The Gang

The Gang
Ain't We Got Fun?

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Brrrr.

Good grief. Winter has arrived at Shadowbar. East wind. Icicles on horses merit blanketing. Miss Kitty, the barn puss, is using her heated blanket in her quilt-covered house. Kennel dogs are quite happy to be locked inside and let out every 2 hours for the bare necessities. Hoping the dog obedience dvd they are watching is being taken seriously. We are hoping to have our Due South Scent team enter the Ev Kenny Show Feb. 4th and 5th in Calgary. I have been painting dumbbells as some of the dogs have munched theirs whilst practicing. I hope Donna is happy that the snow will make ski-jouring very, very possible. I know I could have used dogs and skis to get around the Crowsnest Pass this morning easily. I am not ready for the new year to begin. I am still having fun with the old one.
Stay warm. Cuddle up with a cat and a good book. (I am presently reading the e-book, Fair Game, and it looks to be a good read. ) Dog-wise has a pile of e-books on training as well. Stay warm.
The Pres

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Club Days in January

Fun and games begin at the Cowley Hall on Saturday, January 8th, with Obedience set to go at 9:00 sharp with 10 minutes set aside for heeling drills and sits, downs, moving stands, circles left and right, about turns, left about turns, u-turns, & 180' pivots as a group followed by Novice, Open, and Utility Practice.

Barrel Racing is at 10:00 in preparation for Pet Expo. Our goal is to have our dogs run the course smoothly.

Scent Hurdle begins at 10:45 . We are registering our Due South Team and must practice as a team.
Judi, Sharlet, Denise, Judy, Liz and Lee, please try to be there for sure. We need to measure dogs for jacket sizes. In the meantime, buy a white golf shirt which we will have embroidered with our
SAWHDA Due South logo so we have team uniforms. We will wear blue jeans to go with the shirts.
We need all this to come together rather quickly and we need to decide if we can attend the Ev Kenny show
in early February. We will be ready. Wicca will not be with us for that show. We will be jumping 12 - 16 inches and need to work on cadence for that. It is not fair to ask the dogs to think on their feet when it comes to adding 4 inches to the height.

New rally O exercises and signs and a discussion of the new "retry" rules for novice, advanced, and excellent, will take place afterwards.

See you all there. Happy heeling.



Sunday, December 5, 2010

Vista Village Photos


Examples of the beautiful photography by Char Kabatoff.


If you are thinking of having a photographer at your doggie events, please
let us know and we'll have Char contact you.
Joan & Judi with Zsuree and Drummer Boy

We had the best time this weekend. Sixteen dogs were on hand for the Christmas Photo Shoot at Vista Village in Pincher Creek. SAWHDA members bring their dogs to the assisted living centre and residents and guests are invited to have their photos taken with the dogs in a Christmas Setting. Then we have the photos developed into 5 X 7 prints and we return them to the centre so that they can be put on display.

Thank you to Russell, Nancy, Shirley, Barb, Sharlet, Tubby, Kerri, Carol, Joan,and Maureen for bringing your dogs. I am sure that nobody could believe that that many dogs could zip in and out of the photo settings so quickly and that all the dogs would get along. Our training truly pays off in a situation like this.

And thank you so much to Char Kabatoff for her terrific photograpy.

I do believe that this is the singularly most wonderful thing that we do as a club for others and it couldn't happen without the dedication of our volunteer members.

Remember, for those of you who can make it, we have our Canine Christmas Fun Day at the Cowley Hall from 9:30 - 11:45 on Sunday, December 12th followed by brunch at the Cowley Restaurant. We hope you can join us.

Our next regular club days will be January 8th and 22 starting at 10:00 a.m.

We will attend Pet Expo Calgary this March so if you aren't going to Camrose, and you don't mind spending money on a motel, we would love to have you join us. We will offer two shows a day plus a clicker training demo in the demo booth.
Practices will take place during club days and we will post the events we are practicing.
More later.

Super results from the Obedience Trials at Calgary this weekend. Jolene collie, Kort, and Amanda's Cardi, Pixel, both will sport a CD title behind their names and congratulations to Sarah and Kaleb on their CDX. Excellent job.

Happy heeling.

