Rowdy

Sadie

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As president of Action Dog Sports an UKC club we are pleased to announce we are going to hold our very first set of 4 UKC conformation shows in Van Nuys, California on February 11-12, 2012.

We hope you can join the fun and help make our very first event a success. Please forward this to anyone that might be interested. 

We are offering Regular classes, Altered, Juniors,Veterans and Novice Puppy. Wonderful show site, Professional Photographer,Huge Raffle and Beautiful Rosettes!!!

We had so much fun watching the pups run and play at the beach. Masher was more interested in digging and cutter really liked the water and Stunner kinda hung back a bit. Trixie had fun playing with her papillon friends.

Milagro is jealous!!!!! She wants to play with sheep too!!!!

Sadie

Rowdy

Time for a new slate of people running the CCA. Please take the time to find out more about the candidates and ask them the hard questions.

Here are two people that I support and will vote for. They both beleive that EACH and EVERY vote should count!!!~jules

 THE MEMBERS OF THE COLLIE CLUB OF AMERICA
 
I’m writing to you to ask for your vote to be the next President of the CCA. I believe that every member of CCA should have a voice: the novice and the veteran, the judge and the exhibitor, the person with a passion for conformation, performance, herding as well as obedience or Therapy dogs.  No part will ever be greater than the whole or common good of the club or the Collie with me at the helm as your President.
 
I have served the CCA & local clubs in many positions, including CCA 1st VP, 2nd VP, DD, 2002 Assistant Show Chairman, 2005 National Show Treasurer and Assistant National Show Chairman. I’ve also been President and Show Chairman of the Intermountain Kennel Club in SLC, Utah for the last 11 years; Utah Beehive Cluster Chairman; and President & Show Chairman of the Utah Collie Club. I am also an AKC Judge for Collies, Shelties and juniors, and I am currently the AKC Delegate for my all-breed club.
 
 Many of you have ideas to improve the CCA, and we need to listen and explore these ideas. I will welcome all input on how we can strengthen and improve our Club. I feel we need to elect people that have you the MEMBER, the COLLIE, and the CCA in mind at all times. They need to put their personal agendas on the back burner and have the welfare of the CCA and the Collie in the forefront at all times.
 
I started in Collies in the early 70s under the kennel name of Cobblecreek. I’m married and have 4 children and 7 grandchildren. “Collies” is something Debbie and I do together, she grooms and I do the showing, feeding, picking up poop, etc. Over the years we’ve had some great wins, have bred 15 to 20 Champions, co-bred the BOB winner at the 2002 National, and bred the WB and RWD at the 2005 National. As much as the wins mean to us, none of them can compare to the many great friendships we have made over the years.
 
In closing, I want you to know that I want to be your next President.  CCA officers should work to support the entire membership and the constitution of the CCA.  If elected to be your next President, I promise that your voice as a member will be heard. The President and the District Directors are elected to work for you. In the CCA every member should count – the novice's vote is just as important as the veterans'. The membership as a whole, supported by me as your President, will decide the direction our Club will take
 
Thank you,
 
Mike Van Tassell
Home: 801-942-1682
Cell: 801-518-2377
Cobblecreek@comcast.net
 
 

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Dear Collie Club of America Members,
 
My name is Kathy Moll, and I am asking for your support to become a CCA Director-at-Large. This position is important for the entire membership but especially for those members without district director representation. I pledge to keep you informed each time a communiqué is sent and any time in between as you require. I will welcome your thoughts and discussion in order to best represent you regardless of my own opinions.
 
There is a growing need for open discussion from all CCA members on a variety of subjects. We must respect our members and support inclusion for every collie lover regardless of personal interests, opinions and goals. I have the utmost regard for the membership-at-large and support your right to vote and have your votes count. Our constitution and by-laws must never be ignored!
 
My collie activities in conformation and obedience began in 1976. My first CD (companion dog) collie was a rough dog in 1978, followed by my first champion, also a rough dog, in 1980. Since then I am very proud to have bred and/or owned multiple Top 10 collies in both varieties, champions in both varieties in the upper double digits and many performance titled collies in obedience, rally, herding, agility and more. The wonderful owners of Deep River collies deserve most of the credit for our success! All of our CCA national wins make me proud but particularly BOS to BOB from the 11 and older veteran’s class and Most Versatile Collie in show.
 
I have been a CCA district director at least 10 times, starting in the early 80s, when there was a small combined NC/SC district, up to more recent times when NC alone has had a membership of  50 plus. I worked diligently for nearly two years on the 2007 CCA national in nearly every capacity.  I have been an avid supporter of Collie Rescue of the Carolinas (CRC) since its inception. CRC was one of the first Collie Rescue Foundation affiliates.
 
