AGILITY NEWS
Jul – Sept 2016
2016 Spring President’s Message.
Welcome to Spring everyone. Gone are the cold nights and hopefully we can enjoy some warm dry weather! Great for training. Late afternoons are my dogs’ favourite times and now the days are slightly longer, they are mine too.
Ticks are around - please consult your vet.
Our Instructors and committee are doing a wonderful job at the club with many of our members who joined at the beginning of the year almost ready to compete!
Practise practise practise! Your dog will love you for it! Keep it fun for both of you!
Happy training.
Robyn
President
ADC Committee as of Oct 2015
President – Robyn Jones
Vice President – Chloe Kasbarian
Secretary - Michelle Oldfield
Assistant Secretary – Sheridan Buck
Treasurer - VanessaDowson
Trial Secretaries – Mary-Anne Corry and Dot Drescik
Committee
-Pat Walsh
- Joanne Campbell
- Erica Hockley
- Anne Affleck
Instructors Sub Committee – Robyn Jones, Chloe Kasbarian, Nathan Crass, Liz Yuill,
Stacy Richards
Newsletter Editor - Joanne Campbell
Office Manager – Tania King
Office Assistants - Michelle Oldfield, Jo Campbell, Erica Hockley,
Sheridan Buck and Lisa Hopkinson, Mary-Anne Corry, Bronwyn Dobeson
Club Shop - Vanessa Dowson
Trophy Steward – Trial -Bronwyn Dobeson and Catherine Egan
Trophy Steward – Club – Tania King
Media Co-coordinator – Chloe Kasbarian
Meetings are held in the Secretary’s room at Castle Hill Showground on the second Wednesday of the month. Meetings start at 7.30pm
General meetings are held in December, February, April, June, August and October.
AGM held in October prior to General meeting.
All members welcome
New members approved as of April 2016
New Members will be listed in / our next newsletterPROMOTIONS: CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Intro - Beginners Beginners - Green Green - Yellow
Kate Pollard & Dotti & Toon / Marilyn Courts & Meika / Emily Lyons & JindabynAl Brough & Charlie / Vanessa Brooks & Twist / Cathie Barclay & Scooter
Aiva Suen & Mocha / Julianne ?& Sonny / Jess Flynn & Diesel
Kate Trotter & Pippy / Jess Flynn & Diesel / Courtney Logan & Summer
Brent Vujcich & Indie
Kathy Cochran & Pepper
Sarah Wing & Demi
*** Question marks have been replaced with names due to being illegible
Yellow – Purple Purple – Blue Blue - Red
Jason Smith & Minion / Gai Russell & SassyOliver Obst & Nelly
Jess, Annabel Issacs & Leo
Anthony Adam & Ralph
Frankie Moore & Skye
Congratulations Nathan and Chloe
On 20th August Nathan and Chloe tied the knot at Riverside Oaks.
Chloe and Nathan joined ADC in March 2012. In that time they have become valuable members of the club. They are always ready and willing to help out when ever needed. Both are instructors and Chloe is Vice President.
ADC would like to congratulate you Chloe and Nathan on your wedding and wish you a wonderful future together with your furbabies.
Congratulations Robyn
This year, at theDogs NSWSpring Fair, our club's President Robyn Jones was awarded a Distinguished Service Award in recognition of Robyn’s long and outstanding service to the Obedience and Agility disciplines in NSW.Robyn has been offering her services to the dog world for over 30 years. Robyn has life membership with ADC and also Hills Training Club. What a wonderful achievement
At ADC, Robyn constantly works behind the scenes to make our club and its members successful. She encourages members to be involved in their club, promote the sport and be responsible dog owners. Robyn has exceptional leadership skills, and she brings people together to make it an inclusive and happy club.
Some highlights of Robyn’s achievements so far:
• Robyn has been a member of Dogs NSW for 35 years.
• Robyn has bred Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers. She has promoted both breeds in show, obedience, agility and non-slip retriever trials.
• Robyn is a life member of both the Hills Dog Club Inc and Agility Dog Club of NSW.
Robyn has enhanced ADC (and the Hills Dog Club’s) standing in the dog world through her sustained efforts to have people and their dogs contribute to a responsible and safer community.
Please join us in congratulating Robyn for receiving this much deserved award.
This month Chloe is sharing her story on how she and Nathan began their agility journey in 2012. What a great story.