The Prez

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Santa Claus Parade











Hi, Everyone
Good weather, good friends, large crowds & made for a great day for all those who attended the Fort Macleod Santa Claus Parade. Members from Coaldale, Calgary, Crowsnest Pass, Lundbreck and Pincher Creek were on hand to show off their dogs and we were very well-received. We were approached by adults and children alike, all wanting to know more about our club and our dogs. Tubby would have been proud of our two-dog hitch and our cart dogs for sure. And we already have dreams (maybe nightmares) of this great drill at Pet Expo 2011 with four carts and four dogs (with doggie passengers) and then a brace with cart and a team with wagon..... filled with all the smaller dogs!!!! Man, what a finale!
Congratulations to everybody who attended the Lethbridge Show. We had numerous placings in rally, in standard obedience, and in conformation with our dogs.


Psst.... Hunter is a champion! Thanks Mary Ellen! Liz, with Breed and Winner placements, did well with her flatcoats. Amanda did a very nice job of handling Judy's high energy pup and Kona was great with Judy at the helm.

Mary Ellen's Weim entry picked up four points from Group placings......... no weims entered in classes.

Canuck Dogs has all the exact results for the performance events but I know that Jolene and Amanda qualified in the Novice exercises and Sarah in Open! Unfortunately, my Swayze became somewhat "attached" to me during his recall and we missed passing but did entertain the spectators with our "slow dance." The rally ring was filled with Q's and High in Class performances! Congrats to Vicky, Shar, Heather, Liz, Louann, Nancy, & Sarah for terrific course negotiation, some perfect scores and new titles as well.


I would like to thank Canuck dogs and especially Patti Taylor for being "Johnny on the spot" with performance event results from the Lethbridge show.


Calgary performance results are not in but Shar phoned and let us know that she and Ryder gained another leg towards their RAE-4. Good deal.


Good luck to everyone who is entered tomorrow.



The Prez

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Great Day!

Another great club day at Cowley. Tubby and Kerri joined us from Calgary, Donna, Judy and Sarah from Lethbridge, and Denise and Sylvia from Fernie so counting Shar, Deb, Shirley, Barb, Russell and I, we had a really good practice.

We started off with conformation and Judy, Deb and I played judge and exhibitor in turn.

Then we played scent hurdle with Kipper, Kona, Drummer, Jagged, Ryder, Mesa, Roxy, and Token.
Sylvia and Shirley had their dogs run over a second set of jumps to see if our team would leave the course and join them. Drummer had a moment but all in all, we had a good round. All the dogs ran the jumps well and they all brought back dumbbells. Not always their dumbbells, but dumbbells. Everyone wanted Denise's dumbbell and Ryder, who never pays attention to any dumbbell, was convinced it was his for sure. At times, we had six dumbbells in the box at a time and the dogs were really having to check to find theirs. As usual, everybody played and everybody had a good time. We are looking forward to our practice next Wednesday with the Lethbridge team.

We switched to standard obedience and had four dogs in Open, one in Novice and one in PRe-Novice.
All did very well. At times, we had ten dogs on the floor working stays and figure eights and broad jumps and drop on recall exercises all at the same time. Talk about organized confusion, but we all managed. Then I put Sarah and Donna through an Open routine and their dogs did very well.

We set up a combination novice/advanced and then an advanced/excellent course of rally O and
after setting up the course, I was the first one to make a boo boo on the straight figure 8 . Duh, how many cones are there in a straight figure 8 anyway..... maybe five????

We were all proud of our dogs today. Kipper's moving down as fabulous, and Charley's drop on recall was snappy. Janet's pup allowed everyone to pet her which was super and Sylvia's poodle was relaxed and happy in the midst of all the dogs. Jagged was happy to be with everyone and she really liked the sheltie. I think he is in love with her.

Mojo was just zipping along and did an excellent backup three steps as did Kipper. I was just happy that Swayze stayed with me. Tubby's new pup, Cagney, wasn't phased by the action at all. She was relaxed and enthusiastic about everything.

With seven people helping with cleanup, we were out of the hall in less than 30 minutes and on our way to the craft fair in Pincher Creek at the golf course. Deb bought a rug and I bought a neat little sweater/shawl thingy that will work well when the house is cool.

Last night, five of us entered the Parade of Lights in the Pass and Fyre won hands down for the cutest outfit. Deb had bought these large battery-operated bows from Canadian Tire and we made a harness for Fyre with the bows on each side of her. She looked like a lit-up butterfly as she zig-zagged back and forth across the road in the parade. Mesa and Ryder were also 'lit up' with mini-lights and bows and Drummer hopped and skipped and jumped his way into everyone's heart along the parade route. Jan and Anita's young dogs did very well, actually visiting with kids along the route. The night was warm and just perfect for the parade, which introduced Moonlight Madness shopping.

What a good weekend.





