Dog Handling

DOG SPORTS ROTORUA

The AGM will be held on the grounds at the Paradise Valley Venue (dogs are welcome) with a barbecue and snacks and entertainment for the dogs.

Everyone finds AGMs tedious apparently but they are such an essential part of the running of Clubs and Organisations. Members need to see where the funds came from, how they were spent and how the future of the Club is shaping up.

I have longed to have a good old Prizegiving attached to the AGM and to this end I organised two trophies three years ago for top Nala Achievers in both Agility and Flygility. Throughout my 20 year career in Dog Performance Sports I have won various ribbons and gongs, probably numbering about 150 by now and some people, such as Judy Casey who has been in performance sports for forty odd years, has simply hundreds of these awards. However, every ribbon comes with a special story of achievement and every new ribbon is another vindication of commitment to the sport we love.

That is why I introduced the Purple Ribbon system at Dog Sports. I wanted to encourage and reward those who came week after week and plodded on with their Agility and Flygility in the hope that they would improve and become really proficient at the sport. Some of them have definitely gone from strength to strength and others, some of whom find it really hard to get to classes every week, have continued to build on their ability and their dog's fitness levels.

The purple ribbons will be rewarded at the AGM, Apart from the most Agility purples and the most Fly purples and the most combined purples and the person with the lowest number of purples, there will also be an award for the person who does the most innovative thing with their purples on the day. So please come and bring all those purple ribbons so that we can enjoy your success as a group.

There will also be some new awards this year. There is a trophy for the top Junior Nala Flygility Achiever and the Top Junior Nala Agility Achiever.

I use Nala scores from the year as a benchmark success. You cannot argue with the results of the top eight courses run and listed on the Nala website.

This is a total achievement result on a National basis. Some very surprising results this year again. Last year that my Chan won Top Nala Agility for the Club was a surprise. But it came as no surprise that Judy's Tui was top Nala Flygility Dog. She is currently running at number 2 in Nala New Zealand Flygility - WOW.

Also this year I have some Certificates to give to people who have worked solidly throughout the year in the area of Remedial and Obedience. One of our members has been slogging away for two years with a dog who positively hated other dogs with a passion. Last week she came into a real class with that dog for the first time. If that doesn't need rewarding I don't know what does. I really want to make it clear during these awards, that (apart from the purple thing) our Training is serious. That so many people make the effort to give their dogs education and entertainment using Dog Sports Rotorua is just fantastic.

Over the last 10 years that I have been organising prizes and rewards for our Club, I have had a wonderful ally at Eukanuba Masterpet by the name of Beverley Jocelyn. Beverley has arranged for Dog Sports Rotorua to receive amazing dog beds and bedding, hundreds of toys and books, masses of dog food products to suit every dog from micro to giant. We have been given state of the art automatic dog water bowls, heaps of balls and ball throwers and lots of different grooming kits and bits and pieces to make up raffles to subsidise our shows and Tournaments.

Eukanuba Masterpet are major sponsors to the Kennel Club and single handedly sponsor the huge National Agility Events each year. I am the proud owner of a Judges jacket sponsored by Eukanuba Masterpet. But in spite of this profile, the Company manages to put together sponsorship packages for clubs as small as ours.

Beverley has sent us a wonderful array of prizes to accompany our certificates and trophies for this year's Inaugural AGM Prize giving Ceremony. This is absolutely fantastic support .

Beverley Jocelyn tells me she is retiring really soon from the Wellington Office that we have been dealing with for so long. Maybe you should all come along to the AGM, more info on time of meeting and details of Agenda and program will be available from the Club, along with subscription forms - come and have a coffee and a snack and run in the Dog Game, vote for what you want for the Club and celebrate the success of our people and their dogs. If you wish to dress your dogs up for the occasion, I am sure we can find a small prize for you as well.

Just as I finished writing this Judy Casey got back from her foray in Fielding with Tui. She had some nice personal successes in the Agility on Saturday, but on Sunday she and Tui wiped them out with their display of Flygility. Great Winnings and Ribbons no doubt. This team will end up with a title of Grand Champ if all things keep going the way they are. I am so proud of the work Judy has done with Tui at our Club and particularly proud that I was able to persuade her to have a bash at Flygility. At the time she thought I was quite mad. This kind of thing is just what we need the AGM to celebrate. Raewyn Saville (Trainer)

Phone H: (07) 3322171 M: 0277593005

Email raewyn@dogsplay.co.nz

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/dogsplayNZ?ref=stream