 The Rough & Smooth Collie Training Association |
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The RSCTA Collie Event
April 29th 2007
The sun shone on us this year on our annual day of Rough and Smooth Fun! Read all about it here.
This year’s fun day was once again held in the beautiful Vale of Belvoir. In comparison to last year the weather was extremely kind and umbrellas and raincoats never saw the light of day. The day was extremely well attended by 32 humans, 14 Rough Collies, 25 Smooth Collies and several other breeds or “Honorary Collies”, who were there to support their Collie friends. RSCTA members travelled from all over the country to join in under the April sunshine. The day started with those keen to take up the challenge of making their dogs Gold Kennel Club Good Citizens. Penny Evans very kindly did the testing and all the Good Citizen work was efficiently organized by Jean Tuck. Seven dogs headed off to the local village for their road walk test before the rest of the events commenced, and then continued with the various challenges set for the Gold award as other Collies arrived. |
 During the morning RSCTA members Liz Beaumont and Jean provided obedience training and did some work with Collies and their handlers for the Bronze and Silver Good Citizens awards. Penny Evans tested those wishing to take gain the Bronze. Several Collies and their handlers were successful: Bronze award recipients were Cheryl Robinson’s Star (R), handled by Rebecca Maynard, Paula Meacham’s Kallam (S) and Amanda Hampson’s Toller puppy, Rogue. Two Smooths and two Roughs achieved Gold Good Citizen status: Janice Palfrey with Georgia (S), Cheryl Robinson with Chloe (S), and Pen and Paul Sensky with Misty (R) and Raffles (R). Jean Tuck also passed with her sheltie, Scott. Congratulations to everyone! |
 Away from the more formal obedience work, Ann Miller did an excellent session on clicker training. After a very general discussion describing the principles of the technique, Ann then worked with several individuals and their Collies to give them some practical experience. Collies were clicked on recalls, lead control, heelwork, send aways…..Dogs and handlers loved it! A few yards away, Delia Moores worked with several handlers and their Collies on ringcraft |
 Whilst all this was happening, Amanda Hampson was busy training competitive agility. Amanda is an advanced handler in dog agility and recently represented Great Britain in the World Championships. She is an excellent trainer, and provided some great tips and training points for our Collies who love to do agility. Advice was given on contacts, weaving, jumping techniques including flick-flacks and pull-throughs, Collie motivation and she happily helped individuals with specific problems. All participants thoroughly enjoyed her session and hopefully the results of her training will be reflected in the RSCTA agility league. |
 In the afternoon, Ann, Pen and Natalie Silcock then encouraged everyone not experienced in agility to have a go at Introductory Agility. All the obstacles were set nice and low. Lots of Collies learnt to do the dogwalk, A-Frame, tunnels, jumps and even weaves under their supervision. Great fun was had and some participants have enquired about continuing agility training. |
 The day ended with some games, led by Ann and Nat. First was a great test of recall, down “Distraction Alley!” A long recall was required through a series of distractions such as tuggies, balls, musical toys and most testing, plates of ham and sausages! This was won by Sherry Unwin with Marty, who managed a recall in just 2.69 seconds. Second was Fiona Naylor with Sky. To show the extent of possible distraction, the longest recall was 47.21 seconds. The second game was a team game with either the dog or handler being allowed to complete a series of obstacles to a bucket of water. They then had to repeat the obstacles back to the start line with a full pint glass. The team with the most water collected won. Handlers showed great skill in working their dogs and equipment with a full pint glass in their hand! The team that collected the most water was headed by Colin Palfrey. A “sausage send away” completed the session and this was won by Ann Fuller and Harry. Delia gave out rosettes and prizes for all winners. |
Everyone seemed to really enjoy the day. There was plenty of activity for all participants. Even new members that just turned up to “observe” and were a little nervous about joining in such as Olivia and her Rough Collie, Millie, ended up exhausted at the end of the day. On top of all this a raffle was held and there was a general opportunity for fellow RSCTA members to meet, many for the first time, discuss all things Collie and simply have a lot of fun with their dogs. |
Feel like you missed out? Look out for the next RSCTA Fun Day and come along and join in the fun in 2008! To see the wonderful photographs of the event taken by RSCTA member Colin Page, click on the following links: Photos More Photos Even More Photos! |