Autumn President's Report 2014

Transcription

1 Autumn President's Report 2014 Well Autumn has finally arrived with lovely cool nights- just right for dog training. The trial season is getting busy with trials changing from evening trials to day trials and weekends away. Some of members have already enjoyed some country trials, a weekend at Newcastle followed by a week in Coffs Harbour and a trial the following weekend. Country trials are a great way to combine a holiday with your sport! My husband and I have done one country trial so far this year in Bemboka- although it was wet the lush green dairy country side was gorgeous! We have had smaller numbers at training lately- I m not sure why, but the benefit is those who attend get to do more training. Our instructors tell me that we have some great new dogs coming through. ADC members are doing well in the competition world. One of our novice handlers Nathan Crass entered the Royal Easter Show for the first time this year and won Novice Jumpers in a sizzling time of 15 seconds. Two of our members are off overseas in May, Stacy Richards and Mal Williams. Both are representing Australia at two different World Championships. Mal is going to The Netherlands and Stacy to Italy. I know they are going to have a fantastic experience competing with their loan dogs. The Australian National Agility Championships are being held in Brisbane this winter and NSW is sending a team to compete in the team challenge. Three of the five team members are from ADC. I would like to congratulate Stacy Richards and Buddy, Pat Walsh and Venus and Teresa Kernahan and Max on their selection. ADC is a great place to train- our instructors are furthering their knowledge by attending agility seminarssomething which will improve their handling with their own dogs and also benefit our members when they instruct. Our advanced classes continue to enjoy our guest instructor each month - so much so that they would like to train later on those nights! Our 7:30 time slot continues to benefit from the attention they receive from Elga and her team of instructors. Our AGM is held in October each year. This year I will not be seeking re-election as President. I am hoping that there is someone out there who would love to guide ADC over the next few years. Robyn Jones

2 ADC Committee 2014 President - Robyn Jones mickycaddy@gmail.com Vice President - Patricia Walsh Secretary - Michelle Oldfield floss2006@live.com.au Treasurer - Vanessa Dowson Committee - Val Leslie (Assistant Secretary) - Joanne Campbell - Paul Enriquez - Liz Yuill - Anne Affleck Chief Instructor - Vacant Assistant Secretary - Val Leslie Newsletter Editor - Joanne Campbell jocampbell1@optusnet.com.au Trial Secretary -Val Leslie Office Assistants - Michelle Oldfield, Jo Campbell, Tania King Club Shop Vanessa Dowson Trophy Steward - Web Updates - Tina Woollard Meetings are held in the Secretary s room at Castle Hill Showground on the second Wednesday of the month. Meetings start at 7.30pm General meetings are held in December, February, April, June, August and October. Promotions in November 2013 April 2014 Congratulations Everyone!!! Intro to Beginner Beginner to Green Green to Yellow Judith Leonard and Cooper Kerry Andrews and Asala Jason Smith and Minion Michelle Gilan and Asher Renee Haberland and Pumpkin Kerry Andrew and Asala Renee Haberland and Pumpkin Derryn Brown and Blue Phoebe Wong and Tux Gary Mangan and Jack Katie Watson and Kyuss Therese Harris and Jeb Kerry Wheatley and AJ Jennie Kearnes and Betty Boo Bronwyn Dobeson and Brodie Trish Masters and Cody Sheridan Buck and Milly David Merchant and Sophie Vanessa Brooks and Trek Gary Mangan and Jack Michelle Gilan and Asher Catherine Egan and Riley Yellow to Advance Yellow Advanced Yellow to Blue Blue to Red Anna Uther and Chino Nathan Crass and Rusty Chloe Kasbarian and Riley

