Letter from the President

Transcription

1 Spring 2011 Letter from the President \ O ur First Quarter of was amazing! Southern Skies started the year with a beautifully run and well attended AKC sanctioned Match (thanks to members Hector and Meredith!) The Hectors created a very professional show environment - complete with a specially made placement banner and gorgeous winners baskets. Mary Lynn Jensen was a fun, gentle match judge. Hector also included a CGC test that had 100% success rate - judged by our own PJ Lacette! Spring 2013 I nside this i ss ue: Club Dog Rankings 3 Training Series 4 New Field Series 6 Upcoming Field Events Field Article Over Logs and Through Cover Vet Birthdays The Sunday after the Match was our 2013 Supported entry and Puppy/Veteran Sunshine Committee 12 Sweepstakes, beautifully chaired by Carol Cassidy on February 17th. This year Smiles 13 Carol had the added pressure of finding another Sweeps judge as the judge previously asked had the dreaded influenza. With the help of Claire Koshar, we were able to secure Ann Shinkle, who has judged many a sweepstake and she did a lovely job. The trophies awarded to the competitors were gorgeous and Brags Specialty Brags completely funded by donations by our wonderful members. Carol, again, organized a fabulous silent auction that was very profitable to our club. We held our annual meeting and luncheon - with the help of our hospitality chair, Joyce Frazer. Donna Post, Ribbon Chair, and Joyce Frazer (our ribbon vendor) presented the annual ribbon awards to members who earned ANY title through The ribbons this year were outstanding! On the field front, Claire Koshar and Pam Hind held their WC/WCX training days to get our dogs ready for the National Specialty in April. Claire and Pam scheduled multiple weekends every month and gave freely of their time and expertise to bring out the best in our FCRs. (Which was evidenced by the test that many of our members ran and earned ribbons in at the Golden WC/WCX in March.) Thank you, ladies! In addition to all the excitement with all the new quarter events, Kelli Riggs has been busy keeping our online merchandise store going, providing great new SSFCRC products that are fresh and easily attainable. The site that Kelli controls has eliminated the need for overhead and constantly updates new items.

2 We have the best dressed members in the Society! See what's new at: I'd like to take a moment here to talk about our awesome board. What doesn't often get mentioned is how hard our board works to keep everything flowing without a hitch. What everyone doesn't hear about is the behind the scenes work that Cheryl Mellon (our membership secretary), Jeff Speicher (our recording secretary), and Rick Post (our treasurer) take care of and have done for over 3 years. And Rob Bitler has done an tremendous job with our newsletter and our static web presence. Rob also has provided a service for our monthly conference calls so we can keep our finger on the collective SSFCRC pulse. So, now, many of us are off to the races in Conyers,Georgia at the FCRSA National specialty. SSFCRC members will be participating in field, obedience (and a TEAM obedience group has been formed, I'm told!), rally, agility and conformation! Should be a lot of fun and hooking up with our FCR friends from across the continent. (And maybe a couple from across the pond!) Can't wait to see everyone soon! Kathi Leonhardt President Southern Skies Flat-Coated Retriever Club WAYS AND MEANS Just another reminder to check out the Southern Skies Store at Merchandise is being updated on a regular basis and there are different promotions weekly to save you $$$$$. Be sure to check out the new, ladies scoop neck tee and the unisex bucket hat just in time for summer. Support your club and show your club spirit by keeping your closet full of great Southern Skies merchandise.

3 Southern Skies Members Dogs are Smoking Hot! *Top 20 All-Breed standings *The Canine Chronicle All Breed Standings #1 Dog is Liz Mound s Andy GCH CH Destiny As Good As It Gets CD JH #3 Dog (#1 Bitch) is Peg Forte & Kathi Leonhardt s Wyn GCH CH Stormwatch Whirlwynd CGC #4 Dog is Carole-Beth Davis, Kathi Leonhardt & Annie Williams Rowdie GHC CH Stormwatch Rocks U Like A Hurricane JH AKC National Championship Standings #1 Dog is Rowdie GHC CH Stormwatch Rocks U Like A Hurricane JH #3 Dog is Andy GCH CH Destiny As Good As It Gets CD JH #5 Dog is Gillian Impey s (co-owner) Knight GCH CH Meadowrue Knight Of Quillquest Breed Standings #3 Dog is Rowdie GHC CH Stormwatch Rocks U Like A Hurricane JH #5 Dog is Andy GCH CH Destiny As Good As It Gets CD JH #16 Dog (Bitch) Wyn GCH CH Stormwatch Whirlwynd CGC #18 Dog is Katy Postrozny s Rally CH Whizzbang s Miami Heat Congratulations to all of you!!! You make us proud! Here s a link to the website:

