Great Day!

Another great club day at Cowley. Tubby and Kerri joined us from Calgary, Donna, Judy and Sarah from Lethbridge, and Denise and Sylvia from Fernie so counting Shar, Deb, Shirley, Barb, Russell and I, we had a really good practice.

We started off with conformation and Judy, Deb and I played judge and exhibitor in turn.

Then we played scent hurdle with Kipper, Kona, Drummer, Jagged, Ryder, Mesa, Roxy, and Token.

Sylvia and Shirley had their dogs run over a second set of jumps to see if our team would leave the course and join them. Drummer had a moment but all in all, we had a good round. All the dogs ran the jumps well and they all brought back dumbbells. Not always their dumbbells, but dumbbells. Everyone wanted Denise's dumbbell and Ryder, who never pays attention to any dumbbell, was convinced it was his for sure. At times, we had six dumbbells in the box at a time and the dogs were really having to check to find theirs. As usual, everybody played and everybody had a good time. We are looking forward to our practice next Wednesday with the Lethbridge team.

We switched to standard obedience and had four dogs in Open, one in Novice and one in PRe-Novice.

All did very well. At times, we had ten dogs on the floor working stays and figure eights and broad jumps and drop on recall exercises all at the same time. Talk about organized confusion, but we all managed. Then I put Sarah and Donna through an Open routine and their dogs did very well.

We set up a combination novice/advanced and then an advanced/excellent course of rally O and

after setting up the course, I was the first one to make a boo boo on the straight figure 8 . Duh, how many cones are there in a straight figure 8 anyway..... maybe five????

We were all proud of our dogs today. Kipper's moving down as fabulous, and Charley's drop on recall was snappy. Janet's pup allowed everyone to pet her which was super and Sylvia's poodle was relaxed and happy in the midst of all the dogs. Jagged was happy to be with everyone and she really liked the sheltie. I think he is in love with her.

Mojo was just zipping along and did an excellent backup three steps as did Kipper. I was just happy that Swayze stayed with me. Tubby's new pup, Cagney, wasn't phased by the action at all. She was relaxed and enthusiastic about everything.

With seven people helping with cleanup, we were out of the hall in less than 30 minutes and on our way to the craft fair in Pincher Creek at the golf course. Deb bought a rug and I bought a neat little sweater/shawl thingy that will work well when the house is cool.

Last night, five of us entered the Parade of Lights in the Pass and Fyre won hands down for the cutest outfit. Deb had bought these large battery-operated bows from Canadian Tire and we made a harness for Fyre with the bows on each side of her. She looked like a lit-up butterfly as she zig-zagged back and forth across the road in the parade. Mesa and Ryder were also 'lit up' with mini-lights and bows and Drummer hopped and skipped and jumped his way into everyone's heart along the parade route. Jan and Anita's young dogs did very well, actually visiting with kids along the route. The night was warm and just perfect for the parade, which introduced Moonlight Madness shopping.

What a good weekend.

New titles

Congratulations to Judy Hunt and Kona, her young flatcoat retriever on gaining the title of Rally Novice dog. And to Amanda Labadie and Wicca, her wonderful Cardigan Corgi, for reaching the title Scent Hurdle Dog Champion!!!!

Performance events take practice and good management and these two ladies have shown that they have both.

Sit Happens APDT Rally O Trial Results

A little brag from the Oct. 30/31 APDT Rally Obedience Trial in Calgary:

Sat. Oct. 30
Jagged & Viper - tied for High in Level 1B with perfect scores (210's) and same times
Jagged - High in Level 2B
Jagged - High in Level 3B

Sun. Oct. 31
Jagged - High in Level 1B
Jagged - High in Level 2B
Jagged - High in Level 3B

High in Trial for Sat. & Sun. is shared by Viper & Jagged.
High Speed Duo awarded to Jagged & I
Viper awarded ARCHX title & ribbon
Jagged awarded ARCH title & ribbon

A special THANK YOU to Jill, Alison and staff of "Sit Happens" in Calgary, Alberta
and to Judges: Tammy Brooks & Lisa Wright!
Thanks also to Mungo's Books and Urban Mushers for the lovely prizes.

Denise McKay
PROUD PARTNER OF:

Ch. Karlee's War Without Prejudice, CD, AGNJS, AGNS, NAC, NJC, VADC,
VSGDC, RL2
All CD legs HIC
Call sign: TAMSEN - 10 1/2 year old red female Doberman; Status - retired
(IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER)

ARCHX. Karlee's Just To Satisfy You, PCD, AGNJS, RE, RL3(AOE), RL1X2,
RL2X, SADC, NJC
CKC Rally: 7X HIC, 2X Perfect Score, APDT Rally: 20X HIC, 8X HIT, 7X
Perfect Score
Call sign: VIPER - 5 year old male Doberman

ARCH. Montwood Arista Just Show'n Off, CD, RE, RL3, RL1X,AGNS,SGDC
CKC Rally: 16X HIC, 5 perfect scores, APDT Rally: 25X HIC, 9X HIT, 12X
perfect score
CKC Agility: All legs HIC
Call sign: JAGGED - 3 year old female Doberman

*** Canadian National Rankings - APDT Rally Obedience - 2009, Viper &
Jagged are ranked #1 in Canada (tied with 341 points. each)!

