Old ICC Newsletter - Spring 2007
Ichthus Canine Centre Spring / Summer Newsletter 2007
www.iccdogtraining.co.uk (please note new web-site)
Contents –
- Introduction
- Dates for the Diary
- Classes
- Workshops
- Fun Day
- Walks
- Charity
- Will
- Join the ICC Teams
- Our shop
1. Introduction
Firstly I think that it is about time that I introduced you to the latest member of our household, Eze (Ezekiel.) He’s a 9 month old Border Collie and joined our family in September of last year. Sadly when we were due to introduce him to you all in December we tragically lost our Great Dane, Caleb to bloat so I’m afraid that you didn’t have a winter newsletter and the last thing I wanted to do was introduce another member of the family to you as I was missing Caleb so much. Eze was also not really endearing himself to me at the time either and at 5 months seemed to be thinking up as many behavioural problems as he could for me to solve! This really didn’t help as it made me miss Caleb all the more and I was rather wondering what he would be like at 9 months old! I am delighted to say that we obviously had all of his challenges in one go and since then he’s been an angel, a delight to live with and shows a lot of promise with his competition training. (I hope that this will give encouragement to all of the rest of you going through a challenging time with your dogs!)
I also want to thank all of you for your very kind words about Caleb. We had approx 150 E-mails, cards and phone calls from people all giving tribute to what a very special boy he was and I know that I can never thank him enough for all that he taught me and the joy that it was to share my life with him. Thank you for your kindness and I was very touched by the messages from those of you who have also lost loved ones. In time there will be a special page on our web-site to honour them all. (The new web-site is taking a very long time to write though so please be patient about this.)
I am looking forward to the rest of this year and especially the new ventures that we will be doing. This includes a new ICC display team of approx 35 dogs, 2 new branches near Southwell and Spilsby opening in September and 2 more in Stamford and Loughborough opening as soon as suitable venues can be found, our first ever Fun Day, more charity work, and more classes than ever. At this point I would like to thank my wonderful team without whom it would be impossible to keep everything running especially as I’m beginning to travel the country more doing talks and taking Heelwork-to-Music training days for other training centres. Also I want to thank all of you for your support over the last couple of years. With well over 600 of you on our mailing list (most of whom of you have been through our classes) ICC’s going from strength to strength and I am truly blessed. Please do keep in touch with us and let us know how your dogs are getting on and send us a photo for our gallery (also slowly being updated on the new web-site!)
My thanks also goes to Burgess Supafeeds who are now our sponsors with their premium range of foods ‘Well Being.’ My dogs love it and I know that a number of you have also started feeding your dogs on this. (It must be stated that I discovered that my dogs love it and seem to being doing really well on it BEFORE the sponsorship came through!!!)
I also want to Congratulate all of the dogs and owners who have just passed our Kennel Club Good Citizen Test –
David and Zak / Charlotte, Rebeca and Jasper / Paul and Reef / Angela and Sassie / John and Freddie / Gina, Simon and Frankie / Alison and Diesel / me and Asaph / Isabelle and Baxter / Naomi and Sascha / Heather and Max / Mary and Ebony / Pat and Cole / Barry, Lorraine and George / Barbara and Maisie / Anna and Max / me and Ezekiel
This was 17 passes and 0 fails! WELL DONE!
Finally on a less happy note, the number of dogs being stolen is still continuing to rise. The latest that I have heard about belongs to the daughter of a friend of mine. He is a young pointer and his details are on http://www.doglost.co.uk/forum.asp?ID=8844 Please do have a look on the web-site (and continue to look back at the web-site for any dogs that are lost or stolen in this area…) Thank you.
2. Dates for the Diary
- Bank Holiday Monday 28 th May - Sponsored Dog Walk and Fun Day at the Millennium Green, Station Road, North Hykeham, Lincoln (mile long fun-walk around the Millennium Lake, one or two stalls, giant inflatable slide, penalty shootout, tombolla etc.) Day in aid of Doris Banham Sanctuary for dogs details on www.dogsos.co.uk (Please note that this day is not organised by ICC.)
- Sunday 3 rd June - Fun Day in Sleaford in aid of English Springer Spaniel Rescue (Includes obedience, agility, Kennel Club Good Citizen stall, Heelwork-to-Music, flyball, novelty classes, microchipping, tombola, etc.) Contact Sarah Gleave on 0871 434 4487 / 07811 244563 www.lincolnessrescue.org.uk (please do not contact Ichthus Canine Centre about this – although we’re supporting it we’re not running it!)
- *OUR FUN DAY ON THE 16 TH JUNE!* This is a must and will be a really great day out! For more details see below (point number 5.)
