Upcoming Events Mark Your Calendar for these Upcoming GGRR Events! IN THIS ISSUE:

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1 GGRR Newsletter IN THIS ISSUE: Page 1 Page 2 Page 4 Page 5 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Volume Number 7 Issue Number 6 Date: June 2009 Minutes from our Last Meeting & Upcoming Events Events Donations The Training Corner Aggression in Dogs Rainbow Bridge Duck Shoot Field Trial Pictures Business That Support GGRR Treasurer s Report: Beth J. gave the treasurer s report. Our account balance at the beginning of April was $3, Income was $2, ($8.43 of our income came from our Schnucks e-script cards!) Expenses for the month were $2,448.98, leaving an ending balance of $3, The ending balance in our Flash Fund as of 3/24/09 was $8, Membership Coordinator s Report: Janice E. was not able to attend the meeting so Tim M. gave her report. We had one new member, Stephanie A., who recently adopted Spencer (now Hudson) and she was also at the meeting. We had one other visitor at the meeting, Chris R., who recently adopted Hudson s brother, Tyler, and is planning on joining our group in the near future. Tim thanked them both for coming and we look forward to seeing them at upcoming meetings and events. Both also brought their new additions to their families, Hudson and Tyler, and it was fun to see how much they have grown since March! Sharon W. of Westinn Kennels has a new little man in her life! Please welcome her newest addition to her clan, Jesse. GGRR Minutes from May 14, 2009 The meeting was called to order at 7:25 p.m. by President Tim M. Nanette S. moved to dispense with the reading of the minutes from the April meeting. The motion was seconded by Kathy D. A vote was taken and the motion passed. There were no corrections to the minutes. President s Report: Tim M. thanked Rich T., Mike S. and Shane S. for conducting the training seminar on April 19 th for all members that do home visits, dog visits, phone lines, etc. They have offered to do another training seminar for any members that did not make the first one. More information will come once a date is set. Upcoming Events Mark Your Calendar for these Upcoming GGRR Events! Thursday, June 11 th GGRR Meeting at the Museum of the Dog in Queeny Park at 7:15 p.m. Sunday, June 14 th GGRR Reunion Picnic from 12:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. at The Museum of the Dog in Queeny Park (Workers need to be there at 10:30 a.m. and bring a bag of ice.) Saturday, June 20 th GGRR at Lucky Dog in Webster Groves 12:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. June Page 1

2 Intake Coordinator s Report: Barb B. wasn t able to make it to the meeting so Tim M. gave her report. Tim reported that one dog came in this month: : Logan, a 6 month old male being fostered by Paul and Nanette S. We also have a few dogs waiting to come in: Tex, a 1 year old blond male, not neutered, shots were to be updated, good with kids, good with dogs and cats, crate trained, housebroken located in Richmond, MO (near Ft. Leonard Wood). Clark Kent & Clover, 1 year old blonde male and female littermates; need a foster home for about a week Tim explained that he has a prospective family for Clark Kent & Clover but they need to be in a foster home for at least a week before we adopt them out. April 2009 Kennel Days Chance 4/30/09 1 day Cody 4/13 thru 4/16 4 days April Total: 5 days 2009 TOTAL TO DATE = 115 days Adoption Coordinator s Report: Carrie T. was unable to make it to the meeting, so Tim M. gave her report. He reported that three dogs were placed in their forever homes during the past month: : Freda : Hunter : Logan Event Coordinator s Report: Lucky Dog Chris R. reported that she needs some volunteers to be at Lucky Dog in Webster Groves the third Saturday of June, July and August. GGRR goes to Lucky Dog the third Saturday of the month and we speak to customers about our organization and explain what we do and answer any questions they may have about Goldens. Beth at Lucky Dog is extremely good to us and really enjoys our group showing up on these Saturdays in her shop. Kathy D. volunteered to do the month of July and we will get some others signed up for June and August at the next meeting once everyone knows what their schedules look like. Annual Paw Festival Saturday, May 30 th is the 2 nd Annual Paw Festival sponsored by Belleville Area Rescue of K-9 s (B. A. R. K.). It will take place from 10:00 2:00 in Swansea, IL. So far, Kathy D., Pat M. and Amy A. have volunteered to attend this event with Chris R. Chris explained that the festival is in the Fairview Heights area and she has directions for the people that need them. So far, the event has 59 vendors, so it should be a good event to attend and get our name out there. Greentree Festival September 18 th through the 20 th is Greentree Festival at Kirkwood Park. We have sent in our money for our booth and we expressed our concerns about the people that keep setting up where our booth should go. Chris sent in our money immediately for our booth this time and expressed our need for an end booth. The Golden Retriever Club will also be next to us this year. Greentree Festival is a great time and one of our biggest events we attend throughout the year. We set up a pen for the dogs and sell our GGRR merchandise along with collecting donations and people just love to see the dogs! Chris R. passed around a sign-up sheet so we can get an idea of how many people plan on attending. Paul S. reported on Hunter s trip to the hospital right after finding his forever home. The vet thought that he may have ingested a poisonous spider or something like that. They put him on lots of antibiotics, steroids and water and he eventually came out of it and is fine now. They did find out that he was anemic, so they may think it also could have been some sort of arsenic heavy metal poisoning. They are still not sure what made him so sick, but he recovered just fine and his new forever home was waiting for him once his recovery period was complete! Jilly, Miko and Max Dierkes wait patiently as mom Kathy gets them a treat! June Page 2