Wednesday, November 10, 2010

New titles

Congratulations to Judy Hunt and Kona, her young flatcoat retriever on gaining the title of Rally Novice dog. And to Amanda Labadie and Wicca, her wonderful Cardigan Corgi, for reaching the title Scent Hurdle Dog Champion!!!!
Performance events take practice and good management and these two ladies have shown that they have both.

Monday, November 8, 2010



Sit Happens APDT Rally O Trial Results

A little brag from the Oct. 30/31 APDT Rally Obedience Trial in Calgary:

Sat. Oct. 30
Jagged & Viper - tied for High in Level 1B with perfect scores (210's) and same times
Jagged - High in Level 2B
Jagged - High in Level 3B

Sun. Oct. 31
Jagged - High in Level 1B
Jagged - High in Level 2B
Jagged - High in Level 3B

High in Trial for Sat. & Sun. is shared by Viper & Jagged.
High Speed Duo awarded to Jagged & I
Viper awarded ARCHX title & ribbon
Jagged awarded ARCH title & ribbon

A special THANK YOU to Jill, Alison and staff of "Sit Happens" in Calgary, Alberta
and to Judges: Tammy Brooks & Lisa Wright!
Thanks also to Mungo's Books and Urban Mushers for the lovely prizes.

Denise McKay
PROUD PARTNER OF:

Ch. Karlee's War Without Prejudice, CD, AGNJS, AGNS, NAC, NJC, VADC,
VSGDC, RL2
All CD legs HIC
Call sign: TAMSEN - 10 1/2 year old red female Doberman; Status - retired
(IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER)

ARCHX. Karlee's Just To Satisfy You, PCD, AGNJS, RE, RL3(AOE), RL1X2,
RL2X, SADC, NJC
CKC Rally: 7X HIC, 2X Perfect Score, APDT Rally: 20X HIC, 8X HIT, 7X
Perfect Score
Call sign: VIPER - 5 year old male Doberman

ARCH. Montwood Arista Just Show'n Off, CD, RE, RL3, RL1X,AGNS,SGDC
CKC Rally: 16X HIC, 5 perfect scores, APDT Rally: 25X HIC, 9X HIT, 12X
perfect score
CKC Agility: All legs HIC
Call sign: JAGGED - 3 year old female Doberman

*** Canadian National Rankings - APDT Rally Obedience - 2009, Viper &
Jagged are ranked #1 in Canada (tied with 341 points. each)!

Red Deer Results

What a nice weekend for SAWHDA members! No one came away empty-handed.
Maureen and Levi qualified in two Advanced Rally classes with 87 and 97.
Amanda and Wicca picked up two legs towards their RAE title. (8 to go!)
Sara and Kaleb got 2 Excellent legs in Rally and ...... and.... Kaleb qualified in the Open
Ring.
Shar and Ryder picked up 33 points in the Canadian Rally standings and 3 more scores towards their third RAE title. They only have one more set to go!
In the Breed ring, Judy and her flatcoat pup, Kona, went Winners and Best of Winners to end with 5 points towards a Canadian Championship. Breeder, Liz Saunders, did well, too, with her male dog Tinbie taking Best of Breed and Cava, the flatcoat pup ending with Best puppy in Breed. Liz's Rally dog, Lupin, passed in the Excellent ring to gain a qualifying score there.
Judi Snowdon's German shepherd, Hunter, ended the weekend with two points and Best of Winners.
Shar and Judi entered Ryder and Token in the International Therapy Dog Association's test and both dogs passed with flying colors. Tester Chris Cornell made the test both fun and interesting for all competitors.
Scent hurdle was the chaos it generally is but we got the job done. Wicca was just not herself as she had previously eaten a roll of Rollover dog food with Tim's timbits for dessert. What a girl!
Lots of opportunity for visiting with friends and watching rally and obedience.

We have Dog Club on the 13th to provide everyone with the opportunity to practice before the Lethbridge Dog Show. Conformation at 9:15. Scent hurdle at 10:00. Mayhem afterwards with obedience and rally.
See you there.
The Prez

Friday, October 29, 2010

Stateside Stuff


Ryder, German shepherd dog owned by Sharlet Caroe, finished his RA and RE titles in one weekend at the Helena Dog show. He now has his Canadian CD, CGN, AgN, RAE II and his US CD, RA, & RE titles. And now he has started a new career at 9 years of age: scent hurdle racing!!!
Tessa owned by Mary Ellen Whyte obtained a Best of Breed win to give her 10 points towards her US championship. Congratulations are in order and wishes for those Majors!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Camrose results

Congratulations to Carol and Hank on two legs of Novice B obedience! And also to Maureen and Levi for their super scores of 97 and 95 in Rally Advanced! And also to Heather and her poodle who were definitely walkin' on sunshine with two scores towards their RAE title! Exciting!!

