The Gang

The Gang
Ain't We Got Fun?

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Rally results

In checking Canuck dogs points for 2011, it is fabulous to see that the following SAWHDA members are among the top 25 rally dogs in Alberta.


Sharlet and Ryder  #1


Amanda and Wicca #10


Marilee and Alle     #17


Judi and Drummer  #20


Maureen and Levi  #24


Amanda and Pixel  #25


As far as titles and nice wins go, the following handler/dog teams sent in these reports:


Tubby's Newf, Cagney,  earned her U.S. CD. Title with a  H.i.T. and her  Can. C D
with a 2nd and a 3rd in class.



Tina Hasting's sheltie, Jethro, earned his Rally Novice and Rally Advanced titles this year. He received two High Score in Class ribbons and a High Qualifying Score in Breed at the Lethbridge Competition for Rally Advanced. He also got a High Score In Class at the Medicine Hat competition for Rally Novice. 


 MaryEllen's Tessa, Am/Can Ch. Bianca's Reason to Dream,  obtained her  American Rally Novice and Advanced titles - 5 High in Class & a 4th.  Canadian Rally Novice & Advanced Titles.  Adv three high in class, novice two high in class.  Two legs on her Companion Dog title.  Group 2 & Group 1st in conformation.


Lore's Cardigan corgi,Fido, competed at the intermediate level at only four sheep herding trials placed tenth  at the Nationals  and received the Pepsi award.  Also Miss Bonnie was the first Cardigan to receive the "versatility" award in the Cardigan club, titled in three venues.




Jeff & Cheryl's  German shepherd, Brenner,  at Castlegaar, had a Group 1 win under  judge  Ann Hennigan.


 Joan's Belgian,  Bo,  earned his NADAC Novice Hoopers title, &  got his 1st leg on CKC Novice Standard Agility.  Zsuree earned her 1st Ch. points (AKC Aug. WB, and Camrose Oct. BOS, BOW for a major).  Zsuree also earned her CGN at Red Deer in Nov.  Dex earned his Rally Excellent Title at AKC in August. 

Nicole's Bernese Mt. Dog, Sophie got her RE at the beginning of December.

Maureen's sheltie, Levi, got legs 5 and 6th toward her second RAE title and the only other stuff we did was a Rally Novive Title in the US and 1 leg toward her Rally Advance title in the US.  

Darryl's sheltie, Drummer, got his Rally Advanced title, his Scent Hurdle Excellent title and his CGN title. 

Judy's German shepherd, Hunter, got his Rally Advanced with three HIC and a perfect score. 
Swayze has two scores in Excellent Rally, both HIC and one perfect score. Mo is now a Canadian Champion making 3/4 pups from the Busch/Token litter champions. Swayze gained 2 points his first time out. Both Hunter and Drummer have two legs in PreNovice. 

Nancy & Dick's papillons did very well stateside. Brie finished her Am. CD. with a 3rd in a class of 14.  Peter  took Winners Dog in all 4 shows so he now has 12 US points. Brie has her Can. RE as well.

Please keep sending in your information so we can share it here on our blog.

Congratulations to all of you.  What a nice way to end the year.
Good luck in 2012.


The Prez

Monday, December 26, 2011

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Pioneer Lodge Senior Centre Visit with Santa Paws

On December 17th, members of SAWHDA took time to visit the senior citizens at the Pioneer Lodge in Fort Macleod for a Christmas photo shoot.   Ten different breeds of dogs were represented.  The entire shoot took four hours in the two venues and through it all the dogs remained surprisingly fresh and definitely patient being in close quarters in unfamiliar surroundings.  Their training and temperaments certainly were tested. 
Thank you to Tubby, Kerri, Shar, Deb, Lore, MaryEllen, Russell, Maureen, Char, Carol and Joan for making this happen!  Once again, a great job!














You are the best!!!         Merry Christmas and we'll see you January 7th at Cowley.


The Prez 

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Top Rally Dog Alberta 2011

Thank you, Amanda, for letting us know that Sharlet Caroe has the #1 Rally Dog in Alberta!!!   And Congratulations, Sharlet.  What a great team!
The Prez

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

News Stateside

News from Nancy!

