Registration ended March 2nd. Please join us at our future conventions!
To attend this convention you must:
1) fill out the registration form below,
2) pay via PayPal or check the same day you fill out the form (required to validate your registration), including your registration fee and any elective dog testing fees (no on-site registration), and
3) secure your accommodations.
Important details are below.
Registration & Fee
The 2018 PSDP convention in Solvang, California is April 6th–9th. The $75 registration fee* is nonrefundable and cannot be paid on site. You can save 20% by registering before 2018, at the $60 rate (also nonrefundable). Registration is limited to 25 people, and closes on March 2nd.
Pay by PayPal or check. You must submit your payment no later than the day you submit the registration form.
When we receive both your registration form and fee, your registration becomes valid. Non-validated registration form submissions will expire after a reasonably short timeframe.
For PayPal, there is a “Pay Now” button just above the registration form. PayPal accepts credit cards.
If you’re paying by check, mail the check by the day you register. Make checks payable to “PSDP” at 1651 Sandpiper Drive, Rock Hill, SC 29732 with “Convention” in the memo line. Later registrants should keep in mind that the fee must be received no later than March 2nd.
*Since the payment is for a convention registration and you stand to gain something of value in return, convention (and testing) fees are not considered tax-deductible donations. Feel free to donate, too, though!
Hotel Reservations & Travel
The 2018 convention meeting space is the 1763 square foot Legion Wing of the Veterans Memorial Hall at 1745 Mission Drive, Solvang, CA 93463. We have this wing reserved between Friday night and Sunday night.
Since our 2018 convention location is not also a lodging facility and there are many hotels in Solvang, we haven’t reserved a block of rooms. You are free to lodge anywhere while attending our convention; just keep in mind the distance to the meeting space!
You can’t get closer than “Svendsgaard’s Danish Lodge” (an “America’s Best Value Inn”), which abuts our meeting space. Those interested in keeping the cost of their stay down may consider Svendsgaard’s; reviewers claim the property is clean and merely in need of an update. Other fine establishments abound, including the familiar Royal Copenhagen Inn—the location of our previous Solvang conventions—with its popular “secret garden”.
We recommend arriving at least by Friday, April 6th to relax before the welcome meeting that night (attendance expected) and we advise leaving no sooner than Monday, April 9th (officially scheduled activities run into Sunday night). Most people wish they had more time with fellow convention-goers by the end, so arrange to extend your stay if you can, and spend extra time with friends old and new!
For those disinclined to drive, popular airports in the region include the Santa Maria airport (33 miles away), the Santa Barbara airport (35 miles away), and LAX (130 miles away). An Amtrak train/bus combo can also be an enjoyable way to get there!
Optional Dog Testing
Convention registrants with dogs have the option while registering to sign up to take a Public Access Test (PAT), AKC Canine Good Citizen test (CGC), AKC Community Canine test (“CGCA”), and the AKC Urban Canine Good Citizen test (“CGCU”) at the convention.
The tests are discounted based on the number of tests you pay for ahead of time, priced per handler as follows:
Number of tests Total cost of tests Cost per test
1 $20 $20
2 $35 $17.50
3 $45 $15
4 $55 $13.75
If you plan to take one of these tests at the convention and want to secure your place, simply pay the appropriate amount as a nonrefundable fee with your registration. This fee does not include food during the mandatory meal portion of the PAT.
A note about AKC fees: Many people want their dogs to have an AKC title/certificate (such as CGC, CGCA, or CGCU) on record with the AKC. To create this record, your dog must have an AKC number (for which the AKC charges a fee). The AKC also charges for CGC, CGCA, and CGCU certificates and titles. While you and your dog can qualify for the CGC, CGCA, and CGCU certificates simultaneously at the convention, in order to get the CGCA or CGCU certificate/title, you first must get your dog’s CGC certificate/title on record.
Summary
So to recap, to attend this convention you must:
1) fill out the registration form below,
2) pay via PayPal or check the same day you fill out the form (required to validate your registration), including your registration fee and any elective dog testing fees (no on-site registration), and
3) secure your accommodations.
The registration form and payment process (if PayPal) must each be completed separately for every person in your party.
To keep the convention safe, if we do not yet know you we may touch base with you before the convention. We reserve the right to restrict attendance to those for whom we determine the convention would be appropriate. Please provide active contact info through the registration form so we don’t drop your registration if we can’t get in touch with you (it’s happened)!
When you fill out and submit the registration form, it will go blank—please do not resubmit. If you would like to confirm that your registration has gone through, or if you have any other questions about the convention, contact Veronica Morris through the Contact Us form.
If you’ve already registered and paid the fee, but haven’t payed for tests you plan to take, you can still pay before the convention and get a discount using the second menu below.