The Gang

The Gang
Ain't We Got Fun?

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

More Stateside News

Aha!!! More wins for our group in Montana. Tessa scored 2 points as Winners Bitch, and in the performance ring, Angel's Annie picked up another leg of her US Advanced Rally title with 98/100 while Shar and Ryder got their first US Advanced Rally leg with 97/100. Good show, everyone!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Stateside results

Good Morning everyone. We have some news from Mary Ellen, Angel, and Sharlet who are Stateside with Tessa and Ryder. Yesterday Ryder got a score of 98/100, 2nd place, & a new title

He has moved to Rally Advanced for today and Tuesday

Tessa was Reserve Winners Bitch.

Angel's Annie got 99/100 for her first leg of Rally Advanced, First place, and Winners bitch for 2 points

More news tonight. Congratulations to all of them.


Saturday, June 26, 2010

Hey, everybody,

Canada Day is coming and so is the opportunity for SAWHDA members and their dogs to take part in the Canada Day Parade to be held in Coleman, Alberta. The parade starts at 11:00 a.m. from Flumerfelt Park which is directly north of the overpass. We intend to be there at 10:15 with carts and critters so please come and join us.
Afterwards, we will head to Shadowbar Shepherds in Lundbreck for a barbecue and some doggie games. Those with trailers who wish to get a head start on the activities are welcome to stay at Shadowbar for the weekend.

We have planned some canine capers in July.

An Introduction to Tracking / Search July 10th

We are planning to host a one day introduction or refresher course for those interested in tracking with their dogs. This course will begin at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, July 10th at Shadowbar Shepherds. A registration fee of $25 for members and $30 for non-members will be charged.
Participants should bring dogs, crates, buckle collars, toys, treats, water for you and the dog, a notebook and pencil and your registration fee.

This day will include classroom work as well as leash-handling, track-laying (as in walking in a straight line) and how to approach a track.
Lunch will be salads and barbecued burgers.
The afternoon will give people an opportunity to work their dogs on short tracks.

Two methods of tracking will be explained with students deciding which method their dogs would probably be best learning.
A brief explanation of search techniques will also be covered for those who would like to try their hand at search.
Those present will get to decide which evening or day they would like to meet next for their practice. We have decided to charge $5 a night for practice nights.

Starting July 5th, Monday nights from 6:45 - 8:00 p.m. will be dedicated to those who wish to play at recreational agility. Cost will be $5.00 for the evening and courses will be set out for everyone to try. This fun-filled activity will keep you and your dog fit.
Just ask Karen and Connie.

Thunder in the Valley is July 18th. Once again, we invite everyone to join us for the Parade which begins at 11:00 a.m. . We join the parade at Border Building, across from the Highwood Motel. All afternoon, there are downtown activities for us to enjoy centered around the gazebo on Main Street. And Deb has once more extended the invitation to everyone who wishes, to camp out at her house while waiting for the Thunder in the Valley Fireworks. We do a Pot Luck Supper at Deb's because there is NO WAY that we can order anything in with the amount of people in line.Keep in mind that the population of the Crowsnest Pass increases by tenfold for this event which brings it to 50,000. Imagine the 50/50 ticket return !!!! We have often returned to Shadowbar and kennelled our dogs for the night and then headed back to Deb's for the evening. The fireworks take place at 11:00 at night and due to the traffic, we haven't made it home before 2:00 a.m. Not bad for a 20 minute drive eh? If you haven't seen (or should I say heard) Thunder, you really should take the opportunity. The fireworks go on forever and everyone has a front row seat as there are no impediments to the view.
Lawn chairs and sleeping bags are a must and your SAWHDA vest will be put to good use, too, as the evenings in the mountains are cold and fresh when the sun goes down.

August 1 and 2nd are dedicated to Due South Dancers who will perform at Spruce Meadows for the AKC summer dog show. This show is huge and to be asked to perform is a compliment. Thanks to our Calgary members, we can do one performance on both days, with our southern-most members dancing on Sunday and our Calgary Contingent joining us for Monday's performance. Thanks to Tubby's negotiating skills (does he has those??) we have the noon spot for our performance allowing members who are working or showing dogs to gather at the lunchbreak to perform. Thank you to everyone who offered to dance.

