Board Update March General Membership Meeting

Transcription

MT. NITTANY DOG TALES - MARCH 2015
Sarah Betz and Ruby at the January agility trial. More trial photos on
pages 15 and 16.
March 2015
Board Update
In This Issue
The board decided at the March meeting to take action on one
item and to do further research on another.
From the President ··········· 2
First: For you agility folks. Normally the club has two winter
trials at the Ag Arena. In order to keep holding these trials,
we must have them on the week assigned to us by the AKC.
Currently we have Week 5 for our January trial and week 9 for
the February one. Unfortunately, Penn State has informed us
that the ag arena won’t be available for either of those two
weekends in 2016. They have offered three other weekends
for us, but if we move a trial to one of those weeks, it will
officially ‘release’ the original date of that trial, which then
may be claimed by another club. If we simply don’t have one
(or both) of our trials, we can keep those dates for the next
year. The board decided to move the January trial to the
weekend of February 19, 20 and 21st. This will officially
‘release’ the original January date, allowing another club to
claim it (if it is not claimed by another club, we can reclaim
that weekend for 2017). We also decided not to hold the trial
on our reserved date (week 9) in February. This will secure
that week for us in 2017 and in the future.
Event Calendar················· 2
Judy Kolva Seminar ··········· 3
The Welcome Wagon ········· 4
Building Cleaning ···············5
K9 Karnival ······················ 6
Deadlines! ························6
Member Spotlight ············· 7
Book Review: Chaser ······· 10
Spring Classes ················· 12
Westminster ··················· 14
Agility Trial Photos·········· 15
Congratulations ··············· 17
(continued on page 3)
March General Membership Meeting
Tuesday, March 10, at 7 p.m.
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Pine Grove Mills
Speaker: Michael Lee, developer of Nittany Valley Sports Centre
2
From the President
Thanks to the dedication of many club officers, board
members, and volunteers, we have a strong MNDTC that works
to benefit all members and our public-education goals. Now we
can build on that foundation for our long-term future, through
two ad hoc committees recently authorized by the board.
The Budget Committee (which is not a new committee but one
that has been dormant recently) will work toward planning an
annual budget for the club. This will help us plan in advance
for major expenditures, such as equipment replacement.
CLUB OFFICERS
OFFICERS
President Tracey Dooms
[email protected]
The Long Range Facility Planning Committee will examine what
our options might be if we ever find ourselves in need of a new
training facility. Note that we are NOT looking for a new
facility! However, the committee’s findings can help us decide
whether we should be saving funds in case we find ourselves in
that position in the future.
Vice President Kathy Huey
[email protected]
Secretary Janet Lewis
[email protected]
Treasurer Lois Albright
[email protected]
If you would like to serve on either committee — particularly if
you have related professional or volunteer experience — please
email me. Thank you!
Board Members
Ginny Esh
[email protected]
Karen Keller
[email protected]
Katie Kennedy
[email protected]
Lynn Klees
[email protected]
Send Us Your News!
Do you have news for the Mt.
Nittany Dog Tales newsletter?
Send it to [email protected].
The newsletter is published
every other month, before the
general meeting.
Newsletter Staff:
Marliene Froke
Janet Lewis
Heidi Miller
Brenda Palmgren
Cynthia Rabbers
-Tracey Dooms, President
Coming Up for MNDTC…
March 10: General membership meeting, 7 p.m., St. Paul’s
Lutheran, Pine Grove Mills
 April 4 & 5: Spring Tracking Test, Ag Progress Grounds
(Premium is currently available on the club webpage)
 April 7: Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m., St. Paul’s Lutheran, Pine
Grove Mills
 May 5: Penn State visit (Watch for emailed info!)
 May 5: Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m., St. Paul’s Lutheran, Pine
Grove Mills
 May 8-10: Agility Trial, Ag Choice Building, Rock Springs
 May 12: General membership meeting, St. Paul’s Lutheran,
Pine Grove Mills
 June 2: Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m., St. Paul’s Lutheran, Pine
Grove Mills
 June 13 & 14: Obedience/Rally Trial: Ag Choice Building,
Rock Springs
 June 27: K9 Karnival, Ag Choice Building, Rock Springs
For more information on events, and dates of up-coming runthrus, go to the MNDTC events and run-thru pages at
www.mndtc.org. Trial Premiums can also be found on the
events page as they become available.

