Pointer Club of Canada

Spring Newsletter 2010

Thu, 27 May 2010 18:50:31 -0400

Greetings from your humble Editor:

With Spring Showers come warmth and many May flowers, and dog shows, and field, obedience and agility trials, and long walks in the sunshine, trips to lakes, cottages and so on. Remember to check your dogs for ticks, which are becoming more prevalent and have been moving into parts of the country not previously seen. I also noticed that at my vet’s clinic there was news that heartworm incidents have also been increasing. Many breeders do not give heartworm medication, and in previous years, the cooler Canadian weather suggested that perhaps this was ok. However, the shifting pattern - likely part of a broader climate change - may cause people to revisit their views. PCC doesn’t advocate either choice (treatment or non), but it does seem that changing weather patterns means that each of us should periodically refresh our own views with input from our vets. On that note, take care of your pointers and your beloved pets this Spring and Summer season as you’re enjoying the wonderful weather!

Winter Newsletter 2010

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:06:38 -0500

Treasurer’s Summary Report for 2009:
An excellent year! Due to some very generous trophy donations and fundraising this year, we finished the year about $1,000 higher than we started (please see below).

We’re looking forward to build on some of these successes in 2010, and look forward to your ongoing support!

Summer Newsletter 2009

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400

National Specialty, Trois Rivieres, Quebec
For the first time ever, the Pointer Club of Canada held its National Specialty in the Province of Quebec. Merci Jean Filion for all your hard work putting this show together and for hosting a fabulous BBQ the night before the show. We had pointers from as far away as British Columbia, as well as visitors from a number of US states.

Sweepstakes Judge: Murray Spearin
Best In Juvenile Sweepstakes - Seasyde Classical Royal Flush
Best In Veteran Sweepstakes - Ch Coquetel Just In Time

Specialty Judge: Charlotte McGowan
Best Of Breed - Ch Lamont Coquetel Erskine
Best Of Opposite Sex - Ch Seasyde Sheer Pure Elegance
Best Of Winners - Seasyde Classical Royal Flush
Best Puppy - Seasyde Classical Royal Flush
Winners Male - Racecity Sound Of The Serengetti At Penzance
Reserve Winners Male - Dawsik's Midnight Shadow
Winners Female - Seasyde Classical Royal Flush
Reserve Winners Female - Chesterhope My Boys Girl
Veteran Female - Ch Coquetel Just In Time
Best Canadian Bred - Ch Lamont Coquetel Erskine
Best Field Dog - Ch Perryglen’s Roger Dodger FDJ
Award of Merit - Ch Imladris Ionn Pada Lagor

Photos from the National Specialty:

Pointer Picnic, August 15, 2009

This year we had the first official Pointer Club of Canada Ontario Picnic! Deanna Ross and Murray Spearin of Perryglen Kennels were kind enough to host at their house just outside Little Britain. Deanna has written up a report on the event:

Pointer picnic report
I would like to thank all the people that helped in making this a fun day. We had a lot of fun and so did the dogs. Starting out, the weather was very hot and humid. The dogs started by play time in the pond. Owners are now wearing shirts with many foot prints from the dogs . Then we had a bit of a break with a cold drink and fruit trays . Then the games began. All dogs competed in all competitions

Thanks to Darcy McGee who was our judge this year for the ears and tail competition. Yes, he did use a tape measure :)

Adult dogs:
Longest tail: Cooper with Mike
Mark with Shelley
Oakley with Jacqui
Shortest tail: Ben with Maria & Bob
Longest ears: Cooper with Mike
Shortest ears: Penny Lane with Deanna
Oakley with Jacqui

Puppy class:
Longest tail: Stu with Courtney & Graeme
Shortest tail: Dolly with Alexandra
Daisy with Alexandra' s friend
Longest ears: Dolly
Daisy
Shortest ears: Stu

Best head competition was judged by a CKC conformation Judge Joy Huntley
The top 4 in no order are:
Sam with Andrew
Mark with Shelley
Toby with Donna
Penny Lane with Deanna

Games:
We played a game similar to “musical chairs”: hula hoops were set on the ground; when the music stops, you and your dog must get to a hoop and the dog has to sit (in the hoop). The last one to sit is out. The winner of this game was Riley with Caroline and Norm.