Amanda and Wicca had a super agility weekend made especially wonderful with Wicca getting super fast times (2nd over all) and not knocking bars!!!! Her last standard run left Amanda breathless!!! This team has put in plenty of practice to get this far and it has been worth it with Wicca having a fabulous year!!

Tubby Miller will be on hand Saturday the 30th to help us with our team carting. If anyone has questions re: draft dog or carting, I am sure Tubby will be happy to help out.

Good luck to those members entered in the Sit Happens! APDT trials this coming weekend. Let us know how things go.

Club day is Saturday beginning with Scent hurdle practice at 10:00, followed by Rally O : a novice course and then a combination of advanced and excellent to save time, and then obedience/conformation.

Hopefully, Nancy Lopaschuk is coming from Cranbrook and can help us with conformation by putting us through a mock
pattern. I, for one, would appreciate it.

And I would appreciate having someone put me through a pre-novice and novice heeling pattern as my dogs
often have trouble with the judge following us. Sarah needs an Open routine judged. We should be done
before 2:00 p.m.

See you there. Coffee will be on.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Best of the best club day

Today was one of the best days for SAWHDA club days. We had eight people and 12 dogs at club today and everyone had success in one or more areas. I was thrilled to death with the scent team's progress. Our guest, Judy Hunt, went away with happy smiles as her dog, Roxy, picked her dumbbell from the "special box" amidst four others every time. Of course, so did every other dog there. The way we had the situation set up made it impossible for dogs to NOT bring back their proper dummies. And it worked really well as the confidence level was up and dogs were forced to choose the right dumbbell without comment from their owners. Probably the quietest we've ever been. Can't wait for next weekend. Drummer, the sheltie puppy, last night and this morning, slowed down on the box and sniffed out his dumbbell deliberately, checking the others and choosing his. Look out, dumbbells; he can find you now. We still have far to go though as we are taking this very slowly and making every step a baby step for each dog. Token, Ryder, Kipper, Walker, Mesa, Drummer and Roxy all did the jumps and found their bells and did it from various positions as well. We didn't do passes. Just waited for the dogs to come over the last jump and run down the hallway before sending the next dog.

We agreed that distraction is not something we need right now, and we won't stop a dog on its return run to resend it. Instead, our theory is to bring it home and run it at the end rather than interrupt the flow. And no "No's" allowed, either. Just 'yes's'.

We also did some jump/barrel relays and barrel racing to keep up the pace. Kona loved the relays and zoomed around the barrel after just one run! Swayze, Walker, Krissie, Kipper and Maggie, too. Loads of laughs.

The rally courses were challenging but fair and there were no 100's but several very close to it we think. Made ya think.

We all helped each other with stand for exams and we used the Honor in rally for three dogs to sit on a long sit in a line while the working dog was on course. it was great.

We heard from Carol that Hank got a leg towards his CD with a score of 189/200 today and Maureen did well with Levi in Rally with a 97 in her class in Camrose. Good stuff. Still waiting to hear who won the High in Trial at the Newf specialty.

Talk tomorrow. Happy heeling.
The PRez

Saturday, October 2, 2010

good practice

What a great day at club today! We had a terrific rally course which proved to be challenging. We had lots of fun doing relays over the jumps and around the scent box with the new dogs. Because we have lost Bess's participation on our scent hurdle team due to illness, we have had to substitute a quick study and that dog turned out to be Ryder! So with Viper,Token,Wicca, Ryder, Kipper, and Lupine, we can actually have a real practice. Drummer did well and brought his dumbbell over the jumps. Kipper did too. The whistle didn't bother Token. We ran two lines of dogs and nobody was a nut. We are teaching all the new dogs to run the jumps and go around the box (with a large pilon in it) and run back down the jumps. We will replace the box with a 'barrel' and have them practice going around that as well to build speed and enthusiasm.