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MNDTC Presents: Agility With Judy Kolva
Looking for some positive training tips? Need a little motivation
after the long cold winter? Please join us on April 25 and 26 for a
fun filled weekend with Judy Kolva. She will be presenting four
workshops on agility training and handling.
On Saturday we begin at 9am with Contacts. Judy will address
running and stopped contacts. She stresses the approach that is
best for you and your dog. Lunch will be provided for all and then
at 1pm we continue with “Out of Your Comfort Zone.” There will
be challenging courses to challenge your handling skills. If you are
someone who likes to play it safe, this session will help you
become a little more adventurous.
The fun doesn’t end on Saturday. On Sunday Judy will be back for
“Fancy Handling.” If you want to learn new moves or know what
they mean when they say things like the Jaakko turn, this is the
session for you. We end the day with “Mental Management.” If
Puppy footwork training at
you get lost on courses, feel overwhelmed before your run or just the 2014 seminar
need help with nerves, this is the session for you. There will be
plenty of drills and suggestions from Judy to help you in stressful situations.
Last year’s seminar was well received and Judy is a great teacher and communicator.
There are plenty of auditing spaces available. Please email Wendy Rote at
[email protected] for more information.
Board Update
(continued from page 1)
What this means is that there will be only one ‘winter’ trial in the Ag Arena in 2016. It also
means that week 9 (normally at the end of February) still belongs to the club and we will return
to that date in 2017. We simply won’t know about the January date until we see if another club
takes that date. Our rationale is this: unless we want to try to find another place to hold both
winter trials (highly unlikely given the weather problems), by moving the trials to other dates,
we give up the dates we now have. If we simply don’t have the trials for a year, we keep the
dates for the future, but have NO trials in the winter in 2016. The compromise was to keep the
date for one trial by not holding it, and hold the other (original January trial) so we have one
winter trial and hope that we can go back to our usual week in 2017. By doing it this way we can
keep at least one winter trial date.
Issue 2 deals with the acoustics in the training building. Those of us who have taken classes at
times when two classes are going on at the same time know how difficult it is to hear each other,
let alone our own class instructor. The board is looking into purchasing a curtain to hang
between the two rings that will either completely deaden the sound or at least mitigate it. But
this will be costly and we are exploring various options to see what is most practical (and
economically feasible). The results of our research will be discussed at the April board meeting
(feel free to come and give us your ideas) and voted on at the May general meeting.
4
The Welcome Wagon
Please welcome our newest members and
provisional members if you happen to see
them.
At our March meeting we will be voting on
regular membership for the following folks:
Dan Havrilla is from Flinton, PA. He is
currently training a 7 month old Belgian
Malinois, Thor. Dan is interested in
obedience and agility. He is a member of
the National Association of Search and
Rescue and training to become a member of
the PA Task Force as a dog handler.
Judy Bonawitz is from Selinsgrove; her breed
is Border Collies and she is interested in
obedience and lure coursing. In the past
she’s put titles on BCs and Shelties in
obedience, flyball and agility.
Joan Fry is from Williamsport. She currently trains both Border Collies and Corgis. Her current
interests are herding, agility and obedience. In the past she was a member of the Williamsport
Dog Training Club and ran her own boarding kennel.
Fran Feaster is from Pennsdale. She too has Border Collies and has put titles on them in rally and
obedience. Currently she is training in obedience.
Paula Stitt is from State College and owns Bichons and terriers. She is interested in agility and
obedience and is training her very first puppy for competition.
JoAnn Shaffer is from Canton, PA and is currently training two Bouviers. She is pretty much
interested in everything: agility, obedience, tracking, conformation, herding and carting. She’s
given demonstrations in obedience, agility and carting and has been a match judge.
