Wild Rose Hunting Retriever Club

NAHRA President, Frank Plewa, has sent the following notice regarding the 2012 NAHRA Invitational.

My fellow members,

I am pleased to announce on behalf of the NAHRA Board of Directors that the 2012 NAHRA Invitational has been approved to be held in Williams, Arizona about 30 miles west of Flagstaff. The event will be hosted by the Copper State Hunting Retriever Club and will take place from May 29 through June 1, 2012. Congratulations to Copper State and we all look forward to superb event!

While we are on the subject of the Invitational, I would like to also announce that Read the rest of this entry »

Hunt Test Secretary, Lisa Williams, sent the following note regarding submitting premiums for the upcoming NAHRA hunt.

With the rotating Canada postal strike happening, people are wondering how they get their entries to me.
Calgary’s rotation was today, but who knows how long it will last.

So entries will be accepted as follows:
– if you live within the city limits of Calgary, I prefer you drop them off in my mailbox. That way the entry is accepted and completed and I don’t have to deal with it any further.
– Otherwise I will accept entries via email. The entry form must be eligibly completed and signed. The understanding of the email entries is that they are a valid entry and payment must be paid prior to you running your dog. There were will be a 1 hour period before the test start that all entries must be paid. If entries are not paid, you cannot run your dog. If you enter and don’t show up, you are still responsible for payment and will be contacted after the test.

If you have any further questions, please contact me at mydogs3@shaw.ca

Thanks
Lisa

A quick note to let you all know that we now have an upgraded bridge for crossing the canal.
If you’ve ever tried to navigate the twisted wooden one that has been replaced you know how much we needed this.

Shaun, Darcy, Howie and Doug helped to rebuild the bridge at the club grounds today with the help of Ron Kluzak and his brother in-law, key to providing the welding expertise crucial in the work.
As well Robin Dean provided two lamp posts as supports which will provide a base for years of trouble free crossing of the WID canal.

Special thanks and recognition goes those members above who volunteered time and materials for the benefit of all members.

The Wild Rose Hunting Retriever club’s 2011 NAHRA hunt test has been approved and the premium is now available. Click here to download the hunt test premium. The premium will also be linked in the right hand sidebar for the rest of the season.

The dates are:
Saturday – July 9 2011
Sunday – July 10, 2011

Hope to see you there.

Despite strong winds the 12th annual Seven Singles event was a great success. Congratulations go to Colette Prefontaine and her “marking machine” Rin who took home the trophy for the second year running. As luck would have it, I forgot my camera and was not able to get a picture of the winner in time for this site update so I recycled the one from last year. If you happen to have any pictures of the event please do send them to webmaster@wrhrc.com
The lucky Calcutta winner of $305 was Carl Ellingsen, who had an advantage owing to his training with that dog enough to know a good bet when he sees one.

Many thanks to all our volunteers without them we could not have such fun events. As always Nancy Johnsson and her crew were on hand to make a great tail gate lunch for us. The judges, Maunty Karp and Jack Gardiner, were fantastic and made a great trial for young and veteran dogs alike. Several club members were on hand to donate their time and resources to help pull off this great event. Sweat equity is what keeps this club moving forward.

Special thanks go to:
Mary Shillabeer, Angela Borthwick, Tim Ziola and Jackie Hastie

Just a quick reminder that this years Seven Singles event will be held this Sunday at the club training grounds in Kathryn.

Remember to bring some cash for the Calcutta and as a donation for the lunch provided.
Entry fee $20.00 (members only). Memberships renewed at the grounds.
Registration at 8:00 am, first bird falls at 8:30 am.

Just a quick reminder to let you know we are having our picnic test on May 1st.
Where: Kathryn Grounds
When: Sunday May 1, 8:30am registration, 9:00am birds fall.
Stakes: Started, Intermediate and Senior
Judges: Carl Ellingsen – Senior, Greg Drew – Started/Intermediate.
Costs: Senior $15, Started/Intermediate $10.
Please RSVP – drewbg@telus.net by April 27 pm. Right now we only have a few
people registered.

