Junior Win/Pix Reminders

Dachshund Club of America, Inc. March 22, 2023

Purina Farms 200 Checkerboard Drive Gray Summit, MO Web Site: http://www.dachshundclubofamerica.org

Dachshund Club of America, Inc. March 23, 2023

Purina Farms 200 Checkerboard Drive Gray Summit, MO Web Site: http://www.dachshundclubofamerica.org

Dachshund Club of Santa Ana Valley April 30, 2023

Canyon RV Park 24001 Santa Ana Canyon Rd. Anaheim, CA Web Site:http://www.dcsav.org/ Closing Date: Friday, March 3, 2023 Event Chair: Mr. Carl Holder 1130 Redoak Dr., Lumberton, TX 77657 candachs@aol.com • 409-781-5537

For additional information contact:

Georjan Bridger, Event Secretary

P.O. Box 21352, Salem, OR 97307-1352 (503) 931-7099 georjiesdogevents@gmail.com Judges:

Breed: (L) Ms. Sherrill C Snyder (S) Mrs. Frances H. Forrester (W) Mr. Scott Deans

Junior Show: Mrs. Frances H. (Marci) Forrester

Closing Date: Friday, March 3, 2023 Event Chair: Mr. Carl Holder 1130 Redoak Dr., Lumberton, TX 77657 candachs@aol.com • 409-781-5537

For additional information contact:

Georjan Bridger, Event Secretary

P.O. Box 21352, Salem, OR 97307-1352 (503) 931-7099 georjiesdogevents@gmail.com

Closing Date: Wednesday, April 12, 2023 Event Chair: Steve Shultz 3817 Seven Oaks Dr., Corona, CA 92881-0737 cherevee@sbcglobal.net • 951-314-8091

For additional information contact:

Eileen A. Parr, Event Secretary 18780 Munsee Rd., Apple Valley, CA 92307-1426 (760) 946-9048 • parrkees@mac.com Points For Reserve Available

Judges:

Breed: (L) Mrs. Lorraine Simmons (S) Eric Henningsen (W) Dianne R. Graham

Sweepstakes: Please contact event secretary/superintendent or review premium list for Sweepstakes class and judge information.

AKC National Owner-Handled Series Judges:

Breed: (L) Mrs. Lisa Young (S) Mrs. Lisa Young (W) Mrs. Lisa Young

Junior Show: Mrs. Lisa Young Sweepstakes: Please contact event secretary/superintendent or review premium list for Sweepstakes class and judge information.

REMINDER FOR JUNIORS!!

DCA 2022 Junior Judging

DCA Juniors Committee Chair Melissa Heymann has been looking at ways to encourage Juniors to join DCA. The DCA Board recently passed a recommendation from the Juniors Committee to use the DCA Newsletter back cover to feature Junior members and their Best Junior wins. The Nationals Issue has always featured the DCA Best Junior Handler on the back cover. Many times the back cover goes unsold, so when it does, the DCA Newsletter editor, Lynne Dahlén, will now take submissions from DCA Junior Members to publish their Best Junior win photos on the back cover for free. Win photos can be emailed to her at lynnechuck83@twc.com. Photos must be accompanied by parental consent for publication (see sample wording below).

Melissa wants to bring in & support new Junior members, not only in conformation, but also from other AKC performance and companion events. DCA wants to be sure they are aware of the scholarship opportunities available to them through their participation in dog sports. Melissa feels that Juniors should be a member of the parent club to gain more knowledge in a breed they are passionate about. Being active in a parent or local specialty club can teach them valuable life skills. Members also receive the DCA Newsletter that is loaded with information on all different aspects of the breed.

Local Dachshund Club members should seek out Juniors showing dachshunds in their area and invite them to join a local specialty and the parent club. Local clubs always need help putting on shows and clubs can get creative at age appropriate responsibilities to put on a specialty, field trial or other dog events.

Watch for a Juniors column written by Ava Hata in upcoming newsletters. !