Hi Judi and SAWHA members.

Entered in Malibu & Shoreline Kennel Club shows in Costa Mesa CA (Anaheim) and had great weekend.  Had “Peter” in conformation and “Brie” in 2 obed trials on Friday. Long day as were in conformation early in morning then the obed trials in another building in afternoon.  Lots of entries here so one trial about noon and the other finished at 7:30 at night!   (OMG!)

Peter  took Winners Dog in all 4 shows so he now has 12 US points.  First 3 days - 2 pts per day and yesterday only 1 point.  On the first 3 days, the entry was 1 dog short for majors L…then yesterday a couple people pulled so only 1 pt.   Each Club had a Bred By Exhibitor class on one day.  He took that class both days and got a 2nd and a 4th in the  Bred By Toy Group.

They only held 2  Obed Trials… Brie qualified in both..scores ok at 187.5 and 185.  The second trial she was a 3rd in  Nov B Class – 14 entries.  Second judge marked a little harder than first judge as she did much better in 2nd trial but got lower score L  Anyway..she already had one leg to CD so the 2 qualifying scores finished her AM CD.

So..all in all, first shows this year in the south were very successful…   No  more shows till next year – Palm Spring Kennel Club  Indio beginning of January.

Seasons Greetings to everyone.
Nancy & Dick

              Safe travels, good times, & keep in touch, Nancy and Dick.

              The Prez

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Send us your Christmas cards!

Hi, everybody,
 Please send us your Christmas cards so we can post them on our SAWHDA blog and share them with the group. 
We will kick off our Christmas cards with a Merry Christmas from John, Sylvia, Julie, Winston, and Bear (the reindog.)

Merry Christmas to everyone from Darryl & Judi
and the gang at Shadowbar.


Keep the cards coming and we'll keep adding them!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

We have managed to catch up with Nancy and Dick Lopaschuk as they travel 
Stateside for the winter. Here is the latest report from Nancy.


We are currently in Anaheim CA. Traveled here the day after the big wind hit
the area.  Trip was interesting because we could not take the route planned
due to the high winds moving east, so we ended up driving though Los
Angeles, LAX, Beverly Hills etc.   Lots of damage in the areas we drove
through but nothing much on freeways.  We also had high winds in some areas
- kinda of scary.          After we left Ventura, we didn't see any RV's on
the freeways - too busy and too much traffic.  We are in a great RV park
with huge spaces, lots of grass...no one close by....like our provincial
parks.  It is in the Santa Ana hills right beside the Santa Ana
River..luckily have a hill to protect us.  

Spent first week in Bakersfield CA at Fairgrounds..great place, full
hookups, acres of fenced grass, 24 hour security etc.  Dog shows are held
there but when we were there, no one there except for the workers.  Was like
having our own private campground...dogs loved to run in circles on the
grass (supervised of course) Usually, we go there so Dick can work on
reports due by end of November.  Nice & quiet and close to shopping. After
leaving Bakersfield, we went to Paso Robles (wine country) near the coast
(mid way down CA).  There was a show there but we weren't entered so just
visited with dog show friends.  Stayed a week..lovely place - population
less than Cranbrook and there are 290 wineries and wine tasting places. No
we didn't visit them all...just one.









We are green with envy here in the Great White North.  Good luck at the upcoming shows with all the dogs and Brie in particular.  Take care.  And keep us in touch.
The Prez 

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Santa Claus Parade

Our SAWHDA group looked so good in the Santa Claus Parade. Hard to describe, really.
We had a bit of everything.
 We led off with Sharlet and her brace of shepherds in backpacks. Mesa and Ryder looked super with teddy bears and snowmen peeping out of the side pockets on the packs. 