Other provisional members who are out and about fulfilling membership obligations are: Julie
Mikesell from Port Matilda. Julie has Labs and Great Danes and is interested in obedience,
agility, tracking and field competition. In the past she’s titled dogs in obedience, tracking and
agility (including a MACH).
Nancy Whitke is from Berwick. She has owned Papillons, Samoyeds and Shelties.
Patty Sullivan from State College is training a Dalmatian and is interested in obedience, agility
and conformation. She has put a MACH and a Championship on her dogs.
Ann Marie Raup is from Northumberland. She has both standard and mini Poodles and is working
in obedience and agility and ‘maybe’ tracking.
Please welcome these new members (and feel free to hit on them for help at our activities :>)
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For Discussion at March 10 Meeting: Cleaning the Building
One of the issues the board has
been considering is how to keep
the training building clean.
Currently, folks who use the
building for personal training
“pay” for their time by
vacuuming and emptying the
trash. This has always worked
well during times when the
building is not heavily used.
Additionally, a crew of volunteers
always cleans the building before
and after club events such as
seminars and obedience and agility
trials.
But during class sessions, there is
no designated cleaning crew. With
large numbers of people and dogs
attending classes four days and
nights a week in addition to runthroughs for both agility and obedience, the place gets pretty hairy. Relying on the personal
trainers just isn’t keeping up with the dirt. In the past we’ve had classes stay an extra night once
a month to clean, but many thought it was unfair to ask paying customers to clean.
So members of the Building Committee and others, in consultation with the Board, have put forth
several suggestions that they would like club members to consider for a vote at the March meeting. Members may vote for all of these or select some and reject others. Options (all apply only
during times when classes are in session):
1. Reward those who clean with vouchers for classes: one voucher for four sections cleaned five
times.
2. Reward those who clean with gift cards (we cannot pay cash) for local businesses such as
Sheetz and Walmart. Although no specific hourly “pay” has been recommended, perhaps $10 for
one cleaning of four sections would be in line with the value of class vouchers.
3. Those who use the building for personal training would have two options. They could either
compensate the club for usage by cleaning one section per training session or they could pay $5
per session. Those fees would be used for the purchase of gift cards.
4. Cleaning can be used by provisional members to fulfill activity requirements (one cleaning session/four sections for each activity). Provisional members must be accompanied by a club member if they choose this option.
5. Those seeking awards may also use the cleaning option (one session/four sections) to qualify
for awards.
6
K9 Karnival Is June 27 at Ag Progress
The K9 Karnival is coming to Rock Springs. This year’s event will be on Saturday, June 27 at the
MNDTC training building. The K9 Karnival will take place from 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and will
include a number of activities and demonstrations. The "TRY-IT" stations will include jumping and
walking through various hurdles. The demonstrations will include agility, obedience, and tracking. All companion dogs and owners on leash are welcome. Check us out on WE ARE CENTRAL PA,
WTAJ. If you would like to know how you can help with this event, talk to Bonnie Jacobs.
Deadlines: Banquet; Trophy Pledges
Awards Banquet: This Friday, March 13, is the deadline to reserve your spot at the March 27
awards banquet. All club members and family members are invited to attend. You don’t have to
have earned an award to attend! The banquet will be held at the Mt. View Country Club in
Boalsburg.
Complete information was attached to the Late Barking News emailed to club members on March
7. Betsy Geertson needs to receive your reservation and payment by March 13. Questions? Email
Betsy.
Obedience/Rally Trophy Pledges: This Sunday, March 15, is the deadline for making trophy
pledges if you would like your pledge to be listed in the trial premium. You have the option of
paying via Paypal or being billed later, so all that’s needed right now is your pledge. Email Helen
Smith with what you would like to donate and any “in honor of” or “in memory of” information.
The easiest thing to do (for you and the club) is to simply say “wherever needed.” Typical donations are in the $10 to $30 range, but any amount is appreciated.
7
Member Spotlight
The Tales Spotlight in this issue is on Maureen Romej and Linda Arble, drawn to MNDTC for its
training opportunities. One new and one long-time member. One expanded her abilities along
with the club, and one recently latched on the possibility of expanding hers. Both volunteer for
club activities as they train in a variety of classes that MNDTC offers.