- 4 th August - RAF Digby Party in the Park – our new display teams will be providing 50 minutes of displays in the main arena and it should be a great family fun day out. For more information their web-site is http://www.digbypartyinthepark.org.uk/content.asp?IDS=186
- More dates to follow, keep an eye on our web-site and I’ll let you know…!
3. Classes
We now have classes on Monday and Thursday daytime, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings. These include – Puppy and Adult Beginner classes, the nationally recognised Kennel Club Good Citizen plus (the plus being an introduction to competitive obedience, agility, Heelwork-to-Music and flyball in addition to the set sylabus,) agility (complete beginners to senior competition,) Heelwork-to-Music (beginners to competition standard,) Dog-to-Dog class (for dogs with barking or aggression problems with other dogs designed to be stress free for dogs and owners, held outdoors at Wilsford playing fields and using stooge dogs from our team.) Also, although our Competitive Obedience is currently on hold please let me know if you would like to join the class and you will be put on the waiting list.
I am delighted to say that Lorraine is now dealing with all of the class enquiries and bookings. If you would like more information (a reasonable amount of information is on our web-site www.iccdogtraining.co.uk under classes) or you would like to book please E-mail her on Lorraine@iccdogtraining.co.uk or phone 01400 230965 (if there is no answer please leave a message and she will return your call.)
In addition to the above classes we are thinking about doing the following –
- A daytime Dog-to-Dog class
- An evening Ringcraft show ring training class (we already have a number of dogs on the waiting list for this class and we only need a couple more for the class to run.)
- A young handlers class for handlers under the age of 16. This MAY include agility…
- A daytime pensioners class
All of these classes will only run if we have enough interest so if you would be interested in any of these classes please E-mail me ASAP at Christina@iccdogtraining.co.uk or ring 01400 230965.
4. Workshops
- I am hoping to organise some workshops for the Autumn of this year (so far I’ve been far too busy to manage to arrange anything, but I will do so as soon as the very busy summer season is over!)
5. Fun Day 2007
Further details on our web-site nearer the time…
When – 16 th June 10am-4pm
Booking dogs in from 10am. (first come first served for bookings)
Agility competition 10:30am-3:00pm
Agility have a go 3:00-4:00pm
Competitive Obedience competition 10:30am-12:15pm
Getting started in Competitive Obedience demo 12:15-12:30pm
Competitive Obedience training rounds 12:30-1:30pm
Flyball competition 10:30-11:30am
Flyball have a go 1:30-2:30pm
Fastest recall and hurdle races 11:30-12:30am also 2:30-3:15pm
Ringcraft 2-3:30pm (usual categories also including best veteran,)
Novelty classes (including waggiest tail, most like its owner, most handsome dog, prettiest bitch, best rescue (with story behind rescue,) best trick, musical chairs, fastest sausage eater, etc. 1:00-4:00pm (times to be refined on the day depending upon entry numbers)
Heelwork-to-Music ‘competition’ performances 1:00-2:45pm
Heelwork-to-Music training rounds 3:00-4:00pm
Getting started in Heelwork-to-Music demo 2:45-3:00pm
Best Junior handlers (will be decided from the above categories)
Main attractions – see above, plus excellent professional photographer Paul Saxby doing portraits / action shots of your dogs throughout the day, plus many other stalls making it a fun family day out. (Stalls TBC but should have food, face painting, dog toys / leads / crafts / nic-nacks etc. plus a number of other dog-related stands and stalls.)
Where – Wilsford playing fields (on the A153 Grantham to Sleaford road next to Ancaster)
Why the event is taking place – to raise money for: Hull Animal Welfare Trust (an independent charity rescuing and re-homing as many animals, particularly dogs, as possible) English Springer Spaniel Rescue (small, independent charity rescuing and re-homing English Springer Spaniels based near Lincoln) and Misty’s Rescue Home For Dogs (small independent Rescue and Rehabilitation Charity for Dogs based near to Grantham) AND TO HAVE SOME FUN!
Free entry and parking – info and bookings stand available upon arrival
What if it rains – we get wet (it will be such a wonderful day out for such a fantastic cause we’ll go ahead anyway!)
Sponsorship and prizes – Sponsored by Burgess Supafeeds. Rosettes and prizes to the winners of each class.
Can you help? I’m looking for a few people who are happy to be an ‘extra pair of hands’ on the day from helping steward people in the right direction to holding dogs for people whilst they nip to loo (the loos are in the village hall but no dogs are allowed in the hall!) Please let me know if you can help – I’d LOVE to hear from you! J
Are you a business, and if so would you like a stall / stand? We have no set fee for businesses but do ask that they give a donation to the charities that we are raising funds for. If you are interested in having a stall please let me know giving details of which business you represent and what the business does. If your business is suitable I’ll pass your details onto Fiona (a member of our team who is project managing the day) and she will get in touch with you.