 Next came Janet and her Bernese Mt. Dog, Tucker, who was decked out in a winter scarf and Santa toque, and Maureen, with Joan's Belgian pup, Danny, and Darryl's sheltie, Drummer Boy.  Maureen actually brought her own sheltie, Levi, and her parents' dog, Lexi, along, but both dogs thought that Maureen was out of her mind asking them to walk in the parade and at the first chance, each of them hooked a ride in a cart, Levi preferring Joan's cart with Beau pulling, and Lexi trusting Carol and Hank to drive for her. We were concerned that they might jump out during the parade but no worries. They weren't prepared to trade a cushy ride for a long walk.  Even Drummer calling out "Merry Christmas" and leaping in the air to catch his leash along the entire parade route, couldn't move them. The tv crew on hand liked them so much they took shots of the cart dogs and passengers from ground level! 


 Nicole and Sophie did a great job of attracting smiles from the crowd as Sophie pulled her cart full of presents (some of them escaping due to the wind) without any concern about the crowds (five layers deep the entire route). 


Carol and Hank and Judi & Swayze were next in line with their carts. Hank was super confident and so mellow about the whole thing, bands, horses, and all. He even looked like he was smiling... and for sure Carol was !


We are not sure if Tubby would approve of our tactics, but Swayze was a last minute (and we do mean, twelfth hour) stand in for Token, who can easily pull the cart but is miserable doing it. 
The night before the parade, Deb, (shaking her head at the bravado ... or stupidity of 
Swayze's owner... that would be me) Shar, (trying hard to believe it would work, but clenching her teeth) and I, (who had no doubt the dog would do it...uh, wouldn't he?) hooked up Swayze (who has never had a cart harness or cart behind him before) in the garage and walked him forward 20 feet, unhooked him, and repeated this about five times without a wreck. "Good enough," I said.  "He'll do it." And why not? He pulls a dog sled. The only diff was the shafts which were a bit scary as they confine the dog's movement, especially in a turn, but I knew I only had two turns on the entire route. He could do it.


And he did. And everytime Drummer leaped in the air and barked, Swayze did this "Hi-ho Silver routine",  only he was attached to the cart. We lost our brake half way through the parade and I had to double wrap my leash around the inside shaft so I could stop the cart from riding up on Swayze, but he was super throughout it all. Trust is a wonderful thing. 


And bringing up the rear was what I, personally, consider to be the best exhibit in the group.  This year the fifth-wheel wagon was a bright Christmas red with greenery around the wagon, and poinsettia wreaths around Walker and RoZe's necks as they towed the Christmas wagon with Mojo riding in it. It took both Russell on one side and Deb on the other to hold the dogs back. They had no trouble with the wind or the wagon, that's for sure. And the amazing thing. They were in step with each other walking or standing through most of the entire route. Check out the picture. Is there one dog with four ears or two dogs?


And we were so lucky to have Marilyn on hand to zip into Luigi's Restaurant and hold a table for all of us so we could enjoy a pre-Christmas luncheon together and discuss some cool seminars for the new year.


It's days like this that make me so thankful for all our SAWHDA members because this activity has nothing to do with certificates or titles for our dogs. What it shows is that we care enough to share the wonder or what we do so others can enjoy our dogs, too.


What a great day!!!  Thanks to all. 


the prez








SAWHDA at the Fort Macleod Parade

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

New Obedience Rules for 2012

All set.   SAWHDA is pleased to say that CKC obedience judge, Jeff Lunder, has agreed to travel to Cowley, Alberta, Saturday, January 7th,  to review the rule changes for CKC obedience for 2012.  
The presentation will begin at 10:00 a.m. followed by lunch and then a fun match for practice!!!  The club is asking for participants to donate $10.00 towards the cause.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

Please email shadowbr@telusplanet.net if you intend to join us so we can use the numbers to best plan our day.

So far, we have had 15 affirmative replies within the past two hours of posting.   Wonderful!!!!