3 New Members March April 2014 Katie Abbott Jenny Kearnes Barrie & Jean Meredith Kym Robins Katie Watson Kerrie & Graham Wheatley Daisy Peel in Sydney, August 2014 The Agility Dog Club of NSW is pleased to announce Daisy s return to Sydney August 18, 19, and Daisy and Solar in Colombia Introducing Daisy Daisy Peel is known worldwide as a leading instructor and competitor in the sport of dog agility. She has represented the USA internationally over a dozen times, across three continents, with three different dogs, four times at the FCI World Championships, three times at the European Open Championships, twice at Crufts, twice at the World Agility Open, and twice at the Americas and Caribbean. She has placed individually at the European Open and at the FCI World Championships, is a WAO World Champion, as well as an Americas and Caribbean Gold Medallist. Daisy has won three AKC National Championships, and three USDAA World Cynosport Grand Prix Championships with two different dogs. She has been a Finalist at the AKC Nationals and USDAA Cynosport games numerous times, and has won numerous USDAA Regional Championships. This article has been written by Daisy for Novice Dog. Thoughts on Handling the Novice Dog Article written by Daisy Peel Juno had her big Novice Debut this weekend! She s almost certainly had the least preparation and training of any of my dogs to date, given my busy travel schedule and focus on Solar and Jester, but nevertheless, she did great. I ve been waiting for her debut for some time, not only because running a Novice dog is a ton of fun, but to prove to people that you don t have to step in to the ring perfect, or perfectly prepared. To the contrary, there are things I believe that the dogs will only learn in the ring, and so I see no reason to wait til they re running Master s level courses to enter them in a trial, provided that I can provide a positive experience that will further growth between my dog and myself as a team.

4 Juno s debut in the Novice ring has gotten me thinking how all of the things I ve been working lately to make sure I m implementing as a coach for my students really applies to our dogs as well. For those of us involved in a team sport with our dogs, we serve not only as trainers, but as canine coaches too, and although it s taken me several years to fully grasp the concept, I do believe that in order to achieve maximum success with our dogs as athletes, we must be flexible coaches, able to be the coach our dog needs us to be as his/her needs change, rather than expecting our dogs to conform constantly to our needs. Like us, I believe our dogs move through different levels of competency as they learn the ins and outs of the sport of dog agility. To review, here are the four basic levels of competency: Unconsciously unskilled At this stage, the learner (the dog, in this case), doesn t even know that they don t know anything. They re blissfully ignorant, if you will. As their coach, at this stage, you need to show them what to do, and make sure that you make the learning fun enough that the dog wants more. Just like with a young human athlete, if the sport is fun at this stage, they re going to want to do it more. It s not necessarily important that the finer details of form are perfect at this point, as long as they re not forgotten about by you the coach, for later refinement. Juno is moving through this stage at the moment (as of the completion of her very first agility trial). She doesn t even know that she s unskilled, and there s no reason for me to point that out to her. While she s busy checking out the ring crew, the obstacles, the spectators, the judge, and ME, I m busy guiding her through that experience, showing her what to do, and making sure she feels great about herself while she s attempting to do it. Consciously unskilled At some point, Juno will move in to this stage, and since we can t directly communicate verbally, it may be that she s already there to some extent. This would be the stage that a young athlete might be having a lot of fun and now they want to be better. They re aware that they re fairly unskilled, either because they feel it internally, because you ve pointed it out to them, or, in the case of most of us people, we see others doing better and measure ourselves up against that. I would never push a person or a dog who is consciously (or unconsciously) unskilled to do anything fast; in the case of the dog, if they re not going fast, it s highly likely that it s because they know there is a lot to learn and they don t know a lot of what there is to learn, and they re trying to take everything in and process it and that takes brainpower.which takes time and so any reasonable creature will do the safe and logical thing.slow DOWN!As my dog s coach, at this stage, it s my job to make sure that I continue to support their efforts to figure out what to do, but as they are ready for it, to also show them how to do those certain things. I need to be observant enough to see when my dog is asking for help, or asking me a question about how to do something, and I need to be prepared to respond in a way that will help their growth as a teammate. Consciously skilled As the dog gains experiences that they can put in to their own personal playbook of how the game of agility is played, they re going to gain skill. At this stage, though, employing those skills in the right places and at the right times is going to take conscious effort. At this stage, they re probably learning (or ready to learn) when to use the particular mechanical skills they ve previously learned. Developing your agility dog in to a good team player means you, as coach, need to be ready to spot when they ve slipped in to this particular stage of their development. It may be that they suddenly make more mistakes than they made previously, and as coach, it s important to recognize whether that should be attributed to a deficiency in mechanical skill, or perhaps, the mistakes are due to the dog trying to sort out when to do something, and not quite making the right decision, or making the right decision but not being able to execute it at the right time. At this stage, getting on your dog s case for mechanical errors (a dropped bar or missed contact) when the reason the dog made the mistake was because she was really making an effort to anticipate correctly what she thought was going to happen is not likely to improve the situation. In fact, it may make it worse. Imagine, you re on a sports team, and you finally think you ve got it, and so you take some initiative to be proactive and show your coach that you re getting it. And then, despite your best efforts, you just don t quite get it right, because things weren t quite as they seemed to be. How would you respond if your coach yelled at you for taking that initiative? Would you try harder the next time, or would you tend to hold off from taking initiative again in the future? What if, on the other hand, your coach congratulated you for your efforts, and then provided meaningful instruction and feedback on why things didn t quite work out this time around? My guess is that you d be a LOT more likely to try even harder in the future! Unconsciously skilled Finally, after perhaps several years, you and your dog together are unconsciously skilled. You ve gone through the motions enough times, and you ve been consistent enough, that your dog can read your cues without much conscious effort, leaving more of his brain free to process things like that divot in the dirt that s right where he d like to take off, or that splinter in the contact that s right where he d