I have written numerous collie related articles over the past 35 years for the CCA Bulletin, COL, Collie Expressions, Collie Cues, Collie Review and the Cassette. These articles have covered a variety of subjects including health issues, breeding, showing, structure, performance and genetics.
 
My goal as DAL will be to provide representation. Together we can rekindle enthusiasm in members who feel they have no say in how the Club is run. Together we can support and motivate those who wish to strengthen the impact of our entire membership. Together we can make a difference! For all of these reasons, I would very much appreciate your vote.
 
Sincerely yours,
 
Kathy V. Moll
www.deeprivercollies.com 

I took Stunner – Livewire ETS Excessive Force to his very first show. UKC has baby dog classes which I think is a GREAT idea!!! Puppies really need to be out in the world and experience it.

I have taught Stunner to stack and we have been working on him letting me see his teeth with out biting me 🙂 but I had not done anything on the table or any gaiting….just really fast puppy recall’s between Daneen and I.

I was a little curious on how he would behave in the ring and the most important thing is that I just wanted him to have a fun time in there.

Little Stunner was such a good boy!!!! He has the stacking down to a science and learned the gaiting in a flash. He was perfect on the table too!!! He didn’t growl or bite 🙂

Stunner was Best Puppy In Show!!!!!!

And Reserve Best Puppy In Show in the show in the morning.

I am thrilled beyond words to announce that Ella earned her MACH today!!!!

Thank you Daneen for always doing such a nice job handling my spotted girl!!

Thank you Nancy for getting her MACH run on video as I was helping my mom move.

We had a great time at USDAA National this year. The energy was better than last year but not quite what I have experienced when it was in Scottsdale. The organizers seemed to have learned from all that went wrong at the 2010 National and really stepped up to the plate and fixed the issues for this year. The event was well run and a pleasure….. still really not quite sure why it has to be dragged out to 6 days tho…… too much money!!!!! And quite frankly I think it is stupid to have only one run a day for several days…..And don't even get me started with my moral dilema about where the USDAA National is going to be held in 2012 – I can not even believe that we as dog people are going to support an area with our money that has banned a breed with horrific consequences!!!! Shame on USDAA and shame on CO!!!!

We took little Stunner with us for the grand adventure. He was stellar!!! Stunner handled everything in stride with a smile on his face. He was great in the hotel and even got to sleep out like a big boy…. tho he woke up at 3:30 a.m. two of the nights and would not go back to sleep. He thought dive bombing our faces, tugging and biting our feet under the covers was way more fun than sleeping… and his teeth are still razor sharp 🙁

What a treat that Melody came to watch and brought puppy Lazer!!! I love seeing our puppies so loved and adored by their people!!!! Lazer was walking around like he owned the joint.

Stress… pressure…WOW!!!! I am beginning to see a pattern leading up to and at these big events. Daneen has been working very hard at the mental management of this game….. but something is missing or being overlooked or not dealt with 100%. Seems that at every big event something significant goes down with Daneen's body…. like a core issue. She is all good in her head but I think we are not addressing  the emotions or something very well…. So that is causing the body to release energy through her body in the form of something icky.

USDAA National 2010 – pulled her back out during team and before GP and Steeplechase
AKC National 2010 – caught a bad cold and bruised ribs from coughing so hard
and the list goes on…..

So this year she got sick with a cold/flu a week before USDAA National. After a week of bed rest she seemed to be in fairly good shape for the first day of the event. i thought to myself…Cool!! We got the ickies over and done with BEFORE the event…. smooth sailing!!! Not so much!!! She ran one class each day the first two days, the night before the day she had 5 classes to run she had probably the worst belly ache I have ever seen her have :(  UGH!!!!! I have never seen her doubled over in pain and the moaning!!!! I felt so bad for her. I tried to make her as comfortable as possible between runs and i was not too worried about the runs because the body is amazing and the adrenaline kicks in and no pain is felt. I think we are going to start looking into yoga or something…..

Since Daneen was trying out for the IFCS 2012 World Team…. EVERY run counted!!!!

On the post belly trauma day she had 5 runs… IHC jumpers, IHC standard, Grand Prix Semi's, Team jumpers and Steeplechase finals later in the evening…….

The good the bad and the WTF!!!!

IHC standard was first. She felt good about the course. It all started out beautiful and then Daneen fell…hard… on her knees… Masher continued… he dropped a bar… she got up still trying to hang on to the run….one bar- they are still ok…. Masher takes the correct next 3 obstacles… daneen is behind and not where she needs to be…still trying to hang on… and in a split second Masher pops over an off course jump…. tweet…..

