July General Membership Meeting Tuesday, July 11 - Annual Picnic at 6 p.m., General meeting at 7 p.m. Ag Choice Building at Rock Spring.

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1 See more photos of our May Agility Trial on page 5. Elaine Weirich running with Mimosa at MNDTC May Trial (photo by John Lamancusa) July 2017 CLUB OFFICERS President Howard Etzel Vice President Tracey Dooms Secretary Sandy Roth Treasurer Lois Albright BOARD MEMBERS Karen Bettleyon Sharon Hagerty Heidi Miller Jill Paige Send Us Your News! Do you have news for the Mt. Nittany Dog Tales newsletter? Send it to The newsletter is published every other month, before the general meeting. From the President As#I#sit#and#contemplate#my#July#message,#I#am#surrounded# by#fireworks#this#independence#day.#(luckily#my#dog#is#not# affected#by#the#fireworks.#i#am#sorry#if#your#canine#friend#is# affected#negaavely.)##i#realize#that#we#are#very#lucky#to#be# able#to#live,#work#and#paracipate#in#this#great#country.#we# are#free#to#choose#who#we#can#associate#with#and#what#we# wish#to#do!## Best#of#all,#we#chose#to#be#with#our#best#friends our# canine#friends!#they#make#our#lives#whole!## We#could#be#in#China,#the#Middle#East,#etc.#where#dogs#are# not#friends#but#food#and/or#suicide#bombers.#i#count#my# lucky#stars#to#be#an#american#ciazen! Please#celebrate#your#independence.# Hug#and#kiss#your#canine#friend(s). I#thank#all#of#you#for#your#posiAve# relaaonship#with#your#canine#friends! P#Howard#Etzel In this issue From the President..1 Reminders.2 Event Calendar.2 Obedience Class Highlights Events Summary: Obedience Seminar. 4 Rally Workshop.4 May Agility Tiral.5 Agility Course Test 6 June Obedience & Rally Trial. 7-8 Congratulations!...8 Newsletter Staff: Christie Black Marliene Froke Janet Lewis Heidi Miller Brenda Palmgren Cynthia Rabbers July General Membership Meeting Tuesday, July 11 - Annual Picnic at 6 p.m., General meeting at 7 p.m. Ag Choice Building at Rock Spring

2 Mt. Nittany Dog Tales - July Reminders MNDTC AKC Agility Trial in Latrobe This is a reminder about the MNDTC AKC agility trial July 7, 8, and 9 at B & D Creekside Activity Center in Latrobe, PA. Entry closing was June 23, but we still need volunteers! The venue is air conditioned with sport turf, plenty of parking and great places to walk your dogs after the trial. We re offering Standard, JWW, Fast, T2B and Premier classes. If you aren t familiar with Premier, this is your chance to see it! We need volunteers at the trial, please help if you can. A hearty thank you in advance. Donna McGrath, Trial Chair IN THE NEWS Kudos to Humane PA Governor Tom Wolf signed HB 1238, a bipartisan bill created to further protect animals in Pennsylvania by making it a possible felony not to, on June 28, Libre s Law was named for an abused and neglected 7- month-old puppy who was near death when he was rescued from a farm in Lancaster County on July 4, After much care by his rescuers, a determined Libre survived and became the mascot of the comprehensive legislation designed to make much needed updates to outdated animal cruelty and neglect laws. Summary of the law: For the first time ever in PA, it will be possible to file felony level penalties for first time cruelty offenses to animals outside of animal fighting or killing an endangered species. Rather than a single section lumping together every form of cruelty, the legislation breaks down the penalties for different grades of cruelty and different penalties based on the egregiousness of the conduct and prior offenses. This includes neglect of an animal, animal cruelty, aggravated cruelty and tethering. It also gives civil immunity to veterinarians and vettechs by protecting them from frivolous lawsuits when they report animal cruelty in good faith. Event Calendar July%7'9,%2017:#MNDTC#AKC#Agility# Trial,#B#&#D#Creekside#AcAvity# Center,#Latrobe,#PA July 11: Annual Picnic, 6 p.m., followed by General Meeting, 7 p.m., Ag Choice Building, Rock Springs Sept 12: General Meeting:, 7 p.m., Location TBA Sept 23-24: MNDTC Agility Trial, Ag Choice Building, Rock Springs (Melanie Eng Chair; Premium is on the website.) For more information on events, and dates of up-coming run-thrus, go to the MNDTC events and run-thru pages at Trial Premiums can also be found on the events page as they become available. Sources and photo credit: HB 1238, Pennsylvania General Assembly and Humane PA.

3 Mt. Nittany Dog Tales - July SPRING CLASS ROUND-UP: A New Class, New Titles and More! Conformation Handling Class All participants learned how to prepare and present their dogs for the breed ring. - Mel Eng Instructor (photos by Lisa Coggins) Class students from left: Pam Bilger with Izzy, Jan Close with Zeva, Octavia Alwine with Klark, Lois Albright with Breeze, Kim Paley with Gambit, Alicia Alwine (in for Vicky Dale) with Tanner. MNDTC offers pilot Therapy Dog class This spring MNDTC offered a pilot class called Therapy Dog Fundamentals. The response was terrific, eight students signed up! The class covered additional training a therapy dog needs, important information a handler needs to make therapy visits and introduced the dog and handler teams to medical equipment such as wheel chair, walkers, crutches and canes. All the students expressed how much they enjoyed the class, so MNDTC is considering offering Therapy Dog Fundamentals again next spring. -Andrea Minasian Instructor From left: Alicia Alwine with Katja, Emilee Spokus with Brody, Andrea Minasian Instructor, Dan Havrilla with Thor, Claudia Wilson with Griffin, Octavia Alwine, Emily Steffensmeier with Tovah Rose, Renee Steffensmeier with Gershwin, Bonnie Jacobs with Rilla

