This is the letter sealed and stamped ready to go out in Mondays mail.

Dear DCSC members,

    I think as election time comes around you need to take a long hard look at who is running your club. I have never heard of a person not being accepted into a dog club. In these days when memberships are low and money is tight I just don't understand the shortsightedness of a handful of members to vote against my membership just because I was trying to bring in a new fundraising venture as well as showcase our very talented breed.

You all should be ashamed of yourselves.

I spent over an hour and a half on the phone with Marianne Lovejoy explaining what we would like to do as far as adding agility trials and the DCSC. I answered every question and concern that she had. 80% of the conversation that Marianne and I had was Marriane complaining to me about how the DCSC has screwed her over. I had to hear of every slight that the club has done to her. By the end of the phone call Marriane said to me in quotes " I am very comfortable with Lynda Tjarks and her company and I am glad you are doing this. Thank you for taking the time to explain this all to me" Come to find out at the meeting that Marriane is a bold faced liar and was still spreading untruths about the agility aspect to other club members.

Your Treasurer – Maggie Jackson told me when I handed her my membership application " Same club- different people – same old shit" Well it seems to me that she is also part of the "same old shit" part of your club.

I have no idea what Diane Bartholomew's or Beverly Rutherford's problem was as neither one of them ever once asked me a question about adding agility. Seems to me this was all a power trip issue.

So for the record……

I don't work for the company that I was suggesting DCSC use to hold agility trials.

This company has their own insurance and each club has insurance.

There are several breed clubs that use this company and your Secretary Karen Whyte spent many hours gathering letters from other breed clubs that highly recommend
this company to hold agility trials, spoke with the AKC and the owner of this company to gain insight and information to bring to you the club members.

None of this was taken into consideration. Only the bitter sour grapes of one Marianne Lovejoy. Nobody else did their own homework.

I have done agility trials for the Papillon Club of Southern Ca for several years now and since we also run my Dalmatian Ella in agility I thought this would be a fabulous opportunity to showcase the Dalmatian in another venue other than conformation. Ella was # 5 Agility Dalmatian in 2010 and is #4 Agility Dalmatian in the country for 2011!!!   Agility is actually FUN!!! And the dogs LOVE it!!! Holding agility trials would have embraced more members – ones that do agility already and ones that might want to try it. AKC records show that conformation entries are WAY down but agility entries are still climbing. That in itself should tell you something.

I invited all of DCSC to come to an agility trial what was being given by the Papillon Club of Southern Ca so they could see for themselves how it worked and what was involved. They would have been able to meet all of the people who work for the company. NOT ONE of you showed up. Not even the people that had "great concern that we were trying to do something HORRIBLE" with the DCSC.

There was no other intention on my part other than to bring in some money for DCSC and highlight our wonderful breed.

So when your treasurer Mrs. Jackson or anyone else who voted Nay to my membership is complaining that your club has no money or wants more money for rescue please remind them that DCSC agility trials would have been a VERY fun way to raise some funds.

And NOT being a member of DCSC is no skin off my nose…. It is truly your loss.

Julie Sandoval

Espeanza now Sadie went to her new home with Kate. She is one lucky little pup!!!

Sadie and Kate

Sadie gets to go on hikes and gets to go to the barn all the time! How cool is that????

Thank you Nancy for videoing this run!!!

WOWZIE….

So Bob Myers resigned from his position as CCA president!!! Still not clear as to what the reason was so I won’t speculate on that.  He presented the board with 3 names to be on the standard revision committee. BUT here is where he fucked up. He worded it standard review committee and REALLY did not give clear instructions to the board or the membership. He gave murky wording at best…. then he quits and NOBODY knows what the hell is going on.

I have asked on the CCA Closed list ” What is the board voting on???? The committee to be formed OR the the people on the committee?” The other question that has been asked several times on the CCA Closed list is ” When is the board voting on the standard revision committee?” That has also not been answered!!

The CCA Closed list got very heated. You had members asking questions or giving their opinion and they were pretty much slammed by a handful of people. Actually the same old handfull of people that shit spews out of their mouths on a regular basis.

We saw responses like ” If you don’t like the way things are. LEAVE. The CCA won’t miss you” Start your own Club” It was pretty awful. And when these people were called out for their rude reemarks they said shit like ” I didn’t MEAN that … I was just making a suggestion”  Then we had one “pillar” in the CCA try the “” Can’t we just all get along” route and then listed a bunch of so called FACTS… Some of which were quickly corrected. 

BLAH BLAH BLAH …. same old shit….. We will take your dues money but you had better not say anything that goes against the chosen few that run the CCA!!!!

SO the CCA closed list is either on complete moderation or maybe only a few lucky ones are getting moderated….. either way here is the link to the new OPEN CCA list. All is fair game …. just be nice 🙂

The poison that runs through the CCA has NOTHING to do with the SABLE MERLE….

I have enjoyed the last 3 SW Regionals hosted by Bay Team. The event is run smoothly and the people have always been so very nice. Northern Ca seems to have a special kind of humor and lightheartedness. Fun fun fun!!!!

