2000 Newsletter - Dogs
Our new interest this year is in a new canine sport that hasn't yet decided (in the UK at least) what name it wants to go under. The original name was "Heelwork to Music", but many people have moved away from pure heelwork. In the US it is called "Canine Freestyle", but then US heelwork is very different from the UK style. One possible name for the combination of the different styles is "Dog Rhythmics". Anyway, it is likely from these names that you will have got an idea of what it is all about. The handler selects a piece of music and then develops a routine that is a combinations of moves that show good interpretation of the music chosen.
Welsh Springers are not the first breed that one thinks of for this type of competition, however this is a discipline that is not the sole preserve of the collies. A number of different breeds are getting involved in it and designing routines that are appropriate to their characteristics.
The main reason that I started to get involved was that Delenn (Barhi Withycombe Shade - 2 years) had shown herself to have a brain that needed training, she appeared to enjoy being with me and I wanted a reason to give her extra tit-bits so that she might actually put on some body. She has now mastered some fifteen different moves, our real problem now is to get her to keep her attention on me for long enough to put them all together away from home. We hope to do our first competition in 2001.
Miar (Kazval Bon Voyage via Barhi - 5 years) also enjoys learning some of the heelwork moves and does a mean "roll over". However, she hasn't really shown any major aptitude for the sport. Her main hobbies are exploring the countryside and alerting us to any passing stranger, car or other outside factor. It is possible that Miar may have another litter in 2001, we are still weighing up all the factors involved.
Rhian (Weslave Wild Tansy - 12 years) is enjoying her retirement from the show ring, although it was a wrench when her final trophy had to be returned. She still looks so well that I am occasionally tempted to enter her for another show, but I made a promise to her that she would not have to be trimmed for show again, so I have to live up to that!
On a personal note, I resigned as Treasurer of Welsh Springer Spaniel Club, effective 1 December 2000. For some time I had known that “pressure of work” had stopped me from doing the job I knew the club needed, but the Committee thought I could battle through it. Finally the Chairman accepted that this was not the situation.