Tacoma, Washington
TWIN COUNTY SCHUTZHUND CLUB
October 1, 2011
USA Judge Warren Jones
This is one of those usual trial reports. On October 1, 2011 the weather was good. The venue was good. The spectators were good. The food was good. The judge Warren Jones was extremely patient and maintained his humor so he was good. All in all, the event was………good. There were successes as well. Our veteran tracker, Zach, succeeded in TR 1 working in the green field grass, tail flying. Koenig, Kiarra, and Samson pictured above came through while also providing the handlers their own learning experience. VPG 1 is in their future; the door is open. Oh, yes and more work.
Now let’s talk about entries. Twin County Schutzhund Club is appreciative of all our entries this year. We had an opportunity to see some upper level work in SchH 3 and SchH 2 with some very good dogs. We had some beginning schutzhunders entered in the BH. Nerves and inexperience took their toll and there were some failures. Each handler learned what you can’t learn anywhere else but a trial. But we are sure they’ll be great the next time out.
Thank you to the spectators who came to support. It stretched into a long day, for the most part the folks all hung out and stayed supportive of the entries. These are the things that make a trial worthwhile for the entries knowing their hard work is still being appreciated. Deserving honorable mention and a big thank you, our kitchen Food Dude, Randy McCoy was outstanding master of the BBQ.
Yvonne and Shadow energized for obedience.
Here we have Kelly and Koenig in perfect stride together.
Next is Kylie, our favorite spectator cheering for her mom.
Aisha and Bruce strolling in the BH.
Erika hearing good news.
Raylinn Hill with Rico looking ready.
Visiting Snohomish Schutzhund Club
Twin County Schutzhund Club and Snohomish Schutzhund Club decided to have a picnic. On June 12, 2011 vehicles started to pull in to the home grounds of Paul and Cindy Schneider where the Snohomish club trains and trials.
Tracking was over and all came ready to begin obedience. For the most part we shared the field with members from each club taking advantage of the group experience, new people on the field and for others new field and new people on the grass at the same time. With a good warm up completed, Paul stepped out to kibitz and guide the group, pointing out some tools to the handlers to achieve the fast, correct obedience they were seeking. All appreciated his help.
Protection work started with an alternating line up – Snohomish then Twin County then Snohomish. Helpers from each club dressed and prepared to offer their time and skills. Kris, Mark, Dennis and Paul all stepped up and shared the work. Thank you Paul for all the good work and learning experience.
Thank you, Snohomish Schutzhund Club, for the hospitality, great lunch, and good work on the field. It was a GREAT day!
IN IT FOR THE SPORT
Twin County Schutzhund Club (TCSC) has a new hero, Dennis Vander Linde, and we want everybody to know that it was an excellent opportunity to learn and update their information on trial helper requirements. Dennis is the Director of the United Schutzhund Clubs of America (USA) Helper Committee. He has been committed to the Helper Program for many years and has been an intimate part of the program development from its beginning. TCSC and its guest helpers got so much more than expected. Every detail of helper skills were discussed, demonstrated, and instructed with hands-on training. The helpers, classified or not, received an extended education and left us knowing that they had just been part of an exceptional experience. We thank Dennis for his generous sharing of information. We feel special and look forward to seeing him again.
Participant’s Comments: What a wonderful weekend! Dennis Vander Linde was amazing. I'm so happy we got that time with him, he is amazing. I learned so much from him! I don't know how to put it in words how much I enjoyed him. He is so knowledgeable. I wish it was more than two days. I hope we can have him back again some day. Thanks Karen! Man I'm still excited from it! Lol He was a great choice for sure! He broke every move down and explained it and why we do it - couldn't have asked for a better teacher!
As the host for the Regional Trial Helper Seminar and Classification, Twin County Schutzhund Club (TCSC) was looking forward to having a good regional event with USA clubs swarming in to support the event and the Region and to educate and classify their new generation of helpers. The clubs had indicated over time that they had a problem in that they did not have many new helpers coming up. It seemed like the clubs would welcome a helper training to benefit potential helpers. We went out of our way to provide a high class but intimate venue to receive our guests. At the Southern Training Center owned by Kerry and Ron Southern, there was lots of seating, clean and friendly environment, plenty of parking and bathrooms, and great food to welcome our guests and helpers.
We had made the best plans by choosing Dennis Vander Linde, Director of the Helper Committee and we just knew we were taking the high road.
Starting Saturday, we welcomed old friends from Oregon, Al and Bev Carlson and Tom Miller. They accompanied Jenny Thorp in her attempt to classify. As he has in the past, Wayne Curry, Kraftwerk German Shepherds, came with a trailer full of dogs to work and a helper for classification. Shade Whitesel had a helper she works with and a handler for her dog; good dog, good handler and good helper. TCSC was elated to have these long time friends and acquaintances to spend the days with. The entry had Independents, a DVG person, and an independent club from Oregon. However all were new USA members with USA scorebooks. They cared enough to get their memberships and books before the seminar. We had eight helpers with the only USA club members being our own three. Twin County Schutzhund Club is proud to announce two of our three helpers classified with one more in the wings to try again another day. All passing helpers were classified Basic. We did not see (except Kris Ehli) any of our Region’s existing Basic Helpers come to graduate to Club.
We had a great time and invite you all back to Twin County Schutzhund Club’s events and fun.
Herding in Ewetopia
2011
Twin County Schutzhund Club (TCSC) followed its annual ritual of going herding at Ewetopia for the new members to experience another venue of dog work. For those who wonder how schutzhund and herding fit together a wise man said "Herding is about a lot more than dogs chasing sheep, and Schutzhund is about a lot more than dogs biting a sleeve. We believe it. We think schutzhund dogs are working dogs in the best sense. We love mingling with other dog owners and in the end showing our dogs to be eager to herd, well behaved among the other dogs and people, and tractable around the livestock. Along with the BHs and CGCs, we enjoy being out there like everybody else proud of our dog. On top of it all we want to thank Joe Kapelos, Linda Leeman, Becky Giddings and Ron Fischer, our judges that make it possible to bring a large number of dogs in, move them through first legs and second legs of the herding instinct classes and educate them all in the finer points of herding.
Among the members, we had puppies and adult dogs, most of which had never seen sheep before. The excitement of that first moment when the dog sees the sheep and moves toward them is our special moment.
For our guests having their first time with the sheep, the smiling faces and questions like “when are you doing this again?” start us thinking of next year already. Some members are already thinking about upgrading their training into Junior Herding Dog and the higher level of work with the sheep. Who knows we may have some herding trial dogs in our future.
So see you next year on May 21 or that Saturday in 2012
