Training You to Train Your Dog In the Community Since 1954

March 2019

Welcome to all our new members for 2019 and welcome back to our returning members!

With the record snowfall this month we had to cancel one class for this session. Classes have been pushed back one week and we are foregoing the mock trial night for this session only. Puppy, beginner and CGN grad night will now be on March 13. Please see your instructor for times. This is also mat washing night. Believe it or not we have a pretty good time and get pizza!

Our next General Meeting is on schedule for March 20

th at the

Saanich Fairgrounds. All current members are welcome to attend. More information will be posted to the NOSA website soon.

I’d like to introduce our newly elected executive for the 2019 year.

Besides me, stumbling through the position of president, please welcome Caren Holtby- Vice-president, Heather Geddes - Secretary, Gary Crawford – Treasurer, Irene Copus – Training Chair, Cherry Condrey – CKC Trials Chair, Shay Lockhart – AIOC Trials Chair, Jane Morrison – AIOC Representative. Barb Wright is in the appointed position of Publicity Chair.

Special thanks have to go to Jane Morrison who took on both the Vice-president and President role last year when that position remained vacant. Also, special thanks to Meredith Reeve who retired from the Publicity Chair role after many

years. Meredith was responsible for the huge overhaul of the website a couple of years ago, the addition of a Facebook page and overall bringing us into the digital age!

Of course our club would not exist without our class leaders and their assistants. Thank you to all!

Coming up soon are the Mary Bates Memorial AIOC trial (March 23

rd)

and the NOSA CKC Rally and Obedience trials (April 20-21). Both trials are held at the Saanich Fairgrounds. If you are not competing I encourage you to sign up for ½ day to help. No experience is necessary and it is a great way to see some competition up close! Please remember to leave your dog at home if it is not trialing.

President’s Message 2 0 1 9 E X E C U T I V E

North Saanich Dog Obedience Training Club

Brags

We love to hear and see what your dog has been up to! All current NOSA members are encouraged to send in

stories and pictures of new titles, and special achievements! Since this is the first newsletter for a bit, I’ll be looking for

anything new from September 2018 for our next newsletter.

Send your updates to: Publicity@nosa.ca

President

Norah Shandley

Vice-President

Caren Holtby

Secretary

Heather Geddes

Treasurer

Gary Crawford

Training Chair

Irene Copus

CKC Trial Chair

Cherry Condrey

AIOC Trial Chair

Shay Lockhart

AIOC

Respresentative

Jane Morrison

Publicity Chair

Barb Wright

Norah Shandley

Training You to Train Your Dog In the Community Since 1954

Today in our first of the Meet the Breed column we are chatting with Parker, a Shetland Sheepdog.

NOSA: Hello, Parker, and welcome to Meet the Breed.

Parker: Thanks for the invite! Where are the cookies?

NOSA: Um… there are no cookies – we are here for an interview, not lunch. Can you tell us a little bit about the Sheltland Sheepdog?

Parker: According to “The Book of the Shetland Sheepdog” my ancestors came from The Shetland Islands. Apparently everything, even the sheep were small there so the farmers didn’t need a big herding breed. We were perfect sized! And you can call us Shelties for short.

NOSA: So how big is a Sheltie?

Parker: The CKC standard for us is 13-16 inches at the shoulder – of course some of us don’t get that big and some of us go a little oversized. Sometimes we are mistaken for miniature collies. I am black and white so sometimes I get mistaken for a border collie even though not all border collies are black and white. Humans are easily confused.

NOSA: Speaking of looks, what are the typical physical characteristics of a Sheltie.

Parker: We are pretty furry little creatures – we have a double coat so we can stay warm outdoors in the rain and wind while chasing sheep (or in my backyard rabbits). Our colour ranges from black to blue merle, and sable (ranging from golden through mahogany); marked with varying amounts of white and/or tan. We need to be brushed pretty often so you won’t find fur in your dinner.

NOSA: Most people who live with Shelties don’t have sheep. What should people expect from a Sheltie in a more urban environment?

Parker: We aren’t very big so we can fit in most spaces. The thing is that we are pretty smart and can get bored pretty quick. We love going for long walks and romps in a field with friends but we like to exercise our minds too. We are great obedience, rally, agility and trick dog partners. Oh and we are the most awesome burglar alarms. Nothing is going to sneak into your house when you live with a Sheltie!

If our humans are tired and need naps we can entertain ourselves quietly too! Once I redecorated the bathroom with shredded toilet paper straight off the roll. It was just beautiful!

NOSA: Uh huh….sounds like you Shelties can be a little mischievous at times.

Parker: Shelties just wanna have fun.

NOSA: Thanks for spending some time with us today, do you have anything else to add?

Parker: Can I have a cookie now?

Note: Parker is CKC registered Ch Conspirito’s Park Avenue, bred and born on Vancouver Island. Who’s next? We’d love to hear from you. Please use the website contact form to have your dog interviewed!

Meet the Breed

March 2019 Page 2

Training You to Train Your Dog In the Community Since 1954

Member Benefits

Four Paws Pet Grocery & Boutique is our newest member benefit

sponsor. Show your NOSA card and get 10% off all regularly

priced pet accessories and treats.

#305- 9810 Seventh Street Sidney

March 2019 Page 3

March 13th – Puppy, Beginner and CGN grad night and mat washing.

March 20th –Nosa General Meeting- Saanich Fairgrounds. Further information to follow.

March 23rd – Mary Bates Memorial AIOC Obedience and Rally Trial. Saanich Fairgrounds – RCMP Barn

April 3rd – NOSA Spring classes begin at the Mary Winspear Centre.

