Training Times

Training Times
Training Dogs to be Good Citizens
September, 2012
Dog Obedience Club of Lee County
News from DOCOF…
Need we say more?
Monday, Sept. 17th: General
Meeting 7:30 PM at Perkins (US
41 south of Crystal Dr) 7:00 if
you plan to eat dinner.
Monday, Oct. 15th the board
meets at Perkins in Cape Coral
Contact Information:
Dog Obedience Club of Lee County
P.O. Box 60821, Ft. Myers, FL 33906
Email: [email protected]
Congratulations Terri! More DOCOF news on pages 3-4
Notice – Change in Board of Directors and Officers
Recent vacancies on the Board of Directors and
with the officers were addressed at the August Board Meeting. These vacancies were the loss of Dena Martin,
Treasurer, who did not renew her membership since moving out of state and Sue Davis, Recording Secretary, who also
moved away but only resigned the Recording Secretary position. Sue will continue to work with our club and will
remain on the Board as well as our trial secretary in January. The Board voted to realign the Officers and Board as
follows:
Terri Bell – President & Treasurer
Sandy Smith – Vice President
Debbie Covyeau – Corresponding Secretary
Coleen Hann – Recording Secretary
Board Members – Sue Davis, Skip Griffin, Judy Stratton, Carol Tollini & Jeanette Larson.
Training Times
Page 2
GOOD NEWS FROM THE TRIALS
Our members have reported the following accomplishments:
Terri Bell and Jenni took first place in the Open Class at DOCOF. They were
also awarded High in Trial at this event.
Terri Bell and Josi at the SOTC in St. Pete scored the following: Rally Novice –
2nd leg with a 99 for 2nd place; Beg. Novice – 2nd leg with a 197.5 for 2nd place;
and Novice B – 2nd leg with a 194.5 for 3rd place.
Welcome
New Member:
Lisa Beever
Jenny Curtis and Nykkolas earned a 1st place in Rally Novice and she earned a
3rd place on Saturday and a 2nd place on Sunday with Payton in Rally Advanced
at SOTC.
Coleen Hann and Blaze placed 2nd in Novice Obedience at SOTC.
Mona Kuth and Maddie placed 2nd in Rally Advanced at SOTC.
Nancy Hunt’s Layla is now an International Therapy Dog.
Pete and Jeanette Rogers earned the titles Novice Rally on July 29th and
Beginner Novice on August 18th.
On the way to DOCOF, Carol Tollini backed her pick-up truck directly over the
ball of her RV trailer hitch on a first attempt!
Upcoming Events
We will again hold the annual trial at the South County Recreational Center,
670 Cooper Street in Punta Gorda on January 26 and 26, 2013.
The drive to collect donations for the raffle table is currently underway. If
you have any baskets or items to fill the baskets, please contact Mona.
Condolences to
Deb Covyeau on the loss of Scott
Volunteers will be needed for set-up, take-downs, stewarding, and much
more. Contact Terri if you would like to help.
Connie Cleveland Seminar hosted by the Sarasota Obedience Training Club,
7505 County Road 675, Manatee Co, FL on February 23 and 24, 2013. Contact
Bev Shaw for more information at [email protected]
Continued on Page 5…
Training Times
Page 3
AKC News
As of January1, 2013, Canine Good Citizen® will become an official AKC title that can appear on the title
records of dogs registered with the AKC (an AKC number, PAL, or AKC Canine Partners). The fee is $20.00
instead of the regular cost of $8.00 for the CGC certificate. Dog owners may list the suffix “CGC” after their
dog’s name.
News from DOCOF…continued from page 1
Well, if you haven’t heard by now, we’ll tell you again that Terri Bell with Jenni took High in Trial at
DOCOF! Their first place score in the Open Class was 198.5. Other scores of note were: In Novice, Coleen and
Blaze scored 188 and Terri Bell and Megan scored 184.5 in Utility. As a team, The Dog Obedience Club of Lee
County placed exactly in the middle of the pack with 963 total points for 20 th place. The breakdown in scores
was Novice 340, Open 354.5, and Utility 268.5.
