Agility Dog Association of Australia Ltd

From the Chairman...January 2005

Welcome to the new year of ADAA Dog Agility, I hope you all had a good Festive Season Break and that both you and your dog are ready for the New Year’s Agility Feast; What a year is planned!!. There are competitions galore, Agility (and Obedience) Seminars run by undoubtedly some of the World’s Top Agility Handlers, mid year Training camps (to hone those skills we will be learning at the seminars) and The ADAA Grand Prix in October.

It is not too late to book to audit at the Agility Seminars, being run by Susan Garrett and Greg Derrett, in both Queensland and NSW. Please don’t think that if you cannot work a dog, you will not benefit. Being dog-less can actually be a huge advantage. One can concentrate on the performance of others, the correct and the incorrect, and learn. Notes can be taken and then one can practice with your own dog, later with less pressure. The Queensland seminar (as the venue has lights) will be followed by competition on 3 of the nights; the schedule is on the webpage. The NSW Seminar venue unfortunately has no lights for evening competition but is a fabulous venue, Heathcote Scout Camp, and has nice Shady trees I believe. (This is also the venue for the Obedience Seminar and NSW Training Camp to be run in July.) For those with Obedience ambitions, remember there is a 2-day Obedience Seminar being run by Susan Garrett, on 5th and 6th March; download application form from the webpage and post in as soon as possible.

Your Board members held a full day planning meeting on Saturday and a full day Board meeting on Sunday. I would like to inform you of the key developments that occurred.

Firstly I would like to welcome Mr. Loyd Barker and Mr. Siegfried Clever (alias Ziggy) to the Board. They are the 2 new Delegates to represent NSW, so I ask all members to give them their full assistance as they take on their new roles co-ordinating ADAA events in NSW. It is not their function to do all the work of organizing ADAA Competitions, Seminars etc but as I said above to co-ordinate, so if you all offer to assist them it should make for a great year of growth in your state.

We are pleased to announce the new ADAA competition that will replace the Dog of The Year Competition previously held. The ADAA Medallion Stakes is an event in which Dogs and Handlers can earn points in specific Open Rounds at competitions to be held in both NSW and Queensland and the points earned in these will be tallied through the year There are Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals to be earned if points earned fall within one of the 3 bands of points needed. Presentations for the Medallion Stakes will be at the Grand Prix, at Uralla. The event will culminate with ADAA Medallion Stakes Invitation Event once again at the Grand Prix. The top 10 dogs in each of the 4 height classes in each state will receive an invitation to compete, whether they were medal earners or not, and if any cannot attend the next in the points tally will be invited. This will insure a good field of dogs for the Invitation Event which will be an Open Agility Round, eligible for Qualifying cards. The events are schedules from March to July, with 6 rounds in each state and a reserve date in August in case of cancellation of a scheduled date. These dates will be on the webpage soon, so grab your diary and ink in these essential dates. This should be a popular event with the dual challenge of earning those Medallions and finishing close enough to the top to earn an invitation to the Medallion Stakes Invitation Event.

I would like to congratulate Kate Bartlett (from PADS) on earning her Junior Handlers Title, she is the first to earn this title and it is fabulous to see such great handling skills and results from such a young competitor. I am sure there are several Junior Handlers close to earning their first Junior Handler’s Title, so I would like to encourage them in their endeavours. The Board has decided that the application for the junior titles will be inclusive of rosette, rather than at an additional Fee.

Have lots of fun working with your dog and learning agility!!

Marion

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