CONGRATULATIONS


Raewyn Saville & Boo - For gaining ADX (Agility Dog Excellence)


Back to normal!


We apologise for the lack of a newsletter for May but it was something of a busy time for us all at Good Dog Training and Puddlduck Farm. For those who didn't know, Club Captain Debbie Trimbach has spent the last eighteen months building a lifestyle barn on Puddlduck Farm which used to belong to Julie and I and now belongs to Julie, Debbie and I. The fiveish acres needed some new input and Debbie is loving being part of the land and animals. Julie has been unwell for some time and doesn't participate in outdoor things anymore.

Eighteen months is a long time to build a house but we did have to start from the beginning with resource consent and site preparation, all of which seemed to take an eternity. So now Storybook Cottage is finished and Deb, Sophie and Benni have moved from their caravan into a lovely home. Hopefully it has everything that Debbie needs to make her life as easy and comfortable as possible, so she has some leftover energy to help with the animals and birds and firewood and fencing and all the rest of the stuff that goes with living the lifestyle dream......

All of this moving house completely took our time away from doing the newsletter. Plus I had a stupid hospital trip which was a checkup thing and proved to be absolutely useless in nailing any of my recurrent issues but never mind we have come through all of that and it is time to concentrate on Dog Training again.

We have just completed the two day weekend at RDOC which is an Agility Ribbon Trial for Rotorua Dog Obedience on the Saturday and an AD Jumpers Novelty event for Tokoroa Dog Training Club, which is still held on the Rotorua Grounds at Karenga Park Koutu. Each year we cancel Club work at our grounds and take the new Agility people to experience Agility and those who are not quite ready can come and watch their fellow club members having their first go at the sport. This year was no exception and we had Pam and Jade, Sharon and Gracie, Saskia and Kimmy, Linda and Minnie, plus Geraldine and Jewel and Tina and Koda who just came to see what made agility happen.

Pam and Jade have been ready for a while but all the same it was a huge thrill for Pam when Jade came through with a fourth place on Saturday in Elementary B and on Sunday really got into it and moved up to a second place ribbon also in Elem. B. Not to be outdone little Gracie with Sharon managed a 3rd place ribbon in the second elementary on Saturday. Wow first experience in Agility with a ribbon is a really big deal. I have told them both they are now out of Elementary B. They need to get their weaves together and conquer Elementary A at their next outing. Saskia and Kimmy could only make it on Sunday and Kimmy was completely out of her depth, but Saskia had the experience and we are back to the practice on that one. Given that Kimmy had never even been to a show to walk around before and suddenly found herself in a ring full of equipment and all those people and dogs. Gee big shock for poor Kimmy. I ran Minnie on Saturday and again it was just an experience thing. Minnie stayed with me and didn't run off to her mother, she actually did most of the equipment after two or three goes at each piece. Then another dog came running out onto the course. I called Minnie and sat her in front of me while other dog was caught. Brilliant obedience wow Minnie what a good girl. Minnie was quite in awe of her situation as was Kimmy and was a bit nervous, but she will be just fine. Definitely needs more exposure to shows. Geraldine and Tina who came for a look were very impressed and ready to get working harder to make the Dog Sports Agility Team. And we look forward to having them on board.

Our senior team did very well as usual, Sophie and Deb won Sunday Jumpers C with me and Chip 2nd. I managed a Starters 3rd on Saturday with Chip and Becki boo and I took the opportunity to do another successful AD (Kennel Club Qualification). But best of all Sophie and Deb got their first AD it is always such a thrill. There is a lot of pressure on doing ADs. Chris Hutchings and Boston got placed 2nd in Starters. Sue Warrender and Molly won Elementary B on Saturday. Christine Longton and Storm had their first run on Sunday and looked very promising given that Christine has just come off crutches from her badly sprained ankle the week before at Dog Sports Club Competition day. I think we can safely say that Christine Longton and Storm have made a very good start on what will be a most successful Agility career for them both. We are proud to have played our part in the training schedule for Storm and it will be a pleasure to watch progress.

Agility is a wonderful sport as long as it doesn't completely take over your life. It gives dogs a great exciting job to do provided you are careful and can keep them injury free and don't go manically on training and training until the legs fall off your dogs.

Dog Sports is a very successful nursery training ground for Agility, Flygility and Obedience. We hope you will all participate in as many classes as the weather allows us to do in mid winter and that we will all emerge in the spring and the lighter evenings again, ready to spend more time training and learning how to understand and manipulate our dogs ' behavior.

Keep warm and as dry as you can........ Raewyn.



Club Captains Report


As Raewyn said in Editorial it has been a chaotic two months getting the house finished and moving in and still plenty of unpacking to do. It seemed like there was a drama at every corner. The electrician had his challenges as did the plumber. The kitchen did not fit the dishwasher, the Council wouldn't pass the wall sealing for the shower and the tiler consequently had four visits instead of two. The Lino guy left big gaps between the lino and the ranch sliders. The carpet guy left the silver metal edging for the carpet where it joined the lino, so sharp we had to warn everyone to step over the corners as they were dangerous. But all the problems were eventually solved and challenges were conquered and now I live in a lovely warm barn instead of a cold draughty caravan. The dogs think it is heaven especially the fireplace. But back to business.

We have our AGM coming up on SATURDAY 3RD JUNE at 1p.m. so there will not be any Fly class that day however Raewyn wants to run a couple of fly events to get people ready for our Tournament on 17th & 18th June this competition is for everyone whether you do Fly or not.

So Beginners Event will Start at 11.15 sharp. It is free entry as long as you stay and go to AGM and Prize giving. Beginners will be followed by an Advanced course for the Senior players.

The Prize giving is at the start of the AGM and will be accompanied by a cup of tea or coffee compliments of the Club. Please bring finger food for sharing during this time. We have moved NALA this month as we have two months to achieve winter Nala. It suits everyone better to do it on 2nd July which is after our tournament. If you are able to volunteer for our tournament please see me or Raewyn to find out how to participate. We need everyone we can get.

Also, in the editorial, Raewyn mentioned our winnings at the RDOC. As Club Captain I am very proud of the New Agiliteers efforts and achievements from that event. There has been an immense amount of work go into those performances especially Sharon and Gracie and Pam and Jade. So nice to have some new Agility Team members out there competing. For myself I wasn't that happy with Saturday. It was a cold rainy muddy day. I just cannot run in the mud. I see myself losing control and falling over. Sophie always knows when I haven’t got it together and she loses it as well or chooses her own less muddy course! So she had her head down checking out the ground conditions to see if she could lead her Mother to a safer track (I think) or maybe she was just trying to avoid the rain running into her eyes, who knows. Anyway I was pleased when Sunday was fine and cold with no rain and the grounds dried up a bit by the time we got out there in AD. I was so proud of Sophie for giving me that clear round. My first AD. So exciting. Then we went on and won Jumpers C. Agility is a funny sport some days you and the dog just gel and come together and other days it all turns to custard like the soggy ground.

Keep training see you at the AGM
Debbie - DSR Club Captain