What's New at Big Sky Schutzhund Club

"This dog, Tana, was an owner surrender 01/04/06 and is supposed to be a Malinois. Since we know nothing about the breed, we would like your opinion. She was surrendered for being "too intense" a personality. Her owner said that she would follow her from room to room and had separation anxiety when she left. She seems to be a very intelligent dog and, as you can see, very beautiful. If you think she is a Malinois, could you list her on a website? Do you have a waiting list or foster homes? Any help would be appreciated."

"Here are a couple of pictures I took today. They are not the best because Tana would much rather sit than stand. As soon as I would go the take the photo, she would sit. She is 4 years 6 months old. Thanks for your opinion. "

Congratulations to Anne & Bekqa on their IPO 1!!!

2005 American Working Malinois Nationals

Bekqa and I headed off to the 2005 AWMA Nationals in Marietta, Georgia on Oct. 18 for the competition on Oct. 21 and 22. Although we had been training regularly since he obtained his BH in Denver in July, we hadn't been able to do as much as I would have liked because he had pulled a muscle in his back leg that refused to improve. But we had made the commitment to go, and since I am an officer in the organization, there was no turning back.

When we arrived, it was hot and humid, especially for a northerner who had already seen snow. On Wednesday we headed off to the practice tracking fields so he could get some experience on the grass. We then found the trial field and did some quick obedience after meeting up with several other competitors. A bit later there was time for some protection work, and it was back to the motel to escape the heat. Thursday we also had some time on the field. It was obvious that Bekqa wouldn't be at full capacity because of the leg injury, especially with the jumps. But we trained, socialized, watched the helper try-outs, and then headed to the host hotel for draw night. There were 14 IPO III and two IPO II entries. We were the only IPO 1 team at the competition; my flight had tracking on Friday morning, followed by obedience and protection on Saturday.

The tracking fields were about 1.5 hrs away from the trial field in a very pretty area with rolling fields and lush grass. In fact, we have never tracked on anything that lush EVER. There was fog that morning, the grass was just over ankle high, and the track looked like a freeway. Bekqa tracked with great enthusiasm (interpretation - FAST) although he was accurate. The article indications weren't the best either, but the final result was an 86 awarded by Nathaniel Roque.

That night it rained and the temperature dropped by about 20 degrees to the lower 60's for our obedience and protection. There were puddles on the field by the jumps, making things a bit treacherous. Our heeling was very nice, as were the motion exercises. He was crooked on his front on the retrieve. As I predicted, he had problems with the 1 meter jump; he pushed off hard on the top and came around on the return. The wall was fine with the exception that he slipped coming down and couldn't stop in front, so we had no front or finish. The send away was a bit crooked and he downed with elbows off the ground. For the down, he was restless and moved a bit. But we passed with a score of 72 from Frank Mensing.

We were the very last team of the competition to do protection. As we heeled off lead all the way down the field to the last two blinds, I was trying to visualize the best routine we could muster. There was a delay while the judge, Louis Quadroni, got the proper paperwork in order, so we waited on the field for what seemed like an eternity. But we finally got the signal, I faced blind 5, and sent Bekqa on his way. He zipped around 5, blasted into 6, and I heard his typical strong barking (which was good, because I knew that he hadn't neglected that step and gone straight into biting). He came straight to heel when I called him out (yes!). When the helper stepped out he moved forward but I opted to give another command and take the point loss to keep him under control. The escape bite was great and I could see a smile (or was it a grimace?) on the helper's face as Bekqa gave him a couple good shakes. The out was in order, the pickup was fine, and we were off down the field for the courage test. When I sent him it was obvious that he was lacking some power in the rear, but the hit was good and the drive looked nice from where I was waaay down the field. His out was good, the pickup went fine, and the side transport felt great. We ended up with an 84 with points lost for the extra command, being too active on the hold and bark, and not enough power as he came through the escape and long bite (a consequence of the leg injury).

Overall, the scoring was what you would expect at a national event - tough, but consistent. I was very happy with his performance, especially considering the injury and the fact that he is still "green" and not even two years old.

As we all know, training a dog in this sport is a team effort. Kelly McCulloch - thanks for letting me take the big boy home with me. I'd like to thank all the members of the Big Sky Schutzhund Club for their support, with special thanks to Warren Jones and Rhett Boerger for their helper work. I'd also like to acknowledge the insights and assistance from Ivan Balabanov and Michael Ellis not only with this dog, but the others before him. We'll continue to train and hopefully make it to the Nationals again next year. - Anne

Welcome to new club members Anita & Pedro with Clancy!

On the Road

Mark and Jeff, our Utah friends, are hosting a five day seminar with Ivan Balabanov in October. Sam with Saga and Lexi, Warren with Harley and Anne with Bekqa will be travelling down to train with them.

