Lets join the club!


A long time ago I joined a Dog Club and started doing Agility and Obedience and Flygility, in fact I would have done any sport that involved dogs having already done a bit of duck and pheasant shooting and some field trial work.

I quite enjoyed the Sport of Agility but I didn't find the Agility Community at that time particularly helpful and caring about the dogs of others. It seemed very hard to say 'what a good run', or ' better luck next time but still a great run'.

If I did express to others that they were magic or amazing I received back a look that said in so many words, 'what would you know anyway'. I slowly started not to enjoy the sport. I moved on to Flygility where sometimes it seemed people and dogs were having a good time, and then again sometimes not. The thing that got me was how disappointed they were about not 'winning' not getting a ribbon. Achievement seemed to be a narrow band of behavior related suppressed emotion. I thought it was weird. If I won a ribbon I was stoked and smiley.

So over a period of time the sports have morphed into the thing where clear round certs count toward getting out of one Jumpers and into another, points can be scored towards titles etc. This spread the feel good thing a bit more generously. Sometimes ribbons to 7th or heaven help me 10th mean that a wider participant achievement is recognised. Now of course we have splits where minis and micros are their own class and Medium and Maxi are a separate class. When I won Novice fifteen years ago with my mini dog, I beat out all the border collies. So the chances of some sort of success have improved over the years.

Anyway for the last 10 years I have concentrated on helping people who owned dogs with apparent behavior problems. Generally proving to me that the dogs were fine but the people who owned them had many issues unresolved not the least of which was that dogs need food and exercise appropriate to their size and location. Dogs all do much the same thing when they receive certain stimulation. Many people do not like that this is the case. For example, the neighbors complain when we are out that the dogs bark all day. What are they barking at? Nobody knows. Half an hour in the back yard and it becomes obvious that as the sparrows land on the roof and the fence and sometimes swoop down onto the lawn, they are winding up the dogs. Of course the dogs shouldn't be wound up by sparrows, but if you are a 50kg guard breed dog in a fenced back yard then that’s what you do to ease the pain of boredom and loneliness. So I have continued to find solutions to the problems people have when they own dogs, and I enjoy that a lot.

However over this period the small club called Dog Sports Rotorua started to lean more and more towards Agility Training. It wasn't planned but after all the behavior aversion (for the owners) and obedience lessons and control lessons for the dogs, we needed to have a focus for the long term club members. Nala was a starting point and from there I have organised four training sessions per week which involve dogs and handlers learning the basics of Agility. Along the way over the last four years some of these people have committed to both the Club and to Dog Training in a way that is extraordinary. Most of these people have not done any form of Dog Handling before, so they have to start by learning which end of the dog to point at the equipment.

It started with Chris Hutchings and Bootz a wee micro that Chris fancied learning to do agility. Now Bootz really did his best and he has competed and won ribbons and gongs but I had to tell her if she was gonna be the manic trainer she would wear this little guy out. Get another dog and she found one free to a good home a Cattle/Collie/Lab who apparently at 4 years old, was not a good stock dog. We did discover as we went along that he can be a wee bit excitable when wound up. However he has gone on to get FD in Flygility and just yesterday got his first AD certificate. You can't fake these qualifications, it isn't just good luck, it is very hard work when you are 70 plus and staying fit requires overlooking the pain of growing older. It is very encouraging when someone such as Chris achieves so much.

The next person to come along and tell me she wanted to do Agility was Debbie Trimbach with Sophie the Border Collie / Heading Dog who was shy and fearful. A beautiful dog and a doting owner. It has taken a couple of years now to really get Sophie going and while she runs very well at Nala and at Club Comp, she doesn't like new places. Today she went to her first Agility Champs and completed all three courses without being spooked by the judge, the equipment or the dogs and people outside the ring. Clear rounds are just around the corner. All this and her handler Debbie has a severe disability. Wow these people are immortal.

I just have to mention Katie who for some years has trundled along to Club with a tiny terrier called Tyson from the Pound. Much though everybody loved Tyson he dawdled around the courses. We tried all manner of motivation but nothing seemed to work to move him. He hated the hurdles, the tunnels the seesaw the dog walk, you name it he hated it. Katie really feels that Agility is her sport for life. At present she works full time, is Partner and mother, has a small acres lifestyle block and time is very precious. Then one day a nice lady from Taupo pitched up at the Club with a Kelpie Border Collie cross going spare, partially trained to do Agility. Hey Katie, I said, here's your dream dog. Not ready to compete yet but what a wonderful mover. Katie is learning all sorts of new handling skills. Yesterday Katie and Meg completed 12 straight weaves. The good news is that having Meg has put a rocket up Tyson’s bum and not to be outdone he is fair barreling around the courses and his weaves are on the up as well.

What do you do when a lovely person tells you she wants to do Agility with a dog who is actually totally unsuitable? You don't tell them and you carry on training them and they get better and better and shock the whole agility world. This is Alex Jones and Shadrock. Shadrock is a Neopolitan Mastiff, American Staff cross, in other words a Pitbull Mastiff. Shaddy has a lovely nature there is no doubt about that but most people think he is going to take them 'out' when they look at him. Nobody has worked harder to bombproof and Agility train a dog than Alex. Today at his first Champs he had a lovely clear round in Jumpers C and Starters 2. Alex is still kicking herself for messing on Shaddy in the Novice ring. This is heroic, believe me there are times when Shadrock looks around and goes Nah not doing this today, this young woman's dedication to motivation has been mind blowing.

Twelve or thirteen months ago a woman turned up at control class with a Poodle, Spaniel, Labradoodle cross. Such a pretty dog as she reminded me today, I always called him 'she' Jesse is now very much a young man. They came to class because he would not come back to her when she called. Apart from the frustration for her as Handler it was also difficult to keep him safe when he ran the other way. I said to her immediately, do you want to do Agility this dog is just perfect. No she said I want him to be a good obedient dog. Today at Champs Show she got her first Champs Ribbon. Third place in Jumpers C. The judge complimented her on the dog's run and another competitor came by to say that she thought she did a lovely run. This partnership will go far. Christine Longton and Jesse definitely haven’t even touched their potential yet.

Gloria and Bear and Macey, Sue and Molly, Sue and Girl, Leonie and Yoyo, Christina and Mia, Linda and Minnie, Renee with Coco and Zulu, Jenni and Bree, Angela and Eddie, Rayne and Gretel, Ann and Gemma are some of our club members working away at their chosen sport with an aim to get good enough to go out and compete in either Fly or Agility and they mean it.

But most of all I want to thank all our club members for their wonderful attitude to one another. They help each other when a dog needs to be held or if there is a problem. They complement each other for doing well and achieving. They take pride in their Club Dog Sports Rotorua and every time one of them adds to the total of placings and clear rounds there is a great yell of excitement. They remember how a particular dog was when he started and how far he has come to becoming a working friend or a competing sports dog. Non competing members come to shows to support their mates. For me this is a great thing to be part of and I really hope that it will continue forever.

Today I attended an Agility Champs Show for the first time in ten or eleven years. The only dog I have to compete with is Becki-boo who is 10 and although she has done a couple of ribbons has never done any Champs shows. She is slower than she used to be but managed three clear rounds from three starts 4th 5th and a 6th placing. Even better I had a bunch of mates with me who all shared lunch under the Club Gazebo and chatted and walked their dogs and competed and enjoyed. That was what was missing 10 years ago when I quit. The companionship of true dog lovers enjoying a day in the sun and the rain. Gives you the warm fuzzies doesn't it. Thank you all again.