Scenes from the ‘70’s Party:
Disco party
“Grapes are bad??? But they’re food!”
Training Times
Party animal
“Let me get that for you, Mom.”
Page 4
A First Time View of DOCOF
By Coleen Hann
Wow, what a weekend!!! Talk about an emotional time with my dog, last weekend certainly qualifies. It was a
busy time that ran the whole gamut of emotions. Before leaving, I was nervous. What would go on? The
stories I had heard about so many rings of obedience going on at the same time exciting and intimidating. But
I knew we had trained and was so thankful to be included in it. Then I started getting anxious on the way
there. Would we be good enough to be included in the company of my fellow teammates? Getting there, my
roommate made me relax and gave me thoughtful training tips. But then came Saturday. Watching the
different dog and handlers work through their run-thru’s was enlightening and how some of them training to
work through individual weaknesses.
At night, during happy hour, was a great time spent with fellow
competitors. I guess what happens at DOCOF, stays at DOCOF, you
could say the evening was very eye opening. I don’t know that I
can look at some of the competitors in the same light again, but as
always in a good light! It was a great time to let your hair down
and be festive.
Now Sunday was a completely different story. Walking into the
building and seeing seven rings of different levels of obedience on
at the same time was overwhelming! Just standing back watching
was nothing like any of the shows I had been to before. The caliber
of dogs and handlers was amazing and I was so proud to be
included on our team. That is until the panic started in. At 11:00
every ring stopped and all started sits and downs. To see seven
rings with lines of dogs in the ring in sits was inspiring. Until I realized all the dogs were in there by
themselves. Was this a DOCOF rule? Would I have to leave my dog? We hadn’t practiced that! But thank
goodness for my team, they talked me down and reassured me these where the open dogs! Boy was I
embarrassed. We got through our sits and downs without a scratch and broke for lunch. The group picture
was taken and I had to run back to get ready for our remaining exercises. Stepping into the ring, was another
experience. It was so loud with the other rings going and the cheers from the crowds around them it was very
hard to hear the judge. It also affected my dog that apparently was as awe struck as I was because he was
more interested in what was going on then what we were doing. Note to self, just something more for us to
work on for next year. It was a relief to have our run over but reassured to have my teammates around the
ring for support. I was disappointed with how my dog and I worked as a team because I saw the mistakes we
made but proud of how he worked with all the new distractions going on around us.
The rest of the afternoon was blur – supporting my fellow teammates in their runs, surprise at winning a raffle
basket, and the and the highpoint of the afternoon – Terri winning High in Trial with Jenni! I bet she is still
celebrating! I ended the weekend very tired but I am now more determined to work with my dog so we are
better as a team. The experience of going to DOCOF was something that cannot be put into words but
shouldn’t be missed by anyone.
Training Times
Page 5
DOCOF Team 2012 (with Sunny Lichtenberg behind the camera)
Upcoming events continued…
Here is a list of some South and Central Florida Obedience and Rally events:
Orlando Dog Training Club Central Florida Fairgrounds (Indoors)
4603 W Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL
Saturday Oct 6th and Sunday Oct. 7th Closing date Sept. 19th
Greater Naples Dog Club and Greater Venice Florida Dog Club
Turner Agri-Civic Center (Outdoors)
2250 N.E. Roan Street, Arcadia, FL
Friday, Oct 12th and Saturday, Oct 13th (respectively) Closing date Sept. 26th
Imperial Polk Obedience Club of Lakeland, Florida
Imperial Polk Obedience Club Training Center (Indoors)
3633 Century Blvd., Lakeland, FL
Saturday, Oct 20th and Sunday, Oct 21st
And a big “Thank You” to the City of Ft. Myers Fire Department for their prompt response to K9s Come First to rescue a dog accidentally locked inside!