It’s been a few months since our last edition and a lot has been going on. Our beautiful new meeting room is fully functional and has been outfitted with a smart new “Giant” TV and VCR/DVD player. This is to replace the equipment that got “squashed” when we lost our old meeting room in last winter’s snows. We will get the first use of this new equipment in November as our program that month will be a viewing of a one hour judges discussion on dog shows past present and future by some well known figures in our sport.

We held our summer group fun matches the last weekend in August. A good time was had by all and we were very glad to be in our wonderful climate controlled building while the sun blazed outside. For 2005 our new Match Chair is Flossie Barcziewski. The dates for 2005 have been set and we look forward to another good year for this event. We are hoping that we can build this event up to the level of participation we’ve had in years past when we did a traditional match show at the park.

A big thank you to the folks who have been organizing the monthly show and go’s. They have been doing a great job as is evidenced by the very nice turnout we get at these events every month. This is also a great way to show off the building and hopefully might generate some added interest in rentals.

And speaking of turnout…our training classes are bursting at the seams this session. We’ve had to extend classes to 3 hours on 2 nights just to accommodate all of our students. Not only that, some of our students are out there competing and making their instructors quite proud of them. Many of our instructors have been teaching for us since we opened our doors (5+ years) and words can’t express how thankful we are to have them!!

And speaking of thanks….what can I say about our AWESOME agility trial committee. The committee worked tirelessly for months and also all weekend of the trial and their dedication led to another very successful event. To add to the excitement we had an exhibitor who finished a MACH title on his dog at our trial. It was so exciting to watch him and his dog run their victory lap!!!!

By the time this goes to print we will have had another George Alston handling seminar under our belts. This seminar has completely filled this year. Thanks to Carol Zielinski for chairing this event.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at our annual Holiday dinner and awards banquet. We have moved this year’s event to the Christiana Country Club (formerly Cavaliers Country Club). Thank you to Candy Mogavero for her hard work in locating a new venue for this year and for coordinating this event. Also a big thank you to Kim Petri who has taken over coordinating the awards plaques for this year. Members who have titled a dog (AKC titles) between September of 2003 and September of 2004 are eligible to receive a plaque at the awards banquet. See Kim for details. Don’t forget a small wrapped gift for the gift exchange and of course a wrapped white elephant donation. (OK folks…..who has that darned Samoyed book this year!?!)

Membership Meetings

WKC meetings are held the 3^rd Thursday of each month with the exception of December at our Training Facility starting at 7:30 pm. The public is welcome to attend and check our website for upcoming programs!

Group Matches

I'm chairperson for the Group Matches for 2005. Here are the dates for the upcoming matches:

Sporting                    Saturday, March 12, 2005
Hound/Terrier        Sunday, March 13, 2005

Working/Herding    Saturday, August 27, 2005
Toy/Nonsporting    Sunday, August 28, 2005

Thanks, Flossie Barczewski

RUN, WHIPPET, RUN

Run, whippet, run. Run, run, run.

New puppy whippet, can't keep him home.

Crate him, cage him, tie him up alone.

Give him to a neighbor; we can't keep him home.

Run, whippet, run. Run, run, run.

Here's his new yard -- it doesn't have a fence.

Run, whippet, run. (These owners have no sense.)

He loses his tail when hit by a car,

Still the whippet runs, near and far.

Mauled by a big dog, they won't pay the vet.

Get rid of him; he's not home yet.

Poor little whippet, on a rusty chain.

Wounded body, wounded soul, castaway again.

But I want this whippet and this is what I say:

Run, whippet, run. Run, run, run.

Run in my fenced yard; run beside me on my bike.

Run on a long lead whenever you like.

Run with my other dog; have a lot of fun.

Run with my children; run, run, run.

Learn some new words: "sit," "stay," and "come."

Practice your lessons, then we'll run, run, run.

Sweet little whippet, you won't be left alone.

Run, whippet, run. All the way home.

(This is a true story and was originally published in the Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue Letter, SPDR Speaks!, Fall 1991)

Obedience Corner

Obedience Classes

Show and Go’s

WKC would like to thank all those who participated in our 2004 show and go's. A special thank you to all who offered their time to work. Your efforts are greatly appreciated by the obedience community and the Wilmington Kennel Club. The WKC 2005 show and go schedule will be as follows:

Agility Corner

Agility trial report: Our October 2-3, 2005 agility trials at Lums Pond State Park were a great success! Mother Nature provided some slightly damp weather on Saturday, but you would never have known it by the number of qualifying ribbons we gave out! Judges June Ebert and Kathy McCoubrey had some challenging, yet fun courses for the weekend and were SUPER nice to work with. (For trial results, go to the trial secretary’s website at trialsec@FastTimesAgility.com) Congrats to all exhibitors and a special thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who helped make it happen!! We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Clean Run Magazine for supporting our trials and providing our volunteers with T-shirts, magazines and a chance to win a 1-year subscription to Clean Run Magazine. Our next agility trial is planned for May 14-15, 2005 at Lums Pond State Park. Hope to see you there!

WKC agility classes: We recently purchased a small dogwalk from Max 200 in order to give students the opportunity to train on both sizes of dogwalks, add flexibility when building courses, and to increase the longevity of our trial equipment. Both of our dogwalks meet AKC requirements, as does all of our contact equipment used in training. In addition to our current volunteer agility instructors, Debbie Sharp, Christine Gates, Jan Bibik and myself, we are trying to convince advanced student Nicole Coccoluto of the GREAT benefits of teaching agility by having her apprentice in Beginner classes. We armed her with a bottle of Ibuprofen, a box of dog treats, clean-up baggies and the promise of ALL the training time she would like (after the beginner students have left, of course). Last time I checked, she was still waiting for that 150-lb lab mix to PLEASE tip the teeter !! Uh, did I mention we are in week 5 of classes?

