Category Archives: Eaton

NEW!! Pre-entry for CAT Test After All.

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First, our apologies for not having our ducks in a row.  We started off misinformed and this has been a pretty steep learning curve for us. Initially we thought we would not have time to get a premium list together before the trial date, but we did and we have it. And here it is! Just click the link “FSCKCCAT premium” below, and there you have it.

We have limited entries to 60. The trial will close on Sunday, April 27th (at noon) unless it fills first by pre-entry. If it does fill first through pre-entry, we will announce this here and on our Facebook page, and on our MB-F page.

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Important: Coursing Ability Test

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We will be hosting our inaugural Coursing Ability (or CAT) test this spring during our annual dog show, on Sunday, April 27. Though we have experienced Lure Coursing people in our club who will be running the tests, things got a little confused while we were working through the paperwork. Have no fear, though. Fort St. Clair is now fully licensed to run Coursing Ability Tests and we are permitted to have up to eight of them a year. We hope to make this an annual tradition with our show as well as holding additional tests during the year. Though the AKC assures me that our event is approved (and we have paid our fees) we are still waiting for the event number. And until we get the event number, I can’t post the Premium List.

However, we can give you quite a bit of information right here:

Entries will be Day of Trial.

Cost of Entry is $20. Please bring cash or check for entry fees.

Entries close at noon, on Sunday, April 27.

Entries will be limited to 60 participants.

We are only permitted to allow one run per event. Sorry.

There will be two courses: one 300 yards for dogs smaller dogs and flat-faced  breeds; the other 600 yards. The smaller course must be completed in 90 seconds for a qualifying run; the longer course is allotted two minutes.  The judge keeps the official time and decides the merits of the dog’s performance.

The coursing test is a pass-fail event.

Dogs who stop while running the course will not qualify.

Judge will be AKC Lure Coursing judge Tracy Leonard, DVM.

Dogs will be inspected for general good health (and to exclude lame dogs and dogs in season) before they are permitted to run.

Any breed may participate in this event, and we have seen all shapes and sizes from Bulldogs to Dachshunds, Bloodhounds and Papillons, Chinese cresteds and Great Danes run in lure coursing. Remember the competition is against the clock and not against each other.

Officially, this event is open to dogs 12 months and over who are individually registered with the AKC, recorded in the Foundation Stock Service (FSS) program, individually registered with a foreign or domestic registry organization whose pedigrees are acceptable for AKC registration, dogs granted a Purebred Alternative Listing (PAL) number, dogs with AKC Limited or Conditional Registration, or dogs enrolled in the AKC Canine Partners program. Dogs with breed disqualifications and monorchid/cryptorchid dogs are eligible to participate.

Females in season may not enter.

Dogs may wear any collar except a “choke”collar, a collar with prongs or an electronic training collar. The collar should be snug to minimize the changes of getting hung up on something during the run. Owners should be aware that there is a chance that tags hanging from the collar could become entangled on something during the run. Owners may use clips or rubber bands to hold the dog’s hair. The owner assumes responsibility for the safety of the dog with regard to the dog’s collar and paraphernalia on the dog.

The area is partially fenced and far away from any roadways. We do encourage you to work with your dog on recall.

Dogs with Qualifying runs will receive a flat orange ribbon. Dogs who complete their Coursing Ability title at our trial will receive an orange rosette.

More on rules and regulations for Coursing Ability Test here.

As soon as the Premium List is approved, it will be posted, with a downloadable entry blank. Entry blanks will also be available on site.

If you are interested in our AKC dog show as well, entries close on Wednesday, April 9 at noon. Information for the show is here.

This is an arial photograph of the area where the coursing test will be held.

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In Memory of Al Combs

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Sometimes there are people associated with a kennel club without whom the very structure of the club might have long ago dissolved. Al Combs was one of those people. If there was work to be done, he did it. If you needed help, he was there. He could deal with the prickliest people with aplomb and good humor. And his humor! It was so dry, you sometimes didn’t even see it coming but before you knew it, everyone was in stitches. His wife, Sandy has served in many capacities as a club officer– she is currently the President. And Al was ever the First Gentleman of Fort St. Clair Kennel Club.