4 SOUTHERN SKIES WC/WCX TRAINING SERIES The Southern Skies WC/X committee started a training series to assist members in preparation for the 2013 Georgia National WC/X event. These training days also included beginners just starting in the field. The series started October 21, 2012 at our club s Fun day and will end April 7 th 2013(a total of 12 training days spanning 6 months). The training series concentrated on teaching the mechanics of running the WC/WCX for both the dog and human elements of the tests. Instead of holding a WC/X test this year, the club held a mock WC/X test in March. The day also included the opportunity for beginner dogs to run flyer singles and a clipped wing pigeon session for puppies. Leading up to the 2013 National, one of the local Golden Clubs held a WC/X test. I am happy to report that several members ran that test and passed in both the WC and WCX. The committee encouraged these members to also enter and support the field events at the GA National. Our Flat Coat members that passed the test are: Kelli Riggs & Bonnie - WC Joyce Frazer & Bette - WC Katy Postrozny & Quinn - WC Liz Mound & Andy - WCX Joe /MaryAnn Hamzy & Time - WCX

5 Thanks go to all the club members that came out and supported the training series. Lana Rowlison Beth Meaney Kelli Riggs Katy Postrozny Joyce Frazer Alison Schultz Mary Smith Elaine Bradbury Liz Mound Rick Post Susan Schultz Elizabeth Masters Dea Jaffey Donna&Bill Chocianowski Dimitry Makhtin Patty McClain Cheryl Mellon Land Owners Wayne Gey-Golden Oaks Ranch Claire Koshar Mary Smith Elaine Bradbury The Enzes The Committee wishes everyone success at the National See you in the field! Claire Koshar WC/X Committee Chair Pam Hind WC/X Committee Member

6 Building Blocks for Field Performance A huge thank you goes out to Pam Hind and Claire Koshar who organized and ran the 6 month long SSFCRC WC/X Training Series. It was a huge success! So, now I have volunteered to lead a series of field training days to assist newcomers to the sport and to also help handlers with transition work. Once a month training will be held at the Central Florida Hunting Retriever Club Teaching days. Another date each month (see below) will be held at a variety of field sites. I have requests out to several landowners- so still confirming the dates and locations below. So please confirm with me before each date. The training plan will be driven by the needs of the dogs and handlers. But will focus on building strong foundation skills for basic and transition dogs. Training days will begin at 8 AM. The series will officially start in June, but guests are welcome to attend the May 4 th CFHRC Teaching day. Below is the training plan for the day. If you have any questions please e mail or call me, I look forward to seeing you in the field! Until then check out the other articles in the news letter about teaching dogs to run over logs and through cover. Additional sites to visit And Alison Schultz Flatcoatfun1@gmail.com

7 Upcoming Field Events May 4 Teaching Day at Wayne Gey s in Montverde, FL Organized Confusion Drill at land across road from Goose Pond A perfect introduction for any level of dog. Puppies and beginner dogs will walk around the field and introduce the dogs to 3 different types of decoys, several types of blinds, and lots of other stuff they may see out in the field. Practice recalls around the distractions Short land marks with the distractions All levels of dogs should run this Connect the dot Teaching/Pattern/cold blinds Goose Pond For Transition & Advanced dogs Singles with Factors At big pond (out of boat, over logs, to islands, through cover etc) All levels of dogs should only do marks if dog was successful on the land at the confusion drill. Puppies and beginner dogs should practice dog getting in and out of boat, shoreline recalls, short recalls out of the water on long line. June 1 CFHRC Teaching Day (unless CFHRC schedules a seminar) - Waynes in Montverde, FL July 13 CFHRC Teaching Day Water at Betsy Reiney s in Palatka, FL July 21 Mary Smith s in Sanford, FL August 3 CFHRC Teaching Day Richard Davis in Bushnell, FL August 11- Susan Schultz in Starke (between Gainesville and Jacksonville FL) Sept 7 CFHRC Teaching Day Richard Davis in Bushnell, FL Sept 15 - Mary Smith s in Sanford, FL October 5 CFHRC Mock Test at Waynes in Montverde, FL November 16 CFHRC Teaching Day Waynes in Montverde, FL December 7-8 UKC and AKC Hunt Test at Waynes in Montverde, FL