April 20-21 – NOSA CKC Obedience and Rally Trials

For more information and links to trial posters, premiums and registration forms please go to our website: http://nosa.ca/upcoming-events-and-club-dates/

Upcoming Events

TRIAL VOLUNTEERS Wondering what all this “trialing” stuff is all about?

Classes at NOSA teach you all of parts you need to

know about entering a trial with your dog. What we can’t

teach you is the atmosphere. If you are not ready to

enter a trial, volunteering at one is a wonderful way to

learn how an actual trial is run. There are many non-

technical spots that don’t require trial knowledge. Come

out for ½ day (or a full day!), lend a hand and gain a lot

of knowledge. Your instructor will be able to direct you to

the volunteer coordinator for each trial. Thank you!

Training You to Train Your Dog In the Community Since 1954

Jilliany

Jan 4, 2010 -

Jill arrived on our doorstep in

December 2012 just before her

3rd birthday. Her owners were moving into assisted living

and couldn’t keep her. Her breeding is unknown although

she does appear to have some Spitz characteristics – she

came to her previous owners through the SPCA. Jill was

not a particularly happy dog when we got her, and it took

her more than 5 years to settle down and understand that

she was loved and part of the family. I decided to start taking lessons in Scent Detection classes in 2016

with our Bichon puppy Scamp who clearly needed a job. I enjoyed the team work and bond which quickly

developed between canine and human. It was amazing watching my puppy solve the scent puzzles and I

enjoyed it as much as my she did! In 2017 I started training Jill in Scent Detection in hopes that she and I

would develop a similarly strong connection.

In September of 2017, Jill experienced a very sudden onset of Immune Mediated Thrombocytopenia, or

IMT. IMT is a disease where the immune system attacks and destroys the blood platelets. As blood

platelets are required to clot the blood, it is an extremely serious illness with often fatal consequences. We

had gone to SD class at Bodine Hall as usual. Jill suddenly and inexplicably went very lame during class.

Several people checked her over and could not see anything wrong. We took her home but didn’t give her

Metacam, contrary to advice given. The decision to skip the Metacam turned out to be life saving for Jill as

Metacam is a blood thinner and 1 dose would have killed her overnight.

By morning, Jill’s legs and belly were black, (pooled blood)

and her gums were pale with tiny red spots (petechiae).

Fortunately, Claudia Campbell DVM of Kindred Spirits

recognized the symptoms and ran blood tests right away.

Results indicated that Jill had only 7 blood platelets, (normal is

400 – 600 range). As it was coming up to a weekend, we took

her to the Central Vet Hospital to be placed on radioactive IV

cancer drugs to kick-start her blood platelets. Jill stayed in the

ICU for 3 days but did not respond to the treatment. We could

only see her twice a day for a few minutes and had to wear protection from the radioactive drugs she was

on. On the 4th day, the hospital vet called to say that her blood platelets were down to 0 and they had done

all they could for her. They felt that she should go home to “be with her family” hoping that going home

might reduce her stress levels and allow her system to “reboot”. It worked, and after a couple of days her

system started to produce blood platelets, albeit slowly. The next six months was a continuous whirl of

blood tests, monitoring, and prednisone, but eventually she got better and returned to normal.

March 2019 Page 4

….Continued on page 5

Training You to Train Your Dog In the Community Since 1954

…continued from page 4

Jill started to compete in Scent Detection in February 2018, immediately upon getting the green light from

her “doc”. She quickly earned her Started title with an “SP” under the Sporting Detection Dogs Association

(“SDDA”) and went on to earn 3 Gold score Advanced titles (second level). This year Jill has already

completed her 4th Advanced title and has earned 6 legs

at the Excellent level with only one leg remaining for her

Excellent title and two legs remaining for her

Championship. Jill has earned many placements in the

last year, the majority of which have been first place

ribbons with either a perfect or very high scores. Most

recently Jill brought home two firsts, one in Excellent

Containers and the other in Excellent Exteriors at the

NOSA

SDDA

trial in

February. She loves the sport and gets incredibly excited

every time her Nosework harness appears. Jill’s whole

demeanor has changed since we started competing

together last year and her confidence has increased

notably with each trial attended.

We do not know what the future holds for Jill but we

practice/train as frequently as possible in SD and enjoy our time together. Jill turned 9 in January so we

decided to turn our full attention to Jill’s SD training and development this year; Scamp, who is younger, will

have her turn again later. Special thanks to Marilyn Clayton for her patience and guidance in helping to

develop Jill’s SD skills. Submitted by Laurie Peyten.

AIOC MEMBER CLUB EVENTS

Page 5 March 2019

March 12 – GVDOTC CKC Urban Tracking

March 16-17 – FPO&TC CKC Field Tracking

March 23 – NOSA & GVDOTC AIOC Obedience and Rally Obedience Trial

April 6 – COWN AIOC 2 Obedience Trials

April 20-21 – NOSA CKC Obedience and Rally Obedience Trials

April 27-28 – FPO&TC CKC Urban Tracking

For more AIOC events and information please go to: http://aioc-vi.com/

Training You to Train Your Dog In the Community Since 1954

Congratulations

Page 6 March 2019

Reprinted with permission and thanks to Tomoyo and Roger Pitcher.

Training Tips

-Be patient

-Be consistent

-Don’t overtrain

-Don’t lose your temper

-Vary his (or her) work

-Don’t expect perfection

-Dogs learn by repetition

-Play with your dog after every

training session

-Praise your dog for work well done

-Kindness makes for a happy dog

Submitted by Irene Copus – Training

Chair.

Felix and Lee

McKelvey earned an

Excellent title and

their Championship

in SDDA in

September, 2018

and their Master

Championship

(SDDA-MACH) in

November, 2018.

Parker (Barb Wright) earned

his CKC Championship in

Conformation. (Shown by breeder,

Joanne Howe)