We hope to meet again next Saturday. We'll do rally from 10 - 11:45 and then scent until 12:45 and then, if people would like, we'll run novice/open/utility obedience. Hope you can make it.
Judi

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Club Day

Our first Fall Club Day was somewhat sparse in attendance with six members on hand, but enthusiasm ran high and a good time was enjoyed by all. It was all about puppies today as Nancy travelled from Cranbrook with her performance Papillon, Brie, and two youngsters, and Liz brought all her 11 week old flatcoat retriever babies, plus 9 month old Cava and Loopdeloop. our favorite girl as well. Nancy arrived just as Russell, Moira, Deb and I had released Mojo, Maggie, Drummer and Fox to roam the hall as a 'gang' unleashed. Mojo ended up being the one in charge and Drummer and he chased around with Maggie in tow. Fox wanted nothing to do with any of them and was definitely uncomfortable about the entire effort. As soon as Deb held out her leash, Fox was happy to follow her and allow Deb to leash her.

We set up three rally courses today ranging from Novice to Excellent, and in between doing the actual courses, we shared training tips with each other, trying various ways to make an exercise easy for the dog to handle. I was especially happy with Swayze who has not seen the rally ring since his horrible accident in April. He wasn't as rusty as I thought he'd be. Drummer managed to hold things together in the Advanced ring with food up his nose most of the way, but what a nice performance. He knows how to back up!!! With some intense practice, he may just be up for his Advanced title competition soon. He has had no work since he developed a sudden onset of 'boy brain' in Osoyoos a couple of weeks ago.

Mojo did the course with loads of pep and was happy to try all the levels. Maggie was best worked on lead as she has been away all summer from practice.

In between rally courses being set up and changed, Liz and Deb visited with puppies. One of the flatcoat pups tore over to Drummer, the sheltie, and then, when Drummer turned to face it, it began to shriek as though it had been stepped on and it continued to do so until Liz distracted it with a cookie. What a little nut. Cava came out of her crate and immediately locked onto the shepherds. She knew Swayze from last winter when she stayed with us as a young puppy. She recognized him right away. Cava impressed everyone with her ability to sit for ages holding a dumbbell. She was so comfortable with it. Of course. Liz did remind us that she was a retriever and should be happy to hold a dumbbell.

We did restrained recalls with Drummer back and forth over the scent hurdle jumps and he ran clean and quickly. We added one dumbbell to the floor at the end of the jumps and he had no problem racing down the jumps and grabbing his bell and racing back. He sometimes dropped the bell when he came over the last jump so we worked at giving him more distance and things improved.

Mesa was good until we added another dog to run and then she got so worked up that she turned into Miss Snatchandgrabfromthebox. But she had a great time and since she is not going to do scent professionally, she can do pretty much as she pleases.

Lupine was much like Mesa; adding the jumps made her want to grab and run. We came up with a couple of strategies to help her find her own and we'll see how things go next Saturday.

We blew the whistle many times during the practice and Token, waiting on the sidelines, was much better about staying calm. When it was her turn, she zoomed down the jumps and was faster on the box today. We intend to practice our hearts out from now until January.

Came home to a message from a 'movie dog-wrangler' asking if she could put my dogs on her list in case they ever needed a German shepherd. I said, "Sure thing." I am sure Token could learn anything they needed her to do. She is pretty versatile.

Got news that Amanda's terrier, Boone, has gone missing. We are all hoping he comes home soon.

All in all, it was a good day for everyone. Nobody was rushed and we all got to play with puppies.

Hope to see everyone next Saturday around 10:00 a.m.




Helena brags!!!!

Newsflash!!!!!!!
Shar and MaryEllen have great news for us from the Helena Dog Show. Sharlet and Ryder completed both their US Rally Advanced and Rally Excellent Titles this weekend. Tessa, MaryEllen's bitch, ended the weekend with 10 points towards her US Championship title. She has two majors to pick up and she will have the title in the bag! Last night she went Best Bred By in Group as well.
The girls are on their way home with big smiles, I can tell.
Congratulations to both of you!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Jagged Action



Here are a couple of shots of Jagged at the Lethbridge Go Dog Go Agility Trials.
She makes it look so easy. Thanks, Denise, for sharing.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010





OMG! We had a great weekend at Osoyoos! Hunter picked up four points towards his Championship by going Winners on Friday and then Winners, Best of Winners, and Best of Breed on Sunday. Three points to go. Mesa, Ryder and Drummer were entered in the rally obedience and Mesa received the Highest Score in the entire trial twice and Ryder got the award once. Mesa won High in Class in 6/8 of the classes she entered. Ryder was High in Class once.Drummer was High in Class twice and then developed Boy Brain on Sunday. We made it to the second sign before I retired him to his crate. What a noodle. We had good weather for the entire show and took our time getting home, stopping to visit with Jeff and Cheryl and their big shepherd, Brenner, at Moir Park in Cranbrook. Got home just in time to unload the dogs and leave for Cowley to instruct Dog Obedience Classes. Whew..... no time to unwind, but what a weekend. The best picture of all, Mesa and all her loot, came today. Photos by Tedy does such a good job. We should bring her to Alberta.


