Paws for Tails a Waggin'

Newsletter of the Dog Obedience Club of Las Cruces, Inc.

Nancy Chanover, Editor
4210 Sotol Drive, Las Cruces, NM 88011
(505) 522-0812
chanover@zianet.com
DOCLC Club Phone Number: 527-3983

November 2004

The next meeting of the Dog Obedience Club of Las Cruces will be a restaurant meeting! We will meet on Thursday, November 4, 2004, at 6:30 pm at the Bountiful Bakery on East Lohman (at the east end of the Petco/Marshall's/Ross shopping center). The restaurant serves sandwiches, salads, soups, some light dinner fare, and exotic pastries and coffees, and we will have a private meeting room. For those of you planning to skip the food, please join us at 7 pm since we need to leave the restaurant by 9 pm at the latest. Hope to see you there!

If you intended to renew your membership but have not done so, time is running out! As a reminder, the dues are $10 for individuals and $12 for families. Please give your check to Janet Miller, the club Treasurer, or mail it to her at 48 Villa Lucia, La Luz, NM 88337.

The slate of officers presented by the Nominating Committee was voted in for the 2005 year. Our new officers will be President Vic Villalobos, Vice President Nancy Chanover, Secretary Marjorie A. Henson, Treasurer Charlene Curry, and Board Members Gene Forsythe, Brian Owen, and Gayle Treakle. Congratulations to all! A heartfelt thanks go to our outgoing officers, who have dedicated a great deal of their time to the DOCLC. We appreciate your efforts!

The time has come for all people interested in club awards to submit their information. It needs to get to the awards chairperson, Pam Smith, by November 15. Please submit info on all AKC titles earned during the time frame of Nov. 1, 2003 - October 31, 2004.

The club web site has been updated to include two new pieces of information. The first is a listing of our club "library" holdings, which includes various books, videotapes, and miscellaneous items. The second is an introductory information sheet about Therapaws, which can be found under the Therapy Dogs link. If you have information you would like to add to the club web page, please notify Nancy Chanover.

MINUTES OF THE DOG OBEDIENCE CLUB OF LAS CRUCES

October 7, 2004

MEMBERS PRESENT: Vice President Pam Smith, Secretary Marjorie A. Henson, Treasurer Janet Miller; OTHER MEMBERS: Julie Goodrich, Gayle Treakle, Gene Forsythe, Nancy Chanover, Steve Stochaj, Vic Villalobos, Shannon Murray, Brian Owen, Lynn de Bouclair, Charlene Curry; VISITORS: Kay Suri, Lisa & Paul Westbrook, Janina Carlona

The meeting was called to order by Vice President Pam Smith at 7:03. Introductions were made. Brian Owen moved & Gene Forsythe seconded that the minutes be approved as presented in the newsletter. Motion passed. There was no mail.

TREASURER'S REPORT: The Treasurer's Report was made which covered from July 1 ÐSeptember 30.

OBEDIENCE CLASS REPORT: Classes are going well. There have been a few dropouts but also people have been added to the classes.

AGILITY CLASS REPORT: Half the classes met for the first time this week, the other classes will start next week.

OBEDIENCE TRIAL REPORT: The obedience trial went well.

PET EXPO: The Pet Expo will be October 23. There is a $25 fee to participate. Charlene would like to use this as a way to raise money with a portion of the entries going to the Humane Society. She has suggested an introductory agility course. Charlene Curry will be in charge of this. Julie Goodrich, Brian Owen, Gene Forsythe & Charlene Curry will man the booth in the morning. In the afternoon Steve Stochaj, Nancy Chanover, Vic Villalobos & Shannon Murray will work in the afternoon. A couple of agility demonstrations may be given. The group will get together via e-mail & decide exactly what to do and & to co-ordinate this.

NEW BUSINESS:

AGILITY TRIAL INFORMATION: Brian Owen learned that AKC will be requiring clubs to provide their own AKC approved wickets in the spring for measuring at agility trials. The wickets run $275 + shipping with a storage bag going for $65-75. We will need to get a wicket once we start planning the next agility trial.

SHELTER ADOPTION MONTH: October is Adopt a shelter dog month. IAMS would like the club to give one class to every dog adopted from the shelter in October. This would be like another class. Nancy Chanover moved & Julie Goodrich seconded that the club supports this. The motion passed.

INVISIBLE FENCE: Kay Suri has an invisible fence with 3 collars that she is willing to give away. It was suggested that she donate it to the shelter for the next fundraiser.

SEMINAR: Janet Miller would like to have an agility seminar with the Mahs (Stewart & Patty) for 2005. She was thinking a 4-day seminar Thursday-Sunday with each day focusing on different things. Possibly end of October 2005. Also Jeanne Donaldson is a possibility in a couple of years & should get the same sort of response as we had for the McConnell seminar. Might even be able to do it in the 4 days just before our agility trial. Brian Owen moved & Shannon Murray seconded that Janet Miller should proceed with this seminar. Motion passed.

ANNUAL AWARDS: Information for the annual awards needs to be submitted by the 15th of November. New Tittles, Qualifying scores, Cumulative info in Agility are what need to be submitted to Pam Smith.

2005 OFFICERS & BOARD: The slate of officers was presented at the last meeting. The vote was taken and the slate of officers was approved as presented.

The next meeting will be November 7.

NEW MEMBERS: Lisa Westbrook was voted in as a new member.

Brags were presented and a cake was served to honor the club members who have become judges. Brian Owen is a new AKC Judge and Pam Smith and Steve Stochaj have become NADAC judges.

The meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by Charlene Curry:

Not just a brag, not just a stepping stone to a higher Title, not just an adjunct to competitive scores.

A Title is a tribute to the dog that bears it, a way to honour the dog, an ultimate memorial. It will remain in the record and in the memory for about as long as anything in this world can remain. Few humans will do as well or better in that regard. And though the dog himself doesn't know or care that his achievements have been noted, a Title says many things in the world of humans, where such things count.

A Title says your dog was intelligent, and adaptable, and good-natured. It says that your dog loved you enough to do the things that please you, however crazy they may have sometimes seemed. And a Title says that you loved your dog, that you loved to spend time with him because he was a good dog, and that you believed in him enough to give him yet another chance when he failed, and that in the end your faith was justified.

A Title proves that your dog inspired you to have the special relationship enjoyed by so few; that in a world of disposable creatures, this dog with a Title was greatly loved, and loved greatly in return. And when that dear short life is over, the Title remains as a memorial of the finest kind, the best you can give to a deserving friend, volumes of praise in one small set of initials before or after the name.

A Title is nothing less than love and respect, given and received permanently.

Author unknown