Spotlight on Maureen Romej
The city of Buffalo, New
York, was not conducive
to pets, but somehow
growing up there instilled my desire to
eventually have a dog.
When my husband Ron
and I married, we
moved to Alabama and
got two Cocker Spaniels. I briefly dabbled in
obedience with them.
We continued to have a
succession of dogs. Most
were of the AllAmerican variety since I
was heavily involved
with the Humane
Society. It was a family
thing, too, as my two
daughters got to “kid
test” a lot of puppies
Abby and Maureen concentrate on their Rally Excellent exercises at
and dogs.
the All-Star event in York.
When we lived in Alabama I showed horses. One day a Corgi puppy wandered into my horse’s stall. I immediately fell
in love with him and even toyed with the idea of stealing him! Of course, I gave him back. I truly
wanted a Corgi, but I kept thinking of all those needy dogs at the shelter.
Then my daughter got a Corgi. That did it. We semi-rescued another and we dearly loved the
two. When my daughter had to move we kept hers. They were all I have ever hoped for. Sadly,
we lost one and replaced him with a brother-sister duo from Kentucky.
Now in Pennsylvania with two pups at the same time, I figured I needed a little more knowledge.
New to the area, having just arrived from Colorado, I took them to a class at Petco. The instructor was great. They did well and I loved it. No more choke collars!
(continued on next page)
8
(Maureen Romej: continued from previous page)
I was going to sign up for another class when I found out about the Mifflin County Dog Training
Club. So I stared working with them and actually even began showing my Corgis in rally and
obedience. It had been 30 or more years since I had done that. They, especially my little girl
Abby, did well at the lower levels of both sports.
At the same time I was asked to help with the local 4-H dog club. As a former teacher, this was
right up my alley. I figured at least I know more than the kids. Karen Keller judges these 4-H
shows, and through her, of course, I found out about MNDTC. It sounded like the club had a lot to
offer, and I’ve certainly found that to be true.
I’ve taken obedience classes from Janet Lewis, and they have helped me tremendously. I’ve
found the club as a whole is ready to help and to answer my endless—and sometimes probably
dumb—questions. I like helping at events because I meet a lot of people and find out about other
sports like tracking and agility, which I’m thinking of trying next.
In the last year my two 5-year-old pups finished their Rally Excellent titles and got their CDs.
They will be starting Graduate Novice this spring and maybe Open this fall.
My only regret is that the pups and I aren’t younger. Don’t we all! And I wish I had gotten into
these dog sports sooner. At present I have my three Corgis and a very special All-American.
Thank You to all of you MNDTC members who have helped me. And please keep answering my
questions.
Spotlight on Linda Arble
How can that be?
When I looked at the MNDTC membership list it says that I’ve been a member since 1983. Surely
it’s not that long! At that time I had a Golden Retriever and I thought he could use an obedience
class. One thing led to another and here I am, shall we say, a few decades later. Certainly the
scope of my activities has expanded along with the years.
Back when I lived in Philadelphia, my roommate and I had two Afghan Hounds who never had a
speck of obedience training. When I moved back to Centre County, I wanted a more wash-andwear kind of dog. Upon the death of the second Afghan, I wanted a Flat-Coated Retriever, but
got a Golden instead. At that time it was very difficult to get a Flat-Coat as not many were bred.
You practically needed a referral to even get on a waiting list for a puppy.
I got my first Flat-Coat in 1988 after having cared for her mother for several months while the
owner traveled the world. Over the years, four have been champions of record, and two have
had multiple MACHs. I’m so proud of the four who have also qualified for the Flat-Coat Hall of
Fame. Eligibility for that award is earned by a point system with a point value for each title
earned.
Mostly I participate in retriever hunt tests, agility and obedience trials and tracking. I also spend
a lot of time joining my dogs on long walks over various terrains to keep them in condition for
their activities. And I enjoy the exercise too.
