I am sorry to inform you that our friend Jim Lempner has passed away. Jim competed in the Working Dog Championships last weekend, and was apparently feeling under the weather, but then suffered a major heart attack on the airplane on the way home from Iowa. He was in unstable condition all week and finally succumbed today.
Jim was the Pacific Northwest Regional Champion in 2010 with his dog Pax, and those of you who were there I’m sure remember how much of a good sport and gentleman he was. Jim has been a stalwart sportsfriend to many many people for decades, from competing on national and world championship teams to working with brand new handlers in his club. My heart goes out to his friends and especially his family. Jim will certainly be missed.
wj
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Hello members of the PNW Region,
As your Regional Breed Warden, I would like to encourage members of our Region to enter our USA Sieger Show to be held in Dallas this year April 29-May 1, 2011. Our National Breed Warden has advised the BAC that entries for the Sieger Show this year are low and we’d like to see our membership sponsor this National event through entries. For further information please review the Sieger Show website: http://www.usasiegershow.com
If there are any questions that I can help with, please let me know. If I cannot help, perhaps not everyone is aware that the Sieger Show Secretary is our very own regional member, Mary Dygert. I am sure she can help answer any questions as well. In years’ past, we have had some very nice showings from dogs of the PNW Region in our USA Sieger Show. Let’s see if some of our PNW members can make some good placements this year as well.
Thank you, Heidi Theis
If there are any questions that I can help with, please let me know. If I cannot help, perhaps not everyone is aware that the Sieger Show Secretary is our very own regional member, Mary Dygert. I am sure she can help answer any questions as well. In years’ past, we have had some very nice showings from dogs of the PNW Region in our USA Sieger Show. Let’s see if some of our PNW members can make some good placements this year as well.
Thank you, Heidi Theis
Thursday, February 24, 2011
From the Regional Director
Hi everyone – hope the winter doldrums haven’t gotten to you too much. It’s below zero here and the wind just quit – been howling all day. Probably worse in AK, but I know Seattle got snow, too.
We have a date and most of the critical arrangements for the Regional Championships, to be hosted by Tri-State SchH Club. The date was moved from the previous proposed date (the second weekend in September) to the last weekend in September – Sept. 24&25, 2011. The judge is Frank Mensing, titles offered will be SchH A, 1,2,3, FH1,2, BH, and OB/TR. I realize that there may be some close dates with other clubs (I’m judging at Twin County the weekend after) and that there is a conflict with the WDA regional conformation show, but after much discussion and examinations of all the relevant calendars, this was the best option we could arrange. In fact, it is likely I won’t be at the regionals myself, as I have a standing engagement for the last weekend in Sept.
Which brings up the next order of business. This year, we have elections of regional officers. I would like to hear from two groups of people:
Everybody stay warm.
WJ
We have a date and most of the critical arrangements for the Regional Championships, to be hosted by Tri-State SchH Club. The date was moved from the previous proposed date (the second weekend in September) to the last weekend in September – Sept. 24&25, 2011. The judge is Frank Mensing, titles offered will be SchH A, 1,2,3, FH1,2, BH, and OB/TR. I realize that there may be some close dates with other clubs (I’m judging at Twin County the weekend after) and that there is a conflict with the WDA regional conformation show, but after much discussion and examinations of all the relevant calendars, this was the best option we could arrange. In fact, it is likely I won’t be at the regionals myself, as I have a standing engagement for the last weekend in Sept.
Which brings up the next order of business. This year, we have elections of regional officers. I would like to hear from two groups of people:
- Current regional officers (ARD, Secretary, Treasurer, Breed Warden, and TD). Do you wish to run for re-election (i.e., would you be willing to continue in your position?)?
- Anyone interested in a regional officer position, including RD.
- Finally, it always seems that we find ourselves right on top of the deadline when we remember that we wanted to fix something in the bylaws. So, if you have an issue in the bylaws you want addressed, please contact me and we can draft some language to propose for the Regional Meeting.
Everybody stay warm.
WJ
Friday, January 28, 2011
Seeking the class of 2011 scholarship candidates!
