Our next Board meeting will be February 21st, at 6:30 p.m. at our training facility. Members are welcome.

Our next Club meeting will be February 21st, at 7:30 p.m. at our training facility. This will be the last meeting prior to our Obedience and Rally trial so make sure to attend. Anyone who enjoys training dogs or interested in pet therapy is welcome.

Our Winter Obedience and Rally trials will once again be held at the South Plains Fairgrounds in the MerchantsBuilding, Saturday and Sunday, February 25th and 26th, 2012. As always, in order to make this event a success we need your help.

We will need help loading equipment at the club building on Friday, Feb. 24th at 6:00 p.m., then to unload and set up at the fairgrounds. On Sunday Feb. 26h, beginning at about 3:00 p.m., we will again desperately need your help to load the equipment, return it to the club building.

Many volunteers will be needed for Ring Stewards. Previous experience is not required; training will be provided. For a quick primer, see the last page of this Newsletter.

Donations of new or gently used items for the Raffle will be most welcome. These may be for dogs or their human families. The raffle helps to offset some of the expenses incurred.

We hold a welcome buffet on Friday evening from 7:00 — 9:00 p.m. at the site for the competitors and our volunteer workers. This takes the form of “pot luck” and all food donations are welcome. There are very limited electrical outlets for crock pots etc.

Susan Boyd and Teresa Janssen's Toy Poodle, Taz, did it again. While Teresa was out of pocket, Susan filled in nicely and brought home the gold and earned Taz'z MACH 5 title at our recent fall agility trials. Congrats to Teresa, Taz and Susan! Onward to a MACH 6!

Club members had a great time at the 1st annual Lubbock Children's Health Clinic Kid's Fest and so did the kids. Thank you to all the volunteers that help the even become a success.

Teresa Janssen and Radar, her Mini Schnauzer did it again. At the Midland trial Radar Q’d 4 of his 6 runs and Taz Q’d 5 of her 6 runs. The next weekend we went to Albuquerque and Radar Q’d 5 of his 6 runs. This gave him his 19th and 20th QQ for his MACH5. Onward to a to a MACH 6. Congrats!

Mary Lou and Britta's 3 years of hard work paid off on August 7th at the Ft. Worth trials. They earned their MACH title while several club members cheered them on. Surprisingly enough, these were the same trials they started their agility career at. Congrats on all your hard work!

This is a reminder that we are starting a new session of classes soon and we need help with the leash and collar sales on Monday, January 23rd and Thursday, January 26th.

This will take place on Monday, January 23rd at 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., and on Thursday, January 26th at 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. for the classes that will begin a half hour later.

Shella Barclay has a lot to be proud of these days. As of July 1st, the AKC has officially recognized her Corgi, Tom, as earning the new PACH title (Preferred Agility Champion). He is now PACH Rhapsodi's Are Ewe Up To It CDX RAE PT MX MXJ MXP3 MJP4 PAX XF. Way to go! Congrats on all your hard work.

Jack, Paula Perry's Chinese Shar Pei, is still the #1 agility Shar Pei in the history of the breed. Paula Perry still has a lot to smile about. Jack double Q’d all three days at the AOTC trial with 3 First places, 2 Second places, and a Third place! He also got his MXP4 title on Saturday. He needs one more leg for his MJP5!Congrats Paula and Jack, we are so proud of you both!

Make sure to take a look at the April 2011 issue of the AKC Gazette since we are featured in their “Paws Up” section related to our 40th Anniversary celebration back in November 2010.

Check out our smiling faces and our story when you click on this link: SPOTC Ruby Anniversary - Paws Up AKC Gazette Article - April 2011

Sake passed her TDX (Tracking Dog Excellent) test 2-20-11 with flying colors in a test put on by the Tracking Club of El Paso. She got her feet full of stickers 3 different times. It took her 21 minutes to do 825 yards, 5 turns, with cross-tracks and road-crossings and stickers and sand mountains. She found and retrieved the 3 articles left by the tracklayer (after “killing” each one—a sock, a wash-cloth, and a glove). She just kept trucking, and even got stronger toward the end, when she had to wend her way through a trash dump by a country road.