Team one performers for Sunday will include:
Lore and Louann
Shirley and Barb
Janet and Nancy
Judi and Sharlet

Team two performers for Monday will include:
Lore and Carol
Louann and Maureen
Janet and Joan
Judi and Shar
which reminds me that we need to host a practice to help Maureen and Carol familiarize themselves with TheDance.
Also, Donna McLaughlin has offered to add a freestyle dance to the mix.

Maureen and Carol, pick a date for practice and we'll work around you.

Please let us know whether or not you would like to be included in any of the above events so we can plan ahead.
Enjoy the day!

The Pres.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The work paid off

Must share the news that as of this month's update, Shar and Ryder are 12th and 9th in the national standings for Rally Obedience. We are very proud of that and wish them both more High Scores this summer! Shar and MaryEllen head south to show Stateside this month as well.

Last week, Lore, Louann, Shar, Joan and I headed to Phantomridge for a Lynn Leach herding clinic and CKC trials. The clinic was excellent and Lynn proclaimed our dogs ready to try the trials. Lore and Bonnie achieved a Qualifying Score in the Herding Started class. One more to go.... it was great to see the corgis at work as they have a distinct style of herding. And Lore did a fantastic job of handling both Bonnie, her own dog, and Never, Louann's dog. She ended up getting the Award for the Most Promising Cardigan Corgi!! Well-deserved.

Louann was responsible for the meals for two days and we were treated to the best lunches ever!! The weather was miserable and cold and windy and rainy but we were well-fortified with hamburger soup and Bruder Barbecued beef, and countless cups of coffee. Every morning, muffins and fruit was available and there was always something to nibble on.
Sharlet pitched in and helped Louann wherever she was needed and everything ran so smoothly. The Cardigan club and the Australian Cattle Dog club both had wonderful goody bags and prizes. Each morning dawned on a new display.

Token had an admirer in the little shop cat who wanted desperately to sleep curled in Token's tail. In the end, it was not Token, but Mesa, who allowed the beautiful feline to curl up with her on the heated cement in the shop. Kristan got a lovely photo of Token and the cat and I think I will ask her permission to enter it in the Alberta SPCA photo contest on her behalf.

Joan and her Belgian, Dex, had a great weekend, ending it with two 'legs' towards their Herding Tested title. Dex can move like lightning and it was so nice to see him skid to a 'wait'. He had the same attitude as my own dog, Token, in that he couldn't stand to stay in place out of balance when the sheep moved in front of us. He just had to move to control them for Joan which sometimes resulted in him moving them backwards and having to regroup and regather, which he loved to do anyway.

By Sunday the sheep, after two days of clinic time and two days of trials, were crabby and just wanted to get back into their pens. One wrong move on our part and they were off like a shot to the exhaust pens. Saturday, Mesa used up a lot of time getting her sheep through the third obstacle, the free-standing chute, and they escaped twice on her. Back to the pens to gather and fetch again. I knew that we were getting close to the time limit and I was surprised to have the energy to race ahead of her and just let her keep the sheep to me through the last two obstacles and back to the pens. A good hold off the pen and we let them in. Phew!!! I don't want to do that too many times in the heat, but it was worth it. We took third place . By the end of the day, we had a new Herding Started title. We picked up our insurance leg Sunday morning and that allowed Mesa to relax for the rest of the weekend.

Token started off on Saturday with a pretty calm run and ended up second out of 15 dogs! I was amazed. And so was everyone else, I am sure. I am really losing confidence in myself in my ability to keep a controlled run that allows my dog to show her talent. My dad would have understood. He probably would have explained it by saying, "It is hard to realize that your original intent was to drain the swamp when you are up to your a__ in alligators." That's kind of what it feels like. The last run of the day I couldn't have cared less whether or not we had a title. And so I let Token run it her way.
We were done in under four minutes and I truly couldn't recall whether or not we had done every obstacle. It was like being on a Disney Ride! But we squeaked by and qualified, ending our weekend with her Herding Started title and a third and fourth place rating.

Was I impressed with our SAWHDA dogs? For sure! To me, the most impressive thing was the "hold" off the exhaust pen.
Every dog held those sheep until we asked the sheep to come in. And every dog took the sheep out of the take pen without incident although none of us had ever asked our dogs to do the job before taking the clinic.