The Schutzhund USA Youth Scholarship is intended to be recognition in the form of an educational grant to those well-rounded student scholars. Winning a scholarship is beneficial to any student, even several years following their receipt of the award. The Schutzhund USA Youth Scholarship Committee believes that it is very important for students to recognize their own potential early in their academic careers in order for them to foster its growth—receiving recognition from an organization or company helps the students take this step.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
1. Must maintain a good standing with the United Schutzhund Clubs of America (or any AWDF affiliated club)
2. Must be a United States citizen or classified as a permanent resident attending any high school within the United States
3. Must demonstrate involvement in the dog sport with an AWDF organization and involvement with school or community activities
4. Must show a sound interest and positive attitude toward higher education.
5. Must intend to enroll in a full time degree program at any college, university, business or technical school within the United States
INFORMATION FOR SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION: www.SchutzhundYouth.com
Michele Scarberry
michelescarberry@neo.rr.com
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
1. Must maintain a good standing with the United Schutzhund Clubs of America (or any AWDF affiliated club)
2. Must be a United States citizen or classified as a permanent resident attending any high school within the United States
3. Must demonstrate involvement in the dog sport with an AWDF organization and involvement with school or community activities
4. Must show a sound interest and positive attitude toward higher education.
5. Must intend to enroll in a full time degree program at any college, university, business or technical school within the United States
INFORMATION FOR SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION: www.SchutzhundYouth.com
Michele Scarberry
michelescarberry@neo.rr.com
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
From the Regional Director
Hi Everyone,
I am happy to report that Tri-State Schutzhund Association has confirmed that they will host this year’s (2011) Regional Championships. Big Sky Schutzhund Club will assist to the best of our abilities. The trial date has tentatively been proposed for Sept. 17-18, and they have some leads on judge(s) and venue, but aren’t ready to share yet until they get them more formalized.
Thus, this email is primarily to ask you to save the date, and ask that you let me know of any conflicts I should make them aware of. I look forward to a chance to see everyone there. I would also like to warmly thank Hundesport Alaska who, with help from the Alaska Schutzhund Club, submitted a preliminary bid and held several discussions with an eye toward bidding for the Regionals should Tri-State have been unable to step up this year. I anticipate a bid from them for the 2012 Regionals, and I urge you to do what you can to support them next year.
Finally, thanks to everyone who sent good wishes our way—Harley is recovering nicely from the surgery, and we are waiting to hear the results from the pathology.
Yours,
Warren
I am happy to report that Tri-State Schutzhund Association has confirmed that they will host this year’s (2011) Regional Championships. Big Sky Schutzhund Club will assist to the best of our abilities. The trial date has tentatively been proposed for Sept. 17-18, and they have some leads on judge(s) and venue, but aren’t ready to share yet until they get them more formalized.
Thus, this email is primarily to ask you to save the date, and ask that you let me know of any conflicts I should make them aware of. I look forward to a chance to see everyone there. I would also like to warmly thank Hundesport Alaska who, with help from the Alaska Schutzhund Club, submitted a preliminary bid and held several discussions with an eye toward bidding for the Regionals should Tri-State have been unable to step up this year. I anticipate a bid from them for the 2012 Regionals, and I urge you to do what you can to support them next year.
Finally, thanks to everyone who sent good wishes our way—Harley is recovering nicely from the surgery, and we are waiting to hear the results from the pathology.
Yours,
Warren
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Message to the Region
Dear Members of the Pacific Northwest Region,
First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all, I hope the coming week gives you a chance to renew contacts with loved ones, recharge your batteries, and get your cholesterol levels back up. If low cholesterol is a problem for you, I would be happy to provide suggestions…
The General Board meeting has been widely reported on a number of different email and discussion boards, so I won’t provide a detailed recap here. As soon as minutes are available for the meeting, I will send them, post them on the regional website or otherwise let you know where to find them. Big Sky, Cascade, Willamette, Tri-State, and BOTH Alaska clubs were represented at the meeting. In fact, there were (depending on the counter) 17-23 people there from Alaska, far outnumbering the rest of the representatives of all the other clubs in the region. GO ALASKA!!!! (too bad they didn’t all get to vote in the GBM!??!!). If you need more information on the results of the GBM, let me know & I’ll see if I can’t fill you in.