Toss the dog cookie game: 10 cookies each the one to land the closest to the dog dish wins. You had to have your dog beside you (and sometimes the dog tried to eat the cookies before we could toss them!) After 2 rounds, the winners were: Cooper and Mike, Daisy and Alexandra's friend.

Puppy push ups game: The one to do the most sits and downs in a set time. I think the paper work for that blew away or was eaten by a dog (“my dog ate it”) A couple of the dogs got to the down and stayed there had a nap, rolled on their backs ..... it was tough to judge a winner here.

The last game for the dogs was bobbing for hot dogs in a dish of water. As we know some pointers are not food crazy. We thought that with hot dogs in water, the owners might have done the job faster! It did help the dogs to cool off in the summer heat!

Dinner was great the big surprise was a cake made with 2 pointer heads . The cake was made by Dr Stacey Wiltshire from Lindsay. Not only is she a great vet, but a great baker too. Thank you Dr. Stacey.

Our total number of dogs playing the games came to 14. Our total number of people that came to play, judge, help and just watch the fun was 30. Thank you all for coming. We are already planning next years Pointer Picnic. If you have any new game ideas let us know. We will probably aim for the second or third weekend in August 2010. Hope to see you all next year!
 Treasurer’s Addendum: We had a great raffle table that raised $280 for the Pointer Club of Canada! Thank you everyone for supporting your club by donating prizes and purchasing tickets!

Brags

Brags:

Winter/Spring Newsletter 2009

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:33:01 -0400

HOLLY

Our feature story to kick off a new year of pointer news is all about Holly! (Pictured above) Her list of accomplishments is staggering, and she is co-owned by PCC member Helyne Medeiros! Holly is now enjoying retirement, but hopefully we will see her in a ring again soon, perhaps at the next American Pointer Club Specialty. Check out her list of achievements:

THE TOP SPORTING DOG OF ALL TIME
THE TOP WINNING POINTER IN BREED HISTORY
2008 Purina Pro Plan Show Dog of the Year Award, winning the most Best in Show's All Breeds in 2008
All time top winning Sporting Dog in 1 year (Best in Show's, Group First's and points accumulated)
Best In Show at the AKC Eukanuba National Championship 2008 (Televised on Animal Planet & the Discover Channel)
Best In Show at the 2008 National Dog Show (Televised on NBC Thanksgiving Day)
117 All Breed Best In Shows since September 2007
America's # 1 Sporting Dog
Best Of Breed & Group 2 at Westminster KC 2008
# 1 Pointer All Systems 2007 & 2008
Best In Specialty Show at the 2007 & 2008 American Pointer Club National Specialties
Best In Specialty Show at the 2007 PANE Specialty, 2007 PCOCNJ March Specialty, 2008 March PCOCNJ Specialty, and 2008 PCOCNJ Sept Specialty
First time Holly was shown since she finished she was Best In Specialty Show, Group 3 and Best In Sweepstakes at the PCOCNJ Specialty
Holly finished her American Championship undefeated at all breed shows from the regular classes in 4 shows with another Best Of Breed for a major from the puppy class to finish
2006 PCPC National Specialty BIS, BP, WB, BOW & BOS from the puppy class for a 5 point major
First Show: Best of Breed and a Group 3 from the 6 - 9 puppy class

You can visit Holly's photo Album at www.seasydepointers.com

TAKING PICTURES OF DOGS
BY ANDREW HAY

Now that the weather has started to turn, I’ve seen more and more cameras start to come out of drawers and closets. I took mine out March 1st and -- with Fiona's (our 10 year old Pointer) help -- thought that I'd take a few snaps up at the in-laws' farm. When Gen reminded me that we were overdue for a PCC newsletter, I made a few notes of techniques that have helped to yield better dog photos in the past.

