Official Magazine of

The Taupo Dog Training Club October 2018 Edition

HELP REQUIRED The Club is running an Obedience and Rally-O Show on 10-11 November 2018 at the club grounds. Help is required in various ways to run the show. If you can help at all over this weekend please let your Instructor know or see inside for details.

CONTENTS

PRESIDENTIAL PONDERINGS 3EDITOR’S NOTES 3THE COMMITTEE 4THANKS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION 4DOG TRIVIA 4AGILITY ACTION 5RALLY-O REPORT 6CARE OF DOGS IN HOT WEATHER 6OBEDIENCE OBSERVATIONS 8

URGENT! HELP WANTED!

The Club will be hosting an Obedience and Rally-O Show at the Club grounds on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 November 2018. We are in need of club member volunteers to help on both days. Helpers are required to assist with both running the show and in the kitchen. If any Club members can spare some time to help out, even if for only a few hours, please contact either of the following: To help with the show: Elizabeth Parnell on phone 021 298 9890. To help in the kitchen: Jackie Smith via email to HVSJEMS@gmail.com or

phone 378 0275. Additionally, donations of the following are sought:

• Food for sandwich fillings • Cakes, muffins etc to sell • Meals or food suitable for lunch for the Judges and Stewards • Items for inclusion in the club raffle.

If you can help with any of these items please contact Jackie Smith as above. So even if you can’t come down to the club on the weekend, please help out with a donation to one of the above. If you can do both, that would be sensational. This is a fun weekend and a great opportunity to watch some of top Obedience and Rally-O handlers, and their dogs, at work. IMPORTANT NOTE The opinions and claims included in this publication in any form are not necessarily those of The Taupo Dog Training Club. Neither the Editor nor the Club Committee accepts responbsibility for the accuracy of these items nor endorses the opinions of third parties mentioned in the magazine.

PRESIDENTIAL PONDERINGS The Club is now preparing for our Championship Obedience and Rally-O show on November 10th-11th at our grounds. The Club will also be running a Canine Good Citizen Assessment day on November 24th. Volunteers are needed for both these events, so please contact your instructors or any of the Committee if you have any time to help. The Club is also making improvements to our facilities and equipment. We have recently completed the construction of a new storage room, and are finalizing the moving of our field lights. New agility equipment is being purchased. Remember to checkout our Facebook page and Website, for information and pictures of our dogs and handlers. Our club is here to help with information and assistance, when such needs arise, and increase your enjoyment of your dog. Remember that we are all volunteers, and for the club to remain vibrant and still provide classes to the public, we need your involvement. I strongly encourage you to make every effort to involve yourself and your dog in club activities. Come join our great group of members and elected executive, who are working together to make training and competing fun, productive, and rewarding for both handler and dog. I look forward to seeing and meeting you at the club. Howard Jones President TDTC

Editor’s Notes The competition in the last edition of the magazine, to find a name for the magazine, did not elicit any responses. So as there are now a whole lot of new members in the club we will try again with this edition. If you can suggest an appropriate name, something that reflects our location and ties-in with dogs or dog-training, or both, please send it to garydk@xtra.co.nz. Names in by 30 November, please. There is still a prize for selected name. Articles, suggestions, photos etc for inclusion in the magazine are always welcome. Please send them in to garydk@xtra.co.nz. The Club can only run with the input of members – just like you – who volunteer to help with its many tasks. If you value the Club please consider how you can help support it in a practical way. Happy training and see you in class ……

Cover Photograph Tonia Absolom gets the attention of her German Wirehaired Pointer, Tia, in Basic Class training.

The Committee Howard Jones President | Grounds and Facilities Liz Wallace Vice President | Janice Black Treasurer | Agility Coordinator Amanda Wakefield Secretary Diane Houghton Obedience Coordinator Elizabeth Parnell Rally-O Coordinator Amanda Simpson Gary Houghton Magazine Shirelle Colebourne Publicity Zarak Black Debbie Wensor Jackie Smith Thanks for your contribution

The Committee and Club members thank the following volunteer instructors for giving their time in Term 2. Obedience Training Janice Black, Vicky Graham, Elisabeth Cato, Di Houghton, Howard Jones, Jackie Smith, Gary Houghton, Liz Wallace. Agility Debbie Wensor Jackie Smith

DogTriviaUnlike dogs, the wolf has remained the same body shape and size for thousands of years. A wolf can express sixty distinct facial communications, whereas a German Shepherd, morphologically one of the most wolf-like breeds, can only express twelve – and the Pug even less. (Feddersen-Petersen 2008)