Congratulations go to Martina Wilson for winning the FH2 championship with her dog Orin! Tanna Ragan and Xuko were putting up a great protection routine until Xuko caught Patrick Wilson’s knee with his shoulder and was taken out of the competition. Kevin Nance and Vandal were on their way to a possible Universal Sieger title when a slip during the transition to the setup for the long bite made Kevin have to yell “PLATZ”, thereby eliminating him from the competition. Shade and Reiki of course put together a great routine. We’ve decided I can’t be anywhere within a mile from him when he’s tracking and he does just fine (98 at the Nationals)!
In other regional business, I know you would love to see the minutes from the Regional Meeting, but our secretary is buried in School, and probably won’t have the chance to get the minutes together until the semester is over. I want to thank her for her work on behalf of the region, and hope we can get this up on the web site soon. From a “decision” standpoint, there were not any earth-shaking items on the agenda. Twin County has offered to host next year’s helper seminar, Treasure Valley has offered to host next year’s Regional Conformation Show, and we were only able to get a very tentative offer for the Regional Championship. Since that date, I have also received inquiries from another club in the region about the Regional Championships, so I am in the process of trying to help both clubs work out which one would really like to bid, and trying to get their bids together. Stay tuned for more on this in the next few weeks.
One item that was not really on the agenda, but that took a lot of time at the meeting, was the resolution of the longstanding grumbling and animosities among some of the clubs in the region. I was very heartened to hear at that meeting that all of the club representatives at the meeting pledged to do their best on behalf of the clubs to support the other clubs in the region. If you were not at the meeting, I wanted to make you aware of this commitment, and if you were at the meeting I wanted to remind you of that discussion. The other item that became clear at that meeting was the number of clubs that have both brand new and green helpers and young dogs in training and not yet ready for trialing. It is my hope that the coming year will see a flurry of new dogs and helpers in the sport in our region, and a lot of travel to each others’ trials when the dogs are ready the the opportunity arises. As you will see on the regional calendar or on the USCA web site, we have two trials scheduled for 2011 with the same judge two weeks apart and about 100 miles apart. I encourage those handlers who have dogs ready to go this spring to do their best to support these two trials. Both clubs have years of experience, and the judge is a long standing friend to the region and USCA’s newest judge Andrea Duggan.
A final couple of items of business: the first is to say farewell to Boise Working Dog Association. The club mostly disbanded this summer, leaving only two members, and they have not been successful in recruiting enough new members to bring the club up to full charge. The second is to grant a waiver for a USCA event to the German Shepherd Schutzhund Club for 2010. I look forward to their successful trial in 2011.
There are some proposals coming up in front of the Executive Board that I will try and solicit input on when they are appropriately formulated. Sorry to be cryptic, but I don’t want to phrase it wrong and start rumors.
Yours in the sport,
Warren Jones
PNW Regional Director
First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all, I hope the coming week gives you a chance to renew contacts with loved ones, recharge your batteries, and get your cholesterol levels back up. If low cholesterol is a problem for you, I would be happy to provide suggestions…
The General Board meeting has been widely reported on a number of different email and discussion boards, so I won’t provide a detailed recap here. As soon as minutes are available for the meeting, I will send them, post them on the regional website or otherwise let you know where to find them. Big Sky, Cascade, Willamette, Tri-State, and BOTH Alaska clubs were represented at the meeting. In fact, there were (depending on the counter) 17-23 people there from Alaska, far outnumbering the rest of the representatives of all the other clubs in the region. GO ALASKA!!!! (too bad they didn’t all get to vote in the GBM!??!!). If you need more information on the results of the GBM, let me know & I’ll see if I can’t fill you in.
Congratulations go to Martina Wilson for winning the FH2 championship with her dog Orin! Tanna Ragan and Xuko were putting up a great protection routine until Xuko caught Patrick Wilson’s knee with his shoulder and was taken out of the competition. Kevin Nance and Vandal were on their way to a possible Universal Sieger title when a slip during the transition to the setup for the long bite made Kevin have to yell “PLATZ”, thereby eliminating him from the competition. Shade and Reiki of course put together a great routine. We’ve decided I can’t be anywhere within a mile from him when he’s tracking and he does just fine (98 at the Nationals)!