8 Running over Obstacles Thank you also to Richard Davis who set up several great drills Running over a log to a mark, and then running through cover to a mark. Both could be done by any age dog, we had pups who had never done field work to more experienced dogs working on the drill. Thank you to a guest Gary who took all these great photos! The gallery pups learning to hang out and wait their turn. Its important for puppies to learn to relax when they are not working. Throwers Handler calling dog back over the log. So how do you teach your dog to go over an obstacle? Step 1 Confidently walk the puppy on leash over the log or obstacle 1

9 Step 2 hand the leash to your training partner while you walk back over the log Step 3 call your dog to you reward with praise and treats Step 4 repeat 3 times, backing up a short distance each time, end on success Soon your dog will look like thisconfidant and ready to run over anything in his way! Note the high cover in front of the dog on the right between the handler and the thrower in the background. Remember from the dogs height he can barely see over this wall of green. 2

10 Success! The dog went through the cover and back with a bird. Note this handler is very close to the cover so the dog will not try to go around it. You can also start by standing In the cover and then backing up as the dog returns. How do you introduce cover? Start with the dog on leash and go exploring through cover, make it a game, call your dog to you, or have them follow you. Soon they will be charging through all sorts of cover. 3

11 Here is the result of this type of teaching. Richard runs his young dog on the mark, and he is confidant in charging through the cover, finding the bird and delivering it to hand. Note that Richard is able to stand a bit farther back from the cover to send his dog as he has worked on this before. Also note how short these marks were for the log and cover, when teaching something new, shorten the distance. 4

12 SSFCRC Veteran Dogs Birthday Dog "Call" name Registered Name Dog Owner 06/23/04 Bess CH Belsud Brown Benrinnes JH WC Claire Koshar 06/30/02 Cruiser CH Suncoast Starcruising Aguila Joyce Leonard 06/30/02 Cassie CH Suncoasts Cassiopeia Peter & Hilary Zachary 07/09/03 Duncan Quillquest Kaptain Krunch Donna & Bill Chocianowski 07/16/02 Bentley Mallard Pointe's Bentley Carol Cassidy 07/20/05 Bess CH Quillquest One Of the Best MH WCX Can WCX Gillian Impey 07/22/04 Rowan CH U-SR Salasana Steeple Ashton JH WCX Katy Postrozny Sunshine Committee Report The club would like to extend their condolences to Kelli and Joe Riggs for the loss of Joe s mother, Wanda Riggs. The club made a donation to the Hemophilia Foundation of Greater Florida in honor of her. We would also like to express our condolences to Dea Jaffey on the passing of her husband, Richard, earlier this year. The club made a donation to the FCR Foundation Rescue Fund in honor of him. Our thoughts are with all of you.

13 Just For Smiles

14 Brags Our Dogs Doing Great Things! Bonnie Blue s JH Title Submitted by Kelli & Joe Riggs We are excited to announce that Bonnie Blue earned her JH title in February. And thanks to the club s WC/X training series, she then went on to back that up by earning her WC title in March along with several other SSFCRC dogs. In April she earned her UKC Started title this weekend at the NEFHRC Hunt Test. She has now completed her beginner Hunt Test Titles trifecta Bonnie is our first ever titled dog. We are extremely proud of her to say the least. Hank at work in 2013 Submitted by Jeff Speicher Hank has had a busy 2013 so far... First, on January 26, he finished his Championship at the Ocala shows. On Sunday, he was shown as a Special and took Select Dog. Then, on February 16, he finished his Beginner Novice title with a score of 196.5, under Judge John Mett. Sunday he got an insurance leg with a score of 192, under judge Aimee Kincaid He took second place in his class both days. Sunday was also the Southern Skies Flat Coated Retriever Club Supported Entry, and he was awarded High Scoring Flat Coated Retriever in Obedience. He is now CH Bertschire Play Ball BN. Leica Brings Home Blue Submitted by Kelly Bryant In the first two months of 2013, Leica completed her NAP, NJP, OAP and OJP titles. Here's a picture of her with some of her ribbons from the Huntsville agility trial where she earned her OAP and OJP titles. WCX for Andy Submitted by Liz Mound At the Gulf Coast GRC WC/WCX in March, Andy passed the WCX