Anne and Bekqa will be going to Atlanta, Georgia, the following weekend to compete in the American Working Malinois Association's National Championship. Join us in wishing them a fun and successful trial!

K9FUNdamentals

After many years of dabbling with helping people train their dogs, Sam has finally started a dog training business called K9FUNdamentals. Together with training partner Anne Dixon, classes in Foundations Skills for Competition, Agility Foundations, Puppy Kindergarten and Family Manners are offered. For more information, see the website: K9FUNdamentals.com

Congratulations to Warren & Harley on their SchH 2!!!

Warren & Harley competed in Parker, Colorado (Denver) at the Rocky Mountain Regionals under USA Nathaniel Roque, and earned their SchH2.

There were many "V"-rated components of each phase, with a few big point losses. Overall, Harley worked beautifully. Great job, guys!

Welcome to Sami's new addition
O'Lexa "Lexi" du Loups du Soleil

Lexi is a three quarters sister to Harley. She is very bold and confident, happy and silly. And she BITES! ow!

Congratulations to Anne & Bekqa on their BH!!!

Anne & Bekqa earned their BH at the Denver Mile High Schutzhund Club's trial, 23-24th July, 2005. Way to go!

They are preparing to go to the AWMA Nationals in Georgia in October. Wish them luck!

Welcome to new members Mary Messina and Rocky!

Mary lives in Lewistown and will make the long drive down for training every other week! Rocky's father is a working police dog in Lewistown.

Big Sky Schutzhund Club SPRING TRIAL

Congratulations to club members with new titles!
Tango — Can Tango v. Bullinger FH2
Zouka — Bazouka van de Trinekesdreef SchH 1
Harley — Harley du Loup du Soleil SchH 1

Pictures will be available as soon as Anne gets back in town and we can download the 200+ pictures we took at the trial.

Michael Ellis Seminar

Regional news

Congratulations to new Regional Director Lynne Lewis. The Pacific Northwest is a very large region, and those of us in the hinterlands have always appreciated being kept apprised of regional news. Lynn's first communications have been positive, professional and very upbeat. We look forward to working with you!

Hello everyone,
Our regional helper seminar just finished, hosted by Twin Co. Schutzhund Club at their new field in Yelm.
Twin Co. did an excellent job of organizing and hosting the seminar and the turnout was very good. A total of 11 helpers participated on Saturday and 7 returned on Sunday for their classification. All 7 passed and are now classified at the club level. This is a great start towards classification of all our region's helpers. It is not easy to host these types of events and once again, thanks to Twin Co for all your hard work!
James did an excellent job of working with the helpers who ranged from very inexperienced to some with years of helper work under their belts. James spent Saturday morning in a class room hands on session demonstrating proper trial techniques and dealing with questions regarding problems and how to best handle them. The afternoon was spent working with the helpers and dogs. Thanks to all the handlers who brought dogs for the helpers.
For those of you who were not able to attend the Regional Championship and Regional meeting this year please congratulate our 2005 Pacific Northwest Regional Schh3 Champion, Apparitor of Y Maeda HOT, owned and trained by Robert Kocham. Please also congratulate our 2005 FH Regional Champion, Beauty du Chateau Schonwalde (Britt) Schh 3, FH, HOT; owned and trained by Marion Franke. How exciting that both Schh 3 champions are HOT!!!
Our next regional meeting will be held on the weekend of Sept 17 & 18 at Greater Seattle WDA's trial with our good sportsfriend, SV Foreign judge Bogdan Sergo. The exact time and place will be decided and sent to you all. This will be an excellent opportunity to talk about the general board meeting in November. Our new Regional Training Director Paul Schnieder is putting together some ideas for training events in our region and we certainly hope to hear from you in the clubs as to what you would like to see happen in the region.
The 2006 Pacific NW Regional Championship will be hosted by German Shepherd Schutzhund Club, judged by our own Willie Pope. Once we firm up a date with Willie I will get a notice out to all the clubs. I don't know if everyone is aware that Willie has been asked to judge tracking at the 2005 WUSV championships!!! We are very happy to have this world class judge for next years Regional Championship.
I know that the rest of 2005 and 2006 are going to be great for our sport in this region. Working together again we can increase the level of training in our region, attract new people to our sport and most of all HAVE FUN with our dogs again!
Yours in the sport,
Lynne Lewis
United Schutzhund Clubs of America
Regional Director
Pacific Northwest Region

New Members

Welcome to new members Pete deKok and Monty Auch. Pete is our "very northern Montana" member, hailing from Lethbridge. He has supported almost every one of our seminars in the past, and we're excited to have him. Monty is new to the Schutzhund world, and brings with him his new dog, Yolly v Huelsman. Welcome!

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Comments & Correspondence to:

sam at bigskyschutzhund dot com

Last updated: December 2005

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