9
(Linda Arble: continued from previous page)
Puppy Alabi shows Linda how to play as she takes time out from watching her first agility trial
in Latrobe last summer.
I have been interested in dog sports ever since I started training. As my experience expanded, so
did my interest in participating in obedience and tracking. When AKC agility began in this area in
1995, I eagerly joined that sport. I’ll always remember my first agility trial at New York’s Wine
Country circuit in the pouring rain in September 1996.
I was one of the early supporters of agility training for MNDTC. When the club finally agreed to
buy the three pieces of contact equipment, we got busy and made almost everything else out of
PVC. Initially, Kerrie Laird and I taught all club classes in the Special Events building at the Ag
Progress Days site. Every Monday night we had to fold up the existing tables and put the folding
chairs away before we could roll out the obedience mats for the week’s classes. Now, that was a
job I never want to see again! I always taught the first class on Monday nights, so I got to do it
until we were able to move into the Farm Bureau building.
In the past I taught obedience classes, although now I focus on preparing students to participate
in agility. I particularly enjoy teaching the foundations and beginning agility classes. I feel it is so
important to have a solid foundation on which to build your dog’s agility career. It’s fun to watch
trials at ringside and see students progress in their abilities and start achieving titles.
I’ve been an officer of the club or a member of the Board for about 20 years. It’s very gratifying
10
Book Review: Chaser
By Janet Lewis
Before he retired from teaching the psychology of learning
at Wofford College in South Carolina, Robert Pilley often
assigned his students the task of teaching his family dogs
‘new tricks’ using the principles of classical and operant
conditioning. He came to believe that dogs were capable of
understanding far more than the science allowed.
A Border Collie named Ricco had been the subject of a
study in Germany which demonstrated that the dog “knew”
over five hundred words although there was great debate in
the scientific community about whether the dog actually
‘understood’ the words. When Pilley retired, his wife presented him with a Border Collie puppy acquired from a local
sheep herding expert both husband and wife had admired
for years. Pilley set out to see if his new puppy could better
Ricco’s record.
Before he was done, Pilley’s dog, Chaser, had doubled
Ric-
(Linda Arble: continued from previous page)
now to see new members stepping up for those positions.
Aside from my dogs, my other passion is gardening. I have to admit that during gardening season,
I frequently skip dog training to spend more time outside and gardening. My dogs seem to
approve of these skills as I often have trouble finding even one tomato or cucumber for myself.
They’re also fond of asparagus, which they eat from the top down to a little below root level.
It’s quite a sight seeing them tackle this chore.
After I retired from my job as a caseworker for the state of Pennsylvania, I decided to go to
massage school. I graduated from the Mount Nittany Institute of Natural Health in July 2004.
From there I went to the Pet Massage School in Toledo, Ohio. Now I do chair massage and energy
work with dogs at agility trials. It’s great being able to run my dogs and to help people and their
dogs feel and do better…all at almost the same time.
All of my dogs except my current youngster have been certified therapy dogs. I have been visiting the Juniper Village at Brookline approximately once a month ever since I had my Golden back
in the early ’80s. Many residents at the nursing home have had pets of their own, and they enjoy
talking about them. Also, it gives residents’ visitors something to talk about. The visits trigger
memories to share. The touch of a dog is a very healing touch, whether actual or emotional.
11
(Chaser; continued from previous page)
Ricco’s record, demonstrating (to the satisfaction along). And Pilley met with great resistance from
of the scientific community) that she could
that community until he had demonstrated to
identify over one thousand toys by name and
their satisfaction that the dog’s exploits were geretain that memory over time. She also
nuine. Pilley’s book, Chaser: Unlocking the Gedemonstrated an understanding of syntax,
nius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words,
differentiating verbs from nouns in sentences of tells the story of not only how Chaser learned,
increasing complexity and the art of reasoning by but of the efforts Pilley went through to prove
exclusion. For example, Chaser would obey
that dogs were capable of learning and undercommands to “paw Santa,” “nose Santa,”
standing far more than they
“shake Santa.” She
are given credit for.