I doubt if Al ever took a dog into a ring, though he probably would have if you really needed him to. He liked to say that he didn’t have any dogs, pretending that the small herd of Dachshunds in the kitchen were all the sole purview of his wife. And indeed, the dogs were and are Sandy’s “thing.” But Al was always right there beside her–  helping with trimming nails and taking pictures and training puppies; looking after the whole crew if Sandy was out of town for a show. And he did have a dog, a very special extraordinarily long-legged Dachshund mix named Violet. Violet was born at Sandy and Al’s, one of ten puppies of a pregnant rescue, and she stayed on as Al’s companion for his jaunts around the hay-meadow and the pond and the woods.

Al was an avid gardener, and the spring will bring a reminder of the magic he made at the Combs’ place when thousands and thousands of daffodils spring up. He grew prize winning roses, and a large garden of vegetables. You could always expect them to turn up with a gift of fresh asparagus or blackberries or tomatoes. He was a remarkable fix-it person and kept a wide inventory of unusual things that might be needed at some point. He made hundreds of gallons of apple butter with the West Alexandria Lions Club.

He liked to cook and last spring in the day before the dog show, Sandy invited me there for lunch. Anyone who’s ever hosted a dog show knows how hectic and draining it is. But it was such a pleasure to take a break from that craziness and sit down for a great bowl of homemade soup and shoot the breeze with Al. And everyone that knew him has a story like that. If you needed something Al did it for you. Sometimes if you didn’t even know  you needed something, Al did it for you.

As Gary Sinck, one of our members, put it “He was just such a neat guy.”

On Friday, January 10th, Al died, after a long and courageous fight with pulmonary fibrosis.

To say the club won’t be the same without him is an understatement: the world won’t be the same without him. We miss him already.

He is survived by his wife, Sandra Duncan Combs, and also by his two beautiful daughters, Veronica Combs (and her husband Michael Borchers and their boys Carson and Liam) and Rebecca Combs and her husband Jody Powlette, along with a brother and sister. And Violet too, of course.

A link to his obituary is here. There will be a memorial service  held Sunday, January 26th at 1 p.m. at Barnes Funeral Home, 220 East Main Street in Eaton.

~ Larkin Vonalt

Training Classes Begin Feb. 3!

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New Series of Training Classes Begin Monday, February 3, 2014 ~ Inside and Heated

 

We’re offering obedience and conformation classes on Monday evenings, beginning February 3rd and running through March 10th.

6:30 p.m.  Beginning Obedience

60-minute beginning obedience course for people who want to make their dog easier to live with. This is not competitive obedience training, though it could certainly lay the groundwork for that. The instructor, Lori Genaw, wants to make sure that people who took previous classes know that they are welcome to come back to continue their training as well as newcomers who are just getting started. The cost of the obedience class is $50 for 6 sessions. We have a special offer for people who have adopted their dogs from the Humane Society of Preble County– you can take this course for just $25! The class is an hour-long, and is open to puppies and adult dogs. Handlers should be 10 and up, and we ask that minors be accompanied by at least one parent. For dogs that are ready at the completion of the course, you may have your dog tested for a Canine Good Citizen title. This is not only a nice accomplishment for you and your dog, but can ease your situation with home insurance.

7:30  Conformation

Conformation Classes last 60-minutes and over the course of six weeks we will cover showing indoors, stacking in front of a mirror, video feedback, cavaletti work, free-stacking, hand-stacking, gaiting, lead control and bait management. Dogs of all ages and levels of experience are welcome.  Handlers should be at least 10 years old, and we ask that minors be accompanied by at least one parent. The cost for Conformation classes is $25 for six weeks, or $5 per class if you just want to drop  by for one or two.

All classes are free for members of Fort St. Clair Kennel Club. Maybe you should think about joining?

Classes are held in the School Building at Preble County Fairgrounds, 722 S. Franklin St, Eaton, OH. It’s on the south side of the fairgrounds, and has numerous “garage” doors.  Look for parked cars.

If you’d like more information or to pre-register, please call Lori Genaw (937) 696-2585; or email the club at fsckc@earthlink.net.

 

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