Also, coming up May long weekend is the Big Sky Hunting Retriever Club’s Hunt Test in Montana. If you’ve not been down to that area you should go. They put on a great event last year and I really wish I could attend this year.
The premium is available here: Big Sky Hunt Test Premium 2011

Winter is still holding on around Calgary but that does not really slow us down. Moving right along this year we have two club events scheduled for May.

First up is this year’s first picnic test being held May 1st. Organizers are Greg Drew and Doug Rowden. Please contact them early to help them manage the numbers of entries and volunteers. Please be ready to lend a hand if needed. We all need to contribute to pull off these fun and educational events. Starting time is still to be announced but I imagine that it will begin early. The grounds will likely still be soft from the melting snow so please do try to keep to roads and mind where you park.

Second event is the 12th annual Seven Singles event being held May 15th. 8:00 registration, 8:30 start. Event coordinators are Ross Murphy and Mary Shillabeer. Preregistration is a must as there are a limited number of spots. Please contact Mary by email to RSVP before May 6th. tmatier@telusplanet.net

Judges for this coming event will be Maunty Karp of Ringneck kennels and Jack Gardiner.

A great “tailgate” lunch will again be provided by Nancy Johnsson and we ask only for a donation to help offset the costs.
Again this event will feature the “Calcutta” fundraiser so bring your wallets and see if you can pick the which team will be the winners. This is a great event for dogs of all levels.
Rules for the event are posted here: 2011_Seven_Singles_Rules.doc.pdf
Registration is $20. and is open for members only. Club memberships will be sold that day.

It’s going to be a great day, hope to see you there.

Also note that the 2011 Upcoming events list has been posted on the right sidebar of the page. If you have an event to add please let us know.

The Calgary English Springer Spaniel Club and the WRHRC have scheduled a joint upland shoot to retriever event for June 26th. This event is to be held near Milo Alberta.

The CESSC will be ordering chukars for their spring trial in the upcoming weeks and will be ordering extras for this event as well, so it is necessary to get an accurate count as to how many entrants they are going to have to ensure that they will have enough birds

There will be a timed event (fastest dog in the west) as well as other great surprises. Club president, Greg Drew, had taken part in this event last year and said he really enjoyed it and would join together with the CESSC so we could have a great time together.
I’ve been told that they are still looking for a judge and if any club member in interested in judging or entering this event they should contact Greg sooner rather than later.

We are planning to run the event on both chukkars and pigeons again this year, and again with poisoned birds…we are adding timed retrieves both on land and in water as a kind of fastest dog in the west kind of thing… -Syd Pellow CESSC

So if you want to get out and try you and your dog’s skills at upland hunting I encourage you to sign up early as space will be limited.

Sounds like a lot of fun, I hope to see you there.

2011 is here and we are looking forward to another good year. Training in earnest is just around the corner (provided we get a break in the snow) and it’s time to get the dogs back in top form.

The WRHRC is again hosting its traditional NAHRA test in July near Irricana. A Picnic test is tentatively scheduled for the May 1 weekend (probably Sunday) as well as a number of fun events such as the ‘Seven Singles’, upland training day, and a upland hunting (shoot to retrieve) stake in conjunction with another dog training club. These are a few of the fun events for 2011. I would like to remind everyone though, that the greatest value in joining the WRHRC club, is the members. The club, through the use of the Kathryn grounds and the events listed, provides an excellent forum to meet like minded individuals and develop lasting friendships and training partners.

We often get asked as the club executive, ‘I need someone to train my dog’. While members are often more than willing to help with some advice and allow new people to join their training sessions, it is the responsibility of the owner to train their own dog. If you are like me then I know that you will have gone through a number of ‘tough lessons’ in getting ‘mallard muncher’ to the training level that you aspired to. At one point or another, I believe that I swam out in a pond to turn my dog around, on a blind that had gone badly. Walked out to point out a mark to a dog that has stepped on the bird twice but can’t seem to find it, and blown a whistle that nearly deafened me, while the dog, that was 10 meters away, was oblivious. Sharing these experiences and taking time to allow a new member to join your training session will develop new and lasting friendships.

Take some time this year and attend the fun events as well as the NAHRA test. Train at the Kathryn grounds and meet new people. You will be glad you did.

Greg Drew
2011 WRHRC President