It started with a Red Dog…
It was August 2011. Just two 21 year old’s spending their weekend at Penrith Plaza and why wouldn’t you! The tax sales were on, comfortable air conditioning to avoid the lingering winter chill and a great bite to eat! Our relationship hadn’t yet reached two years, but we were enjoying spending lots of time together and this day wasn’t any different. Casually strolling around, we noticed a larger than normal crowd gathered near the pet shop. We briefly passed by to see a litter of Border Collie pups being cuddled and adored. Wow! Border collies in a pet shop! Still in shock, we continued on shopping, but the pups were stuck in the back of our minds… We joked about taking one home, but quickly dismissed the idea after considering how little thought we had given in owning a pet together. In fact, we had never discussed the idea at all! An hour later, and on our way out, we happened to walk past the pet shop again. We looked at each other, smiled, and walked in. We met the pups, and we were smitten. The staff were happy for us to meet the pups properly, and after some interaction, we fell in love with two of the boys. After a thoughtful conversation, we opted for the calmer and quieter pup and named him Rusty. While most people would assume this decision made our lives harder, we never regretted bringing Rusty home. He was a perfect pup and brought so much joy and happiness to our family – right from the start.
Early 2012 saw us attend the Rosehill Pet Expo. Just two 22 year old’s who loved dogs and wanted a nice day out. We checked out the stalls, the food, the toys, and then made our way to the arena for the demo’s and performances – this was the beginning of something magical! We watched dogs of all breeds and sizes manoeuvre fast through poles, climb over A-frames, and speed through tunnels. The Agility Dog Club of NSW was spectacular and our hearts started racing when they invited us over for a chat about how we could get involved! With no prior obedience, we took our enthusiastic young dog to his first agility class and we were hooked! We struck gold with our first ever instructors – Robyn Jones, Paul & Elga Enriquez, and Cathy Millard. Rusty was boisterous and adrenaline crazed in his adolescence, and getting him to focus for extended times was almost impossible. It took us months to graduate from the beginner class and despite the hurdles, our instructors never gave up on us! Part of the problem was despite all the ideas, no one could find a reward high enough of value for Rusty. He had never shown interest in treats, and toy focus wore off fast. We had almost given up hope until Cathy had a light bulb moment! Rusty loved water so why not bring the water to him! The next training session saw us using a spray bottle and the results were immediate! Rusty graduated from beginners and into green. As ecstatic as we were, being in green caused problems for Nathan & I. We both handled differently and our instructors agreed that the dog needed just one handler. The bond between Nathan & Rusty was obvious, whilst I stood back watching and thinking…
In May 2012, we decided to start looking for my Agility dog. Nath & Rusty were starting their agility journey and I was eager to jump straight in too! It was important that I did my research, take my time this time, and acquire a registered pup from a reputable breeder. We had received judgement about purchasing from a pet shop, and it was important to us that we avoided this with our second dog. In July 2012, we met Riley, an 8 week old puppy as cute as a button. I was a 22 year old about to meet her baby for the first time – embroidered collars and blankies at the ready. Riley was a spunky, vivacious pup who melted our hearts from the get go. He was confident, and boy did he win hearts everywhere. Riley attended puppy school, and then went on to do some obedience at Hills Training Club – we were fast becoming inseparable and we were doing some amazing stuff! At just 16 weeks old, Riley’s world made a turn for the worse. The weather was warming up and our adorable pup was found laying lethargic and panting heavily. He was rushed to the vets who ran many, many tests but nothing showed up. Bloods, x-rays, ultrasounds, yet nothing could explain the sudden onset of hind paralysis. He was referred to a neurologist at the University of Sydney and after a week of monitoring and fluids, Riley fought a tough battle and came home. He was diagnosed with idiopathic polyradiculoneuritis or ‘coonhounds’ – an extremely frustrating outcome, but we were so happy to have our little boy back. A few months later, Riley was given the green light to commence agility training, and we were back to where we were before his illness. My confident boy was doing remarkable things, and our agility journey commenced! We mastered those crosses, those weaves, and those wraps, but something still wasn’t right. Riley would often get sore, and easily affected by heat. We decided to continue as long as Riley still enjoyed it, but assumed his agility career would be short lived.
In 2014, Paul & Elga asked us to help our club by instructing. Nathan & I had no confidence that we were capable, or worthy enough, but their support and encouragement saw us both taking on instructor roles. To help me with my new role, I found myself enrolling in training courses. This then led on to me volunteering at Hawkesbury Pound and doing studies with RSPCA NSW. We were just two 24 years old then, but 2014 was an amazing year. We decided to enter the Sydney Royal Easter Show for the first time which saw Nathan & Rusty win FIRST PLACE in Novice Jumping - with an unbelievable 15 second run (SCT 40 seconds!).