The Prez 

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Good weekend for all

Lethbridge Dog Show was terrific.  We had members take High in Class in both Obedience and Rally rings.  Sarah and Gyp and Tina and Jethro did especially well. In Scent hurdling, our Due South team, with Betty running her first scent hurdle race ever, picked up 30 points with no errors.  We ran clean and had no cross-overs or time faults and came away with two new titles!!! Liz's Lupine now has her Scent Hurdle Excellent title and my Token now has her Scent Hurdle Championship title.  We were missing two of our crew, with Wicca and Jagged being a bit under the weather but we look forward to adding them to the team roster at AKC.
We have contacted Jeff Lunder who will be traveling to Cowley to go over the changes in obedience rules with us and we invite Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, and Cranbrook club members to join us.  As soon as we know the official date, we will send plans to everyone.
We hope to see everybody at the Fort Macleod Santa Claus Parade this coming Saturday.  Meet the gang at the A&W by 10:00 so we can get in line.
Safe traveling.
The Prez

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Last practice until the new year

Today was the last practice for Due South scent hurdlers before the Lethbridge and districtKennel Club dog show next weekend and we are happy to report that except for a few minor glitches, all is well in The 'South' and we are looking forward to the races. the Lethbridge judging schedule is online at Canuck dogs. Obedience is in the morning and rally takes up the afternoon. Team members are asked to meet at the show grounds around three p.m..at the rally ring. Look for Deb. Bring your dog, dumbbells, and jacket if you have it, and dress in a white top.

In obedience we had some really nice runs with all the dogs. and the two rally courses were challenging but fair. We discussed the marking of the Honor exercise in Excellent because depending on the judge, what is a fail in one ring is points off in another. It was the consensus of the group that a judge should take the time in the Excellent briefing to explain his expectations clearly to the competitors before the class begins so everyone is of the same understanding.

I must say that it is a pleasure to have qualified competitors on hand to help with course set up and give valuable feedback and in site to the course designer. And, as usual, everyone played, even if the dog wasn't quite at the level of the course set. Sixteen week old pups and RAE dogs took turns doing the exercises they could as the rest of us cheered them on. We even worked each others dogs!!

All in all, it was a good way to end our hall practices for this year.

Remember,to check in with Judi to let her know whether or not you will be attending the November 26th Fort Macleod Santa Claus Parade. So far, we have four braces and four carts and a wagon as our exhibit. We meet at the A & W at 10:00 a.m.

Hope to hear from you soon.

The Prez

Friday, November 11, 2011

News!!

Kona earned her 1st leg towards her RA in Red Deer last weekend with a score of 91. Owner Judy Hunt said jokingly that it might have been much better had she not taken a liking to the judge, ring steward and gallery. We, their teammates for scent hurdle, love Kona's happy go lucky attitude!!

Must thank everybody for continuing to vote for Drummer in the Fido Casting Call contest. We are at 787 this morning!!!! Think we can make it to number one???? Please vote.

We are practicing at the Cowley Hall this Sunday from 9:30 until 1:00 pm and would love to see you there! Scent hurdle, obedience practice, obedience testing, rally O. Last chance to get a run in before Lethbridge's show. Remember the Go Do Go fun matches in the evening.


A reminder that it is nearing time to renew memberships for the 2012 year. We are keeping the rate to $20.00. Starting in January, nonmembers' rates for drop ins will increase to $7:00 while members' rates will remain $5:00.

The Fort Macleod Santa Claus Parade is November 26th. Meet at the A&W at 10:00 sharp and we will walk down to our place on the parade route together. Dress in layers as the weather can change in a heartbeat!!!

OH! and the Millarville Christmas craft fair is on this weekend, too. and good luck to the agility gang in their adventures this weekend!!

And best wishes for a fast recovery to Tubby Millard who is recovering from eye surgery. Behave yourself.

The Prez

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Red Deer results for today

Joan'sBelgian shepherd girl Zsuree earned her Canine Good Neighbor title!!!! Good job.
Mary Ellen and Tess once again won High score in Class and gained the Rally Advanced title with 99/100. Mary Ellen went on to win Best Puppy in Show with her friend's Weimeraner, Max.
What an exciting day!! We love news like this!!!

