RAT TALES February Part 1

Inside RAT Tales Part 1

Sweetheart Trial Wrap up

Spotlight on Members …..

Meet Debra Sweat & Teri Kruse

What do our RAT Volunteers actually do?

A look into awards with Karen Ricketts

Sweetheart Trial Wrap up

What a great weekend we had!!!!! We had 455 runs on Saturday and 353 runs on Sunday.
Saturday did run a little long however I heard no complaints!!!!
I want to give a big shout out to my trial commitee because without them the trial would not have been such a success!!!
Sally Nickelson was my trial secretary and even though she was running two dogs managed to get the scores put in and she helped me figure out how to be a good trial chair-Thank You!!!!!
Karen Ricketts was no on my committee however she came in both days to help Sally with inputting the scores-Thank You!!!!!
Pam Diemond was my Chief Ring Steward and she made sure there were always workers and everyone did a great job stepping in and working-Thank You!!!!!
Anne Seethoff and Leslie Cole were hospitality and they made sure we had lots of snacks and water-Thank You!!!!!
Nancy, Mike and Courtney Roller were our course builders and they did their usual awesome course building-Thank You!!!!!!
Teddi Bottiger and Cathy Pearcy hauled the trailers-Thank You!!!!!
Kathy Swan and Eric Sanford took care of the awards-Thank You!!!!!!
Teri Kruse took care of the workers raffle and boy did we have a lot of nice stuff-Thank You!!!!!
Sandy Cox was my COVID Check-In person and she did a great job at checking vaccination cards and handing out armbands-Thank You!!!!!
Sher Francis and Doris Dyer made a beautiful photo booth-Thank You!!!!!
Thank you to Nina Sage for taking photos and Paulette Petryk for vending.

There were no issues with the mask compliance and I heard no complaints.
We had quite a few new folks to NADAC and that was so good to see.
I want to also say that Pam Diemond went out of her way to invite people into our club!!!!!!!
I want to thank Kari Hammargren, our judge, for fun yet challenging courses-Thank You!!!!!!

We had 180 ribbons donated back and a $20 donation from a new competitor which means we will be sending $110 to K9’s for Warriors, the charity that I chose for the ribbon donation.
I believe everyone had a good time because I know for a fact that I did !!!!!!!!!!

Debra D Sweat

Spotlight on Members

Meet Debra Sweat with Zena and Scout

RT: How did you get interested in dog agility ?

Debra: I went to the Seattle Kennel Dog Show in Seattle and saw agility for the first time and saw papillons and knew I had to have one and I wanted to do agility

RT: Are you competing? If so for how long?

Debra: I have been competing for 17 years

RT: What venues do you compete in? 

Debra: I compete in NADAC, ASCA, AKC, CPE, UKI.

RT: What other activities do you do with your dogs?

Scout
Zena 8 months old

Debra: We take lots of walks.

RT: What do you like about being a RAT Club member?

Debra: I like the feeling of belonging to a very big family.

RT: What RAT Activities have you helped with? 

Debra: Working at Trials, Demos etc. I have been a trial chair and I am taking on awards for NADAC and I will be doing electronics at the CPE Trial in May.

RT: Do you have any particular interests you would like to share?

Debra: I like to golf and spend time with my grandchildren.

RT: What funny things do your dogs do? 

Debra: Scout thinks he is a bird dog and Xena is my princess and knows it.

RT: What do you like  best about your dog(s)? 

Debra: Scout loves to cuddle and Xena just loves to be held.

As many of you know I started out with Karmon, who was my first agility partner and my first papillon, she was incredible and we got a NATCH in Elma-I then had Hera who was such a sweetheart and working on a MACH when I lost her to heart failure quite suddenly-So then comes Xena and just when we are starting to trial the pandemic happened and then she developed complete heart block at the age of 2 and she now has a pacemaker and loves being the princess of the house, so now there is Scout, a loud, obnoxious and sometimes rude boy who loves life and agility and we are getting started on our journey!!!!!!!

RT: Some of you may know that Debra’s grandson Kole comes to trials as a worker and sometimes run Debra’s dog and her friend’s dogs.

Kole to the right with Debra, Judge Patti Cavin and Sam Leitz. He is with Linda Hall’s Artie.

Kole ran as a Junior Handler at the ZAP NADAC trial 2020, he and Artie were high in trial.

Meet Terri Kruse and her Rhodesian Ridgebacks

Ridley

RT: Terri lives in Federal Way with 2 Rhodesian Ridgeback males, Flynn 8 y/o, and Ridley 6 y/o. She has had Ridgebacks since 1979.

RT: How did you get interested in dog agility?

Terri: Nearly 20 years ago I got my first “show” dog, or rather, bitch. I explored all the activities I could do with her, now that the kids were almost grown. It took a few years before I found classes, and by then, I also had a dog. My first years were not well mentored. These 2 dogs were my crash test dummies for Agility and several other activities.

