Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

“LETHBRIDGE AND DISTRICT KENNEL CLUB - ALL BREED SHOW”

Date

1965

Materials

SATIN, CARDBOARD, METAL

No. Pieces

1

Height

1.5

Length

29

Width

12

Description

PURPLE PRIZE RIBBON. AT TOP IS CIRCLE OF PLEATED RIBBON, STITCHED BENEATH RIBBON-COVERED BUTTON AT CENTRE. BUTTON IS PRINTED IN GOLD WITH A CREST AND TEXT READING “INCORPORATED – DOG SHOW RULES”. THREE LENGTHS OF SAME RIBBON EXTEND FROM BOTTOM; CENTRAL ONE PRINTED IN GOLD WITH TEXT READING "LETHBRIDGE AND DISTRICT KENNEL CLUB – ALL BREED SHOW LETHBRIDGE – HIGHEST SCORING DOG IN OBEDIENCE". BACK OF BUTTON STAPLED WITH ROUND WHITE CARD WITH PRINTED AND HANDWRITTEN TEXT READING "MADE IN CANADA BY LODER – LODER ADVERTISING SERVICE LTD. EDMONTON – DATE APRIL 18/65 – CLASS NOVICE A – WON BY THORS YORKER – JUDGE CONST. M. J. VANDEKINDERN - 197". A METAL WIRE LOOP IS ATTACHED TO THE TOP OF THE BACKING CARD. SOME FADING AND WEAR ON RIBBON; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

