volunteers, especially members, are the engine that powers MSDA so “to join is to volunteer”.
As for how membership works, dues are a nominal $10 per person per year but don’t start for new members until the January of the calendar year AFTER you join. Much more important, MSDA expects members to support the organization by volunteering at least once during the year, and our goal is 100% participation. Don’t panic – not everyone needs to be, or can be, a board member or an event chair; there are plenty of jobs with widely varying commitment levels and skill sets that need to be filled. Helping with registration or lunch for an activity, stewarding at obedience trials, staffing the club information table at Spring Event, “shagging” or marshaling at hunt tests and many more tasks all count for your volunteer work.
Once the member application is officially approved, everyone comes in initially as an Associate Member. If you volunteer during the year, you become a Voting Member for the following calendar year.
You can always check our calendar page for a list of future and past events covering several years. The major events currently are Field Day at Rebel Ridge Farms, Spring and Fall Spaniel (all eligible flushing breeds, really) Hunt Tests also at Rebel Ridge, and Spring Event which includes three days of sporting dog conformation, all-breed obedience/rally and bird instinct clinics, and is held at the Howard County Fairgrounds. Other club activities might include smaller field training sessions, at least one seminar some time during the year, a summer pool party (with dogs welcome in the pool), and occasional other activities. The more social events are usually for members only, while all the major events and the seminars welcome non-members, though members are sometimes offered priority registration.
If you are interested in supporting MSDA as a member, please fill out the application below.
If you have any questions about MSDA membership or encounter problems with the form, please email Admin@mdsportingdog.org.
After submitting or sending your application, we will email you to confirm receipt of your application, usually within a few days of its receipt. If you don’t receive that confirmation, please follow up by email to Admin@mdsportingdog.org.
Welcome!