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

News Flash!!!!

On the 12th of September, Tubby's wonderful Newf, Lexi, got her Canadian Senior Water test title and a week later she got the U.S. Senior Water title. Yahoo, Lexi was awesome . It doesn't get amy sweeter than that. Congratulations, Tubby. What a trip!!!!


Monday, September 20, 2010

It is so nice when you manage to sell one of your pups to someone who ventures out into various dog sports and

puts your pup on the map. Nancy and Dick Lopaschuk would like to pay tribute to an owner who has done just that

for L'acy.



A little brag from some proud doggie “Grandparents”. L’acy’s owner Donna Konkin sent this today. L’acy is the “Cover Girl” on a dog magazine. Her sire & dam are: AM CAN CH Nanrich’s L’Only Butterfly (Brie) X BIS AM/CAN CH Arkeno’s Three Ring Circus (Barney) Donna has done a fabulous job of training her.

So far, these are her accomplishments...

CKC titles are: CH (Canadian Champion), CGN (Canine Good Neighbour), RE (Rally Excellent), ANJ (Agility Novice Jumpers)

CARO titles are: Rally Novice

AAC titles are: ADC (agility dog of Canada)

She also is a registered St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog and is pointed toward her US Championship.

Thanks for letting us brag a little and thanks to Donna for making this all happen and giving L’acy the best home ever.


Nancy and Dick Lopaschuk


Monday, August 30, 2010

Cranbrook Results


What a weekend. The weather in Cranbrook was a mixed bag, for sure. Starting Friday with wind, wind, wind, it was almost like being at home in the Porcupines. Saturday dawned cool but warmed up to be the nicest of the three days because Sunday was rain, rain, rain. And we persevered. Congratulations are in order to SAWHDA members in both conformation and rally obedience.

Cheryl and Jeff Popoff's German shepherd, Brenner , Ch. Kris-T's The King and I, took first place in the Herding Group on Saturday and looked wonderful! We were all so excited as he was up against the top GSD in Canada!
What a win!

Saturday evening, Token, Judi Snowdon's shepherd, entered the Veteran's Class at the Fun Match with at least 15 entries. It was a hoot to see Nancy Lopaschuk stop the entire show to announce that the shepherd could not possibly run without having a double-handler, which she volunteered to be. It worked because Token won the Match!!! Ta Da!

Drummer, Darryl Snowdon's sheltie pup, got a quick clean up from breeder mom, Andrea Knibbs, and joined his brother, Buzz, in the Puppy Fun Match. It was hard to believe that a dachshund won over our cutie boys, but it happened. I think that the judge couldn't bear to choose between Drum and Buzz and had to choose something else to avoid hurting anyone's feelings.

Sunday, Hunter, Shadowbar's Pardon My Dust, went Best of Winners in the conformation ring to gain 3 points towards his Canadian Championship his first weekend out. Yippeee to our Busch baby.

And, speaking of Buschman, Kim Cowie gave Judi the ultimate gift as a memory on behalf of PJ, her wonderful little poodle who was, his entire life, the light of her life. When PJ died, Kim received some dog angel pins from friends, and Saturday Kim gave one of PJ's pins to Judi , who lost her wonderful GSD, Busch, three weeks ago. What a considerate, wonderful gesture, Kim.


This weekend, things were rocking in the rally ring, too. Judi and Drummer opened the day with a High in Class win in Novice B, followed by Louann Killoran's High in Class win with Brazil in Rally Advanced. Brazil went on to gain another 'leg' towards her RAE I title. Hank, Carol's Solkshinitz's parents' Berner, got a leg towards his Advanced title. Look out Swayze Boy; here comes Hank. Mesa, Judi's GSD, shown by Sharlet, gained a 'leg' towards her RAE I title as well and went on to earn the High in Class ribbons in Excellent B both trials Sunday. Ryder picked up two 'legs' towards his RAE III title and Maureen O'Neill's sheltie, Levi, added another "leg" towards her RAE II. Drummer got another High in Class award with his second Rally Novice B performance and was two marks off High in Class in his last performance, with a score of 97 to gain his RN Title! As a matter of fact, Drummer was so happy to be at the dog show that he just couldn't stay away from the ring and escaped from the trailer yard and zipped over to play "Walmart Greeter" at the rally ring.

