Zone 3 News

Small Clubs, Big Dreams: Atherton Clubs Are Stronger Together

Over the last few weeks the Atherton Tableland Kennel Club (ATKC) and Atherton Tablelands Dog Obedience Club (TDOC) members voted to come together to support each other to achieve our common goals. Both clubs have dedicated members in all disciplines and in some cases there are crossovers in memberships. While we may have some differences in our purpose, both clubs are absolutely in agreement that we do what we do for the love of our dogs. The health and well-being of our canine companions is at the forefront of both clubs.

Members are keen to support each other by sharing grounds and resources to keep our small clubs viable now and into the future. We are determined to work together for a common cause. We acknowledge that together our voice is stronger.

Each club run shows and events that, on average, attract over 200 entries with exhibitors who travel to our community to camp, shop and tour, when not competing. A little known boost to our local community, especially in the tourism and hospitality sectors.

The TDOC have an average of 60 people attend Obedience training each Wednesday night at their beautiful grounds and the ATKC look forward to being able to hold Conformation show handling classes at the TDOC grounds very soon.

Our shared goal is that through our unity we can secure stability for both of our clubs and make a difference for our dog community in our local community.

ATKC are excited to announce that our shows featuring a wonderful line-up of judges on 15 and 16 July 2023 will be held back on our home ground, the beautiful Atherton Tablelands, thanks to the generosity and support of our friends at the TDOC.

Burdekin Canine Club Inc News!

The Burdekin Canine Club was established on the 26 August 2022 and recognised by Dogs Queensland on 5 October 2022.

We had our first AGM was on the 4 February 2023 where our 2023 Management Committee was elected.

President: Sara Ferguson

Vice President: Nicole Keedle

Treasurer: Donna Mulholland

Secretary: Christopher Coggan

Committee Members: Brooke Reading, Pieta

James, Pauline Redpath and Rikki Garstone

We have hit the ground running!

We have had successful raffles selling out quickly. Thank you to everyone that has purchased a ticket! We now have our club incorporation and ABN and have completed our first round of grant applications.

We have completed our first highly successful Baby Puppy Pre-School class and are starting our second round with a waiting list for further classes!

Baby Puppy Pre-School is a 5 week program for puppies aged 3 months – 6 months, where we teach owners and puppies a variety of skills from walking on a lead, focusing and listening to their owner, basic Obedience, Tricks and Agility. Our Instructors are Sara F. and Donna M.

We have enjoyed watching these puppies grow from unruly babies with new owners to a beautiful team with respect and enjoyment.

We had a very anti-social, highly reactive puppy join us for week 1 – she ended up being head of her class and winning best puppy at graduation!

Her owner was amazed at her transformation!

The Burdekin region does not have any dog related classes or group training sessions, so the community has embraced the Burdekin Canine Club with each set of classes booking out very quickly!

It’s a family affair at Baby Puppy Pre-School – everyone arrives at the classes with family that live in the household, so it’s a team effort with training their pups. Each family member gets the opportunity to ask questions and troubleshoot any issues they are having with the pup at home.

We take this opportunity to educate the community about being responsible dog owners, the positives associated with pedigree dogs, Dogs Queensland and DQ events.

At graduation every participant received a personalised graduation certificate and Dogs Queensland show bag, which they all loved!

Going forward this year we are hoping to add more classes for older dogs from 6 months of age. We are also looking at bringing Lure Coursing, Sprint and Conformation Showing to the Burdekin in the next 12 months.