Jerry, your facts need a little straightening out, as you have them all wrong.

I was elected President of the Tailwinds in 2005. The Tailwinds Field Regulations were updated in 2006. At that time the leash rule was removed. Those regulations were drafted by the BOD, which you were a member of at that time, and were approved by the membership. I have all the old documentation if you would like to see it. I got Barkley in 2009. So are you saying I had the foresight to know that I was going to get a dog 3 years in advance and change the rules to accommodate that? Pretty good planning on my part if it was true. But pretty sad to see that you twist it around, get the facts wrong and use it to attack me.

I never said you were talking about my dog. I'm pretty sure you weren't, but I have to think that you might have been. It was after all, third hand info. But I do think it was poor form to use something that was never told to the owner, never given a chance to be corrected, never witnessed by yourself, and use it as an example in an internet posting as poor pet and owner behavior. I guess I touched a nerve with you in that.

I see mid-airs at the practice field being easily prevented. Just don't fly when there are others flying. But it is certainly inconvenient. Just as it is to restrain a dog that has a proven good behavior record. I'm just glad that the other member that had the mid-air with you that day was not that upset about the loss of his model considering that you were delinquent with your dues that day and no longer had field privileges.

As to being courteous to others at the field, I think that is certainly fine, up to a point. I am very sensitive to smoke. Someone can light up 20 feet away from me and it bothers me. But I don't make it a point to tell them to put it out. I just try to move someplace where it doesn't bother me. I think there's being courteous, but at the same time, there should be an expected amount of tolerance from the membership. If we insisted on eliminating everything that bothered anyone at any time, it would be a very quiet field!

This brings us to a problem that I have witnessed several times in clubs, and not always just about pets. When somebody has a personal clash with another member, instead of trying to work it out directly with that member they attack them through club rules, or proposing club rules, or in some other manner involved with the club. I see this happening right here. It always seems so petty to me, but it is what it is.

I guess I'll just keep remembering what you told me back in 2009, that I had the best dog you have ever seen. And I'll try to forget everything else after that.