15 Rally and Inga Tearing It Up This Submitted by Katy Postrozny Our Ch. Whizzbang's Miami Heat (Rally) earned his JH this winter and is now working on other performance titles. Inga (Grand Champion Beauty Nights Fame, JH, WC) has been owner handled to the Bronze level of the Grand Champion series. Inga and I earned two best of breed wins over other nice specials at the recent Perry, GA shows in April. These additional 8 points finished this title for her. Bette Gets Her WC Submitted by Joyce Frazer "Bette" Ch. Rowansgaard Blithe Spirit-- got her the Florida Gulf Coast Golden Retriever Club's most recent The Gey's "Golden Oaks Ranch" Rowdie takes B2B BoB at the Strawberry Cluster Submitted by Carol Beth Davis At the Strawberry Cluster on Saturday and Sunday's Supported entry, "Rowdie" GCH Silver StormWatch Rocks U Like A Hurricane JH, WC took back to back Best of Breed wins. It was very neat to see Rowdie and his sister Tegi take top honors at the supported entry. I am very proud of Rowdie and his handler Morgan Brooks! Also, I cannot thank Kathi enough for this wonderful boy and all her support. Rowdie is enjoying time in the field now, but will be out here and there in the show ring.

16 NATIONAL SPECIALTY BRAGS The FCRSA National Specialty in Georgia saw the dogs from our club take home a lot of top honors. We definitely left a little bit of sunshine in the peach state. Sit back and enjoy some of the pictures, memories, and successes from our dogs and members Riker and Susan Schultz we entered 8 events in field, obedience, and agility. Even though we only qualified in one Rally course, we had fun. Many thanks to the Obedience Team for bravely going where no other SSFCRC members have gone before (Donna Post and Liz Mound's dog Ava, Jeff Speicher and Hank, Elizabeth Masters and Monty, and Susan Schultz and Riker.) Ebbett, Hudson and Patty McClain - We got a WC on CH Jubilee's Everyone's Hero (Ebbett) and a JH leg on CH Jubilee's Curveball Legend (Hudson) CH Jubilee's Everyone's Hero (Ebbett) CH Jubilee's Curveball Legend (Hudson)

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18 Rowdie and Carol Beth Davis Silver GCH StormWatch Rocks U Like A Hurricane WC, JH - 'Rowdie', handled by co-owner Annie Williams, earned a leg in Rally Novice B with a 187 and Beg. Novice B with a 188 1/2! Super proud of the two. Rowdie has only gone to puppy class at 6 months old and had two Rally run-throughs before competing at Nationals! What smart dogs Flat Coats are! Bess and Claire Koshar Bess, Ch Belsud Brown Benrinnes, JH, WC, placed second from a Veteran Bitch class of 25 under breeder judge Paddy Engen. What a pleasure it was to see so many owner-handled dogs shown beautifully to success. Southern Skies was ably represented in every venue of the Specialty. What a wonderful time it was to meet old friends, meet those new to the breed and have the opportunity to discuss the breed and learn. And thanks to the many Southern Skies members whose volunteer efforts made the Specialty possible. And finally, how great to be at the Annual Meeting and the Awards Banquet. Looking forward to next year!! Tripp, Sager, and Alison Schultz Wingmaster's Seminole Wind "Sager" made it to the run off in the puppy stake (field event) He lost the run off but had a very nice first mark. He just turned 7 months old. Wingmaster's Triple Play MH WCX - "Tripp" placed 2nd in the American Bred class (behind the beautiful dog Kathi bred who went winners dog!) Bonnie Blue and Kelli Riggs Bonnie Blue passed both the Junior Hunt Test and and the WC test Andy and Liz Mound At the specialty: Andy-man got the third leg on his CDX to finish the title. He finished in three straight with placements in every leg. He also got a JH pass (already has the title), and made it through the second cut in BOB (owner handled). Monty and Elizabeth Masters Monty earned his second leg in Rally Advanced B with a score of 92 out of 100, he was also a successful test dog for the WC.