The weather was PERFECT for running dogs….. I on the other hand was FREEZING!!!!! 🙂

There are 3 World Agility Events that have qualifying requirements. IFCS which USDAA is a part of and FCI which AKC is a part and the newest is WAO which UKI is part of. At each of these three events the USA sends a team to represent the United States of America. The process and qualifying requirements varies with each of these venues.

Daneen has been on the IFCS and the WAO world teams and getting selected or winning a spot on any of these teams is no small feat!!! I find the entire process very interesting. Keeping up with the rules, the qualifying dates and juggling 3 different venues keeps us on our toes….. Not to mention adding the AKC Agility invitational in there too 🙂

So each person wanting to try out for the IFCS World team has to attend a total of 3 events during the qualifying period. 2 must be regionals and 1 can be a 4 star event. Points are tallied from these 3 events and added to the points won at the 2011 USDAA National.

The top 3 points earners in each height win their spot on the IFCS United States World Team.

Of course this is the simple version and the rule book is quite long 🙂 But I wanted to give a little background for people that might not be familiar with agility or this process.

The Southwest Regional was Daneen and Masher's third event. They needed to do well in each class to get points towards the team selection process. Many of the other 12" dogs trying out for the team had already done their 3 events. And Masher was sitting in 5th place going into the Southwest regional. The pressure was definitely there…. each run counted. There seemed to be a certain level of peace and "knowing" …along with the HIGH level of excitement within them each time they stepped up to the line. It was beautiful to watch.

I have been fortunate enough to be Daneen and Masher's groom ( that's what they call it in England….

Here we call it "ASS" ~ Agility Support Spouse or in the conformation arena I would be called a "Bucket Bitch" )

Anyway you call it I have been honored to be a part of this great team and the ride has been AMAZING!!!!

I highly recommend that people competing stretch out of your comfort zone and compete at a higher level than you are used to…… enter a venue you don't normally do, enter a regional or a national.

From my perspective I have watched a certain maturity in handling pressure and a sense of calming that Daneen and Masher have gained in the last few years of competing. Handling stress and pressure is a huge part of this game…. whether the stress is from sitting on QQ # 19, praying for that last Super Q or elusive gamble or not getting the chance to walk the course….. Your dog FEELS that stress and pressure and getting a handle on your emotions can only make you a better partner for your dog!!!

I remember one of Daneen and Masher's first HIGH STRESS events. It was AWFUL!!!! EVERY SINGLE run counted for points. I was watching and videoing , Daneen was on the line with Masher and EACH one of us was on the brink of a stroke!!! Our hearts were pounding we were shaking and Masher's eyeballs were popping out!!! Daneen was shaking so bad that she couldn't even take Masher's leash off!!!

With each high stress event Daneen has worked hard at and is learning to keep the stress level in check and the pressure in perspective. It really has been amazing to watch. This tool of managing the stress makes the whole event easier on Masher. Now Daneen and Masher still get REALLY excited and Daneen still shakes but now it is more from the adrenaline rush after a run!!

Another part of this sport that I LOVE is watching teams on their journey towards the goals they set. I feel the aticipation and the joy for them as they work their way towards their goal. The "level" of goal is really not the point…. it's the work, and the friendships and memories along the way. One of my goals last year was 6 stinking weave poles with Aiden 🙂

So this weekend marks a WONDERFUL milestone. Masher ran the same course against one of his offspring!!! Zuma and Wendy did a fabulous job on their Steeplechase Finals run. Zuma was SUPER speedy and had they not had a baby dog oopsie, Zuma was RIGHT THERE!!!!!

Masher & Daneen ~ 2011 USDAA Southwest Regional 12" Grand Prix AND Steeplechase Champions!!!!

Lazer and Stunner had the BEST time!!!!

Milagro was the token non Papillon on this adventure!!

The dive home from Prunedale was spectacular. I just love the state of California!!!

I read Team Small Dog Blog ALL the time and Laura was at Bay Team so I got the chance to tell her in person how much I LOVE her blog and I think she is soooooooo funny!!!! And how I almost pee my pants with most of her posts.

She inspired me to create this blog post and stage the reinactment of Stunner's New Trick….

Let me just add that no puppies were hurt or ever put in any danger during the making of this documentory.

We had set up a pretty cool little playpen for Stunner and Lazer. 2 1/2 ex pens worth of puppy area complete with sod and tons of puppy toys and chews. I set up smaller ex pens so people could pet the pups and not be towering over them like they would be with the taller ex pens.

Daneen ran and worked and I worked all 4 days. We checked on the pups regularly and all their aunties kept a close eye on them too. While I was working a ring I look over and see……

Jackie walking towards me and carrying a little black and white puff ball…. She said he had escaped the ex pen and was running around!!! TG Jackie saw him and scooped him up!!!! He could have run in the ring and been toaster strudel.

We had to rearrange the entire pen and used a tall pen….. He was NOT happy!!!!

He didn't get in trouble and Daneen and I both think it was pretty cute and funny because we like them NAUGHTY!!!!!!!!

I usually take the sound out of the videos but I left it in so you could hear how pissed the puppies were…. Stunner because his new flying Walenda trick was foiled and Lazer because his stoopid and naughty brother got extra attention during the reinactment photo shoot!!!!