WESTERN REGION SCHUTZHUND VERBAND, DVG, INC .
Member LV/DVG America - DVG - DHV - VDH - FCI
2005 Western KG Regional Competition
By Cheryl Weaver
This year the Western KG Regional Competition was hosted by Olympus Schutzhund Club of Salt Lake. It was to say the least, fun! The hours of preparation that go into putting on a Regional competition are many. The long hours of hard work seem to pile up and then at the last minute problems and changes just happen. Problems such as losing the trial field and having to find an alternate field (within two weeks of the trial) and then not receiving a single entry until the day the entries closed! Somehow after staying up past 2 am the night before the trial getting all the paperwork compiled and ready to hand over to Ann Thomas, the trial chairperson, setting up escorts for the competitors to the training fields and countless other odds and ends, it all comes together for a weekend full of anxious, nervous handlers, their dogs, the helpers, the tracklayers, the judge and spectators. But even with all that stress and the endless supply of nerves, everyone seems to have a wonderful time. Everyone, especially the dogs all seem to enjoy themselves. This year was no exception. Although the entries were few, we had a great time and the weather cooperated completely! We were just hoping for dry weather since the last Regional Competition held in Salt Lake was miserably wet and cold! This year the sun was shining and the temps were cool the whole weekend - we couldn't have asked for better weather. We had 6 clubs represented by competitors - Anacapa Working Dog Association, Cascade Schutzhund Club, Colorado Canine Club, Greater Vancouver Dog Sport Club, Kern County TOP Dog Club and Olympus Schutzhund Club. Other clubs were represented with spectators from Salem Schutzhund Club, Summit Schutzhund Club and Centennial Schutzhund Club. I don't believe I left anyone out, but if I did, please accept my sincere apology. We were thrilled to have everyone here!
The judge for this year's event was Gottfried Dildei - this was his first trip to Utah and Olympus Schutzhund Club member Gabriel Bier, who now lives in and drove all the way from Yuma Arizona, gave Gottfried the grand tour of the beautiful Utah mountains, the historical town of Park City where the 2002 Olympic Winter Games were held and the famous Temple Square on Friday before the trial. The club trial originally scheduled for Friday was cancelled due to no entries so the two of them had all day to kill sightseeing. Gottfried had a wonderful time and I believe learned a few things about our unique state. Thank you Gabe! We were also honoured to have new apprentice DVG judge, Ted Hartman, here. Ted will soon have all the requirements for becoming a judge completed and we were happy to have him here at this event and be a part of his training. Thanks, Ted and good luck!
The Annual Western KG General membership meeting was held Friday afternoon and following the meeting Ann Thomas, Western KG Treasurer conducted the Western KG's first annual Mini Seminar. The subject of this seminar was the proper and complete preparation of trial paperwork. This subject has been an issue for quite some time according to our judges and as Ray Reid, Western KG President, said it was probably the best seminar on this subject he has ever seen. Great job, Ann!
The trophies were again designed and engraved by Olympus Schutzhund Club member Don Weaver. He has done the trophies for many a competition and each time he does them, he seems to out-do himself. This year the trophies were absolutely fantastic. Made of acrylic, black and clear, engraved with pictures of actual dogs from Olympus Schutzhund Club working in all three phases of our sport. He also incorporated a picture of the famous Mount Olympus on them. Don also designed the T-shirts and sweatshirts using the same pictures as he put on the trophies. They were definitely a hit even though the sizes we had were not exactly what we ordered. Everybody likes them extra-large, right?
The banquet was held at Mi Ranchito's, a great Mexican restaurant on Saturday night - a welcome break for the competitors and spectators to release some of the stress from the earlier competition. Olympus Schutzhund Club member Byron Winters, a bit of a practical joker, told the waiter that it was Carole's birthday. She was just sure it was Ray Reid who put them up to it. We are still chuckling about that every time we go out to eat. The food and conversation were great but the fun we had was the best of all!
Ok now, back to the trial...The helpers chosen for this year's competition were Dave Miller from Salem Schutzhund Club in Colorado and Glen Crawford from Olympus Schutzhund Club here in Utah. Dave and Glen did a fantastic job! A very special thanks must go to Western KG OfS Robert "Mac" McClellan for assigning these two guys to the positions that he did. Dave and Glen worked each dog both safely and consistently. Dave was chosen for the VPG 1's (which unfortunately there were none) and the back half VPG 3's with Glen working the VPG 2's and the front half of the VPG 3's. Thanks to both of you - as usual we all appreciate immeasurably what you do! And thank you also to Les Flores (VPG 3 tracks) and Mark Richards (VPG 2 tracks) for doing a super job of laying tracks.