Sneaky Shar, Louann and Lore bought a cake and presented it to me at the end of Saturday's trial as a birthday celebration. It was delicious as yet another treat for the trials!!! Yum.

Home didn't seem so far away with friends there, but I am sure Lore and Louann were happy to get home after two weeks on the road.

Monday, June 7, 2010

News from Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen was kind enough to provide a run-down of the points and titles gained by her dogs and Robert's dog this weekend.

What a weekend it was!

Judi


Fri – Tessa – BOW, BP – 1 pt.

Sat – Tessa – BB over specials BP – 2pts

Sun – Tessa – WB – 1pt

In a very few shows, Tessa has gained 9 points. Off to the Nationals, next.

Sat – Cheyenne –(MY half) Novice A obedience – 197 ½ and High in Class – first leg on CD

Sun – Cheyenne –(MaryEllen's half) Novice A obedience – 181 ½ and tie for 2nd – got third after run off with SAWHDA member, Carol with Emily.

Sun – Beemer – two legs on his Field Dog Jr. to complete his FDJ title!!!! Owner/Handled – Robert Frost

Sunday, June 6, 2010

More results.

Today at the Edmonton Dog Show, Joan and Dex earned their CD degree, and Carol, with Emily, ran off for second place against Mary Ellen and Cheyenne and won the run-off to get Emily's second leg of her CD. Chey and Em are now tied for CD qualifying legs. Now for the long trek home.

Shar and I took the trailer to High River and set up for the sheepherding clinic so that we can leave after obedience class tomorrow night and not have to worry about setting up late. We hope the rain and wind holds off but I think I have enough wet-wear to last. I just knew I should have bought those flippers that were at the SPCA garage sale this weekend.

the pres

Saturday, June 5, 2010

More news from Edmonton

In the performance events, we have some fabulous news to share. Carol and Emily went High in Class with 96 to gain their first qualifying score towards the Advanced title. Maureen finished Levi's RAE and today went on to add her first score towards the RAE-2 title. Wow!!! In standard obedience, Joan and Dex were fourth in Novice with 190 1/2 and Carol and Emily were right behind with 185. High in Class????? None other than Mary Ellen and Cheyenne...... with MY half of the dog doing the work. What a girl.
Congratulations to everyone and keep the news coming. Shar and I are heading to High River tomorrow morning to drop the trailer at Phantomridge. Then we'll head back up after our double agility/obedience classes Monday night. What a whirlwind that will be.
Thank you in advance to Deb for looking after things at Shadowbar in my absence!
Russ and Marilyn will head north for Carlyn's wedding..... party, party, party.
Enjoy the weekend. I'll be packing gumboots and long rider for my clinic!
the pres

Edmonton News

They did it! Kim and Bosley attended the Draft Dog Tests in Edmonton and came away with Bosley's Draft Dog Title. It is super when it all comes together! On to the DDX!
In the conformation ring, Mary Ellen is happy to report that her GSP, Tessa, gained yet another point towards her Canadian Championship. Congrats to both of you.
If anyone knows how our members did in performance events like obedience, agility, or rally O, send news, please. We love to read about it.
The Pres

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Leave your dog at home.

Pass the word. This excerpt was taken from the Alberta SPCA's e-newsletter, Animal Connect.
It is important to get the message across to members of the public. Maybe print the info and
place it under the windshield wiper of any car that has an animal in it. Could save a life.

A Hot Summer Day and Dogs in the Car: A Deadly Combination
On a hot day the inside of a car can reach 51ÂșC in as little as 10 minutes! In this time a dog can suffer irreparable cerebral damage or possibly death. Opening the windows, parking in the shade or providing water does not help alleviate the extreme temperatures that your dog will experience if left in your car. This can cause heat exhaustion and eventually heat stroke in dogs after a very short period of time.
Possible symptoms of heat stroke include heavy panting, glazed eyes, dizziness, rapid pulse, excessive thirst, salivation, lack of appetite, weakness, muscle tremors, a deep red or purple tongue, and vomiting.
What can you do if your dog exhibits symptoms of heat stroke? If your dog becomes overheated move him to the shade and apply cool (not cold) water all over his body to reduce body temperature. Apply ice packs or cold towels to his head, neck and chest. Ensure he drinks small amounts of cool water or licks ice cubes. Take your dog to a veterinary clinic right away!