Club Fun

We had a blast at Club yesterday. We did great group work in obedience and covered all levels in an hour. Scent was super except for Drummer who lost his mind and never did regain it completely. What a nut. Louann stopped by and measured jackets for girth size.

New moves for intro's for Pet Expo. Check movie.

What fun! Thank you, Donna.

Working on new square dance routine. Is looking very good.

The Prez

Club Day Schedule January 22

Hi, everyone,

We start tomorrow's club day with Obedience at 9:00 a.m. using the following format:

* Rally Drill for a five minute warm-up.

* Sits/Downs .... all levels

* Sit for exam, stand for exam, moving stand for exam.

* Pre-novice circle left/right Novice/Open fig. 8's

* Recalls all levels

* Signal exercises

* Retrieves

* Jumps

No run-through's.

Barrel Racing: four runs per dog.

Scent Hurdle racing: with help from dogs NOT on the team who can provide some

distraction by running jumps parallel to ours.

We need to make sure everyone has dumbbells/ numbers/ jackets.

12:30 :::::: Freestyle Dance : Line Dance::::::

Donna will help us use rally moves to make a line dance.

Anyone who would like to work an individual dance may do so

while the rest practice the line dance moves. This could be a blast!!!

$5.00 drop in fee for members

$10.00 drop in fee for non-members

CKC fees

For those of you who own CKC registered dogs but do not actually belong to the Canadian Kennel Club, the CKC is instituting an annual fee of $55 so that they can keep track of the titles gleaned by those dogs whose owners are not CKC members.

Some people feel that this is a 'cash cow' move by the CKC. When the AKC was in financial trouble, they elected to allow non-registerd dogs to compete in their performance events. Our CKC looked at doing the same thing but the members stated that they did not want this to occur. The CKC listened to the members who responded to their question regarding the mixed breeds in CKC performance events and then had to come up with a better plan. They decided to ask non-members to join their club if they want to play in the same events as members.

I would like to hear how others feel about this plan.

Oh, speaking of memberships, ours SAWHDA fees for 2011 are due. I'd better get on that.

The Prez

Birthday wishes

Hey, Everyone,

It's Russell's Birthday. Happy birthday wishes, Russ, from all of us SAWHDA members.

Too bad you won't be able to join us Saturday.

Judi

SAWHDA Member has TOP APDT Rally dogs!!!

The APDT Rally Obedience Canadian National Rankings for 2010 have just
been released.......
http://www.apdt.com/rally/pdf/2010/national_rankings_canada_2010.pdf

Jagged (ARCH. Montwood Arista Just Show'n Off) is ranked #1 (in Canada)
Viper (ARCHX. Karlee's Just To Satisfy You) is ranked #2 (in Canada)

We are all anxiously awaiting spring and looking forward to another
agility season with Jagged. She is entered in her first "Scent Hurdle
Race" in Calgary, Alberta the first weekend in February. We are part of
team "Due South" and are looking forward to this exciting event! Jagged
is our wonderful little multi-tasker and she excels at everything she
does. Can't wait to participate in this exciting event!

Denise McKay/ Proud Owner/Handler

Masters Gamble Time

Member Brenda Bando, who lives in London, Ontario, reports, :"
Was at a trial and Ally is now in Masters Gamble. She also got one more standard. I finally got some front and rear crosses and also a serpentine."

Good job, Ally and Brenda. We miss you. Are you showing the Easterners how to barrel race?

The Prez

Ski-jouring success

Congratulations to Donna for placing fourth in the two dog ski-jouring event at
Elkford this weekend. All that skiing around gravel has given Donna the ability to
stay on her feet at all costs (unlike some of us who spend more time downside than up.)
Her goal was to get a clean start, run with no pass infractions, and get a decent time.
Achieved!!! Anyone wanting to start out ski-jouring can contact Donna through our blog.

Another Congratulations to Michelle and her Australian shepherd, Daven. Daven's picture represents the month of February on the Canadian Search and Rescue Dog calendar!
The calendars are a fund-raiser for the organization. If anyone would like one, please contact
me and I would be glad to put you in touch with Michelle.


The weather here was nuts this weekend! It rained in Elkford, was a balmy +10 in the Pass, and fluctuated between -17 and +10 at Lundbreck. We moved between flood control to deep freeze at 4:00 p.m. and I was thrilled that the wood burner chimney was clean and ready to go with a handy supply of wood thanks to super-hubby! Who went to bed before 7:00 p.m. when the super wore off. Fresh start tomorrow.

We have three Cardi's staying with us and they are providing the entertainment for our shepherds, who definitely do not understand "corget" because they do not respond to any of the comments given by the short-legged ones.

The gate alarm has gone off about 10 times in the past 1/2 hour and every time, it's a new day for the dogs, who come out of their naps just in time to talk loudly about the intruders. The deer are on the move.

