Hawkesbury Dog Agility Club Inc.

Transcription

1 Hawkesbury Dog Agility Club Inc. Newsletter September-October 2012 Congratulations Keith! Our First Life Member Keith Edwards was involved in teaching dog agility before he was competing in the sport. He has trialled very successfully in agility with Winnie, Doc and Sporty, and is now training Terry. Keith has been an agility judge since 2003, fulfilling this role in practically every state of Australia. He is a member and chairperson of the Dogs NSW Agility Committee - the organisation that runs ANKC agility in NSW - and is the NSW representative to the National body. Keith is an inaugural member of the Hawkesbury Dog Agility Club, even though they did not live anywhere near the district at the time. Over the years, he has held the position of President and Chief Instructor of the club, as well as the unofficial position of "equipment maintenance officer". Keith is constantly involved in supporting many HDAC activities an invaluable source of information and skills. Keith's contributions to the Hawkesbury Dog Agility Club have been recognised this year, by bestowing on him the honour of LIFE MEMBER. The views expressed in the newsletter are not necessarily those of the committee of this club.

2 Up Close with Sarah & Spice At Hawkesbury Dog Agility Club we are lucky to have some very dedicated club members and instructors. Sarah Kirkwood is one of these and if you have been in one of Sarah s classes you would have experienced her very professional approach and helpful advice on agility training with your dog. I started training dogs when I was 8, with our family Labrador. I then welcomed two special Cavalier King Charles Spaniels into my life, Muffin and Oscar. I trained and trialled them successfully in obedience and agility in Canberra - although making course time was always a struggle! Muffin has all her excellent titles, and Oscar excellent and some masters. When I was 18 I moved to Sydney for uni, and both the cavaliers started having some health problems that were limiting their ability to compete - so I added a Border Collie to my family - Kerodan Hidden Colours, aka Spice. Spice has completely revolutionised how I train and compete in agility, she gives me absolutely everything and always tries her heart out. When I first started training her it was a big adjustment, going from Cavaliers to a speedy Border Collie, but we 'clicked' very quickly and I can't imagine doing agility without her. Spice at a trial demonstrating her brilliant contact abilities. I train Spice every day, be it on equipment or flatwork, and have put a lot of work into making sure she has great contacts and weavers. We also jog or swim every morning, although Spice is very happy to have the odd sleep in on my bed too! I'm very proud of what Spice has achieved, at only 3 years of age she has all of her open and masters titles (except snooker, but we are nearly there!) and has earned many points towards her agility championship. Spice has had amazing results this year, qualifying and placing in most of her runs. Some of our highlights this year have been winning the 2012 ACT Jumping Dog of the Year, winning the 500 SPDM final at the Agility Nationals with Vickie and Trim, qualifying for the JDM final at the nationals, and winning both ADM and JDM on the same day at the Southern Districts Border Collie Club. Spice s full name is: Kerodan Hidden Colours RN ADM ADO JDM JDO GDM SPDM SDX Spice in full flight and showing her fantastic jumping style. These great pictures of Spice were taken by Niki van der Smagt.

3 Diary Dates 7 November Dog of the Year forms and trophy submissions due (forms are attached). 12 November HDAC General Meeting commencing at 7.30pm 1 December HDAC Evening Games Trial commencing at 5pm 4 December HDAC Tuesday Night Jumping Trial commencing at 7.30pm 12 December HDAC Training Christmas Party and Presentations commencing at 7.00pm Laser Lites Pet Grooming Products is proud to be able to sponsor Hawkesbury Dog Agility Club at their Tuesday night trials in For product information, or to place an order, contact: Bronwynne Goyen Phone: (02) Or laramis@iinet.net.au Holiday Update by Sue Calphy We have just completed a 3 month journey up the east coast then inland with Split, Scoot and Tussock. The dogs were amazing taking everything in their stride. There was one time they spent the whole day locked in the car while we visited the Stockman s Hall of Fame in Longreach. We would go out every hour to check they were in the shade and give them a pee break and they never complained. Not once did they not want to get back in the car. In the outback we mainly camped at the free spots usually on a weir or river which was just beautiful as the dogs could swim as much as they liked. The only thing that worried Tussock was the pelicans swimming by...she could not work them out at all. The free camp sites were very relaxed (unlike caravan parks). Because our dogs stayed around we didn t even tie them up. We went as far west as Winton (dinosaur country) but it was starting to get really hot. We would hose them down as much as possible if we couldn t find a water hole. David s niece lives on a 28,000 acre property at Springsure so we spent 4 wonderful days with her. We did have to travel 200kms to watch her boyfriend play touch football but that s what they do out there. We did 4 trials in Qld with mixed results. Toowoombah was the best with David and Split winning both the Masters Agility and Masters Jumping events. The last trial at Rockhampton (Keith was the judge) was hilarious. We were really in holiday mode. There were only 20 dogs on the Saturday and 11 on the Sunday at the whole trial. David started off well but then forgot how to count the numbers and DQ d 3 times!!!!! It was a very friendly trial and lots of fun. If you like camping and meeting all kinds of people with or without dogs...go for it. I can t wait to take off again next year...if not before. New Club Members August: Reece Prentice with Bib September: Isaac Mann with Dash October: No new members