COMMEMORATIVE

SAFETY SERVICES

History

THIS RIBBON WAS WON BY LETHBRIDGE’S FIRST POLICE SERVICE DOG, THORS YORKER AKA “YORK”, AND HIS HANDLER, CONSTABLE GLEN BERRY, AT THE LETHBRIDGE AND DISTRICT KENNEL CLUB’S DOG SHOW AND OBEDIENCE TRIALS ON APRIL 18, 1965. BERRY TRAINED AND HANDLED YORK FROM 1964 TO 1967, WHEN HE WAS SUCCEEDED BY SERGEANT JOE SCHENK, WHO HANDLED YORK FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE DOG’S SERVICE WITH THE POLICE FORCE. ON FEBRUARY 23, 2015 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED STAFF SERGEANT DAVE HASTIE, RETIRED LETHBRIDGE POLICE K-9 UNIT MEMBER, ABOUT THE RIBBON AND HIS ASSOCIATION WITH THE K-9 UNIT OF LETHBRIDGE POLICE SERVICES. HASTIE SAID: “I STARTED WITH THE LETHBRIDGE POLICE FORCE IN 1975 AND THAT RIBBON HAD ALWAYS HUNG UP IN OUR OLD POLICE STATION AT 5TH STREET AND 5TH AVENUE, BEHIND SOME GLASS CASES. THERE [WERE] A FEW OTHER THINGS IN THERE BUT THAT WAS THE MAIN CANINE [OBJECT] THAT I HAD SEEN QUITE OFTEN… WHEN YOU CAME INTO THAT STATION, YOU WENT UP TO THE MAIN FLOOR AND THEN WHEN YOU WENT UP TO THE DETECTIVE’S OFFICE, [THE DISPLAY CASE] WAS ON THE FIRST LANDING THERE. SO WHENEVER YOU WENT UP THOSE STAIRS YOU WOULD SEE IT… [IN THE LATE 1990S THAT] BUILDING WAS BEING LEFT AND THAT RIBBON WAS STILL LEFT IN THAT CASE THERE, AS WAS LOTS OF STUFF IN THAT OLD BUILDING… NOBODY WANTED IT SO I THOUGHT I’D JUST TAKE IT TO PRESERVE IT. [IT] STAYED WITH ME UNTIL LAST YEAR… I JUST KEPT IT WITH MY DOG’S TROPHIES AND… SOME OLD PINS.” HASTIE CONTINUED: “WHEN I STARTED IN ’75 THERE [WERE] NO POLICE DOGS. THERE WERE POLICE DOGS IN THE ‘60S WHEN YORK WAS THERE [BUT THEY WERE] COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. SOME OF THE STORIES [WERE] THAT JOE SCHENK WHO WAS ON THE POLICE FORCE HAD HANDLED HIM FOR A WHILE. SO, I TALKED TO HIM ABOUT SOME OF THEIR TRAINING METHODS… [SCHENK] SAID THEY WOULD JUST GET A BONE OR SOMETHING AND PUT IT ON A ROPE AND DRAG IT THROUGH THE RIVER BOTTOM AND THEN THE DOG WOULD FIND IT, WHICH IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN HOW WE TRAIN OUR DOGS NOW. AND HE WAS KIND OF MORE OF A PET, YORK. BUT AGAIN IN THE 60S WHEN POLICE DOGS BECAME REALLY VALUABLE, THEY WERE FOR RIOTS… THEY USED POLICE DOGS FOR BITING AND CHASING BACK CROWDS. SO THEY WEREN’T PROGRAMMED FOR CONTROLLED RETRIEVAL OF PEOPLE, SEARCHES, TRACKING – IT WASN’T A REFINED THING LIKE THAT. SO WHEN I WANTED TO REVIVE THAT PROGRAM, IT WAS INTERESTING BECAUSE I JUST LIKED WORKING WITH ANIMALS… IN ’78 I [RE]STARTED THAT PROGRAM WITH [MY DOG] Q-MAX… AT THAT TIME, WE BOUGHT OUR OWN DOGS… I PUT IN A PROPOSAL UNDER CHIEF MICHELSON, AND GOT A YOUNG DOG AND THEN A MEMO CAME OUT [READING] “WHO WANTS TO APPLY?” [AND] I GOT IT. SO I WENT DOWN TO CASCADE COUNTY [IN MONTANA FOR TRAINING]. I THINK THEY ONLY CHARGED ME $1000 FOR A 14 WEEK COURSE… YOU LIVED DOWN THERE AND THEY FED YOU… I GOT MY OWN HARNESSES BUILT DOWN THERE… AND IT WAS A BIG LEARNING CURVE FOR OUR ADMINISTRATION AND OUR CITY… [EARLY ON] I WANTED TO BUY A WATER DISH FOR [Q-MAX]. IT WAS TEN DOLLARS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. AND THEY SAID, “THAT’S A REALLY GOOD IDEA, WE’LL PUT THAT IN THE BUDGET FOR THE NEXT YEAR AND SEE IF WE GET IT APPROVED.” AND I’M THINKING, “AT LEAST WE’RE TRYING”. SO NO DOG FOOD, NO NOTHING AT THAT TIME BECAUSE THERE WAS NO BUDGET… [IT] WAS A DIFFERENT ERA… IT’S ALMOST LIKE A HOBBY, IT HAS TO BE, RIGHT? BECAUSE THE DOG LIVES WITH YOU, YOU FEED IT, YOU LOOK AFTER IT, YOU CLEAN THE HAIR UP… SOME OF THE OLDER GUYS DIDN’T APPRECIATE IT, I KNOW… THEY WERE SOME BIG BOYS, FARM KIDS, AND THAT’S WHAT DOGS WERE FOR, RIGHT? [THEY] JUST DIDN’T SEE A DOG’S PURPOSE. THAT WAS THE BIGGEST HEARTACHE OF STARTING [THE UNIT] BACK UP AGAIN. THEY JUST THOUGHT IT WAS A NUISANCE IN THE POLICE STATION… THERE WERE SOME INTERESTING DEVELOPMENTS [AND THE K-9 UNIT] GREW PRETTY GOOD BECAUSE - NOT THAT I WAS MUCH OF A HANDLER, BUT I HAD A REALLY GOOD DOG WHICH WAS PROBABLY MORE FLUKE THAN DESIGN. [NOW] THE POLICE BUY THE DOGS AND FEED THEM.” OF YORK, THE DOG WHO WON THIS RIBBON, HASTIE SAID: “I NEVER KNEW HIM. BUT DETECTIVE SCHENK [YORK’S HANDLER] WAS ALIVE THEN AND STILL THERE. I REMEMBER GOING TO HIS PLACE, BEFORE I TRAINED AND SAID, “GIVE ME ALL YOUR WISDOM ON THIS DOG THING.” IT WASN’T REALLY IN A PROGRAM… IT WAS JUST A MASCOT KIND OF AT THAT TIME. BUT… HE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AN AWESOME IDEA.” SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPIES OF FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS AND AN EXCERPT FROM A 1965 POLICE REPORT ABOUT YORK’S SERVICE. FOR AN OVERVIEW OF THE LETHBRIDGE POLICE’S EARLY CANINE (K-9) PROGRAM, SEE P19960112107.

Catalogue Number

P20140035000

Acquisition Date

2014-09

Collection

Museum

Less detail