Keep in mind that Saturday is our practice for Scent Hurdle for the Ev Kenny show. The jackets have been cut out and given to seamstress, Louann, for construction, the numbers are ready to be put on the plastic and into the pockets, and we have to make sure that everyone has a set of dumbbells. We will start obedience at 9:00, barrel racing at 9:45, scent at 10:30. Those wanting to try freestyle dance are asked to bring 5 rally exercises that can be placed in sequence to music. Donna McLaughlin will be on hand to help us construct a simple dance routine.

Stay sharp.

The Prez

The Hoop - Horse Agility How to #1

The Hoop - Horse Agility How to #1

Shiba fans

If any of our members know of someone who would like a CKC registered, red, 4 1/2 month old red, male shiba pup who will grow oversize, and must be neutered at the new owner's expense,

please contact me for further information.

The Prez

More Stateside

Spoke to Jackie Clemens last night. Jackie lives in Spokane right now with four shelties, the oldest of which is 18 years of age. The youngest is just a tad older than our Drummer Boy. Jackie and her dog, Nickles, ran scent hurdle with our Due South team. What a time we had. Jackie lived in Montana and she and Nickles practiced with Due South ten minutes before each race.

It worked. Nickles knew the game and just loved to do scent hurdle.

Jackie is actually a wanna-be Canuck and misses us Canadians tremendously. Right now, she is in a race to become, I think, the bionic woman. She has had her hip replaced and is now recovering slowly from a knee replacement. The upside of being a physio patient is that one can look forward to all the agility and herding events that take place this summer, and there are lots of them in Jackie's area. Those of you who would like to touch base with Jackie and cheer her up can email me and I will give you her information. I am sure she'd love to hear from you.

This morning the temp. reads -17C but we still have no wind so we are lucky in our little corner of the province.

Dress warmly while you are digging out to get to work or to your kennels this morning.

The Pres

Saturday's Practice

We had a wonderful day yesterday at Dog Club despite the fact that the weather prevented all our Lethbridge, Claresholm, and Calgary members from attending. Miserable. We had 11 people and 16 dogs attend.

Obedience practice went very well with all dogs reaching their intended goals for the day. Barrel-racing will be a great hit at Pet Expo for sure. We had dogs so excited to race that they were barking and whining to be next. And scent hurdle was amazing. We set the jumps to 12 inches and the dogs really had to adjust their strides but they ran clean every run except 2 out of the dozen we did and Mesa Sue actually ran for the heck of it and never made a mistake. What a girl!

We played loud, obnoxious music and got everyone to make mega-noise while the dogs were racing and they really didn't care. It was very encouraging. We are sending out a generic jacket model & having five made, but if you have an original light green coat for your dog, please use that one. I will collect ALL coats and keep them in the Due South bag so they are there when we need them and can be

used with any dog. The numbers slide in and out of the pockets, so it's easy to use any coat.

Practice on the 22nd will be for all dogs. Bring jackets and bells. We will have a few extra bells for those that need them. Please measure the bar width so we can match. We presently have eight dogs on our Due South Team with two height-setters.

The afternoon of January 22nd will be reserved for those people who would like to incorporate a short freestyle routine incorporating five rally moves. Donna McLaughlin will be on hand to help us with this program. Should be fun for all: something for everyone.

Wow!!! The power is back on. I can actually post this. Yayyyy!

The Pres

News Stateside

News from Nancy and Dick Lopaschuk when told about our winter storm.

"Wow. Sounds dreadful there. We are sitting in Indio watching the Group judging at Palm Springs KC shows. Not hot but sunny and pleasant enough. Have done well here with Brie's daughter Celine. Took BOS yesterday & select today. She is already an AM CH so these wins count toward her AM Grand CH. Had puppy in also. He has taken 1st in his class each day. There are 59 Paps entered. Did not put Brie in Rally here as obed is at different location. Show has 3350 dogs. Have her in rally later in month. Nancy"

BOS and there are 59 Paps? Congratulations, Nancy and Dick!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all SAWHDA members. We hope that you had a wonderful holiday season and are now ready to start your 2011 training in earnest. Actually, in Cowley, beginning January 8th with obedience at 9:00 a.m. followed by barrel racing and scent hurdle. Lunch to follow at the Cowley Pub and Restaurant. Yes, we are watching the weather closely. Fernie is due for snow as is Calgary and areas southeast. We hope to avoid the mess. See you if you can make it. If not, we'll have to try for the 22nd.
Happy Heeling.
The Pres

New titles

Congratulations to MaryEllen and her German shorthair pointer, Tessa, who obtained her AKC Championship in style with all majors in place!!! Watch for this team in the rally and obedience rings this spring and summer.