4 Festival of Agility for 2012 by Sandra Jensen The Hawkesbury Dog Agility Club had some great results at the Festival of Agility held over 8 & 9 September at the Bill Spilstead Centre at Erskine Park. Check out the results on the Qualification Runs page in the newsletter. One of the events held over the weekend was the Team Challenge. There were 6 teams in this event they were: Agility Dog Club of NSW, Greater Western All Breeds Club, Deer Bush, Manly and Wollongong Dog Sports Club. I was lucky enough to be in our Hawkesbury team and I have to admit it was pretty nerve racking as I wasn t just running for myself but representing the club and I didn t want to let the team or club down. We didn t have a dog for the 200 height leg so a big thank you goes to Eddy Smeltzer and Pickle who ran this leg for us. Without them we wouldn t have been able to compete. The rest of our team (from left to right): 300 Susan Hollow and Portia 400 Brooke Skinner and Ruby 500 Sarah Kirkwood and Spice 600 Sandra Jensen and Ayla The team challenge was the last event of each day. The Agility event was on the Saturday and the Jumping on the Sunday. It was the first time Brooke and I had competed at this trial and both of us were very excited and nervous at the same time. Susan and Sarah were extremely supportive and fantastic team mates giving us lots of tips and very helpful advice on how to handle the tricky sections of the courses. After the first round to our great surprise we were running 2 nd to a very experienced and talented Agility Dog Club of NSW team we were wrapped! Sunday s jumping course had a couple of difficult sections that caused lots of problems for some dogs and their handlers. Our team did extremely well with all our dogs having good runs and we were able to maintain our position to take out 2 nd place behind the Agility Dog Club of NSW who won the team challenge. I m told this was one of the best results Hawkesbury has had in this event. It was a lot of fun and I recommend that you put your name forward next year for the opportunity to have a go. It is definitely an adrenalin rush.

5 Trialling in Tasmania by Bronwynne Goyen I travelled to Tasmania in August to visit a friend, so entered a dog show and an agility trial while I was there. We (myself and four dogs), drove down to Melbourne and travelled overnight across the Strait on the Spirit of Tasmania. I was a bit unsure about confining the dogs for over 12 hours on the boat but they coped with this really well. The double trial was set up with 2 judges in 2 rings, running alternately. There were a total of 20 dogs entered over the 2 trials, in a very relaxed atmosphere. Sky and Kaila were the only dogs in 300 Masters Jumping, and Kaila and Lani were the only excellent agility dogs competing, which proved quite challenging for my fitness levels. The three girls came home with 2 cards each with 4 first places, a second and a third. The bonus was Kaila's final pass for her Masters Jumping title. The competitors in Launceston made me feel very welcome... particularly since I took a set of timing gates with me for them to use in Tasmania for the first time. As a result, the agility community down there have now purchased a set of timing gates. I would highly recommend a trialling holiday in Tasmania if anyone is thinking about taking the trip down south. Sale! Club uniform items: Caps $10 Beanies $10 Floppy Hats $10 Discontinued items: Old Style Polo Shirts $15 Old Style Sloppy Joes $20 CENTRAL COAST, SYDNEY SUBURBS, WOLLONGONG AND CANBERRA!! Wondering how you can take that well-earned holiday but can t stand the thought of leaving your 4 legged family members in a kennel? At Top Dog Minders your dog will stay in a fellow dog lover s home where they can live and sleep inside! We're Australia s leading dog minding service so you can relax and enjoy your time away knowing your dog will be having a holiday of their own!! Call Zoe on: OR OR sydney@topdogminders.com OR