could “take Santa to
‘Pilley’s book, Chaser:
ABC” (names Pilley
Pilley maintains that ChasUnlocking the Genius of
assigned to different
er’s learning is not unique
toys) and “take ABC to
(and Chaser is not a high
the Dog Who Knows a
Santa.” If Pilley put out
priced breed or performance
Thousand
Words,
tells
four toys that Chaser
dog, just a pup from a litter of
had words for and
the story of not only how dogs bred for herding) but
another toy she had
characteristic of dogs with
Chaser learned, but of
never seen before,
certain qualities. Dogs that
and Pilley told her to
are bred for intelligence and
the efforts Pilley went
find that toy using a
for work for humans (such as
through to prove that
word Chaser had
Border Collies bred for hernever heard before,
ding) have not only the ability
dogs were capable of
she could bring back
to learn, but the desire to
learning and understanthe new toy. She had
work with their human counlearned to mimic
terparts. Chaser was trained
ding far more than they
Pilley’s behavior on
an average of three or four
are given credit for.’
command…if Pilley lay
hours a day and then taken
down and rolled over
for exercise (hiking, running
and then told Chaser
an agility course in Pilley’s
‘now you do it’ she
back yard, herding sheep) for
would lie down and roll
over. The Border Collie and her owner had apanother two. She was not trained with food, but
peared on the Today Show, ABC News with
with play. Chaser was rarely corrected in any
Diane Sawyer and been the subject of an epiaversive way, was rewarded with play and
sode of Nova that explored the intelligence of
talked to constantly. Pilley tried to teach her new
animals.
things each day, thus challenging her
intelligence. The author thinks that many dogs
What Chaser demonstrated contradicted the en- are capable of such understanding if they are
trenched paradigm of the scientific community
given enough attention and have their
that dogs were incapable of this kind of linguistic intelligence challenged on a daily basis.
sophistication (dog lovers had known it all
Wanted!!!
Gently used soft sided crate, Retriever size, 24" X 36" (larger would be o.k.).
Contact Amy Bergstrom at [email protected] or 814-360-0908.
12
Classtime Is Funtime
Do you have goals for your dogs? How are you
going to get from where you are to the point
where you can celebrate the accomplishment
of your goals? Classes are a great resource to
help you reach those goals. The spring class
schedule is out and registrations have begun.
All agility and obedience classes will start the
week of March 30; the tracking classes begin on
April 22.
Agility is a great sport to participate in with
your dog. This is a timed sport in which the
handler, probably you, directs his/her dog
through an obstacle course containing obstacles
such as jumps, weave poles, tunnels, and
various contact obstacles. Agility courses are
aimed at teaching you and your dog how to
perform the obstacles and help your dog
become confident with the agility equipment.
To be successful your dog needs to know how to
come, sit, down and stay; enrolling in an
obedience class first will allow your dog to gain
these skills.
There are agility classes that will help whether
y o u are brand new to agility or a seasoned
compuetitor who needs to brush up on
handling skills.
Agility Foundations
Foundation is the beginning of everything. It is
where the dog begins to learn how to learn. It
is the beginning of forming a strong team for
future endeavors. It is the beginning of working
for attention and impulse control on the part of
the dog.
progression to more advanced obstacle skills
and greater off-leash control.
“Beginning Agility” will be offered at two different times. You can take it on Mondays from
9-10:30 a.m. with Linda Arble or on Mondays
from 6-7:30 p.m. with Mel Eng and Cindy Tier.
Intermediate Agility
“Intermediate Agility” is designed for individuals who have completed Beginning Agility and
whose dogs are comfortable with the agility
equipment. Emphasis will be on simple
sequencing and introduction to basic handling
techniques.
“Intermediate Agility” will be offered on
Wednesdays from 7:15-8:45 p.m. with Mel Eng
and Janny Olsen.
Agility Handling
These classes are basically for handlers and
dogs who are actively competing in agility.
They concentrate on handling skills for the
handlers. These skills can include tunnel
science, boxes, wraps, 180’s, 270’s, and
laterals, just to name a few. The classes are
back to back, so the same course will be used
for both. The first class will set up and the
second will tear down.