The trial field was originally to be at the City Park in Riverton, but of course, that didn't work out as two weeks before the trial we were informed that we were going to have to find another location. Scrambling around town, making phone call after phone call it was decided that we would use the same park, Willow Park in Lehi that was used for the Regional Competition back in 2000. It is a very secluded and quiet area and served our purpose very well. The tracking was on a very lush and deep sod farm provided by Olympus Schutzhund Club member Mark Richards. The highest scores of the competition were scored in the tracking. The condition of the sod was nothing short of perfect - Thank you, Mark!
Now, on to the competition. We had three VPG 2 entries and 7 VPG 3's. The obedience and protection were completed on Saturday with the tracking being done early Sunday morning. The high in obedience for the VPG 2's went to Shelley Cook and her Dutch Shepherd Ero with 72 points. Shelley and Ero did a fantastic job in all three phases - but they especially shined in tracking with a beautiful 95 point track - it was beautiful to watch. They finished with 245 points total and 2nd place! Les Flores handled Vrijheid's Aaron, a Dutch Shepherd owned by Olympus Schutzhund Club member Byron Winters. For those of us who know Aaron, we know he can be a bit "full of himself" from time to time and unfortunately he was a little too full of himself in obedience and didn't quite earn enough points to pass. His tracking however was very nice with a score of 87 points and his protection score was 82. Aaron is a very strong dog and undoubtedly one to watch in upcoming trials! First place VPG 2 went to Cheryl Weaver from Olympus Schutzhund Club with her Dutch Shepherd Vrijheid's Amigo or "Tiger" as he is known. Tiger, being Aaron's brother, was also a little "full" of himself in the obedience and barely scored the minimum 70 points to pass. He tied with his brother in protection with 82 points and scored an impressive 96 points in tracking for a total score of 248.
Now, on to the VPG 3's. The 7 entries were Robert Schneider with Bico vd Berlex-Hoeve, VPG 3 and Danny Craig with Daneskjold Unkas, VPG 3 from Kern County TOP Dog Club in California; Asheley Winters with Dana Vom Kelterhof, VPG 3, FH and Mark Richards with Diso v. Kiefernta, VPG 3 from Olympus Schutzhund Club of Salt Lake; Ann Malburg with Zac v. Joefarm, VPG 3 from Colorado Canine Club in Colorado; Patricia Barich with Sorba, VPG 3 from Anacapa Working Dog Association in California and Sunny Baik with Agare v. Schoerling VPG 3 from Greater Vancouver Dog Sport Club in Canada.
Bico vd Berlex-Hoeve, Belgian Malinois,handled by Rob Schneider, was a bit too happy in obedience and unfortunately, didn't score enough points to pass this phase. He was disqualified in the protection due to lack of control and therefore was not allowed to track on Sunday. This is a very exciting dog to watch I must say. In 6th place was Sunny Baik from Greater Vancouver Dog Sport Club with her Belgian Malinoi, Agare v. Schoerling. Now Sunny had just recently started a new job and was putting in many hours of overtime. With very little training time, these two still scored nicely with 90 points in tracking, 86 in obedience and 75 in protection - a total score of 251. Fifth place went to Ann Malburg from Colorado with her Belgian Malinois Zac v. Joefarm. They scored a 97 point track, 86 in obedience and 80 in protection for a total score of 263. The 4th place team was Olympus Schutzhund Club member Mark Richards with Diso v. Kieferntal, the only German Shepherd in this year's Competition. Diso's tracking score was a very nice 93 points. His obedience is always beautiful to watch and this performance was no exception. The wall gave him a bit of trouble but they scored 83 points in obedience and 90 points in protection for a total of 266 points. Danny Craig, also from Kern County TOP Dog Club in California took the 3rd place trophy. He and his Belgian Malinois Daneskjold Unkas scored 268 points -- 96 tracking, 80 obedience and 92 protection. Second place also from California but from Anacapa Working Dog Association, was Patricia Barich with her Malinois Sorba. They scored a very impressive, near perfect 98 point track which also took the High Tracking trophy, 90 obedience and 85 in protection. The first place trophy went to a newcomer to DVG, Asheley Winters. Asheley received her DVG membership literally 2 days before the trial! She and her Dutch Shepherd Dana vom Kelterhof not only took 1st place, but took the High in Protection with a score of 92 and High in Obedience with a score of 90. Their tracking score of 96 brought the total of this top scoring team to 278.
Congratulations to Asheley and Dana - we hope to see you on the trial field at the DVG National Championships representing our Western KG. Congratulations to all the competitors! You all did a fantastic job.