6 New Additions to HDAC Families There are a few new additions to families in the HDAC. The Skinner family picked-up their new adorable puppy on 20 October and you will have the opportunity to meet him at a trial very soon when he attends his first trial with Brooke and Ruby to see how it is all done, his name is Sprite. Sprite is my new Border Collie pup. He comes from Cumbeynd Border Collies near Bathurst. For the people in our club that know Ruby, you would know that she doesn't really enjoy agility and most of the trials are during day and Ruby will not run at all even though she is in AD JDX ADO and JDO. She keeps getting clear runs but has time faults so I'm hoping for a bit more drive and speed with Sprite. He hates being inside and absolutely loves his tug toy which is really good. If any of you think one of Sprite's eyes is bigger than the other don't worry when you look closely it is just pigmentation around the one that seems bigger because the breeder is 80% sure the smaller looking one will be blue and the other one will be brown. Sprite is the cheekiest one of the litter. He loves everyone and I'm sure Sprite can't wait to meet the rest of the Hawkesbury crew!!!!! The Bickerstaff family also have a new addition; her name is Lilly. She is a cattle cross something not sure what! She came from Working Dog Rescue. She had been dumped at the pound at Wollondilly at about 6 weeks of ago when Working Dog Rescue took her and placed her with a foster mum. The foster mum has done a fantastic job in raising her. We adopted her at 3 months old. Ollie is not too keen on the idea when she is heeling him (biting him on the leg) or biting him on the face and hanging off his cheek. Other times he likes to play with her. At the moment she is going to obedience and learning some basic skills. Hopefully, she will carry on from Ollie when he retires. Ollie is already 11 years old. Lilly has a wonderful, friendly nature and loves everyone and everything and all food. No worries about her being fussy about what she eats we have to watch what she does eat anything at her level! She loves to play with her toys and enjoys ripping up what she can. She was supposed to be my new 400mm dog but as you can see she may end up being my 600mm dog.

7 New Family Additions continued. The Jensen family would like to introduce Eloise. Eloise is a black Labrador Retriever and a Guide Dog puppy. She looks like a miniature Ayla. She was only 7 weeks old when we picked her up on 28 September and was already on a diet!! Her Mum only had 3 puppies so the milk bar was always full and she obviously made the most of it. Eloise has already been to her first agility trial travelling up to Raymond Terrace to watch Ayla and the other dogs competing in a 2 day trial. She was very well behaved and loved all the pats she received but her very favourite part was playing with all the other puppies there. We will look after Eloise for months before she is recalled to be assessed whether she is suitable to start her training to become a fully-fledged Guide Dog so that she can go on to help a blind person gain their mobility and independence. Meanwhile, Eloise is looking forward to meeting everyone in the agility world, going to more exciting agility trials and especially meeting Sprite and Lilly. If anyone has any family additions please send in your photos and story, we would love to see them. Please Help Stewards Needed Stewards are needed for our trial on 1 December. If you have not trialled yet this is a great way to see what happens at a trial and is also a huge help for our Club. If any club members or your family or friends can help out it would be greatly appreciated. Please let Bronwynne know. Don t Forget!!! Dog of the Year and Medallion Forms To all club members who are trialling, don t forget to complete a Dog of the Year form for each dog you are trialling that has achieved qualifying runs. Three separate awards will be presented on 12 December at our last training night of the year: Best Novice Dog, Best Excellent Dog & Best Masters Dog If you would like a club medallion for any titles your dog/s has achieved you must also complete a Title/s Gained form for each dog that has gained a title/s during the year. These forms must be submitted to Monique by 7 November. Forms are attached at the end of this newsletter.

8 Qualification Runs Congratulations! HDAC members have had some great runs and results over the past 2 months especially at the Festival of Agility. Congratulations to all the following Club Members on obtaining qualification runs: Date Event Club Member Result 8 & 9 Sept Festival of Agility Bronwynne Goyen & Sky Masters Strategic Pairs st place Masters Jumping 300 Open Jumping Bronwynne Goyen & Kaila Novice Strategic Pairs st place Open Jumping Cheryl Troop & Chopper Masters Gamblers st place Masters Jumping nd place Masters Strategic Pairs nd place Masters Agility rd place Excellent Snooker 600 Cheryl Troop & Ricki Novice Jumping 500 Novice Gamblers 500 Novice Snooker 500 Gail Mogg & Oscar Novice Agility st place Novice Gamblers nd place Novice Snooker 400 Gregory Pryce & Jindabyne Masters Jumping 500 Open Jumping Helen Heaver & Brandy Helen Heaver & Devilish Intent Masters Agility nd place Novice Strategic Pairs nd place Novice Snooker nd place Sandra Jensen & Ayla Excellent Snooker 600 Masters Agility 600 Open Jumping Sarah Kirkwood and Spice Masters Snooker st place Open Agility - 3 rd place Masters Strategic Pairs 500 Open Jumping Sue Ryan & Tru Excellent Snooker 300 Sue Ryan & Kirk Excellent Snooker 300 Susan Hollow & Portia Masters Agility rd place Open Agility Susan Hollow & Tess Excellent Gamblers nd place Excellent Strategic Pairs nd place Excellent Snooker nd place 16 Sept NSW Southern Dist Border Collie Club Sarah Kirkwood and Spice Masters Agility st place Masters Jumping st place 23 Sept Coffs Harbour Sandra Jensen & Ayla Open Jumping 29 & 30 Sept ACT Royal Sarah Kirkwood and Spice Jumping Dog of the Year - 1 st place 2 Oct HDAC Tues Night Sandra Jensen & Ayla Masters Agility nd place 6 & 7 Oct Port Stephens (held at Raymond Terrace) Sandra Jensen & Ayla Open Jumping Open Agility 13 Oct United Retriever Club Sandra Jensen & Ayla Open Jumping - 1 st place Masters Jumping Sept Springwood Bronwynne & Sky Masters Jumping rd place RQH Jumping Gail Mogg & Oscar Excellent Agility nd place Sandra Jensen and Ayla RQH Jumping Sarah Kirkwood and Spice Masters Agility st place Masters Jumping rd place Sue Calphy & Split Masters Agility 500 Masters Jumping 500 NB There are lots of September and October results missing from this list. I apologise if your results are missing unfortunately, I don t have access to all results so rely on you getting them to me. We would love to hear how you and your dog/s are doing so please your results to: sandy.jensen@yahoo.com.au