On a sad note, my heart goes out to Kirk Olchowy on the loss of his Canine Partner, Karelian Beardog Mica at the age of 10. Mica was one of the original dogs to come from Wind River Beardogs in the States to be trained here in Alberta to work alongside a Fish & Wildlife Officer in Wildlife management. I was so fortunate to work with talented dog and his handler in helping them become the terrific wildlife management team they were. when Kirk retired from the department this year, Mica retired with him. Mica spent the summer traveling with Kirk and his wife, Donna, accompanying Kirk on fishing excursions and long, leisurely walks, fitting for a dog that worked hard all his life. Mica passed away at home with Kirk at his side. I will miss him. He changed my life.
The Prez

Friday, November 4, 2011

Red Deer Results for Friday

Wow!!! What a day for Mary Ellen and Tessa.  They took High in Advanced A class Rally O with a score of 99/100 under judge Michael Calhoun.  And in the Novice obedience ring, they were 4th place in a run off with a score of 191 1/2 to gain their first Q towards their CD.  So why not just clean up in the shorthair ring as well and walk off with a Best of Breed Award.  Sheesh!!! Not too greedy!!LOL.  Go get 'em, girls.

The Prez

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Jagged and Denise top the competition

From Denise: 

Jagged and I had an awesome weekend at the APDT Rally Trial hosted by "Sit Happens" in Calgary, Alberta.
It was 2 full days (12 hour days!) filled with lots of friends, fun, laughter and even a few tears. Many of us only see one another at these trials,and some have lost their beloved dogs while others have celebrated happy times including new puppies and plans for the future.

Jagged went High in Level 1B and Level 3B on Saturday, and High in Level 3B on Sunday! She was also awarded a beautiful rosette for her ARCHX Title (APDT Rally Champion Excellent) and is now caught up to Viper! I'm most proud of her for her 6 perfect scores(210's)over the weekend!


Super job, Denise!
The Prez

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Sit Happens! Rally Trial results

Denise, Jenn and Sylvia attended the Sit Happens! APDT trial last weekend and had some 
exciting results.


Denise's Jagged was High in Level 3 both days and Hiigh in Level 1 on Saturday.  She had perfect scores in all levels both days but missed HIT due to time.  Her HIT in the other levels was that she had higher scores.

Jenn got  Level 2 titles on both Spencer and Abby!

Sylvia had a few good runs with Julie and needs one more leg for her L2.

  The trial was HUGE and went until  7:30 on Saturday night and 5:30 on Sunday - no lunch break and a bit smaller entry and some scratches.  Both days started on the line at 8 am.


Congratulations to all of you!!


The Prez

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Congratulations

Congratulations to Carol and her Bernese Mt. Dog, Hank, for a very worthy performance in the rally Excellent ring last weekend. Hank earned a qualifying leg towards his RE title with a 91 score.Joan's Belgian girl, Zsuree went BOW and BOS for the major in her breed! Good job!

A reminder to everyone that Dog club is Sunday, October 30th with scent hurdle versus conformation at 9:30 followed by obedience and rally obedience. See you there!

We send best of luck to those members who are doing Sit Happens! aPDt rally next weekend.
Your practice runs Sunday were wonderful!!

Thanks to everyone for making our club day such a success on Sunday!! Special thanks to Liz for the super photos of the dogs!! Our scent hurdle practice went well and it was super to see Sylvia's poodle, Julie, take all the jumps and fetch her bell! Huge!!!

the Prez

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Farewell to Champion Tawnashee's Serenity Beckons OFA H & E

This weekend Jeff and Cheryl Popoff said goodby to their 9 1/2 year old German shepherd, Casey.
All of our SAWHDA members send their sympathy and support to the Popoff's at this sad time.
Casey was a littermate to Cleo, Ande, and Token.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Cowley Hall Times

This Sunday, October 23, we will begin our Cowley Hall Club Day at 9:30 with scent hurdle, followed by standard obedience, conformation and rally O.
Hope to see you there!!
The Prez

Monday, October 10, 2011

Sad News

It is with a heavy heart that we report that Deb Golding said a last farewell on Saturday to her wonderful young shepherd, Fyre, diagnosed with liver failure earlier in the week.


 Fyre was the dog that never put a foot wrong.  Right from the start, although she was the littlest of the group, she had an 'old dog's sense' about her.  She was so accepting of everything people asked of her.  She was the first of the litter to try anything and she excelled at tracking; her favorite activity. She had a quiet confidence about her and the other pups never messed with her. She just had that look. 


 Fyre was Deb's 'keeper of secrets, her heart dog; she knew all Deb's hopes and dreams and Deb knew they were safe with her. 


