A private collection of photographs of dogs, and occasionally their owners, taken around the world by many celebrated photographers. Currently on display at the Texas Tech University International Cultural Center, on Indiana Avenue directly across from the Health Sciences Center, just south of 4th St.

The exhibit was recently viewed and enjoyed by your intrepid reporter, and is highly recommended. Please remember to read the quotations below each photograph; almost certainly you will recognize most of them. During the summer the Center is open only until 4:00 p.m. during weekdays.

The Club's performances at the Health Day Lubbock (June 5th) event and Crittterfest (June 24th - 27th) were just great! A big thank you goes out to all the volunteers that helped make both programs a success.

The May 7th - 9th Agility Trials were great. Many of our new agility dogs made their debut and did well. Plenty of our veteran exhibitors had amazing runs too. Thanks goes out to everyone who helped make the trial a success.

There was a lot to shout about at the recent Belton agility trials. Teresa Janssen and her mini schnauzer, Radar, earned their MACH 2 title! It has only been a short 10 months between them earning their 1st MACH title in May of 2009. What a great team. Congrats to this dynamic duo!!!

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!

The March 16th Annual Awards Potluck Dinner was great. Many members put in alot of hard work and earned plenty of new titles. There were a total of 64 titles earned, 1 therapy dog recognition and 8 HIT honors. The Instructor of the Year was Laura Smith and the Assistant Instructors of the Year were Sherhonda Ginn and Dawn Bassett. The Service Award went to Larry Smith and the Good Sportsmanship Award went to Susan Boyd and the Ben Lumpkins Novice Award went to Margaret Freeman.What a great year!

The Club started out its 40th year with a great obedience trial. Entries were also up from last year. A big thank you goes out to all those who helped make this event a success.

Paula Perry was surprised recently. She wasn't aware that her 2 Chinese Shar Peis, Jack and Katie, would be featured in the February 2010 AKC Gazette story about the Agility National Championship of 2009. Jack is the #1 agility Shar Pei in the History of the breed and Katie is the first shar Pei bitch to ear MACH points. Make sure to pick up a copy of the Gazette and see Jack and Katie on page 38 or check out the digital copy of the Gazette on the AKC site. Congrats Paula!

Joann Neal and her Miniature Poodle, Chick, really burned up the frigid agility courses at the recent January San Antonio trials. Even with a few comical mishaps on the Fast course, they earned their MACH and an XF title. Hooray for this talented duo for braving the cold and coming out winners. Way to go!

This is a reminder that we are starting a new session of classes next week and we need help with the leash and collar sales on Monday, August 9th and Thursday, August 12th.

We have three classes on Monday, with the first class starting at 6:00pm. We will be fitting collars and leashes on this night starting at 5:30. We can use all the help we can get on these first nights of class!!

There are two classes on Thursday, with the first class starting at 6:30. We will begin fitting collars and leashes on this night starting at 6:00pm.

Several members and friends made the long trek to Long Beach, CA to compete in the AKC Agility Invitational and AKC National Obedience Invitational. Everyone represented Lubbock well and gave us all plenty to be proud of. Here's the results:

At the Agility Invitational, Teresa Janssen and her Miniature Schnauzer, Radar, had their best run during the competition where they placed 19th among the 81 dogs competing in the 12" class.

Mike Walton and his American Eskimo, Aspen, had their best run during the 4th round of competition where they placed 13th among the 98 dogs competing in the 16" class.

Paula Perry and her Chinese Shar Pei, Jack, had their best run during the 4th round of competition where they placed 16th among the 98 dogs competing in the 16" class. Her other Shar Pei, Katie, had her best run during the 4th round and placed 64th among the 98 dogs competing in the 16" class. There were 450 dogs competing in the Agility Invitational.

At the AKC National Obedience Invitational, Joann Neal and her Miniature Poodle, Saki, placed 16th and competed in the finals. They also won additional individual honors by placing 3rd in the Non-Sporting Group.

Ronda Clark, DVM and her Miniature Poodle, Skid, placed 18th and competed in the finals. They also won additional individual honors by placing 4th in the Non-Sporting Group.There were over 100 of the top obedience competitors in the country exhibiting at this Invitational. Congrats to all!

Joann Neal had a red letter day at the recent November Belton shows and agility trials. Speedy picked up his last single poins and earned his conformation championship. Then Joann went to the agility ring and guided Saki to their MACH 3 title! What a great weekend! Congrats!

Three members have made the top 10 of their breed in obedience during the 2008 competition year. The ranking system is based on the number of dogs defeted during the past year. Those on the list this year are Joann Neal with Saki ranking #4 among all variety of Poodles and Ronda Clark and Skid not far behind at #7. Joann can be pretty proud about this because 3 of the poodles in the top 10 of their breed are from her breeding; Saki, Skid and Cowboy (owned by Norma Rust). Sherell Thomas rounds out the 3 by ranking #6 with Lillie amongst Bouvier obedience competetors.

The wait was over at the recent PBOTC agility trials for Taz and Teresa Janssen. They wowed the crowd and earned their MACH 2 in fine fashion at the Friday trial. A happy Taz and Teresa racked up even more wins the rest of the weekend. Congrats to this most deserving dynamic duo!

We are sure that Joann Phillips is still floating on air after her wins at the Australian Cattle Dog National Specialty recently held in Belton, TX. Rockette and she walked away with plenty of big wins. Rockette won Best Puppy in Sweeps and the Grand Sweeps Stake. They then bested the competition and won Winners Bitch and Best of Winners; beating out 66 bitches from the regular classes. Then at the weekend show, she won Winners Bitch and Best of Opposite Sex for another 5 point major!. What a great win and owner handled to boot! Wile was not left out of the wins. He qualified twice in agility and racked up 13 MACH points. Congrats!!!!

The wait is finally over; Teresa Janssen and her mini schnauzer, Radar earned their MACH title! It all happened during the Memorial Day weekend trials in Amarillo. Teresa and Radar got to make their victory lap on Sunday with club members cheering them on. Radar also has more accolades. He is now the #10 mini schnauzer in the country in agility! Congrats to this dynamic duo!!!

It’s been a long time since the club had a hunting title recipient. Phil Marshall and his Visla, Bonnie, has ended that drought. Phil and Bonnie recently earned their JH, Junior Hunter title and placed 4th in stake in a field trial. Bonnie is now Comynara Starstone Hurlyburly JH. Way to go Phil and what a Kodak moment.

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.

Joann Neal has done it again! Saki earned her OTCH title recently at the Houston shows in July. This will be her 3rd triple champion to her credit and she did it in fine style by besting some of the toughest competition in the country. They walked away from Houston with 44 OTCH points, 3 firsts and 1 second place, a HIT and 2 HC wins. On the first day of the trials Saki scored 199 in Utility B and 198 in Open B which earned her HIT and HC. These wins completed her OTCH title and the rest was icing on the cake. That makes her:

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, her Shar Pei, earned his MXJ at the recent agility trials in Albuquerque on September 6th. Jack's official name is Harv's Applejack Be Nimble, RA,MX,MXJ, VSP. Congrats Paula and Jack, we are so proud of you both!

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.