9 Committee Members for President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: Committee: Life Member: Uniform Officer: Trial Secretary: Tuesday Night Trial Secretary: Newsletter Editor: Trophy Managers: Chief Instructors: Bronwynne Goyen Deidre Bickerstaff Monique Pryce Sue Ryan Greg Pryce Prue McLoynes Keith Edwards Sarah Kirkwood Tanya Selby Marissa Scheerhoorn Keith Edwards Tanya Selby Marissa Scheerhoorn Sue Ryan Sandra Jensen Sarah Kirkwood Greg Pryce and Sarah Kirkwood General meetings are held on the second Monday of alternate months. Commencing at 7.30pm at the Richmond Club, Richmond January, March, May, July September and November each year. All members are most welcome and encouraged to attend Club correspondence to be addressed to: PO Box 265, Richmond NSW 2753 Club Uniforms Polo Shirts $26 Caps $15 Old Style Shirts $15 Jackets $62 Floppy Hats $15 Old Style Sloppy Joes $20 Pants $38 Beanies $15 For all uniform enquires contact: Tanya Selby Training nights: Silver class Mobile:

10 Wet Weather What to do if it is raining? A decision is made on whether to cancel training at 6pm depending on the weather at that time. When training is cancelled an is sent to all club members that have provided their address to let them know. So the first thing to do if it is raining is to check your s. If you are still unsure or don t have you can ring the President: Bronwynne Goyen on Title/s Gained Registered Name of Dog: Pet Name of Dog: Name of Handler: Title/s Gained: I would like a Club medallion Yes / No Please forward to the Secretary by 7 November: PO Box 265, Richmond NSW 2753 or mnqds2756@gmail.com Change of Address Name: New Address: Please forward to the Secretary: PO Box 265, Richmond NSW 2753 or mnqds2756@gmail.com

11 HDAC Dog of the Year Awards 2012 HDAC has introduced a new format for the Dog of the Year award presented at our annual Christmas party. We will be awarding 3 separate awards, one for the best novice dog, one for best excellent dog, and one for best masters dog. The awards will be decided on a points system, where a qualifying run earned in 2012 will earn you points dependent on your placing. 1st place = 10 points 2nd place = 9 points 3rd place = 8 points 4th place = 7 points 5th place = 6 points 6th place = 5 points 7th place = 4 points 8th place = 3 points 9th place = 2 points 10th place onwards = 1 point It is not necessary to obtain ALL the qualifications required to earn your title just record the qualifications you earn this year and add up your points. The dog with the highest number of points will win. Forms to track your qualifying places throughout the year have been included; it is your responsibility to submit this form at the end of the year with your title medallion applications.

12 HDAC 2012 Novice Dog of the Year Novice Agility (AD) Novice Jumping (JD) Novice Gamblers (GD) Novice Snooker (SD) Novice Strategic Pairs (SPD) Total 2012 Novice HDAC 2012 Excellent Dog of the Year Excellent Agility (ADX) Excellent Jumping (JDX) Excellent Gamblers (GDX) Excellent Snooker (SDX) Excellent Strategic Pairs (SPDX) Total 2012 Excellent HDAC 2012 Masters Dog of the Year If you obtain more than 7 qualifications in any Masters class, please submit your best seven placings only Masters Agility (ADM) Total 2012 Masters Masters Jumping (JDM) Masters Gamblers (GDM) Masters Snooker (SDM) Masters Strategic Pairs (SPDM)