All members wishing to renew their subscriptions for Dog Sports Rotorua for the above year need to do so by the 30th April. If you are a current member and all details of your membership are the same as last year then simply deposit your subscription into account no# : 38-9005-0409199-00 with your name as reference, If your details such as Address, Phone, Email, Dogs' information have changed then please fill in a new form from the club and return it so that the Club Treasurer can change your details.

Within the month of April the Behavior Protocols of the Club will be emailed out to you. Please acknowledge receipt of these Protocols. It is important that you read and understand your obligations and rights as Club Members. It has been noticeable that there have been breaches of the Protocols in recent times. Especially around the area of dogs who are injured and/or have been recently medicated coming back to club without Veterinary clearance. Our Executive Member in Charge of Protocols is Alex Jones in case you need clarification of any of those rules. Alex is also a qualified Inspector with the SPCA and takes her role of Animal Welfare very seriously.

The Annual Subscriptions are as follows:
Full year's General Subscription $30.00
Executive Member of Dog Sports Rotorua $180.00

To be an Executive Member you must have completed twelve months of membership with Dog Sports Rotorua(Inc). You will be supplied with keys to the equipment sheds and can use the grounds at any time you wish to train your dog/s and form training pods with other paid up Club Members.

Please return your keys to Debbie Trimbach Club Captain, as each year the locks are changed on the sheds and new keys issued to current paid up members at the end of April.

Please be aware your dogs must have current District Council Registration and your Vaccinations for all Dog Diseases must be up to date. Just today at Club Competition, Sharon Brosnahan said really loud, ‘well when is the next newsletter due'... today was 24th March. So I said 1st April. Sharon said 'Bout time' and Deb Club Captain said is it that time already…

And yep it is and even though we are only looking at producing 6 newsletters a year against the 11 we have done for the past five years, the time seems to roll around twice as fast. Getting older does that to years, they just start whizzing past.

Ever since Dog Sports started in 2006 there have been moves to start a Rally O group. Rally Obedience has far more appeal to participants than straight Obedience and is achievable at beginner’s level by almost everyone. Beginners is called Novice in this sport. There are only two levels. Novice and Advanced. I have been gamely battling away insisting on all Club members giving Obedience a go in the hope that one day someone would get into the Rally O thing.

At last hope presented itself in a conversation I had with Anne Proctor of Mount Maunganui Club last year when she offered to come and run a workshop or two for our Club on Rally O. This happened over the month of March. Anne brought her sister Liz with her and they gave us their amazing skills and time by setting up courses, working them for us with their qualified dogs and then giving us all a go. It sucked all our members up straight away. For the record those who attended the course with Anne and Liz were myself, Debbie, Alex, Pam, Tina, Megan, Jenny, Pam, Diana, Saskia, Leonie, Sharon, Sue W, Katie.

There was so much enthusiasm the group bagged Wednesday nights as Rally O practice night and for the last two weeks we have set up simple courses and tried new station work, just getting a handle on how the sport works. Last Friday 23rd Anne and Liz returned and set up a new course and judged us and were very impressed by the amount of work our group had done in two weeks as the improvements were immense. I was so proud of everyone. Even better there was so much enthusiasm for the new group that there was a request for a Rally O component at Club Competition. So we did it and everyone participated and the winner was Sue W and Molly on 99pts. Molly is a natural Rally O worker. Very good work.

It looks as though the people at the hub of Rally O for our club will be Saskia and Digby, Deb and Benni, Jenny and Bree, Diana and Billy, Pam and Jack, Alex and Texas, Tina and Koda and Sharon and Gracie. The rest of us will probably get there when we can. The surprising stuff came from teams like Leonie and Yoyo and Pam and Jack. They were literally outstanding given their lack of work in obedience. There was just natural flair, Debbie and Benni have real skill and of course Digby with Saskia work very very well. It looks like if we all get our Kennel Club Membership together we would be a real hit at a Rally O Competitions, although unfortunately there are very few in this district. Rerewhakaaitu in January is the nearest. The occasional once a year in Cambridge and otherwise travel to Auckland. Food for thought, we could do with encouraging more competitions within the Bay of Plenty area.

We have had our last Club Competition for the 17/18 year and further over in results the year's winners will be announced. It has been a difficult year for Club Competition with so many wet Saturdays but we have made it through and I believe the best dogs have come out on top.

The coming year starting with April as number 1 for the 18/19 year will include a Rally O program. The Club Competition day will begin with Sprints both A and B teams competing only in either small dog or big dog classes, an Agility Competition with Learners, Elementary, Experienced and, Veterans and now include Rally O as the 3rd sport for the day. If you are a Club Member you should be competing at this once a month Competition. You all work hard at Classes and Coaching and Practice sessions for four weeks and then we celebrate it and keep the results to watch progress of all our dogs. This day is the best learning tool your club can provide for you. Please try to get to a few of them.

I am so impressed with the dogs improving their speed and skills in Sprints. To see little Jade doing that massive crooked Sprints A run for a win today was so exciting and to see my Pansy go from unable to run anywhere through sheer fear, this year win B Sprints Small Dogs, is a huge thrill.

Winning isn't 'it'. The vast improvement in Dog behavior the huge upskilling of the handlers and the joy and excitement written on the faces of all, tell the story.

My friend Anne Proctor said of our group when she was coaching the Rally O, ‘You all enjoy it. It is fun. That is as it should be' She is right. If it isn't fun you are doing it wrong. Keep up the good work. I am really excited to be working Chip in Rally O. He needs this work to move his Agility and our bonding to the next stage.

I am really looking forward to the rest of the new year at our Club.