As Debbie says,  "There will be an emptiness in my home and heart for a very, very, long time."  Now we wait for the next rainbow or for the northern lights to let us know that Fyre has made her way to Smoke, Mike, Den and Koke."


Our hearts go out to Deb, and to Shar and Cathy, who loved Fyre like she was their own. 
                                                                 As did I.

The Prez

Monday, October 3, 2011

First Club Day a Success

Yesterday was the first SAWHDA club day at the Cowley Hall and it was well-attended for sure.
We began with warm-ups and work in obedience and then Tubby Miller stepped in to judge the Open and Novice routines.  We practiced sits/downs as well and went away with a set idea of what we have to work on to further ready our dogs for competition.

We moved on to scent hurdle practice and had some good performances here as well. Kipper even managed to find his dumbbell! It was great to see Donnie, Darryl, Liz, Amanda, Kim, Judy, and Jolene again.

We did some relay sprints and barrels with those club dogs that are travelling to Fort Macleod for the October 15th performance and then we did a Novice Rally course as well.  Hobie loves the relays as does Drummer.  And MoJo was running hard again, which is so nice to see.  I think he wore Russell out!
We loved the Elvis tunes, especially for Rally.

In between, MaryEllen helped us with conformation practice with the pups and we had a chance to visit with Lanny, Barb's new fluffy puppy.

And a couple of us pulled out the old-style "armed" flyball box and worked our dogs at that.  Drummer pretty well has the idea up close and now will work on distance and jumps.  Ryder too.  Tessa just loved the entire idea of a ball being tossed to her from a machine.  And Hunter lucked out and hit the box a couple of times.  He has the best catch, but then I think he has the widest mouth too!

We ended our day around two o'clock.  Thanks to all who attended.  It is so good to see you again.

The Prez

Helena News

News From Judy Hunt


We attended a dog show in Helena, Mt last weekend and I am happy to say that Kona got 2 majors, 3 points each day….her first US points. She now has 6 points.

Roxy did Rally Novice and got respectable scores of 91 & 92.

Good for you, Judy. Nice to see, once again, the dogs performing in both the conformation and performance rings. 

The Prez

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Group first win




Jeff & Cheryl's Brenner taking a Group First at the Castlegar  Dog Show 

Ch. Kris-T's The King & I 

Well done  !!!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

New Title from the USA Performance Ring

Mary Ellen & Tess with Judge Chris Cornell
High in Class to gain her Rally Advanced Title

Congratulations!!!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Club Days for October

Every Sunday in October is now booked for Club Days. 

* We begin every club day at 9:30 with obedience routines for those who are getting ready for shows.  (judge on hand). 

*Obedience drills for those who are working certain exercises in obedience amid distractions. (pups doing their practice next to you) 

*Scent hurdle / Rally course available for set up to use while scent and other club routines are in progress)

*Club routines........relay sprints, barrels, square dance, Old-style flyball .... the one where the dog actually has to catch the ball....

We need judges and rally course setters for those days so please let us know if you can help out.

We are lucky in that we can leave our mats down until Tuesday night.  Yay!!!

Hope you can make it.

Reminder to square dancers that we are going to Fort Macleod on the 15th of October.

Judi
Ryder and Mojo .... 

Monday, September 19, 2011

Need your input

Well, as Fall rolls around again, it is time for us to consider what kind of seminars we want to bring in this year for SAWHDA members.
Please let your executive know your thoughts on the following:

1. A particular activity about which you would enjoy learning more.

While we were in Kalispell, I had occasion to meet the head of the Bloodhound Tracking Training program in the USA, Kevin Kocher. He is willing to travel to Alberta to teach a two day seminar (full of activity, trust me) on tracking/trailing/search methods.

2. A particular topic of interest which you feel would be good to share.

Cathy from Fernie would like us to host another Wellness Day like the one we did years ago that had
vets, raw food diet advocates, Light Force Energy info, First Aid for dogs, sport dog warm-ups, etc. plus some people wellness activities as well.