Handling classes with Tracey Dooms and Karen
Keller occur on Thursdays from 6-7:30 p.m. or
Thursdays from 7:45-9:15 p.m.
Agility Drills
Drills class is a great opportunity for you to be
Certain behaviors will be shown and worked on able to focus on skills within small sequences so
but the primary focus of the class is developing you have more time to troubleshoot that particthe bond between the dog and the trainer.
ular skill. Drills are generally short sequences
that will emphasize a particular skill, such as
“Agility Foundations” will be offered on Monweave entries, wraps, serpentines, etc.
days from 7:45-9:15 p.m. with Tracey Dooms.
“Agility Drills” will be offered on Mondays from
Beginning Agility
10:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. with Linda Arble.
“Beginning Agility” is open to who have completed the Agility Foundations class or have the Every dog needs to have an obedience base
permission of the instructor. This class will
build on the Agility Foundations class with the
13
(continued from previous page)
tices for taking care of
your dog.
“Beginning Obedience”
will be offered on
Tuesdays from 7:158:15 p.m. with Carol
Aulick; a second class
will be offered on
Wednesdays from 6-7
p.m. with Helen Smith.
Intermediate
Obedience
This class is designed for individuals who have
whether they are a pet or a performance dog.
Obedience teaches your dog his/her expectapreviously taken an obedience class or the
tions and is a beginning step to teaching your
equivalent and would like to continue working
dog how to learn. General obedience skills and with their dog. A big objective of the class is to
manners are emphasized in obedience classes
prepare the student to pass the AKC Canine
using positive training methods. Whether you're Good Citizen Test which the club usually gives
looking for a way to teach your dog the skills
in June. Some students are interested only in a
necessary to pass the CGC test or you want to
better trained pet and companion so we work
start the process of teaching your new puppy
on that. We also give an introduction to the
basic manners, obedience classes are for you
sport of dogs and some of the many things they
and your dog.
can do with their dogs such as Rally,
Obedience, Agility and Tracking. Some go on to
take our classes in these activities. All in all we
Kindergarten Puppy Training
KPT Class is designed for young puppies, under try to give them the motivation & tools to
the age of four months at the start of the class. continue training and having fun with their
This class will be the puppy’s foundation for
dogs.
learning. The emphasis of this class is in
preventing bad habits (chewing, jumping, etc.), “Intermediate Obedience” will be offered on
the beginnings of learning, and socialization
Thursdays from 7:15-8:15 p.m. with Pat Welser.
exercises.
Obedience Workshop
This is a drop in class. No need to sign up. For
“Kindergarten Puppy Class” will be offered on
people interested in showing in obedience,
Thursdays from 6-7 p.m. with Cindy Tier.
open to all levels. Each week, exercises will be
picked based on those there that day. Different
Beginning Obedience
Beginning Obedience is the beginning of your
levels of each exercise can be designed dedog’s formal education in obedience. This class pending on the dog and/or trainer's level of exbuilds the foundations for the basic manners of pertise. The second hour may (but need not) be
a family dog. You and your dog will learn about devoted to individual practice or run-thrus. This
walking on a loose lead, sit, down, stay and
all depends on the attendees any given day.
come. These exercises are basic foundation exercises whether you just want a well behaved
“Obedience Workshop” will be offered on Tuespet or you want to continue on to compete in
days from 10 a.m to noon with Janet Lewis.
obedience, agility or other performance activities. In addition to what your dog will learn
Rally
there will be lessons for you to learn good prac- The “Rally” class is designed to teach you and
14
(continued from previous page)
your dog the basic rules of Rally Obedience and
the performance of the Rally signs. We will cover several signs each week along with tips on
how to perform the signs to your best advantage when showing. Over the course of the
8-week session we will cover the 67 signs used
in AKC Rally. Some signs are very easy and others are more difficult, so we will cover 5-15
signs each week. As you learn the signs you will
have the opportunity to put what you are learning together into short sequences. By the end
of the class you will have the opportunity to
practice full courses. To get the most out of
this class you and your dog must know the following: Heel, Sit, Down, Stand, Stay, Front,
Finish left and right, and be able to jump.
p.m. with Roberta Horner.