We pow wow after the run as we traumeel and ice both knees….. " It happens" It's ok….. one run…. no problem….

IHC jumpers is next… like right next…. I am watching this course being run and thinking to myself… there is NO way she is going to get this one corner of the course. You had to manage the sequence into the straight tunnel and race to manage a close and ugly rear cross threadle…. not going to happen.

It all started out beautiful and she ALMOST made it through that ugly spot…. tweet.

Pow wow after that run while continuing to ice her knees…. Wow that was FAST!!!! it's ok… two funky runs…. no problem… shake it off….

Next was Grand Prix semi's. It looked like an easy course. I felt good about it and I guess even more important Daneen felt good about it 🙂

I have never seen a Mahy run like this ever!!! not even in novice !!!

It was jump to a tunnel to the dog walk.

They are on the line. Daneen says OK tunnel and mushy heads to the tunnel and then back to her like " What did you say?" Daneen says Tunnel, tunnel and takes off to mange the end of the dog walk…. one refusal… we are still ok….. Masher flys out of the tunnel, squirts behind her and takes an off course jump… tweet… I don't really know what happened after that.

I had been videoing all the runs so far and can't post the last 3 because my potty mouth was a flapp'n…..

So the day is not going so well to say the least….. we still have team jumpers and steeplechase finals to go today.

I must say that I am very proud of Daneen and her attitude this whole time. She still had a smile on her face and while I know she was disapointed Masher never knew about it. She treats him the very same no matter how the run went down. That to me speaks more than anything else.

So Jean had made the trek to KY to watch. We had fun hanging out and watching. Jean and I both were talking about the runs gone bad and she had noticed that all the runs she watched of Daneen's had gone bad. Daneen smoked the runs that Jean was not here to watch. Jean quickly announced that she was going to be nowhere in sight and in fact she was going to leave the building when Daneen ran her next two runs. I said that I was not going anywhere near the ring she was running and I was NOT pulling ou the Xoom to video. We laughed and talked about how silly this all was and how that was not how this all worked. Neither of us stopped each other from leaving or not videoing 🙂

Team jumpers was next. There were more off course options and back sides of jumps in this course than the IHC jumpers course…. lots of E's. Daneen really needed to nail this run I thought more for her confidence seeing as how steeplechase finals were next. So the stage was set…. Jean was out in her car reading her book and I was at the other end of the arena with my xoom packed away. Daneen and Masher are on the line…. the run is flawless… and fast…. they nail it… they are back on their game….

Steeplechase finals……STRESSFUL!!!!   The crowd, the music, the energy in the air…. very cool!!!  Again Jean and my Xoom assume their positions…. Jean in her car and Xoomie in my bag…… Daneen and Masher are the last 12" run….. It started out beautiful… the middle was beautiful and the end was beautiful and fast!!!! Wide turns and ALL!!!!

Daneen and Masher USDAA 2011 12" Steeplechase Champions!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!

                                                                 photo by Karen Moureaux

Even with having 3 crappy runs and a not so good snooker run Daneen and Masher came in second of the 3 spots for IFCS World Team in 12". So they won a spot on the 2012 IFCS World Team!!!! Congratulations to all the team members!!!! I know the hard work that went into getting on the team. Looking forward to World Championships which will be held here in the united States in Texas in May!!! If you have never been I highly recommend it!!! It is truly a great experience!!!!

Congratulations to Dana Pike Chamberlain and Tangle, Daneen Fox and Masher, Andy Mueller and Crackers, Kevin Brown and Hunter, Maureen Waldron and Mickle, Jean Lavalley and Cheer, Stuart Mah and Ares, Jeannette Hutchison and Rumble, Dudley Fontaine and Sweet and Maverick, Mia Grant and Vic, and Terry Smorch and Presto.     Photo by Karen Moureaux

Even tho I was dissapointed for Daneen …. I had a very calm and good feeling through the whole thing. I felt that this day of really unfortunate runs that Daneen and Masher had just kept it real….. kept it real for us and kept it real for others watching. I met and spoke with so many people that this was their first National…and maybe they didn't do as well as they had hoped or had a bobble here or there…. I think seeing that it can happen to anyone … and more so it just plain happens… is very comforting and real. I know that when I started training my Dalmatian Ella and hit a frustrating patch in our training, I talked to daneen about it as I felt hopeless….
She quickly gave me many examples of her own experiences and of others I know and that it was all normal and we would get through it…. It helped a bunch…. I was not alone in having hitting a training plateau…. and we would get through it… and we did:)

It was a little hard and a little weird to be sitting in the stands watching Grand Prix finals and not have Daneen and Masher running…. As the first 12"dog stepped up to the line, I glanced over to Daneen and she looked at me and just smiled…
… the the good part is poor Jean was able to watch the class:)

Great people, good food and amazing dogs!!!! What a great week!!!