It was a busy weekend, but we all found time to visit with each other, celebrate the wins and encourage one another through the "oopses". We hope everyone got home safe and sound.

We are going to rent the Cowley Hall beginning mid-September so that we will all be 'ready' for the Red Deer and Lethbridge shows. Keep checking our blog for news. And send pics if you have any.



Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Rally O AE II for Ryder & Shar

What a day it is! Sunshine burning down. A true summer's day. Time to bath Hunter, Drum and Ryder.
Congratulations to Sharlet and Ryder who now have their Rally AE - II title. They have done a wonderful job. I do believe they are the first SAWHDA members to get the title.

Our obedience class which runs Sept. 13th at 6:30 p.m., has ten students registered. Room for another.
Two instructors to give everyone the individual attention needed.
Email shadowbr@telusplanet.net to register.

We track Tuesday evenings is anyone is interested in joining the group. It isn't easy to track on your own, and not
nearly as much fun, either.

Off to Cranbrook tomorrow to do some conformation and rally. And see many friends we don't get a chance to see.


Two titles in one Weekend

Yes, the tradition has been upheld. SAWHDA strikes again in Castlegar; this time in the
form of one determined handler and an intrepid papillon.



Not only two titles in one weekend, but 3 HIC awards for Nancy and Brie in Castlegar. They were the only team to qualify in the Advanced classes. t00. What a weekend. Look for this couple in the Excellent ring this Fall.
In Nancy's words, " There were only 4 Trials in Castlegar and we got HIC in 3 of them. In Vernon we picked up 2 other HIC’s . So, we have been in 6 trials total and have 5 HIC and two titles...on to the next step.. Nancy & “Brie”


Sunday, August 22, 2010

Bucket List????



We went to the Pincher Creek Fair Days Parade and stayed longer than we thought we would.
Token did NOT want to be left behind at home. When we arrived home, Token's water bucket
was upside down, and Shar volunteered to refill it. OMG! Dya think the dog understands the word,
"revenge"? Looks like she's smiling. Evil munchkin.

Scent Hurdle

Here is a great opportunity to show the versatility of our dogs. We are hoping to run two scent hurdle teams in 2011. We would like to resurrect our Due South team and need two or three dogs to make sure we have more than just the minimum. Amanda is starting a team in Lethbridge as well, and she needs dogs, too. We can practice our dogs together and it is possible to have one dog on each team, so please, if you have a dog that will fetch, and you like to get involved in more than one thing at the dog shows, and..... you have the commitment to attend practices, please let me know so Amanda and I can get together and work out some teams. We are all about everybody playing and getting our titles. If your dog is not CKC registered but is a fetching fool, it can run on our demo teams so please let me know if that will work for you.

To those of you headed to Cranbrook for the dog show next weekend, we wish you the best of luck and top marks!!!

We will be starting up the Cowley Hall practices in September for those of you who enjoy coming out on weekends.


Judi

Thursday, August 19, 2010

From the saddle

Finally, after two years sabbatical from horseback riding, I, with the help of my friends Connie, Don, Deb, and Peter, was able
to take my Standardbred mare and go for a marvellous 3 hour ride into the mountains in the Crowsnest Pass. What a terrific day it was. Oh, yes, I will admit that I felt absolutely sore on the last downhill to the trailer, and for the next day or two, I thought that the three of them had planned to kill me, but today I am so ready to go again. There is nothing like the back of a horse to bring things into perspective.

Must mention that our Crowsnest Pass Riders, a team of young women who do the grand entry for our pro Rodeo each year, are in Kalispel this weekend to do the Grand Entry for the Americans at their pro rodeo. I am so proud of this team. Actually, I have Bella here with me. Bella belongs to Robin Sinclair and her daughter Kelsi and she is the best dog. She handles things without stress or fuss and just knows how to be a dog. Worth her weight in gold. Not a young dog, but does not present herself as an old dog, either.

My husband is coming to Cranbrook with Shar and me to the dog show this year and he was so geared up that he had all his stuff packed and the meals planned for this weekend. Too funny. I let Shar break the news that we didn't go until the end of the month.
And now that I am not working for the schoolboard this year, I don't have to wait for weekends to go off on a holiday . So look out, Jackie; you could have visitors in the near future. Get that Geordie ready for the Drummer Boy.