6. Walks
If you would like to join a social walk please contact Debbie on Debbie@icc-dog.co.uk (within the next 8 weeks this will become Debbie@iccdogtraining.co.uk ) If you have done a puppy course and your puppy is still 6 months old or younger you are welcome to come to the puppy social walks. There is one walk on the 2 nd June at 10am. and another on the 28 th July at 10am. This is included in your course price. If you have done an Adult Beginner course in 2007 and have not had a social walk yet this is also included in your course price. Your walk leader should contact you by the end of May but if for some reason this does not happen please contact Debbie. Thank you. Please note that all walks leave from WILSFORD (next village to Ancaster on the A153 Grantham to Sleaford road) village hall.
7. Charity and Petitions
Firstly I want to thank you for making such a difference to the life of Hamedi. He lives in Tanzania and he is 9 years old. From the money that you pay for your dog training classes I have been paying to sponsor him for the past approx 2 years on behalf of Ichthus Canine Centre. The money that we pay to sponsor him goes to support the whole of his village. World Vision's aims in Tanzania are to provide more primary education, clean water, health care, to train farmers and health care workers and to prevent the spread of and care for people infected with HIV and AIDS (this is 1 in 10 of the population.)
We also still support English Springer Spaniel Rescue and Hull Animal Welfare Trust and have recently brought out a range of items designed by Kathy and Christina and made by Kathy (a seamstress and member of our team.) A very large percent of the profit of these items will go to these two charities (up to 93%) More details of these items will soon be on our web-shop and in our ‘real’ shop too. As well as this if you have an old mobile phone or old printer cartridges they can turn them into money to help the dogs in their care.
I am also very excited to introduce you to Cathy, the latest member of our team. She runs Mysty’s Rescue Home for Dogs near Grantham and does the most wonderful work with the dogs in her care. She is blessed with a large home (and understanding husband!) and all of the dogs in her care live in her home with her (this can be up to 23 at any one time in a couple of groups of dogs.) This means that when the dogs leave her care they do not suffer from kennel stress, they are often house trained, they are almost always good with other dogs and they understand about living as part of a family in the home. As well as this it means that Cathy can fully assess them before matching the right dog to the right new owner. We are currently writing a page on our web-site about Cathy, the work that she does and the dogs in her care, but in the mean time I hope you don’t mind me letting you know of ways that she has asked us to help her.
HOMES! If you or someone you know can offer one of the dogs in her care a wonderful home for life she would LOVE to hear from you!
Foster homes – It is important that dogs in Mysty’s Rescue live in a home environment but this does limit the number of dogs that can be cared for at any one time. Cathy would love to be able to help more dogs (and is greatly saddened to have to turn some away) and the only way that she can help more is to build up a network of volunteers who are able to foster some of the dogs in her care until a permanent home can be found. Cathy and ICC would give all foster carers full support so please don’t panic that you would be left with a dog to care for if it didn’t work out!
Items for sale – items that can be sold at car boot sales to raise money for the dogs (these can be given to Cathy directly or given to us for Cathy to collect from the barn.)
Spare Leads / harnesses
Dog walking – especially at the weekend, but also during the week if you can be flexible.
Home checkers – as Cathy has more and more dogs coming through her care she needs help with both the initial home checks and follow up checks.
Fund raising – Please either contact Cathy directly or become a member of our team and fund raise that way (please see point 8.)
Donations – always welcome! Please either give to Cathy directly or pass onto us in an envelope marked ‘Mysty’s Rescue Home For Dogs’ and we’ll pass it on.
PLANS TO GROW – As well as help from other people joining the team of foster carers she hopes to be able to build kennels in her garden so that more dogs can be helped by spending part of the day in the house and the other part of the day in the paddock and kennels.
ICC will help to raise funds for this and for food and vet’s fees (dogs are spayed / neutered) for the dogs in her care.
Cathy’s contact number – 07836 270290
Thank you!
I would also be VERY grateful if you would be happy to sign and forward the details to friends of the following on-line petitions.
The first petition http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/greyhounds/ is to stop the majority of ex-racing greyhounds being killed at the end of their racing career and make the industry take responsibility for the whole lifetime of the dogs in their care.