Tracking is a sport where dogs are trained by
bringing out their natural ability to recognize
and follow human scent. Dogs possess an
extremely high level of scent capability and
owners who do tracking with their dogs find
joy in seeing the dogs at work using their
innate scenting skills. Our Beginning Tracking
class gets you started! The Intermediate Class
is for dogs who are already doing turns.
Tracking classes will be offered on Wednesdays
with Sandy Roth. “Beginning Tracking” will be
from 6-7 p.m., and “Intermediate Tracking”
will be from 7-8 p.m. (note: these classes do
not begin until April 22).
“Rally” will be offered on Mondays from 7-8
Westminster Brags
Several MNDTC members attended the Westminster Agility trial this year. Videos and stories of
their experience can be found here.
Skittles and Laura Kuterbach had this to say about their NYC experience:
This was my first trip to New York City and it was not as overwhelming as I expected. I was able
to walk from the Manhattan hotel to many interesting sites: Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music
Hall, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Broadway, NBC Studios. There was a hip nightclub in the alley outside my hotel window and cabs honking every 30 seconds until 3am, adding to the NYC ambience
(I don't think I slept more than 5 total hours during my two night stay). I ate breakfast at an authentic NY diner that was used for triage on 9/11 and later visited the 9/11 Museum (very moving). The Westminster experience was very exciting. Matching t-shirts for exhibitors, great vendors, and the footing was great for Skittles. We were really connected and his turns were tight
and efficient. He beat out twelve other cavaliers to earn a spot in the 12" Finals. He was a bit
freaked out by the paparazzi and popped out at the end of the weave poles, but I was really
proud of all of his runs. Here's a video tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc-esl8U4sE
Elaine Swancer made it to the 24” Finals with Wizard and also competed with Marliene Froke’s
Stash. Wizard’s JWW run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRF6oeJhNLE&feature=youtu.be.
Stash’s run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nupz7cvnrrs&feature=youtu.be.
Zena and Tracey Dooms’ video can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v26En6Yzfvg
Shaker and Julie Mikesell’s video can be seen at:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152915471456773
If you haven’t meet Julie yet, she is one of our Provisional members so there will be plenty of
time for you to meet and get to know her.
15
Agility Fun in the Dirt!
MNDTC held two trials
this winter at Penn
State’s Ag Arena, with
lots of club members on
hand to have fun both in
and out of the ring.
These photos are from
the January 30-February
1 trial. Our next agility
trial is May 8-10 at Ag
Progress.
16
17
Congratulations!
I'd like to share that my dog Bo, an All American dog,
passed his Therapy Dog International exam in November and is now officially registered as a TDI dog. Bo and
I hope to visit local schools and libraries to help kids
with reading.
-Amber Irwin
Congratulations to Janny Olsen and
Daisy on qualifying for the NAC
(That’s the AKCs National Agility
Championship, held in March, for
anyone unfamiliar with AKC agility
acronyms). Janny says, “Even after
running many times with substitute
handlers, missing 5 weeks with a
neck injury and moving to
preferred in September, she
qualified.”
18
Congratulations!
Two old dogs finished a
MACH on January 30 at
the club's trial. This took
time and effort, with
rough spots along the
way. Persistence finally
paid off. Neither of us are
fast, and Dart does more
than agility, earning a TD,
UD, and trained as an airscenting SAR dog in her
spare time. Many thanks
to those who helped and
encouraged us. Video at
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=jFoyhn7cHWw
Victory photo taken by
Nanette Bohren and
edited by Annie Tubiolo.
-Craig Bohren
I'm pleased to announce Honeyfox Secret Star "Annie" and I finally received a Master Standard Title after many attempts.
-Catina Reed
Congratulations!
Queezle (top) finished her AX at the MNDTC January trial! Lynah (below)
finished her NAJ, also at our trial.
-Kate Eldredge
19

Board Update March General Membership Meeting

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