3. Fun day activities you would like to share.

Deb G. from Cranbrook offered the following idea for a Fun Day Obedience exercise.
Teams of two with each member offering to do half of the exercises in any obedience routine; based on
how well their dog was doing on that exercise that week.
For example, if  my dog was smoking hot on the recall exercise, I could put myself down to do that one.
Maybe my partner's dog was absolutely steady on its long sit.  He does that.
My dog might be better heeling on lead than off, so I choose that.  Etc.
The judge judges the exercise and awards prizes to the best team.

A variance on this activity could be that each member of the team picks an exercise out of a hat and
that is the exercise he does; for better or for worse.


4.  A new sport or activity you would like to see our club undertake.

K-9 scent is a new sport (from the USA) where dogs use their wonderful noses to locate
hidden objects that have been scented with a particular odor. The sport has various levels of
competition starting with very simple scenting and moving to large areas.  It is very new to Canada and is now being offered in BC.  We could be a first to get this up and running in Alberta.

Treibball is a sport where dogs learn to herd exercise balls into a net.  Great for the ball driven dog and easy to teach with a clicker. Again, new to Canada.  Why shouldn't we be the first to offer it?


Let us know what your ideas are so we can start planning NOW!

The Prez

Fernie Paws for a Cause Day


Our demo with Denise, Jenn, and Kaylie went great yesterday at Fernie.  The events ran smoothly and we were so fast changing equipment from one
event to the next that Jack, Denise's husband, couldn't believe it.  He is used to having two other people to help and he had five more!!
Amazing!  
Personal bests:   Hobie, at seven months,  not only paid attention and refrained from rushing over to meet people and dogs, he stayed in his lane for the relay sprints and
in barrels, could be sent from the second barrel to the last barrel with a command!!!! 
  Drummer was spot on and hot to trot in the scent hurdle and actually did almost all the agility equipment!  He even allowed me to do a rear cross without a hitch.
Ryder loved the relay sprints and he galloped over the jumps and had a great time, but his best thing was his agility as he ran the entire course minus the weaves beautifully.
       Jagged was amazing in the agility and was right there in scent as well.


Payback was in store for Drummer, too. Some of you will recall that when he was new at scent hurdle, he chased a Doberman back over its jumps, overtook it and blasted it and the jump right into the crowd????  Ah ha.  Well, imagine Drummer's thoughts when Jagged thought I had her toy and tore over to Drummer and me as he rounded the sprint cone and came face to face, up close and personal, with Jagged.  Too funny. 
Booths on Avalanche  rescue, Bearsmart, a bakery, raw food,, jewellery, and our club booth were available for people to browse.  I would say about 30 dogs were there with their owners.  Cathy talked about puppy manners, a vet from Eureka (who comes up to Fernie) talked about first aid for dogs.  They had a "dog show" where people got to showcase their pets and tricks. 

We were able to visit with friends we haven't seen for some time and it was such fun listening to Cathy tell stories about her llama, which Denise has named Osama Bin LLama because of his
behaviors.   If Cathy ever writes her book of short stories about him, we will all want a copy.  I think she should do a stand up comic routine in Vegas!!!



It was an amazing day and all that was missing was the cart dog. That would have topped the day off nicely.  


Laurie & Trevor took some video footage which we hope to have shortly.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Great Falls pics

Thanks to Carol for some pics of our gang at the Great Falls show..
Maureen & Levi getting ready...

In action

Tubby on the Highest Scoring Canadian run.

Agility pics

Thanks to Joan for some really nice pics of her Belgian shepherd, Bo, in agility.  Pretty close to the end of the season for the outdoor stuff.  Boo hoo.  Almost time to tuck away the tunnels.