Tip #1: Don't take all pictures from a height of 5'6", and in landscape mode. This makes me think of a "tourist snap", where it's a pleasant enough reminder of what was going on that day, but the picture itself usually isn't very engaging. [See picture #1 below]

Probably 90% of pictures look like this. It's just how we're used to seeing the world, but doesn't usually give any interesting insight into the subject. It also (generally) results in a picture of the top of your dog (you're looking down on her, which diminishes the animal's pose). Shooting at eye-level with the dog (crouch) or even shooting up (lie down) can give more interesting results.

So try portrait orientation every now and then, and crouch down to give some sense of connection with the subject. [#2]

Tip #2: A picture is more interesting with a story behind it, but that doesn't mean that you have to get the entire story into the frame -- you can hint at what's going on and the viewer’s brain will fill in the gaps -- so don’t be afraid of a tighter crop! Although this next one shows a nicely self-stacked bitch, there's really nothing exciting or interesting to it. [#3]

A tighter crop that engages the animal's eyes is often a nicer portrait [#4]. It depends on your intent, of course -- if you're looking to show a stacked animal you might like the previous one -- but which would you prefer on your wall? Ok, so perhaps you don't want the goofy tongue rolling expression on your wall -- but try a tighter crop of your own animal next time and see which one you find more engaging. You'll find that your brain just naturally "fills in" the missing part of the left ear, and haunches, so it was okay to crop them out so as to focus attention on the animal's eyes.

Tip #3: Getting the right part of the picture in focus influences the way that a viewer looks at your picture. Generally, you don't want "the whole picture" in focus -- you only want the “subject” in focus. This is especially true for portraits -- remember those blurry felt background when you'd get the photos done at Sears?? That was just to fill in the gaps of the frame and not distract the viewer from the subject.

You can get a tighter focus (narrower depth of field) by shooting with a wider aperture. Using F/2.8 to F/4 is usually a nice way to get a pleasant blurred background and keep the viewers' attention to the point that you put into focus ... which is hopefully your dog! If you're shooting a landscape and want to show the animal flushing game, with the game and the tall grass also in focus, you might want a smaller aperture to help use a wider field of view and more complex scene (say F/5.6 to F/11).

Even though this one doesn't show the dog's face, or even her full frame, it does have a nicely blurred background, which helps to set the subject apart from the rest of the frame. [#5 shot during the summer, while chasing tennis balls in the park] Or looking back to #4 above, eyes (and tongue!) are in focus, with the haunches starting to go out of focus and the grass and far background just providing a nice soft setting that doesn’t distract from the subject.

Wrap up: Final set of tips (no photos for these): just take a lot of pictures; get help; and critically review your own work:

- Dogs, like kids, don't sit still for long, and so the more you take, the more likely you're going to capture that one perfect moment. It's also helpful to have your dog accustomed to having her picture taken -- she gets used to staying, waiting for you to release her.

- Sometimes a helper (the dog's owner, a friend with a squeaky toy, etc.) will be helpful to get the animal's attention and head movement right. This is harder to do on your own while looking through the camera! Watch for a “catch light” in the dog’s eyes, and having an assistant get the head right can help.

- Take lots of pictures and critically review them. It's a good way to improve your skills. Figuring out what angles and lighting look best for your animal and get used to looking at the background. There will often be distracting things that you only notice after the fact. One classic faux-pas occurs when taking a portrait with a tree in the background. Is the tree directly behind the subject's head? Does it look like there's a tree growing out of the subject's head? Critically studying your own work and getting used to those kinds of "it's great except for" will help you subconsciously look for those kinds of good settings in the future, and avoid the tree-out-of-the-head settings.

I was listening to a National Geographic photographer speak about his volume of work. He claimed that of every 10,000 photos that he took, 9,900 were immediately discarded, leaving 100 to be thoughtfully considered. Of those 100, only 1 would make it into print. I don’t know about you, but I’m no National Geographic photographer ... I had better get back out there and work on getting my set of 10,000 photos ...