19 Rally, Inga, Quinn, Eve and Katy Postrozny- Ch. Whizzbang's Miami Heat JH, WC (Rally) made a cut in best of breed and gun dog sweeps. (JH). Though no placements this year, Rally earned his WC at the specialty field events with nice compliments from the judges, Kathy and Alan Luthy. Grand Ch. Beauty Nights Fame, JH, WC (Inga) earned a third placement in gundog sweeps (JH) with 23 bitches showing. Inga also made a cut in best of breed competition. Grand Ch. Rowansgaard Kingston Lacey, WC (Quinn) made a cut in working retriever bitches. Forbidden Love Z Mokre Hory (Eve) earned a third placement in the 6-9 puppy bitch sweepstakes class out of 12 showing. Here we see Quinn leading the working retriever bitches in the ring and Eve very happy and elegant with a toy in her mouth during conformation

20 Hank, Ted, and Jeff Speicher- CH Summerhill National Pastime (Ted) qualified in Rally Novice B. CH Bertschire Play Ball BN (Hank) qualified in Rally Novice B. Hank also had a most excellent time qualifying in Team Obedience. Katie, Morgan, and Judge Pam Hind Running just for fun, Katie (Ch Mallard Pointe's Kiss Me Kate, JH WC) has another Junior Hunter Pass running at the at the National. Although we did not place In Gun Dog Sweeps or Working Retriever, a huge thanks go to Alison Schultz and Kelli Riggs for showing Katie at the Specialty for me. It was a real sentimental journey watching Morgan (Ch Savvy's Hocus Pocus) amble around the ring at 13 years of age...kelli did a wonderful job showing Morgan. Morgan's Senior Years are spent living with my Aunt Madeline. The highlight of my National experience was judging the Fetch Fever -Newcomer stake. It was a lot of fun judging with Anney Ducette and an honor to be asked to judge.

21 Cash, Inga, and Mary Smith GCH Whitland One for the Money TD MH WCX (Cash) and GCH Whitland Nothing To Declare SH (Inja) both qualified in the Master Hunter test at the 2013 FCRSA National Specialty. It was Cash's 22nd MH pass and Inja's first MH test. Leica and Kelly Leica (Wingmaster's Lasting Impression RE JH OAJ OJP WC) qualified in Rally Ex and Rally Advanced - her 2nd RAE leg. She also had a WC pass. The Quillquest dogs and Gillian Impey Gillian Impey's Quillquest dogs had a great time at the 2013 National Specialty: CH Quillquest Rolls Royce MH WCX (Rosie) won the Qualifying stake at the field trial on April 19th and became a Qualified All Age *** dog, one of very few Flatcoats to achieve this landmark. She went on to qualify in Master Hunter on Saturday, then took 2nd place in the Master Hunter class in the Gundog Sweepstakes and 3rd place in the Field Trial bitch class on Thursday. CH Quillquest Pip's Pearl MH WCX CAN WCX qualified in the Master Hunter test. Quillquest Range Rover MH WCX CGC (Journey), owned by Dori Cantley, co-owned and bred by Gillian, qualified in the Master Hunter test, handled by Dori, and then went on to win the Master Hunter dog class and Best of Opposite Sex in the Gundog sweepstakes. CH Quillquest Ticket to Win JH (Win) got her second SH leg at the Specialty on Saturday and her WCX title on Sunday. CH Quillquest Tallahassee Temptation JH WC (Katie), owned by Liz Handlewich, co-owned and bred by Gillian, got her fourth Junior Hunter leg at the Specialty and finished her title, then went on to pass the WC on Sunday, giving her a second field title. She was handled by Liz throughout. Quillquest Verily Vindicated (Vindy) took 4th place in the 9-12 month bitch class in Puppy sweepstakes and then 4th place in the regular 9-12 month old bitch class on Thursday. Pearl, Win, and Gillian then left the Specialty and headed straight for South Carolina and the Carolinas Retriever Association hunt test where Gillian handled Pearl to a Master Hunter pass and Win to two Senior Hunter passes, giving Win her SH title at just 26 months old (CH Quillquest Ticket To Win SH WCX) and qualifying to enter Pearl for the 2013 Master National