Agility Dog Association of Australia Ltd

From the ADAA Chair ... March 2010

Firstly, an IFCS World Agility Championships update - the team will be competing in the UK in May 2010– which will be here before you know it. Congratulations to Kate Bartels for becoming a Team Member. This makes the Aussie team as follows:

Team Captain – Cathy Slot

Team Coach – Maria Thiry

Team Handlers – Large
Denise Crook
Kriszty Cumming
Joanne Lewohl
Elsina Meyer
Sharyn Palmer
Natalie Kirkwood

Team Reserve - Large
Amanda Pacher

Team Handlers – Small
Nicole Ford
Ian Weston
Lisa Henshaw
Siegfried Clever
Tracey Harrison-Hill
Kate Bartels

In addition we have now selected host dogs for the Aussie team:

Toy
Buckra (Beverly Horrobin)
Megan (Jean Young)
Echo (Amy Lawson)

Mini
Tip (Heather Lee)
Bear (Chris Baldwin)
TBA

Midi
Kal (Ros Etheridge)
Shaka (Nancy Faris)
Meg (Bob Sharpe)

Maxi
Dodger (Lucie Hinchley)
Robert (Virginia Harry)
Sox (Thelma Wigginton)

Not only will team members get the opportunity to compete on the world stage, it also looks like some of them will also get to compete with dogs at competition(s) in the UK. That too, will be an awesome experience. It’s great to see that we have over 20 people travelling to the UK to support the team (plus a few local Aussies coming along and joining in). The team continues to work hard raising funds to cover some of the costs of the trip. They couldn’t have done this without great support from lots of other members from all around Australia. Thank you to PADS for use of their grounds and SunCoast FunDogs for running the fundraising Open/Advanced competition at the end of January. Thank you to Lynda Orton-Hill for donating her time while she was in Australia to run a Mental Preparation Workshop in Victoria and to Yunde Canine Enterprises for holding a WAC Fundraising raffle during the workshops (prize of a cool coat donated by Silver Eagle Clothing – great supporters of ADAA and our members). The next (major) fundraising event is a Games Workshop being held at Tivoli on 10 April and followed by a titling competition (Games) - view the Calendar for further information. Also, this is the final call for clothing, so if you would like your piece of WAC memorabilia, make sure you get your order in this week.

Congratulations to Alison Muddle on being elevated to a Level 2 Judge, an excellent achievement. A strong and competent pool of Agility Judges is one of ADAA’s strengths and we certainly appreciate the effort and enthusiasm demonstrated by all of our Judges. When you are at your next competition, I encourage you to take a minute to thank the Judge(s) for their time spent and their great courses whether or not you /your dog managed to solve the “riddle” on the day. The Board has also appointed its Executive for the year:

Chairman - Cathy Slot
Deputy Chair - Penny Mead
Secretary - Tony Redwood
Treasurer - Natalie Kirkwood

Thanks to Alison Muddle, who recently stood down from the Board, but continues to provide invaluable assistance to the Board and ADAA. I am sure you will join me in thanking her for her seemingly tireless efforts for the Grand Prix’s and also all of her secretarial duties. We wish her well with the impending arrival of her new puppy.

Nicola Read organised a team of handlers and dogs to do a demo at a 20 –Twenty cricket match (Qld vs NSW). Once the demo was finished, and not long into the cricket, the clouds opened up and the game had reduced overs. So I think it’s fair to say that Agility was the winner on the day! Well done also to SunCoast FunDogs for their recent segment on Better Homes & Gardens. Unfortunately Lyndal Nichols, who did most of the collaboration, was flooded in and missed out, but the club pulled together equipment, handlers and dogs well (and managed to keep the rain away for filming) in the segment with “Dr Harry”, which presented Agility really favourably. Congratulations to both groups.

The new Agility Regulations (effective 15 January 2010) are well and truly operational. If you would like a copy for yourself, they can be purchased from the ADAA shop. At ADAA, because of all of our volunteer help we are able to keep charges down to a reasonable level, however we have had to increase the fee for titles with rosettes to $30-00 (effective 1 May 2010). Titles without rosettes remain at $15-00. In addition with the ever-increasing list of titles available to members, the Board has reviewed the number and stock level of title badges being held. We will run existing stocks down but, in future, new/replacement stock will be along similar lines to rosettes:

Triangle Title Badges:
COMBINED TITLES (BAAD / AAD / AATD) - Green/Gold or Red/White
INTERNATIONAL TITLES - Green/Gold only
REGULAR TITLES - Red/White only
IAD TITLE - Purple/White only
JUNIOR HANDLER TITLE - Orange/White only

Large Oval Title Badges:
MAAD or AAC - Green/Gold only
IAD - Purple/White only
RMAAD or RAAC - Red/White only

If you have a specific (existing) badge that you would like, get in while stocks last (contact admin@adaa.com.au to enquire about superseded badge stock).

May you enjoy your training with your dog and achieve your goals.

Cathy Slot
ADAA Chair

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