AGILITY ACTION The Club held a very successful Agility Ribbon Trial and Triple Jumpers Championship show over the weekend of the 25-26 August. We were extremely lucky with the weather, as it had been raining the week previous; two beautiful sunny days. Congratulations to those club competitors who achieved some great results…. Well done. A special Thank You must go out to all club members who worked tirelessly over the weekend to make it a very successful weekend, without your help we are unable to make it all work. We also had some great volunteers from other clubs who helped with setting up the rings on Friday as well as scribing and call boarding over the weekend. Entries totalled 1265 for both days. It was a very busy weekend. Thanks again for all your help. No rest for the wicked, as we will be starting to plan for our next agility show which will be held on the 2-3 of February 2019. Club Results for the 25-26 August Agility Ribbon Trial and Triple Jumpers Championship Ribbon Trial Lyn Sayers and Jayme Small 4th Intermediate Lyn Sayers and Lofn Small 8th Intermediate Petra Specht and Ruby Small 4th Novice Jumpers Championship Susan Lorenz and Jett Maxi 3rd JB2

Maxi 2nd JB3 Petra Specht and Ruby Small 6th JC1 Petra Specht and Ruby Small 4th JC3 Jacki Smith also wishes to send an EXTRA BIG THANK YOU to all those who donated goods for the Club Raffle, which was a great success. For those who know Lyn Sayers, a long time stalwart of the club, a little story from the weekend: Most know the struggle we have had trying to enthuse Lofn with the idea that Agility is fun. It does appear that Sarah's regular training with her is starting to pay dividends. This past weekend Lofn notched herself a second place in Novice, which means her graduation to Senior is now just one win away. And later the same weekend at Tauranga we had for the first time ever both Lofn and Jayme featured in a line-up standing shoulder to shoulder. The day before saw Jayme, who is 12 next month, win an Intermediate. Obviously the Schnauzers in our house are feeling "good".

RALLY-OREPORT Rally-O training is progressing well on Monday evenings. About 12 handlers and their dogs are participating in the training. Rally-O will be on display at the Obedience and Rally-O Championship Show on 11-12 November at the Club grounds.

CAREOFDOGSINHOTWEATHER With summer fast approaching it is a good time to think of your dog’s welfare over the warmer months. Although exercise is still important for your dog even in the hot weather, there is a need to maintain comfort and safety. Here are some tips on preventing heat exhaustion and burned feet. 1. Don’t exercise your dog in the hottest part of the day. Dogs do not sweat all over their body like humans; they only have sweat glands on the pads of their feet (If you notice a dog leaving a trail of wet paw prints on a hard, dry surface on a hot day that is from the dog’s sweat.) They find it more difficult to cool off and maintain their body temperature, which they mainly do through panting. Walks, outside activity and play should be undertaken in the early morning or late afternoon/evening.

2. Don’t walk your dog on hot pavements, roads or even sand. A dog’s feet can easily get burnt and blistered from walking on hot surfaces. On a sunny day asphalt can reach temperatures of 50 degrees or more. Before walking your dog on any hot surface do the 5-second test: put the back of your hand on the surface, if it is too hot for you to keep your hand there for 5-seconds it is too hot for your dog to walk on. Only exercise your dog on grassy, shady areas where their feet won’t get damaged.

3. Keep your dog hydrated. Make sure that there is plenty of fresh, cool water for them to drink. At home, don’t leave the dog’s water out in the sun as evaporation can lead to a concentration of harmful bacteria and other nasties in the water. When you take your dog out for a walk or exercise take water for it as well as yourself, and take a portable and collapsable water container (available from pet shops) for your dog to drink out of.

4. Where possible let your dog play in the water to help it keep cool. At home run a garden sprinkler for your dog to play in. If you can’t take your dog to the lake, river or beach get a small kiddies paddling pool just for your dog to cool off in. Fill it with water and leave it out in your backyard or somewhere where your dog can access the pool. If

the pool is exposed to the sun make sure you check the temperature of the water often, as it can get too warm to provide any relief to your dog. DO NOT LEAVE THE POOL OUT WITH WATER IN WHERE THERE IS A CHANCE OF

LITTLE CHILDEN ALSO GETTING UNSUPERVISED ACCESS TO THE POOL.

5. When cooling off your dog with water after exercise or play don’t just pour water over their back, make sure you get water on their lower body as well. Be sure to cool off their chest and stomach areas and their feet. Doing this provides them with better relief than just pouring water over their back.

6. Decrease the distance or duration of your walk or run on hot days, or reduce the strenuousness of exercises.

7. If your dog is fighting going out at all in the heat or is lethargic, don’t force them to go out. They may be trying to tell you that it is too hot for them. Let them rest; they will let you know when it is comfortable enough for them to go out and exercise or play.

OBEDIENCE OBSERVATIONS This term the club enrolled 56 new members and their dogs. This large number resulted in there being two Puppy classes and five Basic classes, as well as the other Obedience classes on Tuesday evenings. There was some confusion and minor hiccups on the first night of training, but things have now sorted themselves out. The last night of training is on Tuesday, 27 November, followed by Graduation the next Tuesday, 4 December. TAKEN FROM AROUND THE GROUNDS DURING TRAINING.

Who are you looking at? While Mum’s not watching, I sure there’s food in Meanwhile, the blonde spots something …… here.

Enjoying the afternoon sun Patiently waiting