On the last day we took the pups to Cherokee park for a run. Masher beelined it to the water and wanted the ducks in the worst way…. Stunner was not so brave but had fun doing the zoomies all over the park.

Fun times!!! Glad to have met so many new people and see so many wonderful runs!!! i know that I do not have it in me to compete at this level so I look at every single one of these people running and they are truly inspirational!!!!

Stunner is 9 weeks old here and this was the first time on a harness. We do this to everyone we can get to play with us and when the pup is 100% good with this we then do the next step and have people feed then pet then feed some more.

I joined the Dalmatian Club of Southern Ca when I got my first Dal many many years ago. I was young and full of new ideas. The thought of hanging out with other people that loved Dals as much as I did sounded like a great idea. I soon found out that dog clubs can be pretty awful. There were people in the club that just fought every new idea and thought the club was there personal club. The fighting and back stabbing was horrific. The few nasty people made it not so fun.

I had volunteered to be recording secretary and that was a huge mistake!!! I am not a dot your I's or cross your T's kinda gal… but nobody else wanted to do it, so I gave it a shot. Well we had one REALLY old member that would send me my meeting minutes with red pen correction marks ALL over it. It is actually kinda funny now that I look back at this… but back then it just pissed me off. I thought why don't you step up to the plate and take the f'ing meeting minutes you old bag???? Obviously you know how it should be done!!!!

I think a good portion of well intentioned members finally got sick of it and all walked out of a meeting and quit the club.

Now over a decade later I saw that they had a bunch of new people in the club and the board seemed to be fresh and wanting to move the Dal club forward so I approached the Dalmatian Club of Southern Ca and asked if they would like to hold agility trials. I ran it by the president, Lesley and the board. They all seemed pretty excited and asked me to present it at the meeting they were having. So I did. Several people that do agility were at this meeting and also liked the idea. The club voted to move forward with this idea and I started to get the ball rolling.

I had experience with this as I have gone through all the steps to get the Papillon Club of Southern Ca to hold AKC agility trials.

I had already gathered all the paperwork needed and was still under the impression that DCSC was still on board….. then I started getting emails and  phone calls from Karen the club sec. that some people in the club had questions and concerns. I spent hours and hours answering questions and concerns by email and phone. Karen also spent hours gathering information from AKC and other breed clubs that hold agility trials.

I even spent over a hour and a half speaking with DCSC club member Marianne Lovejoy who was the club member with the majority of the concerns. She spent the majority of our conversation telling me how badly she has been screwed by the DCSC and how horrible people in the club are and all about her bassets. By the end of the phone call she assured me that she was very comfortable with the company that I suggested using to hold agility trials and that she was very glad that I was doing this.

I later came to find out this "seal of approval" she gave me was all lies. She continued to talk shit to a couple of other club members and they got a few people to come to the meeting that I was to have my membership voted on and they voted against my membership. It was not the smartest way to handle this and bottom line it was not nice. They should have just voted me in and then voted against holding agility trials. And that would have been that. But the way they handled this made them look really bad. At this meeting that this all took place at they had 2 new potential members sitting in on the meeting as guests. These two people saw how this club acted and they could not run away fast enough!!! They told me that they want no part of a club like this!!!

The meeting was held on Sat. and I was set up right across the way from all the Dal people the entire weekend and it was a little uncomfortable for everyone that voted for me. It was VERY easy to tell who voted against my membership because they never made eye contact with me or said one word to me  the entire weekend. All the people that voted for me could not have been nicer. I really felt bad for them. They were angry, frustrated and very embarrassed at what happened.

I am glad that I don't take things personally and I truly believe that everything goes down just the way it is supposed to.

We have started our own dog club called Action Dog Sports and just as well that I spend my precious time and energy on this grand adventure!!! We are holding our first UKC conformation show Feb. 11 and 12, 2012. I am so excited!!!!

Dog clubs are supposed to be fun and we intend to be. So onward and upward. The Dalmatian Club of Southern Ca can just continue to rot and fester in it's own meanness and I know that Karma Karma Karma takes care of mean people 🙂

Thank you to every single one of you that came over to tell me how sorry you were and gave me hugs. Hope to see you all at future Action Dog Sports shows!!!!

The next blog post is the letter I wrote to DCSC…..