BRAGS:
*Am/Can Ch. Kinnike Highgrove (owned by Julie Pullan) completed his Am. Ch. at Cobo Hall in Detroit and has since January received the following Canadian Group Placements: One Group 1st, five Group 2nds, two Group 3rds and three Group 4ths! This included a Group 2nd at the Purina National last weekend!

*Am/Can Ch. Coquetel King of the Mark JH/FDJ (owned by Genevieve Munro, Andrew Hay, Julia & John Munro) finished his American Championship in New Jersey - this included 3 majors!

*Am/Can Ch. Perryglen’s Byetheway I’m Bob (owned by Murray Spearin & Deanna Ross)went to the Eukanuba Best of Best in Show at Ontario Breeders in February and won a Group 4th.

*Ch. Dancindoll’s Stone and Sand JH, RN CGN (Cabot) did indeed finish his American JH in the fall, as well as his CGN and owner Alix Soltan mentioned that he just finished his RN title!ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Litterbox
Brett Maggs has bred his male "Ch. Tiznow Sir Edmond Hilary" to his female "Ch. Solivia's Southern Heiress" in February, puppies should be due in late April. He describes the sire and dam:
“Eddie is very level headed and very much a gentleman. Georgia is a bit of wild child but very smart, both championed at a young age and are excellent around birds. I am hoping the combo will result in excellent conformation and a great desire to hunt birds.”

Ontario Pointer Fun Day
The Pointer Club of Canada Executive is planning on having a Pointer Fun day for all Pointer Owners and their Pointers. Tentative date is Saturday, August 15, 2009 at the Farm of Murray Spearin and Deanna Ross, in Little Britain. People are welcome to camp over night (tents or trailers). We will have a BBQ and games for you to play with your dogs! For details please email Deanna.

Canadian National Specialty Show
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Arena Jean-Guy Talbot, 245 de Grandmont, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec

Judges:
REGULAR/NON-REGULAR
Ms. Charlotte Clem McGowan
15 Sargent Park
Newton, MA 02458

SWEEPSTAKES
M. Murray Spearin
571 Cresswell Road
Little Britain, ON K0M 2C0

SHOW SECRETARY
Pascale Pontois
1890 Rg des Chutes, Ste-Ursule, QC
J0K 3M0 (819) 228-3159
Email: pontois@infoteck.qc.ca

CANDID PHOTOS

Short Story:
I RESCUED A HUMAN TODAY
SUBMITTED BY DEANNA ROSS

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I
had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid.

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn't want her to know that I hadn't been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn't want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone's life.

She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her.

Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for
companionship. A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.

Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do
everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.

I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven't walked the corridors. So many more to be saved.

At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today.

TREASURER’S REPORT

PCC cash in the bank as of 31 Dec 2008 was $2,452.28; a slight increase of $92.65 from 2007.

The financial success of the PCC is influenced by the single largest activity of the year: the National Specialty. In 2008, I'm pleased to report that this event nearly broke-even on a stand alone basis!

The 2008 National had a "net cost" (costs less revenues specifically associated with the event) of $118.69. This is an improvement from 2007, which had a net cost of $556.25 after including an additional $80 cost (shown below) that was recorded in 2008.

There were three reasons for the improvement:
1. Event-specific fund raising was much stronger this year. This included member-driven activities such as the silent auction, pig roast, and even gingerbread cookie sales.
2. A stronger entry at the National and additional Regional specialty entries.
3. Costs associated with the 2008 National were lower.

Offsetting the cost of the National, as well as supporting other club costs (see schedule below), membership dues of $389.97 were received during the year.

We are grateful for your ongoing support -- both through membership dues, donations and through the time and activities that to help sustain the PCC!

And on that note, I am pleased to report that 2008 Membership is up! We have 19 members (plus some of their families) this year, an increase from 13 members in 2007.