Red Deer Results

What a nice weekend for SAWHDA members! No one came away empty-handed.
Maureen and Levi qualified in two Advanced Rally classes with 87 and 97.
Amanda and Wicca picked up two legs towards their RAE title. (8 to go!)
Sara and Kaleb got 2 Excellent legs in Rally and ...... and.... Kaleb qualified in the Open
Ring.
Shar and Ryder picked up 33 points in the Canadian Rally standings and 3 more scores towards their third RAE title. They only have one more set to go!
In the Breed ring, Judy and her flatcoat pup, Kona, went Winners and Best of Winners to end with 5 points towards a Canadian Championship. Breeder, Liz Saunders, did well, too, with her male dog Tinbie taking Best of Breed and Cava, the flatcoat pup ending with Best puppy in Breed. Liz's Rally dog, Lupin, passed in the Excellent ring to gain a qualifying score there.
Judi Snowdon's German shepherd, Hunter, ended the weekend with two points and Best of Winners.
Shar and Judi entered Ryder and Token in the International Therapy Dog Association's test and both dogs passed with flying colors. Tester Chris Cornell made the test both fun and interesting for all competitors.
Scent hurdle was the chaos it generally is but we got the job done. Wicca was just not herself as she had previously eaten a roll of Rollover dog food with Tim's timbits for dessert. What a girl!
Lots of opportunity for visiting with friends and watching rally and obedience.

We have Dog Club on the 13th to provide everyone with the opportunity to practice before the Lethbridge Dog Show. Conformation at 9:15. Scent hurdle at 10:00. Mayhem afterwards with obedience and rally.
See you there.
The Prez

Stateside Stuff

Ryder, German shepherd dog owned by Sharlet Caroe, finished his RA and RE titles in one weekend at the Helena Dog show. He now has his Canadian CD, CGN, AgN, RAE II and his US CD, RA, & RE titles. And now he has started a new career at 9 years of age: scent hurdle racing!!!
Tessa owned by Mary Ellen Whyte obtained a Best of Breed win to give her 10 points towards her US championship. Congratulations are in order and wishes for those Majors!

Camrose results

Congratulations to Carol and Hank on two legs of Novice B obedience! And also to Maureen and Levi for their super scores of 97 and 95 in Rally Advanced! And also to Heather and her poodle who were definitely walkin' on sunshine with two scores towards their RAE title! Exciting!!

Amanda and Wicca had a super agility weekend made especially wonderful with Wicca getting super fast times (2nd over all) and not knocking bars!!!! Her last standard run left Amanda breathless!!! This team has put in plenty of practice to get this far and it has been worth it with Wicca having a fabulous year!!

Tubby Miller will be on hand Saturday the 30th to help us with our team carting. If anyone has questions re: draft dog or carting, I am sure Tubby will be happy to help out.

Good luck to those members entered in the Sit Happens! APDT trials this coming weekend. Let us know how things go.

Club day is Saturday beginning with Scent hurdle practice at 10:00, followed by Rally O : a novice course and then a combination of advanced and excellent to save time, and then obedience/conformation.

Hopefully, Nancy Lopaschuk is coming from Cranbrook and can help us with conformation by putting us through a mock
pattern. I, for one, would appreciate it.

And I would appreciate having someone put me through a pre-novice and novice heeling pattern as my dogs
often have trouble with the judge following us. Sarah needs an Open routine judged. We should be done
before 2:00 p.m.

See you there. Coffee will be on.

Best of the best club day

Today was one of the best days for SAWHDA club days. We had eight people and 12 dogs at club today and everyone had success in one or more areas. I was thrilled to death with the scent team's progress. Our guest, Judy Hunt, went away with happy smiles as her dog, Roxy, picked her dumbbell from the "special box" amidst four others every time. Of course, so did every other dog there. The way we had the situation set up made it impossible for dogs to NOT bring back their proper dummies. And it worked really well as the confidence level was up and dogs were forced to choose the right dumbbell without comment from their owners. Probably the quietest we've ever been. Can't wait for next weekend. Drummer, the sheltie puppy, last night and this morning, slowed down on the box and sniffed out his dumbbell deliberately, checking the others and choosing his. Look out, dumbbells; he can find you now. We still have far to go though as we are taking this very slowly and making every step a baby step for each dog. Token, Ryder, Kipper, Walker, Mesa, Drummer and Roxy all did the jumps and found their bells and did it from various positions as well. We didn't do passes. Just waited for the dogs to come over the last jump and run down the hallway before sending the next dog.

We agreed that distraction is not something we need right now, and we won't stop a dog on its return run to resend it. Instead, our theory is to bring it home and run it at the end rather than interrupt the flow. And no "No's" allowed, either. Just 'yes's'.

We also did some jump/barrel relays and barrel racing to keep up the pace. Kona loved the relays and zoomed around the barrel after just one run! Swayze, Walker, Krissie, Kipper and Maggie, too. Loads of laughs.

The rally courses were challenging but fair and there were no 100's but several very close to it we think. Made ya think.

We all helped each other with stand for exams and we used the Honor in rally for three dogs to sit on a long sit in a line while the working dog was on course. it was great.

We heard from Carol that Hank got a leg towards his CD with a score of 189/200 today and Maureen did well with Levi in Rally with a 97 in her class in Camrose. Good stuff. Still waiting to hear who won the High in Trial at the Newf specialty.

Talk tomorrow. Happy heeling.
The PRez