Tip of the week: Beginning with this newsletter, I would like to include a training tip or pet peeve that I may have acquired from teaching during the current week. Hopefully you may find it useful or at least food-for-thought. Here it is: Don’t be afraid to challenge your dog in training, yet don’t neglect to help them to succeed, especially if there is any doubt that you may have mishandled an exercise or not completely trained the dog for all situations. Case in point: I had 5 minutes before the start of the advanced level class, so I decided to practice my MX, MXJ dog on a few difficult weave entrances. She nailed a 90 degree on-side weave entrance so I decided to up the ante and throw in a cross behind after the weaves. Oops, she popped out…not surprised, it’s a difficult maneuver at best, made even more difficult because her beloved A-Frame was looming on the other side. I tried it again to make sure that I was giving her the proper body cues, etc. Nope, popped out at the exact same spot—between poles 3 and 4. No problem, since I use weave-a-matics, I opened the weave poles from the spot where she came out and targeted the exit of the weaves with a toy on the pause table. Within 4 attempts I was able to get the weave poles straight up. Yeah, success, party time!! One of the students watching actually came up to me after class and expressed her disbelief that I had to OPEN the poles for this dog. What was I to do, let her keep failing over and over again? What would you have done?

Public Education

WKC will be holding their annual health clinic on Feb. 19, 2005. Services offered will include: Eye exams/CERF, Microchips, Tattoos, AKC DNA Certification, ICSB Collection Services and Semen Evaluation, CGC testing, AKC/CAR Registration, Rabies vaccines, Heartworm/Lyme/Erlichia checks, Thryoid, Titers and more. Please visit www.wilmingtonkennelclub.org for more information or registration forms.

Newark Community Day was a fun day for several members and their dogs. Many people visited our Information Booth to meet the members, ask questions and discuss dogs. We all love talking about our dogs. The children especially enjoyed meeting the dogs and collecting pamphlets, coloring books, pencils, etc. It was a great day to be out in the community meeting with the dog loving public.

Instead of packing up the Information Booth literature until our next event, I'm trying something new. As much information as possible will be displayed on the shelves in the -- well you all know where the shelves are. We have lots of interesting pamphlets from the AKC, booklets from AVMA, information from the State of Delaware, etc. Take a look, help yourself . I'm still in the process of arranging everything so bear with me until everything is neatly displayed.

Legislation

AKC's Taking Command is a useful tool for keeping up with canine legislation around the country. You can sign up to have it sent to you electronically by going to the link.

"Concerned dog owners who have long relied on Taking Command’s print coverage of canine legislation issues across the country will now have the newsletter delivered to their e-mail boxes monthly. Taking Command will continue to feature a broad range of articles on local, state and federal issues as well as our “Around the Nation” legislative round-up. However, the new electronic version will allow us to bring you far more information in a more timely manner. That way, you can keep abreast of the very latest changes in legislation that directly impacts you.

Each edition of Taking Command will contain links to AKC resources, state federation Web sites, and email addresses for local contacts and legislators. As we expand this new format, we look forward to adding interactive surveys that will allow our readers to share their opinions and concerns about canine legislation issues. "

NOT AN ANGEL

The young pup and the older dog lay on shaded sweet grass watching the reunions. Sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes a whole family would approach the Rainbow Bridge, be greeted by their loving pets and cross the bridge together.

The young pup playfully nipped at the older one. “Look! Something wonderful is happening!”

The older dog stood up and barked. ”Quickly. Get over to the path.”

“But that’s not my owner, ”whined the pup, but he did as he was told.

Thousands of pets surged forward as a figure in white walked on the path toward the bridge. After the glowing figure passed each animal, that animal bowed its head in love and respect. The figure finally approached the bridge and was met by a menagerie of joyous animals. Together, they all walked over the bridge and disappeared.

The young pup was still in awe.

“Was that an angel?” he whispered.

“No, son.” The older dog replied. “That was more than an angel. That was a person who worked rescue.”

How to Become a Member

To join Wilmington Kennel Club you must attend 3 meetings, then fill out a application. You will need two sponsors when you do this. The meeting is the 3rd Thursday of every month. Hope to see you there.

Wilmington Kennel Club Newsletter

Volume 1 - Issue 2

President’s Message

Membership Meetings

Group Matches

RUN, WHIPPET, RUN

Run, whippet, run. Run, run, run.

New puppy whippet, can't keep him home.

Crate him, cage him, tie him up alone.

Give him to a neighbor; we can't keep him home.

Run, whippet, run. Run, run, run.

Here's his new yard -- it doesn't have a fence.

Run, whippet, run. (These owners have no sense.)

He loses his tail when hit by a car,

Still the whippet runs, near and far.

Mauled by a big dog, they won't pay the vet.

Get rid of him; he's not home yet.

Poor little whippet, on a rusty chain.

Wounded body, wounded soul, castaway again.

But I want this whippet and this is what I say:

Run, whippet, run. Run, run, run.

Run in my fenced yard; run beside me on my bike.

Run on a long lead whenever you like.

Run with my other dog; have a lot of fun.

Run with my children; run, run, run.

Learn some new words: "sit," "stay," and "come."

Practice your lessons, then we'll run, run, run.

Sweet little whippet, you won't be left alone.

Run, whippet, run. All the way home.

Obedience Corner

Obedience Classes

Show and Go’s

Agility Corner

Public Education

Legislation

How to Become a Member

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Modified on Friday, January 07, 2005 09:52 PM