Agility Dog Association of Australia Ltd

From the Chairman...April 2005

It was most heartening to see the flow of discussion on ADAA Chat, after the Easter Weekend Competition at Burrum Heads, and how much people had obviously enjoyed the weekend. Well-done Fraser Coast for hosting such a great weekend! As the weather cools a little there are quite a few 2 day competitions on the horizon. Most offer the opportunity to camp over which saves rushing back and forth and allows more time to get to know your fellow competitors, which in turn makes all agility competitions more enjoyable. At your next competition look out for the Forms for the Helper’s Lucky Draw if you have not already started one. Every time you help at a competition with Scribing, Scoring, Marshalling etc simply fill in the event on the form, eg Starters Mini Agility, Open Maxi Snooker, and at the end of the competition have the form signed by the club representative. File safely away till the next competition and when full submit to ADAA and commence another. The Lucky Draw will be held at Uralla, at the Grand Prix 2005, but you do not have to be present to win the prize. It promises to be a hamper most worth winning, and there are still many months for its contents to increase! Download a copy of the form (PDF 20kb).

Also on the horizon is the Brisbane Pet and Animal Expo; April 15th- 17th. By now we should have your attendance forms, and tickets are being organised. This is a great opportunity to showcase our Sport and also our Association to those who attend the Expo and hopefully we will entice many new people to come and try Agility the ADAA way. Special thanks to Hydrodog for sponsoring the Association this year.

July is Training Camp month, in both Queensland and NSW; a truly great program is in the pipeline so schedule the dates in your diary, so you can come learn and have fun with your dog. The Camp forms will be prepared soon, and become available on the website and first available mailout. It caters for Dogs and Handlers of all levels; so do not feel that as a beginner you will not be advanced enough, or that as a more advanced handler you will have nothing to learn. That is the beauty of Dog Agility Training; I don’t think there is a top to reach, there are always new skills to learn with your dog. So we hope to have a good turn out at both camps.

Last week was a truly memorable week. ADAA held a Junior Training Clinic in Brisbane. Natalie needed to coach juniors for her University Degree. If you need to coach juniors, what else is there to teach them better than Agility? It was a most refreshing sight to have 12 juniors working dogs, no adults training anywhere, and they were all having fun and listening to their instructors, absorbing and applying the new skills they were learning. Thank you Natalie for a job well done.

Thanks are also due to PADS for the work they did in the successful submission to the Gambling Community Benefit Fund for funding for the Electronic Timing equipment. This submission was supported by other SE Qld Clubs, and PADS was most fortunate to receive $3700.00. This will allow the purchase of a set of Timing Equipment as well as a visual Display Board. ADAA is most appreciative of the assistance received and many will benefit as the funds each club had committed to contribute towards a set of equipment can be utilised to further develop their club or its training equipment.

A further item that I would like to a remind everyone of, is the ruling whereby a judge can eliminate a handler for harsh handling, which may be either physical or verbal. Basically if a spectator might flinch at the rebuke to the dog it will be perceived as harsh. I ask you to remember that any instruction from outside the ring to send a dog back into the ring could be viewed in the same light. Remember we are participating in this Sport for FUN, and if the dog is running with a handler to whom he is not accustomed and with whom they may not be having fun and decides to leave the ring maybe more training is required so the dog sees Agility as FUN regardless of who is handling them.

Lastly but most importantly, are the Grand Prix 2005 dates marked in your Diary (see the Calendar)? Planning is well underway; a whole new format is being prepared to cope with the numbers that increase each year, as word spreads about this great event. The first Medallion Stakes Invitation Event will be run. We will be offering for the first time on the Saturday evening a new FUN event “A Steeplechase” (non titling, all may enter, Winner and Runner-up take the entry money). Sunday evening will be the sit down dinner this year, so that we can all relax after the challenge events are over. So plan to be at this event. What more can you ask for; 3 days of Agility, on-site camping, great onsite catering (we are amending this too, breakfast will be takeaways to decrease delays) and many like minded people with whom to spend the weekend?
 

Marion

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