The board meeting will be held at our training facility at 5222 34th at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15th. Any member is welcome to attend.

The regular meeting this month will be held at our training facility at 5222 34th at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15th - Tax Day. Make sure to attend since this is the last meeting prior to our May agility trial and trial plans will be finalized. Anyone with a love for dog traing, pet therapy and dog related sports is welcome to attend.

Our 3 day May agility trial is fast approaching. Our trials will be held at the TTU Equestian Center on May 2nd thru 4th. We will need plenty of help to load, unload, steward, etc. As always, we will need items donated for our great raffle. Please contact Joann Neal and/or Ronda Clark, ASAP, if you can help in anyway.

Our annual Awards Dinner was held on March 18th. The food was great and there were many members honored for their accomplishments of 2007. Our members were very active in the performance rings in 2007. Seventeen members racked up a total of 74 honors. Our big winners of the evening were Teresa Janssen - Good Sportsman Award and Instructor of the Year; Rene Harrmeyer and Nancy Lewis - Service Award; and Donna Bybee - Assistant Instructor of the Year. There are many new members nearly ready for their performance ring debuts and I'm sure we will see even more honors for 2008.

Skirt earned her TDX title in El Paso on 2-17-08. The 1/2 mile, 5-turn, 3-hour old track took her 33 minutes to complete, finding the 3 track layer's articles left along the way. That makes her:

She is the 2nd poodle of any size to earn a CH OTCH MACH and TDX, her mom, Betty, being the 1st. Only a handful of dogs of any breed have accomplished this.

Three of our members have qualified for the prestigious AKC National Agility Championships; Teresa Janssen and Toy Poodle, Taz, Ronda Clark and Miniature Poodle, Skid and Joann Neal and Miniature Poodle, Saki. They will be hitting the road soon and strutting their stuff with the best in Tulsa, OK, March 28 - 30th. Best of luck to Skid and Taz, I know you will make us proud!

Make sure to take a peek at the news clip below. Nancy Lewis, our co-editor and Therapy Dog Evauator was featured recently on the Fox news station (CH 34) about her work with her therapy dog, Copper. Nancy and Copper look fabulous! To take a look, just go to this direct link:

Our annual February Obedience trial (23rd and 24th) ran smoothly! Thanks goes out to all that helped make it a success, especially Rita Harris our trial secretary who kept the paperwork flowing.

Several members did well at our the recent obedience and rally trials. Here's a few photos of some of our winners:

Monday, March 17th is the sign up night for the next classes. We can use anyone that is available to help.

Monday, March 31st and Thursday, April 3rd are the first nights of classes for this next session. We can use anyone that is available to help with collar and leash sales.

Help will be needed starting at 5:30pm Monday (31st) (we will have two classes to fit with equipment) and Thursday (3rd) starting at 5:30pm. Any amount of time you can give will be appreciated.

There is another MACH added to the Sandstorm Dynasty. Boot has done it for a 4th time! She earned her MACH 4 at the recent Amarillo agility trials at New Years. That makes her:

MACH 4 Sandstorm Boot Scoot (AKA "The Energizer Bunny" - She keeps going and going...)

There is another MACH added to the Sandstorm Dynasty, but with a different owner/handler. On the first day of our October Agility trial, Ronda Clark and her Miniature Poodle, Skid (Sandstorm Skeddadle) earned their MACH title. This was the 1st for Ronda. They wowed the hometown crowd on their winning jumpers run and did an impressive job on their victory lap. A double congratulations goes out to this pair since they have also been invited to the AKC Eukanuba National Invitational in Obedience too! Best of luck to this dynamic duo during the competition this December. Onward to an OTCh and a triple championship!

Jack, Paula Perry's Chinese Shar Pei, is the #1 agility Shar Pei in the history of the breed. Jack will also attend the AKC Agility Invitational again this December. Jack's official name is Harv's Applejack Be Nimble, RA,MX,AXJ, 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:

Two of our members are sporting big smiles since earning their CDX titles recently. Debbie Cox and her Lab, Grace, earned their 3rd leg here at the HPKC shows/trials and Nancy Lewis and her Golden, Britnny, earned their CDX during the recent New Mexico trials. Both teams completed their titles in grand style with 1st place ribbons. Congrats and onward to Utility!

There is another MACH added to the Sandstorm Dynasty. Saki got her 20th Double Q in Houston, finishing her MACH with over 2,000 speed points. She is 4 years old. That makes her:

CH MACH Songbird Sandstorm Saketumi, UD TD VCD2 RA

She has qualified for the next AKC Agility Nationals. On the obedience front, she also has 8 OTCH points and a Utility B first towards her OTCH. Wow!

Many of you may remember our former member Willeke Barens and her Wolfhounds. She recently sent a note and photos to the club. Here's Willeke's news from the Netherlands:

Hi guys,

It's been a while, but just thought I'd give you all an update. I'm doing fine now, after almost two years in the Netherlands. I found a great dog center here as well, but still often think of the great friendship I found at SPOTC!

My dogs are doing great, they're brother and sister, black Irish wolfhounds, their names are Fonyah and Dougal. They will be 2 years old in September.

I do Rally-O with them, which is very new here, but they enjoy it a lot. I also go to lure-coursing with them, which is absolutely fabulous, they are totally enthusiastic when they try and catch the lure (a fake hare).

Tell Nancy (Lewis)there is no organization here in this part of the country that does Therapy Dog, which I really would have liked to do. Hopefully it'll come soon!

Earlier this week I got my third dog, he came all the way from Sweden for there's only one other one of his bred here in the Netherlands. It's a Silken Winhound, a new breed that looks like a miniature borzoi. He is so cute and already great friends with the two other dogs! I am very happy with his coloring; it reminds me of Elly Mae. I'm attaching a few pics!

Bestest regards to all my friends there!

Willeke

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.