Sandy Arnold

I give the Dachshund Club of America permission to publish my child’s Junior Showmanship win photo(s) in their Quarterly Newsletter/Website/Facebook page for purposes of promoting Junior Showmanship with dachshunds.

Please include: the Junior’s name & age, parent’s name, signature & contact (email or phone #).

A parent can write or print out the above or similar text, submit a photo of that signed statement or email with electronic signature is also acceptable.

Part II of Proofing: Training for Judge Pressure

by Brenda Riemer

In the last article, proofing was defined, and examples were given about how to proof for the different obedience exercises. Part 2 of proofing will focus on the topic of judge pressure.

Judge Pressure: What is it?

Judge pressure is a dog’s sensitivity to a person being near them, either during a stationary exercise or when a person is near the dog while the dog is moving. Some dogs are “tuned” into people and want to look, while others do not care. And here is the important item to remember. All dogs are different. In the long run, it does not matter if a dog is sensitive to a person or not. The dog must remain focused on the task at hand. The good news? We can train and proof for judge pressure.

Here are some examples of when our dogs react to a judge.

Example 1:

The dog does not pay attention to the handler in the ring for command discrimination or signals because of judge pressure. OR – you want to proof your training so that the dog does not respond to judge pressure. The proofing is the same. In the first example, we are looking to see if it is a focus/attention issue or a pressure issue (which results in lack of attention). Please note that when working on the issue, I use a lot of treats and praise. Until a dog knows what the expectations are and/or has learned an exercise, I use reinforcement.

Proofing:

a. Leave the dog as you would for the exercise.

Does the dog stay focused on you or is the dog looking around? Do not look back – if you can walk towards a mirror, you can see what your dog is looking at. You might need to work on attention, which is a foundation skill. b. If attention is fine, and the dog can perform the exercise in practice, now let’s add pressure. Do you have cones? Put a cone directly behind the dog.

Can the dog do the exercise? If not, then move the cone back a bit until the dog is successful.

Then in training, move it back.

You can add cones on each side of the dog (except the front). Different sized cones are great to have. c. Is there a person you can borrow when training? Ask the person to stand a short distance from the dog and then have the person move closer and closer. Where is the distance where the dog feels pressure? Now you can work through the pressure with lots of play and success. d. Do you have access to matches? In a match, tell the person playing the judge what you need. A match is for you to work on what you want to work on. Don’t be shy. You might only work on one exercise during your match time. e. Think back to part 1 of proofing: Going to new places. You can proof at stores.

Example 2:

The dog is distracted by the judge during heeling (what many call judge pressure).

At this time, the message the AKC representatives are giving obedience judges is to not follow dogs closely. I just had my second novice observation, and that message was loud and clear. Even with a judge standing in the proper position, a dog may lose focus.

A dog who is distracted by a judge might have two or three training issues to work on. Attention/focus on the handler, judge pressure, and sounds.

Proofing:

a. Can your dog heel with you in many different environments? Can your dog heel with you once you lift the dog out of the car? What is the attentional focus? b. Is the dog distracted by sounds? Shoes can squeak. Years ago, some judges used a

“counter” when judging which zounded like a clicker. c. Is the heeling problem about judge pressure?

Proof all forms of pressure, and then add a person to the training. Like what I wrote about CD and signals, start with the person far from you, and then moving closer. At what point does the dog lose focus? Once you know that, you can break into a game when the person gets that close. The idea is to work through the pressure in fun way.

What about sounds? If sounds are the problem with heeling (or any exercise), slowly add soft sounds and then louder. I will throw things while heeling. Do I expect my dog to react? Yes. Do I expect my dog to keep heeling after she reacts? Yes. That’s the goal of proofing.

In conclusion, working through judge pressure is the same as proofing through all of the exercises. Training is different locations and proofing can help a dog become confident in the ring. It’s up to each person to train the dog so the dog can be successful. It is also up to us to walk into the ring with confidence so that the dog’s focus is on the task and not on a worried handler.

Train, proof, and enjoy every moment with your dog(s)!!

Photo credit: I Luv Dachshunds FB Group