RT: Are you competing? If so for how long?

Terri: I am currently competing with Flynn for about 5 years. Ridley is just getting his toes wet. Between covid and 2 surgeries I had, his training stagnated.

RT: What venues do you compete in? 

Terri:We compete in NADAC, AKC, USDAA, CPE, ASCA

RT: What other activities do you do with your dogs?

Terri: Both these dogs are AKC conformation Champions and have BCAT titles. Ridley is also a GrandChampion. Flynn has ATTS temperament certificate, AKC OJP, OSP, NFP and Qs in all the Agility organizations. Ridley has just started Tracking. Both dogs have Rally training, but I have to draw the line somewhere!

RT: ATTS is American Temperament Testing Society. OJP is Open Jumpers Preferred, OSP is Open Standard Preferred. NFP is Novice Fast Preferred.

RT: What do you like about being a RAT Club member ?

Terri: I joined  RAT about 2 1/2 years ago. I have enjoyed getting to know more people and the camaraderie and support from the members. I like being exposed to other organizations (I only did AKC until the time I joined RAT).

RT: What RAT Activities have you helped with?

Terri: I have helped Christie Woolsey schlep the Agility gate supplies and have some training setting it all up. I have worked at most of the trials I enter, and recently was in charge of the Workers’ Raffle at the Sweetheart Trial.

RT: Do you have any particular interests you would like to share?

Terri: I am an avid gardener. I have several raised beds for vegetables and practice the Square Foot method for ideal plant spacing and production. Fruit trees are also a passion. Because we live in the city and have a very small yard, I have trees in pots. I have nearly 30 trees now! For the trees I practice a method called Grow a Little Fruit Tree. Not specifically for pots, this technique keeps trees small enough to not require climbing ladders for pruning and harvesting. It’s pretty cool!

RT: What funny things do your dogs do? 

Terri: My dogs are very silly. They toss toys around, run crazy laps inside and out, they have cat-like ways to demand attention. They are joyful.

RT: What do you like  best about your dog(s)? 

Terri: I like my dogs as a breed, I like the short hair and no grooming other than nails.  I like their size, independence and innate abilities



What do our RAT Volunteers actually do?

Karen Ricketts explains the Title Award Recognition Program

Name of volunteer position  Title Award Recognition Program

What is it’s purpose?  To recognize members’ accomplishments with their dogs in the prior year.

What is your committee position?  Chairperson

How long have you been volunteering in this position ?  One year

What skills/abilities/knowledge are needed? Computer skills, people skills?  Computer skills are important and access to spreadsheet and wordprocessing softare is needed (ie Excel and Word) to update the forms.  Ability to send and receive email is needed also.  The person needs the ability to organize information and communicate with vendors.

Does it require attention to detail? Yes.  Accuracy of information when placing the orders is important.

What is the time commitment to do the job and what is the timing of the activity?

 The time commitment is minimal, estimated to be less than 10 hours total.  The activity happens once a year at the end of the year, starting in November and concluding in January.

How complex or difficult do you think this job is? It is very easy.

How many times a year do you perform your volunteer function?

       Just once a year.

Can you walk us through your steps or duties?

  1. Starting in November, contact vendors for pricing
  2. Estimate fees for mailing awards to members
  3. Set ordering deadline
  4. Update forms with pricing for current year and the deadline
  5. Coordinate with L’Argus trial chair, who does the Double Digit Dog awards
  6. Ask RAT webmaster to update the website with the forms. 
  7. Replace forms with updated versions in the RAT io group files
  8. Publish /announce to members via the io.group and the Members-only FaceBook page
  9. Collect members’ orders and collate for ordering
  10. Place orders with vendors
  11. When orders arrive, separate by member and package for delivery.  The Double Digit Dog pins are delivered to the L’Argus trial chair.
  12. Distribute awards.  This typically happens at the Winterfest celebration, but they can also be hand delivered at the Dec/Jan CPE trial or the February NADAC trial.  For members who paid for mailing, the awards are mailed in padded envelopes.
  13. Ensure invoices for awards get to the Treasurer for payment
  14. Send member payment checks to Treasurer for deposit
  15. Submit expense form with receipts to Treasurer for reimbursement of expenses for envelopes, postage, etc.

What do you like best about this volunteer position?  It is easy, allows me to engage with club members and can mostly be done at home.

Where do we find a link to your volunteer position on the website?  On the website, in the drop down menu for Already a Member, under Members Only.  Click the link to Title Award Recognition Program.  The page describes the awards and has links to the policy and the forms.  The policy and forms are also posted in the files section of the RAT io group.

This committee is a one-person activity.  If you are interested in taking on this activity, contact the Board.










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