3 APA Carnival Sunday, October 4 th is the APA Carnival. This was a really great event last year and we gave out a lot of information on our organization. Chris has a sign-up sheet for this event at the desk as well. them up along with our Pupperoni Pull board that Lucky Dog borrowed for an event. The Dog Show Experience At our August 13 th meeting, Susan Wakefield will be here from the Golden Retriever Club to discuss the dog show experience. Because we attend the Golden Specialty and see all of the beautiful show dogs, we thought it would be fun to find out what sets the actual winner above the rest. Susan will also bring her show dog with her and go over all of the qualities the judges look for! GGRR Sports Print Order If you would like to order a polo style GGRR shirt, Chris was able to get some samples to see what they look like. Tim M. held up the shirts so that other members could see. Long sleeve shirts are $25.00 and short sleeve are $ Please see Chris if you want to order a shirt. For all of the others that ordered camo shirts for the Duck Shoot or other GGRR shirts or hats, please make sure you pay Beth. Golden Retriever Weekend at the Museum Sunday, November 8 th is the Golden Retriever Weekend at the Dog Museum from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Duck Shoot at Busch Wildlife The Duck Shoot at Busch Wildlife will be Saturday and Sunday, May 30 th and 31 st. Tim reported that they will need more runners for the Field Hunt Test on Saturday. One runner will need to be at each event and basically assist the judges in anything they need; more shells, paperwork, lunch, supplies, etc. All volunteers need to be at the stables at 7:00 a.m. The event will begin at 8:00 a.m. both days. If we cannot get more volunteers for this event, Love-A-Golden will fill in where needed. GGRR Reunion Picnic The GGRR Reunion Picnic will be held on Sunday, June 14 th at the Dog Museum in Queeny Park starting at noon. Amy G. reported that set-up will begin at 10:30 a.m. All GGRR members that are volunteering that day need to wear their blue shirts and please do not bring your own Goldens. We need to be able to hold our guest s Goldens while they eat and help with all of the other activities. Each person that will be there early to help set-up is asked to bring a bag of ice with them that morning. We are going to have toenail trimming for our guest s Goldens at $6.00 per dog and we will split the proceeds with the groomer that has offered to do this for us. We will have a basket making party at Beth s house on Friday, June 5 th to assemble all of our raffle baskets. We will discuss who will be helping with the games at the June meeting. Chris R. reminded Amy that there are items at Lucky Dog to be picked up for the raffle baskets. Amy said she will pick Addison Cavin has a new little turtle friend! Addison belongs to one of our members in Columbia, MO. Her mom, Sarah, enjoys our newsletters and hearing about all of our events since she cannot make it to our monthly meetings. Website Coordinator Report: Paul S. reported on our website traffic during the previous month. Our website had: Hits: 99,650 Page Views: 23,463 Visitors: 6,995 Unique Visitors: 2,552 Paul also reported that he put an article up on the website on BLOAT. This page has already had over 100 hits from non-members! Please take a look at this information as we hear more and more Goldens are developing this problem. Old Business Kathy D. reported on our Garage Sale held on Saturday, May 2 nd. GGRR made $800 on garage sale items! All leftover items were boxed up and taken to Goodwill later that day. All in all, it was a very successful event! Thanks to everyone that donated such great stuff! ~ Quote from the Dog Calendar ~ The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog. ~ Ambrose Bierce June Page 3