Remember that we have our hall rented for October 2nd, 9th, 23rd, and 30th for obedience, rally O, scent hurdle, and sprints and barrels.  October 15th we travel to Fort Macleod for our Square dance, barrel race and relay sprints.  We need to be at the Pioneer Lodge by 1:00 if we are to set up and be ready to perform by 1:30 p.m.
Lore, LouAnn, Deb, Sharlet, Maureen, Carol, Joan, Shirley and Barb will be on hand and we will perform two dances.  I will be your caller as Tubby has other commitments.  We will wear our SAWHDA vests, white shirts, and blue jeans. I'll try to remember to bring the beautiful scarves for the dogs, and the music, and the pilons, and the mats, and the jumps, and maybe even a dog!  We need some really good pics of the dogs performing, too.
Keep up the good work.  May the force be with you.
The Prez

Trudy & Dave Vickland Sheep Clinic

This weekend was the Vickland Sheepherding Clinic at High River and several of our members entered their dogs.
Joan took her young female Belgian shepherd and had this to say about her experience yesterday:

"Had a wonderful day at the herding clinic with Trudy Viklund. Ran Zsuree for both morning and afternoon runs and she has so much talent :) She held her waits and after blowing off a little steam in the beginning, found her balance and worked them calmly and her body language is so easy to read when she finds her balance and turns them in to me! Wonderful day, wonderful hosts, wonderful instructors."


Donna McLaughlin was there for the entire weekend and had a blast.  Her comments........
"

Home from a great weekend at the Viklund herding clinic. Billie and Jerry are the most amazing hosts! I got as much from watch other sessions as I did from my own sessions. Particularly enjoyed watching Solo who is becoming an incredible herding dog and Quazi who appears to be following in Solo's paw prints. Poodles really are herding dogs!"

 and  more from Carol and Maureen on their adventure south to the US shows.
 
Carol:   "Such an awesome weekend at a dog show in Great Falls, Montana. Hank, Emily and Maureen's Levi got their Rally Novice title with 1st - 4th placements each trial. Hank got his 1st obed leg with a 2nd place (196/200)."
Maureen: Jeez and you should have seen what the van looked like after all the grocery shopping and all these prizes!!!
Carol:  Thanks everyone. Now on to fixing Hank's 1 minute sit so he doesn't lay down at 36-55 second mark...:( Gotta be ready to try again for his last 2 legs of American CD next year.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Great Results...Go Canucks!!!

Kerri Miller had this to say about TubbY's trip to Great Falls!!
HOORAY!!! Dad's trip to the Great Falls dog show was well worth it! Cagney finished her CD title yesterday, also achieving the Highest Scoring Canadian.. today, the bonus leg.. Highest Scoring Canadian, Highest Scoring Working dog.. AND.... HIGH IN TRIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats Dad and Cagney!!!!


More news from
Carol Solkshinitz
Such an awesome weekend at a dog show in Great Falls, Montana. Hank, Emily and Maureen's Levi got their Rally Novice title with 1st - 4th placements each trial. Hank got his 1st obed leg with a 2nd place (196/200).




Congratulations all of you!!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Another title

Congratulations to Jodi Moodie of Calgary and her German shepherd, Shadowbar's Slow Hand (MO).
Larry Clark handled Mo to his Canadian Championship at the Cranbrook Dog Show yesterday.
We are absolutely thrilled. That makes three out of a litter of five now finished their Can. Ch. and one with
points towards the same.
  What a wonderful tribute to Busch and Token.
Judi

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Brags and Best wishes

Amanda's young corgi, Pixel, earned her AGX title this past weekend at the WAC CKC trial. What a girl!!! And actually, Amanda thought Wicca hadn't qualified at all but she, in fact, was incorrect. 
(We are never wrong, but can be incorrect from time to time). Wicca did get a couple of Q's, too.


The Go Dog Go team is at Whoop Up Days all weekend doing demos so anyone going to Lethbridge should really take in their shows.


Good luck to those of you headed to Cranbrook for their six show weekend.  


Best wishes to Hank and Lee Hargreaves who celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this Sunday.


Monday night we are practicing relay sprints, double barrels, and some rally.  We start at 6:30.


Wednesdays are set aside for those club members who have dogs that already know how to track.
We offer tracks from 7:00 - dark.  $10 a dog.


September 17, 24th and Oct. 1st are the dates set out for the Introduction to Tracking Course.
Three Saturdays in a row.  $100 to join.  Limit of six teams.  Contact shadowbr@telusplanet.net
for more info.


Thursdays, those who want a change of venue are invited to come out to the Twin Butte Hall.
Drop in fee of $5.00 for a night of obedience.


Lots to do......more to come.


The Prez