BEGINNERS TO WINNERS NEWSLETTER

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Milo Watson
7 years ago
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1 HAPPY NEW YEAR! In this issue: Happy New Year to all our members from Donna and Chrissie Xmas Party Games Night New Class Times Competitive Obedience Training Days Handlers Report on Training Day by Rachael Oborne Training with Beginners to Winners by Penny Cockerill Donna and Chrissie would like to wish all our members a happy and healthy New Year. Xmas Party Games Night On Tuesday 11 th December 2012 Beginners to Winners held their first Xmas Party Games Night. The evening was a great success and we had many nice comments regarding how much fun the evening was. Games included musical sits, sausage relay race, fastest recall and Donna says! We also organised a fun course based on Rally Obedience for the intermediate class and a team obedience competition for the advanced class. The winner of our Rally Obedience course was Rachael and Minnie. And the winners of our Team Obedience Competition were Lorraine and Prince Deborah and Misty and Alex and Nell Santa Paws also made a flying visit to the club and left presents for all the dogs!! Prizes for the winning teams and individuals were kindly provided by Kennel Gate of Apsley. Kennel Cough Reminder Gallery Classifieds New Class Times from January 2013 Beginners 8.00pm until 8.30pm Intermediate 8.30pm until 9.10pm Advanced 9.15pm until 10.15pm 1 P age

2 Training Days In November we held a training day for members and nonmembers who are interested in the sport of Competitive Obedience. The aim of the course was to build on and improve the handler s understanding of the exercises required to compete in the sport of competitive obedience and to have FUN with their dog/s The day went really well despite the lack of heating and due to popular demand we have another day planned for January Please see page 3 for a handler report on the November training day by Rachael Oborne who attended the day with her dog Minnie. COMPETITIVE OBEDIENCE TRAINING DAY WITH DONNA BASTIN ABIPDT SATURDAY 19 TH JANUARY 2013 AT NASH MILLS VILLAGE HALL 10.00AM 5.00PM FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE SPEAK TO EITHER HANDLERS REPORT ON DONNA OR CHRISSIE 2 P age

3 HANDLERS REPORT ON TRAINING DAY BY RACHAEL OBORNE November 3rd 2012 and Minnie and I attended our very first training day, we had been pre-warned that the hall s heating had broken down and would not be fixed in time for the training day. The options were to cancel the day or grin and bear it. No one wanted the day to be cancelled as we all had been looking forward to it but god was that hall cold!! Despite the cold conditions the training day was still really enjoyable. There was a lot of variety throughout the day that allowed me and my dog time to perfect the basics and also try some more advanced commands that we hadn t previously done. It was very good as we got to work as part of a group as in regular training sessions but then also got some one on one time. This one on one time was useful as it allowed Donna and the other handlers to pick out things you are doing wrong and you in turn could also feedback to them. The most interesting thing I learnt on the day was about handler attitude whilst training, we then had the opportunity to practise with each other s dogs and worked with our own dogs without treats! Minnie and I are very new to dog training, in fact Minnie is very new to me, my family and I adopted Minnie from Many Tears Dog Rescue on 30/08/12. My Mum has been training our other dog Charlie with Donna for a couple of years and has successfully made the leap from pet dog training into the world of competitive training. Minnie enjoys her training very much and I hope that we can progress enough to start competing, can t have mum winning all the rosettes! I would thoroughly recommend attending these training days if you are considering starting out in the world of competitive obedience, as it was not only great fun and informative but you had the chance to see other handlers working their dogs at the various levels. Rachael and Minnie 3 P age

4 TRAINING WITH BEGINNERS TO WINNERS DTC BY PENNY COCKERILL I met Donna in the spring of 2012 when I decided to tackle my dog s recall once and for all. Orla is 6, a Patterdale Terrier/Labrador cross who was rehomed from Hearing Dogs because she chased swans and wouldn t come back. She has been with us for five years, training and competing in agility, where she has progressed from Grade 2 to Grade 4 at Kennel Club and to senior level at UK Agility. An agility friend recommended the club where Donna was teaching at the time. Orla took to obedience very quickly, and Donna spotted her potential straight away. After some private lessons with Donna I, too, had caught the obedience bug and entered several competitions, being placed in our first heat of the KC Special Pre-beginner Obedience Stakes in June. More importantly, Orla s recall improved to the point where I can let her off the lead in certain situations. With a terrier there is always a very small chance that instinct will override training but so far so good, she has come back every single time. Now on our walks she checks in with me regularly and her stays in open areas are absolutely amazing. I was very excited when Donna announced that she and Chrissie were setting up Beginners to Winners Dog Training Club, as I knew that I would enjoy the classes and that we would be able to learn loads more than just the basics. One of my friends has said more than once that she cannot see the point of obedience, just walking round and round a hall once a week. With Beginners to Winners classes are nothing like that at all. Yes, we do work on the basics, the foundations, but we also learn many different skills and have a lot of fun doing it. Our dogs can learn to sit and stay, of course, but also to work independently with scent work and sendaways, even from the very beginning, so that classes are always fun and never boring. The atmosphere is always positive and handlers feel rewarded as well as the dogs. When I get out the dumb bell Orla is beside herself with excitement, so much so that I can train with her outdoors with it and she will ignore passing dogs and other distractions. 4 P age

5 There are two reasons why I look forward to training so much; I know I am going to learn something and improve every week and that Orla and I are going to have a lot of fun. The standard we aim at is high, but instruction is tailored to each dog and handler so that we get every encouragement to enable us to be as good as we can be. There is always such a buzz in training sessions and it is impressive to see the level of focus achieved by everyone when all the dogs are in action at the same time. I think the club has made a fantastic start and will go from strength to strength in Kennel Cough Reminder Could we ask all members to be on the lookout for any signs that their dog has Kennel Cough. Kennel Cough is very contagious and can be passed from dog to dog by coughing. If you suspect that your dog has Kennel Cough please inform either Donna or Chrissie and seek advice from your dog s vet to determine how long your dog should be absent from classes. If you have any interesting articles that you would like to see printed in the next issue of our newsletter please send them to donna.bastin@ntlworld.com 5 P age

6 GALLERY RUFFLE Owned by Chrissie Skelly WURZEL, MAGIC, DEXTA AND ZETOR Owned by Donna Bastin MINNIE Owned by Rachael Oborne If you have a photo of your dog that you would like to see in the Gallery in the next issue of our newsletter please send them to donna.bastin@ntlworld.com 6 P age

7 CLASSIFIEDS Holiday Boarding Local Dog Trainer Provides holiday boarding in her home for a day or weeks WALKS, PLAY, KIND CARE Stress free stay for your dog Frances Based in Kings Langley KENNEL GATE YOUR LOCAL PETFOOD SUPERSTORE 8 Frogmore Road Apsley Hemel Hempstead HP3 9RW Open 7 Days a Week FREE MEMBERS ADVERTISING If you would like to place an ad in the classified, please the details to donna.bastin@ntlworld.com FOR SALE BARGO TAILGATE Tailgate with extra wide door suitable for Vauxhall Zafira (2005 onwards) Please contact Donna P age

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