4 New Business Tim M. reported that we are due for nominations for Coordinator Positions. He asked if anyone was interested in being nominated for the following positions: Intake Coordinator works with the foster homes, deals with families that are surrendering dogs, etc. Placement Coordinator works with the placement of dogs in their new forever homes Membership Coordinator deals with membership inquiries, sends out information on membership and collects the yearly dues. Events Coordinator tells about events at the meetings and makes sure that somebody from the group will be there to work, etc. Website Coordinator takes care of the GGRR website and any maintenance it needs. Tim asked if anyone was interested in being nominated for these positions. The following was reported: Intake Coordinator Carrie T. has expressed interest in the Intake Coordinator position Placement Coordinator Amy A. volunteered to handle this position Membership Coordinator Pat M. said she will do it if Janice E. wants to give it up. Events Coordinator Barb B. expressed interest in this position and Chris R. said she will still handle all of GGRR retail items. Website Coordinator Paul S. said he will continue to do a marvelous job on our website! (Thank goodness!) The Coordinator positions are appointments and you do not have to be a member for more than one year to be nominated. A motion was made by Amy G. and seconded by Pat M. to adjourn the meeting. A vote was taken and all were in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Cameron (Cami) Anzelmo had a blast rolling in the sand on her last camping trip! Guess who s getting a bath when they get home? Donations GGRR received donations from the following individuals and groups: Charles & Julia Cobaugh, in memory of Noelle Wilson. Rose Fiman, in memory of Callie. VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES New to GGRR and not sure how to get involved? Interested in getting involved in a different area of GGRR? Just not clear on what you can do to help? Simply contact GGRR President Tim M. and he will be happy to discuss any of our volunteer opportunities with you! Tim can be reached by at tnsemiget@charter.net. June Page 4

5 THE TRAINING CORNER AGGRESSION IN DOGS Submitted by Barb Blacksher Although media reports often give the impression that certain breeds of dogs are more likely to be aggressive or bite, it is important to understand that any dog can be provoked to bite. Golden Retrievers are known to be great family dogs, highly trainable, and eager to please. However, Gateway Golden Retriever Rescue receives numerous calls from people seeking advice after their Golden has bitten someone. Aggression in any breed of dog can be caused by bad breeding, poor socialization, lack of training, or from being provoked by someone. Dog Bite Statistics: According to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, children; adult males; and people with dogs living in their households are the most likely to get bit. Among children, the rate of dog bite-related injuries is highest for children between the ages of 5 to 9 years. Another age group at higher risk of dog bites is children under the age of one year. Most people are bitten by their own dog or by one they know, such as a friend or neighbor s dog. Preventing Bites in Your Home: Some things you can do to keep family members from becoming the victim of a dog bite include: 1. NEVER leave a baby or toddler unattended with a dog. 2. Take the time to socialize your dog at a young age. Gradually expose your dog to a variety of people, household noises, other animals, new places, and things it will be likely to encounter in its environment bikes, skateboards, lawn mowers, etc. 3. Neuter your pet. Neutering reduces aggression, especially in males. 4. Don t get a pet until your children are old enough to understand how to treat an animal with respect. Pets are living things, not toys. A dog may feel threatened if a young child tries to hug it or use it for a pillow. 5. Never disturb a dog that is sleeping, eating, or caring for puppies. 6. TRAIN your dog so that it understands and obeys basic commands the first time they are given. 7. Don t allow anyone to put your dog in a position where it feels threatened or cornered. 8. Don t allow anyone to chase, tease, poke, hit, pinch, or pull on your dog. 9. Don t wrestle, roughhouse, or play tug-of-war with your dog. 10. Don t let your children play with the dog s toys. The children have plenty of their own toys, and they certainly won t appreciate the dog leaving slobber and teeth marks on their toys either. 11. Keep your dog healthy. Make sure it has the recommended vaccinations. Provide your dog with food, shelter, exercise, and plenty of love and attention. 12. Keep your dog contained in your house or yard. Do not allow your dog to roam the neighborhood, as the dog may come to view all of the land as his territory and try to defend it from intruders. Chaining or tethering a dog instead of keeping it inside a fenced yard can make it feel vulnerable and may actually increase aggression in your pet. RAINBOW BRIDGE Our thoughts and prayers go out to the following families who recently lost a beloved Golden companion. Connor Easterday Connor, beloved companion of Bob & Nancy Easterday, went to the Bridge just shy of his tenth birthday. Connor was a rescue that Bob and Nancy decided to adopt after fostering. Bob and Nancy said that Connor was their biggest challenge and after trying to manage this wild and undisciplined youngster, they decided to make him a permanent part of their lives. He turned out to be an excellent Golden, and he will be missed dearly. Connor was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer and given a 50% chance of surviving the surgery. If he did survive the surgery, Bob and Nancy were told he would have a very difficult life. It was after this diagnosis that they made the difficult decision to put him down. Connor s time on earth was all too brief and it will be awhile before another could be considered to take his place. June Page 5