A (Slightly Late) Fall Newsletter

Sun, 7 Dec 2008 20:23:21 -0500

My apologies for a late Fall newsletter - time has just flown by and I have been trying to get enough material together, and then find the time to post it. Remember to send me any new dog stories, brags, photos, jokes, and so on.

A reminder of our 2009 National Specialty for 2009 - we are going to inject a little European Flair right here in Canada, and head to La Belle Province in June. Our Club member Jean Filion of Imladris Kennels has kindly taken on the role of hosting the show. He can be contacted at jefilion@3web.com for more details.

Here is an overview so that you can “save the date”:

Canadian National Specialty Show
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Arena Jean-Guy Talbot, 245 de Grandmont, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec

Judges:
REGULAR/NON-REGULAR
Ms. Charlotte Clem McGowan
15 Sargent Park
Newton, MA 02458

SWEEPSTAKES
M. Murray Spearin
571 Cresswell Road
Little Britain, ON K0M 2C0

SHOW SECRETARY
Pascale Pontois
1890 Rg des Chutes, Ste-Ursule, QC
J0K 3M0 (819) 228-3159
Email: pontois@infoteck.qc.ca

Club news:
Member ships are due - I have emailed the Membership form to you all. You can also email me here to get the form: gen@pawsandeffects.com

I would like to take the time to thank Bernice Newbury for taking on the role of BC Director and also Jean Filion for taking on the role of Quebec Director.

A Treasurer’s Report will be made available in the New Year in the Winter Newsletter.

Brags:
Ch. Eva De Atama FDJ (see her titles and picture above) is a good place to start: “Eva” won Best of Opposite at our 2008 Canadian National, and the Field Class at both the Canadian and American Nationals this year! She also won a Group 3rd at St. Catharines in August!

Two of Eva’s daughters have also been doing well:

Brackenmoor Abbey Road “Abbey” out of CH Eva De Atama FDJ JH and English import Freebreeze Cullinan pictured winning BOB and best puppy in group at Trillium dog show at age 6 months (see picture below on left) - she has also won a Best Puppy in Group at Caledon in November!
Brackenmoor Maktawae Ask Me Why "Lyric" shown (below on right) winning BOB at Trillium Dog Fanciers Show. Won WB/BW two days at CKC Charity show and puppy group under breeder judge Paula Nykiel. Lyric is owned by Lola Nichol.

A few of other noteworthy wins:
Am/Can Ch. Perryglen’s Bytheway I’m Bob won a Best in Show at the Cornwall Shows, and he has also won subsequent Group Placements all Fall. He represented our Breed at the Show of Shows in Ottawa in November, and won Best Opposite at our Regional Specialty at Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry.
Perryglen’s Flame N Fortune went Winners Bitch and Best Opposite to Bob at Caledon, and also won a Puppy Group - Caledon was certainly good to the Pointer babies!
Ch. Perryglen’s La Tea Da (Rose) won the Regional Pointer Specialty held at the Stormont Dundas Glengarry Show in August! For full Specialty Results please go to Canuck Dogs.
Ch. Dancindoll’s Stone and Sand (Cabot) achieved American JH legs this fall...I can’t remember if he completed his title so his owner Alix Soltan will have to send me complete brags for our next newsletter!
Am/Can Ch. Seasyde Hollyberry, owned by Helyne Medeiros just won her 100th American Best in Show title! What a phenomenal achievement. A huge congratulations goes out to this top-winning pointer of all time.
Am/Can Ch. Coquetel Fierce One of Lamont owned by Francois Bernier achieved his American Championship and his American JH this fall.
Ch. Kinnike Highgrove (Spencer) owned by Julie Pullan got his Canadian CH & won the Puppy Derby stake at the Am National Field trial and also got a leg of his JH. Spencer is pictured below:

Photos:
With winter upon us, shovels and long-forgotten winter clothes out from the bottom of closets, let’s share some pictures of Pointers enjoying themselves and remember better weather! (Please send your photos in!)