In other regional business, I know you would love to see the minutes from the Regional Meeting, but our secretary is buried in School, and probably won’t have the chance to get the minutes together until the semester is over. I want to thank her for her work on behalf of the region, and hope we can get this up on the web site soon. From a “decision” standpoint, there were not any earth-shaking items on the agenda. Twin County has offered to host next year’s helper seminar, Treasure Valley has offered to host next year’s Regional Conformation Show, and we were only able to get a very tentative offer for the Regional Championship. Since that date, I have also received inquiries from another club in the region about the Regional Championships, so I am in the process of trying to help both clubs work out which one would really like to bid, and trying to get their bids together. Stay tuned for more on this in the next few weeks.
One item that was not really on the agenda, but that took a lot of time at the meeting, was the resolution of the longstanding grumbling and animosities among some of the clubs in the region. I was very heartened to hear at that meeting that all of the club representatives at the meeting pledged to do their best on behalf of the clubs to support the other clubs in the region. If you were not at the meeting, I wanted to make you aware of this commitment, and if you were at the meeting I wanted to remind you of that discussion. The other item that became clear at that meeting was the number of clubs that have both brand new and green helpers and young dogs in training and not yet ready for trialing. It is my hope that the coming year will see a flurry of new dogs and helpers in the sport in our region, and a lot of travel to each others’ trials when the dogs are ready the the opportunity arises. As you will see on the regional calendar or on the USCA web site, we have two trials scheduled for 2011 with the same judge two weeks apart and about 100 miles apart. I encourage those handlers who have dogs ready to go this spring to do their best to support these two trials. Both clubs have years of experience, and the judge is a long standing friend to the region and USCA’s newest judge Andrea Duggan.
A final couple of items of business: the first is to say farewell to Boise Working Dog Association. The club mostly disbanded this summer, leaving only two members, and they have not been successful in recruiting enough new members to bring the club up to full charge. The second is to grant a waiver for a USCA event to the German Shepherd Schutzhund Club for 2010. I look forward to their successful trial in 2011.
There are some proposals coming up in front of the Executive Board that I will try and solicit input on when they are appropriately formulated. Sorry to be cryptic, but I don’t want to phrase it wrong and start rumors.
Yours in the sport,
Warren Jones
PNW Regional Director
Monday, October 18, 2010
Rudy Mietzner
My name is Taylor Hack and I am a member of the Alberta Schutzhund Association in Edmonton, Alberta Canada and have been training under Rudolf Mietzner. I understand that until he retired, Rudy was a judge that worked in the US and I am hopefully contacting the right organization with my regrettable news.
It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that Rudy Mietzner passed away on Saturday. After several months with a clear bill of health Rudy's cancer recurred early this year and was unresponsive to treatment. The Friday night that David and I attended the trial in Calgary we were notified that Rudy had been taken to hospital with complications involving his liver. After two weeks in hospital he returned home where he would be more comfortable and, according to his wishes, spend his final days with his family.
Rudy was a well loved mentor and will be well remembered by those whom he brought together through schutzhund. With adjudicating well over 200 trials and rising to become a Canadian national champion, Rudy's substantial contribution to the sport he loved for almost 60 years was the long term resonance of his daily generosity; just as his broad list of accomplishments was a reflection of his daily work ethic and inability to accept anything less than excellence from himself.
Please advise if this was the correct organization, or if you know of another that I should notify, feel free to contact me for any additional information you may need, or a recent photograph.
Kind regards,
Taylor Hack
Alberta Schutzhund Association
It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that Rudy Mietzner passed away on Saturday. After several months with a clear bill of health Rudy's cancer recurred early this year and was unresponsive to treatment. The Friday night that David and I attended the trial in Calgary we were notified that Rudy had been taken to hospital with complications involving his liver. After two weeks in hospital he returned home where he would be more comfortable and, according to his wishes, spend his final days with his family.
Rudy was a well loved mentor and will be well remembered by those whom he brought together through schutzhund. With adjudicating well over 200 trials and rising to become a Canadian national champion, Rudy's substantial contribution to the sport he loved for almost 60 years was the long term resonance of his daily generosity; just as his broad list of accomplishments was a reflection of his daily work ethic and inability to accept anything less than excellence from himself.
Please advise if this was the correct organization, or if you know of another that I should notify, feel free to contact me for any additional information you may need, or a recent photograph.
Kind regards,
Taylor Hack
Alberta Schutzhund Association
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