Speaking of Cranbrook, we look forward to seeing those of you who are entered. Come over and visit. Hunter needs the practice.
He is way, way, way too long for me to handle easily and years of heeling at a relaxed pace make it a real effort on my part to get him up into a full stride. He is too much like the Standardbred. Should be entertaining, to say the least. And boy, what a diff to go from Hunter to Drummer to work. Light years apart.

Our tracking seminar has been moved to September as the instructor needs to be away this weekend. I will miss it but will take the opportunity to get that horse out into the mountains again. And we have been doing really well in our tracking group so
will continue to work together. We went out Tuesday to the Cowley Airstrip and had two very nice u-tracks done by Ryder and Token. Aging will be the next step and I, for one, will take it slowly. Remember, anyone who would like to join us, whether you
know anything about tracking or not, is welcome to do so. Just phone or email me to get the time and place for the week.

Happy heeling and Best in show to everyone.
The Prez

Sunday, August 15, 2010

My Old Friend

My Old Friend

Ch. Grosshimel's Oncechanznamillion CD SHDCh HIC

My Old Friend
Today I said Goodbye to my old friend
I pray someday we get to meet again
Under one more clear blue sky
Up where the eagles fly.
And we'll go walking in the sunshine
With a big smile on our face.
Race the river to the ocean
Go splashing in the waves
And I'll wrap my arms around you
We'll be together once again
And I'll tell you how much I've missed you...
My Old Friend

Yeah, I know you're up there lookin' down
On that rainbow bridge that we talked about
There's a place for me and you
Somewhere up behind the moon
And we'll go walking in the sunshine
With a big smile on our face.
Race the river to the ocean
Go splashing in the waves
And I'll wrap my arms around you
We'll be together once again
And I'll tell you how much I've missed you...
My Old Friend

I will miss you forever.....Judi

My Old Friend


Today I said goodbye to my old friend Yeah, I know you’re up there lookin’ down

I pray someday we get to meet again On that rainbow bridge we talked about

Under one more clear, blue sky There’s a place for me and you

Up there where the eagles fly… Somewhere up there behind the moon,

And We’ll go walking in the sunshine And We’ll go walking in the sunshine

With a big smile on our face With a big smile on our face

Race the river to the ocean Race the river to the ocean

Go splashing in the waves Go splashing in the waves

And I’ll wrap my arms around you And I’ll wrap my arms around you

We’ll be together once again. We’ll be together once again,

And I’ll tell you how much I’ve missed you And I’ll tell you how much I’ve missed you


My old friend. My old friend.

My Old Friend

Today I said goodbye to my old friend Yeah, I know you’re up there lookin’ down

I pray someday we get to meet again On that rainbow bridge we talked about

Under one more clear, blue sky There’s a place for me and you

Up there where the eagles fly… Somewhere up there behind the moon,

And We’ll go walking in the sunshine And We’ll go walking in the sunshine

With a big smile on our face With a big smile on our face

Race the river to the ocean Race the river to the ocean

Go splashing in the waves Go splashing in the waves

And I’ll wrap my arms around you And I’ll wrap my arms around you

We’ll be together once again. We’ll be together once again,

And I’ll tell you how much I’ve missed you And I’ll tell you how much I’ve missed you

My old friend. My old friend.

My Old Friend

Today I said goodbye to my old friend Yeah, I know you’re up there lookin’ down

I pray someday we get to meet again On that rainbow bridge we talked about

Under one more clear, blue sky There’s a place for me and you

Up there where the eagles fly… Somewhere up there behind the moon,

And We’ll go walking in the sunshine And We’ll go walking in the sunshine

With a big smile on our face With a big smile on our face

Race the river to the ocean Race the river to the ocean

Go splashing in the waves Go splashing in the waves

And I’ll wrap my arms around you And I’ll wrap my arms around you

We’ll be together once again. We’ll be together once again,

And I’ll tell you how much I’ve missed you And I’ll tell you how much I’ve missed you

My old friend. My old friend.

Today I said goodbye to my old friend Yeah, I know you’re up there lookin’ down

I pray someday we get to meet again On that rainbow bridge we talked about

Under one more clear, blue sky There’s a place for me and you

Up there where the eagles fly… Somewhere up there behind the moon,

And We’ll go walking in the sunshine And We’ll go walking in the sunshine

With a big smile on our face With a big smile on our face

Race the river to the ocean Race the river to the ocean

Go splashing in the waves Go splashing in the waves

And I’ll wrap my arms around you And I’ll wrap my arms around you

We’ll be together once again. We’ll be together once again,

And I’ll tell you how much I’ve missed you And I’ll tell you how much I’ve missed you

My old friend. My old friend.