Articles published in this Newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of the Committee or the Editor. Nothing may be copied unless permission is granted by the WTA.

Dates to remember: 

Our AGM is on 10 March at 10.00 for 10.30 at Kennel Club of Harare, and it would be very nice if you could attend to show your support in your Committee. It was decided to have it during day hours and no other weekend is available in March. We could use one more person onto the Committee and if your are willing please contact the Secretary. The first Dog Jumping and Agility Show will be held on 17 March at 7 for 7.30 in the morning, to beat the heat. Clive Edwards is judging all tests. Schedule will be mailed to you soon. It is now time to practise for these jumps and you might get your dog ready to enjoy the show and enter. Come and support us and look what is involved.

Happy memories of the Domestic Diploma with Helen Brown as the Judge, with some of our members.

Memories of past achievements 

I have spent days to sort out all the Dryden's information, pedigrees and dog papers and came to the following interesting achievements. Peter [trained 4 dogs, Spike qualified in Working Trials CD Excellent and climbed up in all Obedience classes and ended up in C test with two CC's.] This was written in the previous Newsletter. Having gone through more pedigrees I found Spike's Pedigree. Spike was Kabwena's Ivan, his Grandfather was Ruthenwald Raven who Qualified CD Excellent, UD Excellent and WD Excellent, this is no mean achievement. Further in the pedigree he has a grandfather on mother's side: Coldstream Danko CD Excellent and UD Excellent. Can some of you remember this dog trained by Peggy Wilson? In the Great Grand parents line there is a dog Bosko vom Piastendam with SchH 2 and then both Great Grant parents [behind Danko] are both Breed and Obedience Champions. In total 5 Breed champions in this 3 generations pedigree of Spike. So here is an example of working and beauty combined. Very interesting, but would these dogs have been able to get IPO 1, 2 & 3? This is another completely different sport and would need more spirit to get that far, although I can remember Spike as a very sharp and lively dog. He usually was under Peter's chair to be in the shade, and could shoot out if you came too near Peter in Spike's opinion. No doubt Peter would have had him in IPO 1 entered if we had that in those days. Gives you food for thought.

Rosemary The following 9 bitches were trained in the various working classes. To get a dog ready for Novice is good, but also ready for CD [companion dog] in Working Trials and finally training for IPO [International Prüfung Ordnung] is a fantastic achievement which not many people in this country seem to be able to do. Rosemary entered two dogs in IPO and was training a third before her death. 

Dunmonaidh Yana of Windsfair Obedience Novice, A & competed in B, Working Trials: CD. Schloss Adler Elsa Obedience Novice. Anjou's Top Girl of Windsfair "Amy" Obedience Novice & A, Working Trials CD, Franca vom Schutzhund Obedience Novice & A, Working Trials CD. Shootersway Maja of Windsfair Obedience Novice, IWT [which was IPO in the early days] 89-72-85=246. Windsfair Selena "Lena" Obedience Novice & Working Trials CD. Windsfair Odette "Debbie" Obedience Novice & A, and competed in B. Working Trials CD, IPO 1 & 2 and competed in IPO 3 Della and Rinty were her last two dogs and both were qualified in Novice and A and both competing in B.

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Five men were bragging about how smart their dogs were. One was an Engineer, the second was an Accountant, the third was a Chemist, the fourth was a Computer Technician and the fifth was a Government Worker.

To show off the Engineer called to his dog. ?T-Square, do your stuff. ?T-Square trotted over to a desk, took out some paper and a pen and promptly drew a circle, a square and a triangle. Everyone agreed that was pretty incredible.

But the Accountant said that is dog could do better. He called to his dog and commanded ?T Spreadsheet, do your stuff. ?T Spreadsheet went into the kitchen and returned with a dozen cookies. He divided them into 4 equal piles of 3 cookies each. Everyone agreed that was good.

But the Chemist said his dog could do better. He called to his dog and said ?T Measure, do your stuff. ?T Measure got up, walked over to the fridge, took out a quarter pint of milk, got a 10 ounce glass from a cupboard and poured exactly 8 ounces without spilling a drop. Everyone agreed that was very impressive.

The Computer Technician knew he could top them all. ?T Hard Drive, have a go at it. ?T Hard Drive crossed the room and re-booted the computer, checked for viruses, upgraded the operating system, sent an e-mail and installed a cool new game. Everyone knew that was a tough act to follow.

The four men then turned to the Government Worker and said, What can your dog do??.

The Government Worker called to his dog and said. ,?T Coffee Break, do your stuff boy. ?T Coffee Break jumped to his feet, ate the cookies, drank the milk, erased all the files on the computer, sexually assaulted the other four dogs, claimed he injured his back while doing so, filed a grievance report for unsafe working conditions, put in for workers compensation and went home for six months sick leave.