6 Duck Shoot Pictures What an event the Duck Shoot Field Trial Event was! Two full days of shooting, launching ducks, running lunches around and lots of well trained duck dogs! If you missed this event, you ll need to make sure you attend next year! Watching these dogs perform is pretty amazing! We thought our dogs were good swimmers and retrievers You haven t seen anything yet! Zeus emerges from the lake holding the prized duck ever so carefully and brings it right to his mom s side patiently waiting for her to take it from him. Above are Zeus and Amy G. Zeus is from Memphis and just happened to be our favorite because he was one of the few Goldens in the event. Like any good Golden would, Zeus rolls around and acts like a nut after finishing his event! Zeus retrieves the duck from across the lake and starts to make his return to his Owner. Pat M. and Amy G. congratulate Zeus on a job well done! He loved every minute of it too! Zeus swimming through the duck decoys to his mom with his duck held firmly in his mouth. Above are our special GGRR camo shirts we had made for this event. On the other hand, one member went for more of a camo-crop-top look! June Page 6

7 BUSINESSES THAT SUPPORT GGRR KENNELS: Westinn s Everything Under One Woof 1522 Swantnerville Drive Wentzville, MO Williamsburg Kennel Manchester Road St. Louis, MO PET SUPPLIES: Lucky Dog 38 N. Gore Webster Groves, MO GROOMING: Shakers s Bath House 9833 Manchester Road St. Louis, MO TRAINERS: Sharon West Everything Under One Woof 1522 Swantnerville Drive Wentzville, MO Rob Schenberg Petropolis Chesterfield Airport Road Chesterfield, MO MISCELLANEOUS SERVICES: Schnucks escrip Community Cards TO ADOPT OR SURRENDER A DOG, CALL THE GGRR PHONE LINES: (314) OFFICERS President: Tim Miget tnsemiget@charter.net Vice-President: Heather Haberstroh heather_haberstroh@yahoo.com Secretary: Tracie Bayer tbayer80@gmail.com Treasurer: Beth Johnson Goldenmom03@charter.net Member Rep: Chris Rogers Chrissyrogers@sbcglobal.net COORDINATORS Intake Coordinator: Barb Blacksher blacksher@charter.net Adoption Coordinator: Carrie Tennessen Carrie2tenn@aol.com Membership Coordinator: Janice Elsenraat raileyjr@hotmail.com Events Coordinator: Chris Rogers chrissyrogers@sbcglobal.net Tracie Bayer tbayer80@gmail.com Webmaster: Paul Swarthout cody@antidotecomputer.com MENTORS Intake Phone Lines: Mike Stemmler Mstemmler1012@yahoo.com Adoption Phone Lines: Barb Blacksher blacksher@charter.net Home Visits: Shane Stark golddog05@mac.com Dog Visits: Shane Stark golddog05@mac.com Foster Homes: Kathy Dierkes kathy_dierkes@yahoo.com Pamela Wollenberg Photography June Page 7