BHCA NATIONALS Winners Dog CLOVERHILL S MR. INDEPENDENCE Bred by Judy Tuck Owned by Deirdre McKinnon and Judy Tuck

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1 BHCA NATIONALS 2014 Best of Breed at Nationals this year was GCH Fort Merrill Brunswick owned and bred by Joan Urban handled and co-owned by Aaron Costillo Winners Dog CLOVERHILL S MR. INDEPENDENCE Bred by Judy Tuck Owned by Deirdre McKinnon and Judy Tuck Our annual all breed agility trial held September 21 was a huge success thanks to club members and others in the agility community who helped. Weather was perfect. A special thank you to Susan Steinway for doing a fabulous job chairing, to Mishka Killgore for taking on hospitality, to Brian and Marilee Epperson, Sarahjane Velick and Cindy Underhill for being there to help. Sarahjane not only worked all day, both days, but her PBGV girls got qualifying scores in Novice Standard and they were a pleasure to watch and cheer for! I might add that Sarahjane ran the girls back to back without resting and was heavily commended by the agility community for making it look so easy and it s not! I believe the club made a nice profit but Betty Gene will be able to tell us more at the meeting. As always the Newfie club was great to work with and many of them worked our trial on Sunday. We had a new concessionaire this year and the name concerned us Pappy s Old Fashioned Barbeque but they were quite good and are related to our last ones. We asked them to bring more salads next year. The plan is to hold our trial next year same time frame, same location. We need more club members there to participate. This is our primary fund raising activity and all club members benefit. Winners Bitch and Besr of Winners BARNYARD CLASSIC PENELOPE Bred by Judy Tuck Owned by Pat Harder, Claudia Lane, Vickie McMackin, Connie Star and Barbara Mercer Joani Urban commented that she didn t think she d live long enough to see a BOB at Nationals, but here it is, and very well deserving with a lot of tough competition from all over the world. Photos will follow. The Nationals location was good with plenty of room and lots of grass for exercising dogs. Some commented that the inside of the hotel had gone down hill a bit since the last time we had nationals there. The name, Olympia Resort and Spa, was a bit of a stretch. Per Jane Jonas, the obedience judge on Sunday was Basset Hound friendly and also very inexpensive. Timberline might think of bringing him out to do our specialty sometime. There were several qualifiers in obedience and in rally a very nice entry of Basset Hounds. All BHCA members will be receiving a new Illustrated Standard free of charge. It s very nicely done and the drawings done by Guillermo Gonzales are a bit more dramatic than those in the past IS. Next year s Nationals is in Sacramento; 2016 in St. Louis and I understand a bid may be coming in for Gettysburg in 2017.

2 Glad to report that Richard is home and focused on Some of us have had conversations about recovering from his surgery. Here s hoping we ll doing more fun activities with our Bassets and see you up and around soon. less formal meetings. Your input is needed and wanted. Let the TBHC Board members know your preference. Upcoming Events October 19 December 7 March 1, 2015 April 10, 2015 Regular meeting, Cindy Underhill s home, Boulder Christmas party, White Fence Farm library TBHC Combined Tracking Test, TD and TDX Chatfield State Park BHCA Regionals; TBHC Specialty A few photographs of the field trial and hunt test grounds at Nationals: The Wisconsin Beagle Club Field House Kennels Christine Machleit & Nancy Richmond One of the braces going out

3 Basset Hounds ready to hunt Taking a break between stakes Excerpts from a book coming out Sept 23: In Denver Post article What Does a Dog's Tilted Head Mean? Language of Dogs Author Explains gives you a fast track into predicting their next move. Much like us, pups communicate with body language, using their faces, tails, and ears, says trainer Justin Silver, author of The Language of Dogs. Dogs are very expressive and, just like people, unafraid to use their faces and bodies to convey what they re saying, he says. Understanding a dog s posture and signals For instance, a cute, tilted head may mean your pooch heard a sound he likes (such as car keys or a familiar word). Silver also cautions that the individual cues are just pieces of a bigger picture, so be ready to tailor this information with your best friend in mind. Silver decodes 15 more signals like when a dog looks away from you below. Squinting eyes Dogs generally squint when in pain, not feeling well and if feeling fear. Big bug eyes When the eyes are big and pinning, or fixated, on something, aggression could be on the way. Sad eyes Aww! This means your pup is affection seeking.

4 Looking away when you look That s a polite dog going out of his way to let you know that he comes in peace. Avoiding eye contact A dog that avoids eye contact altogether may consider you a threat or lack confidence. Maintaining eye contact Should a dog s casual stare turns into a fixed, tense glare, calmly look away to signal that you mean no harm. Warning: Dogs have learned that it s okay to look people in the eye but when a dog looks directly into another dog s eyes, it is often the equivalent of fighting words. Exposing the whites of the eyes When you re mainly seeing the whites of a dog s eyes, aggression may soon follow. That tense stare that comes out of the corner of the eyes is often associated with dogs are hyper protective of toys, territory, or food. Slightly open mouth Soft eyes and a relaxed, slightly agape mouth or loosely closed mouth is the sign of a chilled out pooch. Smiling The mouth is slightly open, the corners of the lip are turned up that s a relaxed dog. Lips turned up This is a fearful animal. A dog may expose some teeth accompanied by fear-based body language (tail tucked, lowered head, ears back). It is anything but aggressive but often mistaken for it. Raised ears Usually a dog will point his ears towards a target in an effort to zone in. They are outstanding eavesdroppers. Ears pulled back Flattened ears are a show of concern, timidity, and often genuine fear. Wagging tail A wagging tail does not necessarily mean friendly. It can actually be a sign of aggression, particularly when the tail is at twelve o clock and moving in a sharp, quick, vibrating motion. Big, wide wags means a happy dog. High and tight tail The higher and tighter the tail, typically, the more alerted and on-guard the dog will be.

5 Shedding Excessive shedding can be indicative of fear as well as stress. People will notice this when a vet or a groomer is handling their dog. Hackling When the hair along the spine or part of it raises, a dog is experiencing a strong emotion. It is not necessarily aggression, but more typical of fear, apprehension, nervousness or intense excitement. The Language of Dogs by Justin Silver will release on Sept