2015 saw both Rusty & Riley continue to improve, both dogs now in Red class and earning all their novice, and some excellent titles. Nathan & Rusty had a keen focus on Flyball too and were doing extremely well. Riley would often surprise many as a dark house and has placed first many times with his accuracy. We also joined the ADC committee as our way of saying thank you to the club.
Years on, Rusty & Riley are now on the ADC demo team whenever possible – something that means a lot to us. We learnt about the sport of Agility from a demo, and we hope to bring that joy and addiction to someone else one day.
2016 has been the best year yet. Just two 26 year old’s with the world at their feet. In January we welcomed baby Riot. An intelligent girl with so much potential and promise – watch this space as her agility journey kicks off! This year also saw us wed, and celebrate with many of our ADC family . We were honoured that Paul accepted to do a speech, and we hold ADC very close to our hearts.
Looking back from our own experiences, we have a few leaving statements:
“Never let anyone’s judgments weigh you down”
“Not all dogs want to do agility, and that’s okay”
“Appreciate every moment – celebrate the wins and learn from the mistakes”
“ We can always improve”
“Educate, don’t lecture”
“Great minds discuss ideas, small minds discuss people”
Recipe of the Month
Sweet Potato Fries for Dogs
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
1 Sweet Potato
1 tbsp Coconut Oil (melted)
Spices - Turmeric, Cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
Wash and peel the sweet potato
Cut the sweet potato into evenly sized long skinny (fry shaped) pieces (a mandolin would make it easier to cut the sweet potato)
Coat with oil and spices - Mix in a large bowl or Ziploc bag
Place fries on baking sheet in one layer
Bake for 15 minutes
Flip over fries for even baking
Bake for another 10-15 minutes
Let cool before giving to your dog!
- See more at:
Please remember to pick up after your dog/s and help keep the training grounds and other members shoes clean.
YUK!!!
Please remember to wear your badges.
It is important to wear them so the instructors know you have paid, this is also important for insurance purposes.
To make it easier for the office ladies please try to bring the correct money.
Training may be cancelled if the weather is bad. You can call 0449 736 271 if in doubt, but please do NOT leave a message. In bad weather we still may have modified training either on the ground or under cover or we will watch a training DVD.
You can also check the website or check Facebook.
With our safety blitz happening at the moment this is a timely reminder for all instructors to wear your orange vests and for the club members to ensure they don’t approach tethered or crateddogs. Also, it is important to remember to leave your dogs on lead unless you have been instructed by your instructor to take the lead off, or it is your turn to run your dog.
Please remember our club is run by volunteers. In order to keep our training nights running smoothly and on time we require your assistance to help set up and pack up. We understand it may be hard for you to get to the grounds on time but if this is the case you can help pack up.
This article is quite funny. Given to the office ladies by one of our members.
Club Competition
ADC holds the club comp on the 4th Thursday of the month for Blue and Red class members. It is always fun and our judges set great courses. If there is a 5th Thursday of the month there will be a games night held. This is a great way for the new members of Red class to learn the rules of the games. Games are a lot of fun and a lot of people are too scared to get out there and give it a try. Once you get out there and do it once you won’t want to stop.
Scoring for ADC Club Comp
Scores are allocated as follows:
•All clear rounds are 5 points
•First place, 5 points – possible 1
•Second place, 4 points – possible 9
•Third place, 3 points – possible 8
•Fourth place, 2 points – possible 7
•Fifth place, 1 point- possible 6
•Clear round, 5 points
•1-5 faults, 4 points
•6-10 faults, 3 points
•11-25 faults, 2 points
•26 plus, 1 point
•Disqualification, 0 points
ADC Winter Trial
Our winter trial was a great success. The weather gods turned on the sunshine for us and it turned out to be a gorgeous day after a very rainy week. We also had the Mayor attend to watch some of the wonderful dogs and their human’s run the courses.
Some of the newer members attended also to help out with stewarding on the day. This gave them a taste of what it’s like to compete and showed how much fun you can have with your furkids. A couple of them have already joined Dogs NSW and will be looking forward to competing at our Spring Trial.
There were some wonderful success stories from our members as well.
Our Spring trial is coming up in October. It will be a huge trial as usual and being a two day trial will make it even bigger.
We would love for some of the newer members to come and help out with stewarding. You will be rewarded on the day for helping out with a free lunch which is always delicious. If you would like to help out please see the ladies behind the counter and put your name down.
Most of all you will have fun helping out and observing some of the great dogs and their humans out there enjoying agility.