4 Mt. Nittany Dog Tales - July Spring Class Round-up continued Obedience students earn AKC Novice Trick Dog titles In addition to learning the AKC Canine Good Citizen test requirements, CGC Evaluator Andrea Minasian offered students in the spring Intermediate Obedience class the chance to earn their AKC Novice Trick Dog titles. All four students present that night, plus one instructor dog, passed the test. The AKC trick dog program was launched May 1, There are four levels, each one has a list of tricks to perform and the option to do two tricks not on the list. In Novice, a dog and handler team must perform 10 tricks unless they have a CGC title in which case they only need to perform five tricks. The tricks get more difficult with each level and in Intermediate and Advanced all dog and handler teams must perform 10 tricks. The first three levels are judged by CGC evaluators. The final level is the Performer Level and it requires ten tricks performed in a routine. The routine must be videoed and provided to the AKC Trick Dog department for evaluation along with the appropriate application. Obedience Seminar Julie Symons presented an obedience seminar for MNDTC members and guests at the end of April. Participants had the opportunity to troubleshoot specific skills and then learn games and techniques to work through those issues. One take-away from the class: if your dog doesn t learn something right away, don t be afraid to break the exercise down into smaller pieces split, don t lump. Once the dog knows all the splits, you can add them together. Rally Workshop Thanks to everyone who participated in the recent Rally Workshop. Those present learned about the new signs and the new class levels. If you missed the workshop, the signs will be utilized at Rally run thrus so you can learn as you go. The changes will be in effect at AKC trials starting November 1, Participants also learned how to play the Mark, Chase and Race game, which allows movement---so even puppies will enjoy. The game can be used to build many skills: introduction to marking games, building speed for sends, retrieves and the recall. Using a target or a bowl, place a treat on the target about ten feet away from where you will start your dog. Get your dog excited and point to the treat. Release your dog by telling him or her to get it or whatever command you d like to use---then chase your dog toward the treat. When he or she arrives at the treat, turn around and run the other way. Your dog should grab the treat and follow you. If he or she skips grabbing the treat and just follows you, that is okay, keep running. Before your dog gets to you, toss a treat away and play again or turn to face your dog and toss a treat between your legs. Many thanks go to Alicia Alwine and Mel Eng for providing lunch and snacks for the seminar! Every time you teach your dog what to do, you are teaching him how to feel. - Amy Cook, FDSA Instructor

5 Mt. Nittany Dog Tales - July MNDTC MAY AGILITY TRIAL - photos by John Lamancusa Howard Etzel and Beau Alicia Alwine with Mel Eng's dog Bwitzen Brenda Palmgren s Glory Carol Crouch and Trick Karen Keller s Jimmy John Lamancusa s Jack Nancy Miller and Bryce Patty Horne s Pip Janny Olsen s Nissa

6 Mt. Nittany Dog Tales - July BEGINNING AGILITY DOGS GET INTO THE "ACT" On Sunday, May 21, Mt. Nittany Dog Training Club held its second Agility Course Tests, which are part of a new AKC program designed to introduce beginning dogs and their handlers to agility competition. Twenty-three dogs were entered, for a total of 55 runs in two rounds each of ACT 1 and ACT 2. In ACT 1, 24 qualifying runs were posted, and at least 11 new titles were awarded. (Two qualifying scores are needed for the title.) In the more challenging ACT 2 (which includes weave poles and a seesaw), nine qualifying runs were achieved, and one title was awarded. As with the club s first ACT event last November, many club members helped make the day a positive experience for both human and canine participants by volunteering in and out of the ring. The tests add value to our agility class program, providing students with a way to gain ring experience, have fun, and maybe earn a ribbon or two, all before they are ready to enter a regular agility trial. For more information on AKC s ACT program, go to Watch for the next MNDTC ACT event near the end of fall classes! - Tracey Dooms and Sharon Hagerty Judge Sharon Hargerty and participants from an ACT round Judge Tracey Dooms and Participants from an ACT round

7 Mt. Nittany Dog Tales - July MNDTC AKC Obedience and Rally Trial MNDTC held its Obedience & Rally trials on June 17 and 18. From all feedback I received from exhibitors, judges and club members, it was a success. There were a number of significant achievements at the trial. We had an exhibitor finish her OTCH. This is a huge accomplishment and one that we have not had at our trial, at least in recent memory. We had another exhibitor who earned a 200 score from the Novice class. Again, this is something that most people never have the opportunity to accomplish, let alone see it happen by another exhibitor. We also had a club member, Marliene Froke, earn her UD title at the trial, another huge accomplishment! Betsy Geertson as steward Helen Smith and Ravi We had many club members who trialed with their dogs and also were able to volunteer as stewards as well as club members who compete in other venues who came out to help. We appreciated all the help and cooperation we received in all aspects of the trial. -Betsy Geertson (Photos by Jill Paige) Roberta Horner's Belle standing for exam in Utility Janet Lewis and Hope

8 Mt. Nittany Dog Tales - July Pat Welser at trophy table Terry Brown doing the heeling part of the moving stand for exam Melanie Eng and Alicia Alwine manning the food table Congratulations! Nissa got her Open Standard and Open JWW titles at the Three Rivers Shetland Sheepdog of Greater Pittsburgh agility trial in June at Latrobe. - Janny Olsen