Regional Championships are coming!

Dear Fellow PNW’rs,

As I hope all of you know, the Regional Championships are but 2 weeks away! We have some talented helpers that have promised to try out, the club has the field in tremendous shape, and Les assures me the tracking fields are in tip top shape. Having seen these fields before, I know what they’re like, and there is no better tracking around. The club has set entry fees as low as possible to encourage entries – only $65!!! Last but not least, the host hotel is still giving folks the discount rate if you mention the club. Check out the website: www.PNWchampionship.com for more details about the venue and locale.

And yet with all of this, they have 4 SchH 3 entries and one SchH 1 entry. Shoot, if I’d have known it would be this light, I’d have figured out a way to get my 8-yr-old dog out there from MT. I know that we have 8 clubs within a day’s drive of this championship. One of the 3’s is from out of the region. That means that 5 of those clubs don’t have another SchH 3 dog??? In case there is some confusion about what a regional championship is for, let me explain:

The Regional Championships are held to showcase the dogs of our region. Certainly this includes the best dogs, but it also means the dogs whose handlers have some pride in their training, and some kind of dedication to the support of the sport – go get that 250 (I got one last year).

The Regional Championships are an opportunity for all of the clubs in the region to engage in a combination of rivalry and mutual support. This is supposed to build morale and a level of camaraderie and a means of exhorting all the members to higher levels of achievement.

The Regional Championships provide a venue for the Regional Meeting, where the best plans can be laid for the next year. I am happy to report that this year’s regional meeting holds no nastiness in the agenda, just opportunities for further building within the region. I’m hoping to find some support for a Regional Training Day (a la “Dogstock” in California) and a revived Team Tournament, as well as the helper seminar, championships and Sieger show.

The sad truth is that if this Region cannot put together a Regional Championship with more than 10 dogs for two years in a row, it will likely cease to exist. Everyone in Washington in Oregon will become part of the Northwest Region; I have no idea what’ll happen to MT and Idaho. Alaska should probably just join GSSCC – they’re closer. There were times when this region did everything with all the animosity that only a dog club can create, but at least people cared enough to get out and train and trial. Now… what, we’re not yelling at each other so we’re all sitting around on our hands looking at our shoes??!! I won’t say I miss all that stress and animosity blasting across the email, but at least there was some passion!

OK, enough of my soapbox. Please consider supporting the regional championship with an entry! To assist, the club has extended the entry deadline to Sept. 6 (Monday) to encourage more entries. I will be sending out an agenda for the Regional meeting this weekend. I would appreciate hearing from all of the clubs in the region that plan on sending a delegate to the meeting. I promise the meeting will be short and sweet (no bylaws changes) and we can retire for some adult beverages afterward.

Thanks for your support of the Pacific Northwest Regional Championships!

Warren Jones
PNWRD

Helper selection for the PNW Regional Championships.

Dear Sportsfriends,

As all of you know, our Regional Championships are approaching, and we all want the championships to be the best they can be. To that end, it is of utmost importance that we recruit the best helpers we can for the event. If you or someone in your club is a Club Level (or higher) USA Helper, please consider trying out for the championships. Helper tryouts will be on Saturday Sept. 11 following the obedience in the stadium for the 1’s and 2’s. Bring a dog with you capable (even with lots of handler help) of doing a SchH 3 protection routine. You may end up handling your dog for other helpers, or your dog may not end up being used at all, as the judge will decide which dogs to use. The host club will NOT be providing dogs for the helper tryouts.

I know that we have some very talented helpers in the Region that fit this requirement, but I also know that we don’t have a large number. After discussions with the host club, we would like to use 3 helpers for this event – one for the 1’s and 2’s and two for the 3’s. Because of the uncertainty in our ability to attract three club level decoys for tryouts, we have requested a waiver from the USA Helper Committee to allow us to openthe tryouts to Basic Level Helpers. Note that this is not a guarantee that even the most talented Basic Level Helpers will be chosen, since we will only get a waiver to allow Basic Level helpers if there are not enough Club Level and higher helpers to work the event.

Sorry to bury you all in the bureaucracy, but I wanted to be clear about how the process will work. Of course, waiver or not, the judge makes the call of who works which part, and the judge’s decision is final.
I look forward to seeing everyone in a few weeks!

Yours in the sport,

WJ