5 like to put his foot. He can deal with contingencies that arise, because the skills that he has come naturally to him, and he can use his subconscious brain to deal with whatever comes his way. Also, because you ve been such a supportive coach, moving from the what, to the how and then to the when appropriately, building your dog s self-image all the way, your dog is a confident and happy teammate. Although mistakes happen, when they do, the both of you know that they are just honest mistakes, and not due to a lack of effort or understanding on either party s part. Obviously, I m going to continue to put an emphasis on enjoyment together as a team throughout these different learning stages, but like us, I really do feel that what makes something fun changes as you move through these stages. For example, in the first stage, most would not find nitty gritty details and highly analytical training to be very fun. That s not terribly motivating for a beginner in any endeavor! But, as the thirst for more develops, there may well come a time when a lot of pleasure can be taken in learning the finer details involved in perfecting a particular mechanical skill. Our dogs, like us, are changing all the time. When I look at Fly, who is now 12.5 years old, he is definitely not the same dog he was when he was a year old. Likewise, Jester, Solar, and Juno are all different dogs than they were when they arrived in our family, both physically and mentally. Their development as individuals as we progress together as companions and teammates is what makes the sport so much fun, and so rewarding. Our dogs aren t the only ones changing, though. We of course, are changing all the time too. As handlers, we may ourselves be moving through the four learning stages listed above, and then our task is doubled, as we ll have to be our own coaches as well as our dogs coaches. Our circumstances in life change as well. We move, our interests change, jobs, partners, you name it. The only thing that stays the same is that things always change. But, being alert to the needs of your canine partner with respect to what they require from you as a companion, a leader, a handler, and a coach, is something that benefits both dog and human alike it s the name of the game! If you want to book a spot at Daisy s Seminars you will have to get in quick. Further information will be coming soon.

6 When you are leaving the grounds please have your dog on lead. We also ask that you always have your dog on lead in class until your instructor requests otherwise. No thongs or bare feet in classes. Closed shoes are preferable and safer. To make it easier for the office ladies please try to bring the correct money. Don t let your newsletter become boring with only need to know information. Maybe you have an interesting story, anecdote, personal experience or joke that everyone would like to know well here is your opportunity! The newsletter comes out bimonthly and is available to read online at or a hard copy can be picked up at the counter on training nights. We encourage you to contribute. See Jo at the counter. Forgot to bring your training treats???? NO PROBLEM We sell liver treats at the counter for $3.00 Bargain!! We have a club competition. Why don t you check out our web site on and have a look under the Results tab then We hold the club comp on the 4 th Thursday of the month and members of Blue and Red Classes can compete. It is always fun and our judges set great courses. Since our wear your badge drive, we are really pleased to see most of our members have now located and are wearing their name badges. Keep up the good work because it really helps. Training may be cancelled if the weather is bad. You can call if in doubt, but please do NOT leave a message. Notification of cancellation may also be posted on the website at or on our Facebook page. In bad weather we still may have modified training either on the ground or under cover or we will watch a training DVD Working Bee The clubs annual working bee will be held on the 4 th May Don t forget to mark this day on the calendar and come down and help out with repairing the equipment NEWS FLASH Congratulations to Nathan and Rusty on coming first in Novice Jumping All Heights at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

7 Everyone at ADC would know this beautiful bride. Niki Van Der Smagt, one of our talented instructors took the plunge on 28/3/14 and married her soul mate Nicolaas Drage. ADC would like to wish Niki and Nic a wonderful future together. Here are some wedding photos of the beautiful couple. A great night was had by all that attended from ADC. Always remember to enjoy your dog he/she might be your best friend! Jo Campbell Editor