She had to go up the steep side of 3 building-sized sand dunes that were so steep Joann had to turn loose the tracking line and crawl up on my hands and knees, but she just flew over them. So Sake got 2 new titles by virtue of this, the TDX and the VCD3 (Versatile Companion Dog 3). She’s now CH OTCH MACH 5 Songbird Sandstorm Saketumi UDX2 OM1 RE TDX VCD3 OF. What a great weekend! Congrats!

Joann Neal had a fabulous time at the recent February Clovis agility trials. Joann guided Saki to their MACH 5 title on Friday! What a great weekend! Congrats!

Ronda Clark recently saw all of her hard work pay off in a big way. She and her Aussie, Lizzie, earned their MACH title at the recent Midland trials on the Labor Day weekend. Now Lizzie can rest on her laurels for a while. Congrats to a great team!!!

Joann Neal and her miniature poodles have been on fire! “Sake” is ranked NUMBER 1 poodle in the country for the 2010 AKC Agility Invitational, which will be held in Long Beach, CA in December. She accumulated 3,094 MACH points and 400 points for “Double Q’s” (they are credited with 10 points for each Double Q) during the year-long qualification period, which ended June 30th. A bitch that she bred, one of Skirt’s puppies, is # 3 poodle for the Agility Invitational. For AKC’s purposes, all 3 varieties (toy, miniature, and standard) of poodles are counted as one breed for the Invitational. Sake also finished her MACH 4 in Albuquerque on June 27th.

At the Houston KC event at the Reliant Center in Houston: Chick Q’d 7 of her 8 runs and Sake Q’d 6 of her 8 runs, both in Agility.

Young Casey was a busy boy: On Sunday, July 25th, Casey got his third leg for a CD title in Obedience, finished his MX title in Agility, got a Double Q, and won the Excellent B 16” JWW class.Congrats!

Teresa Janssen and her Toy Poodle, Taz, and Miniature Schnauzer, Radar, have been burning up the agility ring this year. Taz is the #7 poodle in the country and Radar is the #10 Mini Schnauzer. Congrats and good luck at the Nationals!

June Marble and Esti, her German Shepherd have so much to be proud of. At the Trinity Valley Shetland Sheepdog Club Herding Trials held at Endgate Ranch in Ferris, Texas, over the weekend of March 6th & 7th, 2010, Esti achieved another 3 point major and a HIT on Saturday then finished her Herding Championship (HC) on Sunday.

In order to earn an AKC Herding Championship, 15 points are needed, based on the number of advanced dogs entered in the trial & 1 major (first place & having at least 3 points) & 2 first places under two different judges. Read more about Esti's road to an HC on the Dog in the Spotlight page for May. Congrats on all your hard work!

Several Club members have volunteered for the Wheelock Elementary Reading Program. They have been working with the kids for a month now and are really enjoying it. The kids love the dogs and wish they could be there every day. If you want to help with this program, make sure you have a dog that is calm and does well with kids. Contact Sherell thomas for more info.

Wolffarth Elementary (3202 Erskine) also needs volunteers for their reading program on Wednesdays from 10 - 11a.m. Contact Sherell Thomas for more info.

Fox 34 TV has asked our club to provide weekly Dog training tips during their Good Day Lubbock morning show. Each Monday at 7:30 a.m. our members have provided a dog training tip and fielded dog questions from the morning audience. Check out the "Good Day" link at www.myfoxlubbock.com then click on the Good Day Lubbock Pets link to the right hand side of the page. You will be able to see the video of previous segements. A big thank you goes out to Joann Phillips, Shella Barclay and Teresa Janssen, who have kept this program going. If you have ideas for future topics for the show, please contact Shella, ASAP.

Make sure to catch our club's debut on YouTube.com. Club members recently performed an agility demo at halftime for the Ropes High School football game on November 2nd. The club got rave reviews from the crowd. The demo was video taped and placed on the website YouTube.com thanks to Paula Perry. To take a look, just go to this direct link:

All members are encouraged to show their pride and hang an 8x10 photo of their titled dog on the wall in the meeting room. If you do not have an extra copy of your precious color photos, you can frame a color copy. Also keep in mind that the club has voted to hang photos of dogs that earn an MX or UDX in an honored place on the wall with our OTCH dogs.

Honk if you love animals! Better yet, purchase a special Animal Friendly license plate for an additional $25. Proceeds will provide free or reduced-cost spaying and neutering for dogs and cats across Texas. Call the Texas Department of Transportation for more information at 512-374-5010 or contact your local animal shelter.