The second petition is to stop puppy farming. This is something that I feel particularly strongly about and more information about this can be found in section 9. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/banpuppyfarms/#details
8. Will
Just a quick note to say please make provisions for your dog in your will should anything happen to you. Ask family or friends if they would be happy to have your dog should anything happen and make sure that the right people know (ideally putting it in your will.) Also, if you live alone it is a good idea to carry a message in your purse / wallet to say that you have a dog and contact details for someone who has a key to your home and can look after your dog. If you cannot find anyone who would be happy to look after your dog should anything happen to you please don’t worry. ICC (specifically Christina Oxtoby if one name needs to be put forward) is happy to be next of kin for your dog and we will look after it until we can find a truly excellent home for them (not just the first one to come along) and will keep in touch for the rest of your dog’s life. If you would like to put us as your dog’s next of kin please tell us. This service is free of charge.
9. Join the ICC Teams
If you would like to join our main ICC Team we’d love to hear from you. Team members get involved in anything from assisting in classes, leading social walks, taking their dog on one-to-one lead walks with dogs with issues with other dogs, raising money for charity or even (after extensive training) instructing or opening an area branch of ICC. Team members have to be naturally very good with both people and dogs and be willing to work as part of a team. Don’t worry if you don’t know a lot about dog training so far, we’d prefer to train up people who are willing to learn rather than those who already have experience but use very different methods to us. You are welcome to get involved with as much or as little as you would like and we will match up your skills to where they will best be used. Team members are volunteers but in return they receive a 10% discount off all ICC products and services, free social walks for your own dog(s) and the option to join our training course (an in-depth study of dog training and behaviour.) Team members are asked to agree that –
- Clients will be treated with care and consideration with a genuine concern for what it best for them and their dog.
- Dogs will be treated kindly and with knowledgeable care.
- Alternative therapies that go against the Christian faith will not be promoted.
- They will not open a competing dog training or behaviour business within our catchment areas (obviously we don’t want to invest a lot of time and money into people that would open a competing business!) We will always be honest with you, please also be honest with us.
- If you are ever unsure about something please ask!
As well as fund raising for charity I would love some people to join the team who would be happy to get involved with spearheading a nationwide campaign against Puppy Farming. (Huge numbers of dogs are kept on puppy farms often in their own filth, in the dark, doing nothing but producing puppies. Adverts for these puppies are usually of a number of different breeds and the puppies often suffer from physical or emotional problems.) A lot of the work that rescue centres do is dealing with the symptoms of too many puppies being born. Puppy farms breed many, many thousands of dogs nationally (Southern Ireland is particularly bad for this and 90% of all stray dogs are killed in dog pounds due to a lack of homes, but other areas including Wales and the rest of the UK are not far behind.) The only way to stop this is to link together dog training clubs, responsible breeders, rescue centres, dog food manufacturers, the Kennel Club and as many other organisations as possible to raise a united front that this has got to stop. Realistically I really don’t have time to do this (as I’m only just keeping up with things as it is!) but if we could build a team to tackle this together that would be a huge step in the right direction. Please let me know if you can help…
Finally I am delighted to say that we are putting together a Display Team that will be available to do arena displays at county sized events. The teams will include - The Kennel Club Good Citizen Scheme / Agility / Flyball / Heelwork-to-Music and Canine Freestyle / Competitive Obedience / ‘Cuddles’ (bomb proof dogs to greet the public and the owners to chat to the public about responsible dog ownership / kind training methods.) If you would like to join any of these teams please let me know. Obviously we will be very selective about the dogs and owners that we invite onto the teams as they will be the showcase of ICC training, but even if your dog isn’t ready yet we will be able to bear them in mind for future teams. We are also looking for extra people who can do everything from help move agility equipment about to running through down stays waving flags. The teams will also meet together to practice between events and although team members will not be paid it should be a lot of fun! Our first booking as a big team (my dogs and I have been doing displays for a few years now) is RAF Digby Party in the Park on the 4 th August. Please come along and cheer us on! (Details are on http://www.digbypartyinthepark.org.uk/content.asp?IDS=186 )
10. Our Shop
We specialise in items that are not usually found in the shops. There are two ways of buying our stock (dog toys, leads, collars, harnesses, books, bowls, etc. This is also soon to include arts and crafts items and dog food and treats.) Our web-shop www.iccdogtraining.co.uk has items for on-line sale that can be posted to you (at the moment only approx a sixth of our stock is on the web-site but we are slowly increasing the number of items on there.) We have also been having a shop built next to our training barn. (I had rather hoped that alterations to the building would have been finished by the end of January but it would appear that this was far too optimistic!!!) The building now only needs decorating and then we will move the stock into it so I’ll let you know when it is finished and we will then have a week-long sale to officially open it! As well as being a shop it is also a kitchen and classroom so our talks can be warm and civilised in the winter.
* This newsletter automatically goes out to everyone who has attended / booked onto or enquired about our training classes or courses (we realise that not all of the information will be relevant to all of you.) If you would prefer NOT to receive these newsletters please reply with your name and the words ‘please remove me from your list’. Thank you!*