GSSCC Ontario Members

Good day! I would like to wish all the members of the Ontario Region A Safe and Happy New Year.

As we depart 2017 I would like to congratulate all the Ontario members that trained and trialed this year. As most of us in this sport realize, it takes an enormous amount of time to train and/or trial ourselves along with our dogs. As I have traveled to the events of this past year, I can see the hard work the teams have put in. Hard work doesn’t just show up in the teams that have entered trials, I have seen a lot of teams on the training fields that are very good, and I would expect to see them in trials in 2018. I also noticed how many teams of newcomers we have added to our sport – we need to encourage these teams to the best of our ability to work hard and really learn the sport, so they may use the information they receive from us to reach all the goals they have set out for themselves and their dogs.

We have approximately 275 members and growing in Ontario and our goal as we move into 2018 is to get the Clubs and the members of Ontario more involved, as well as showing more support to each other in the upcoming year. The support may come in different ways like hosting trials and seminars, or just supporting clubs and members of the Region. We all realize that some clubs and members may not be able to host trials or seminars, but they can still support the few clubs that do take the time to host these events over and over again each year, so we can all have the opportunity to title our dogs. My challenge to all members and clubs in Ontario is to attend all the trials and seminars with or without your dogs in 2018. Our support may be the difference in the hosting club losing money or breaking-even for their hard work so let’s all get out there.

In 2018, you will also see some changes on how we vote for our upcoming positions on your Board of Directors, as well as policy/guideline changes. Starting in 2018 you will have the ability to vote online. The call for nomination for Chairperson and Show Director are already in motion.

Below you will see some information that Dwyn has put together regarding 2107.

Happy New Year!!

Hank Bowden
Chair Ontario Region

Year End Wrap Up – Ontario Schutzhund Association

It was a good year for Ontario. We had:

• 7 seminars (including helper seminars)
• 11 trials
• 2 shows
• 2 breed surveys
• and 3 open training days hosted by clubs.
• and hosted the National Championship Trial, Sieger Show and Breed Survey.
• and one new club accredited – welcome to TOP Working Dog Club.

From those trials (numbers are including the Regionals, but not the Nationals), we saw:

• 50 new bhs, and 16 not yet successful
• 5 passing TR1/FPR1 (2 unsuccessful), 1 passing OB1/UPR1
• 14 successful IPO1s, with a near equal 13 unsuccessful
• 10 successful IPO2s, and 6 unsuccessful
• and 26 passed IPO3s (not all new titles), and 7 not successful, and finally
• 1 successful FH2 and 2 successful FH1s.
• There were also 8 successful ADs and 3 not successful.

On the Show side, including the Regional championship show, there were 2 shows:

• 107 dogs shown
• 14 in the working (titled) classes
• 20 in the open classes
• 27 in the young dog classes
• and 46 in the puppy classes
• There were also 7 breed surveys done, with 2 new surveys and 5 re-surveys (survey for life).

Successful or not – getting out on the competition field takes a huge commitment and a great deal of courage. These simple numbers represents thousands of hours of training and a huge effort from a community of people dedicated to the spirit of the German Shepherd and working dogs in general, and we have to say that we are proud to be a part of that.

Congratulations also go to Jennifer Jones on all her work put in as she works through her judge’s apprenticeship.

GSSCC Renewal Date Moved
You can renew your GSSCC membership online, – the due date is now March 1, to ease the financial burden of needing to renew on top of holiday expenses.

However, there is no grace period and please remember that everyone associated with an event, such as a trial, needs to be a fully paid-up member, including the trial manager, the helpers, and the track-layers (in addition to the competitors.)

In the spirit of this, Ontario Region Club dues will also move to a March 1 due date.

Trial Manager Program
The Trial Manager program has been rolled out, and as of Jan 2019, all trials will need to run by a certified Trial Manager.

The region is hosting a Trial Manager Seminar on March 25, 2018 for anyone who is interested in being certified. It is in the interests of each club to send at least two people to be certified as a trial manager, otherwise, somebody in the club never gets the advantage of being able to compete on their home field. You can sign up on the region website: www.ontarioschutzhund.com. This is a free seminar.

Elections for 2018
Elections are for the position of Regional Chairperson and Show Director in 2018. Nomination forms are on the website at https://ontarioschutzhund.com/home/member-info/ The closing date for nominations is Mar 30, and the election will be conducted electronically.

Regional Guidelines
The updated Region Guidelines, and Guidelines for Hosting a Regional Event have been drafted and are available on https://ontarioschutzhund.com/home/member-info/

Ontario Region T-shirts
The Ontario Region had some Team Ontario t-shirts made, and distributed them to the Ontario competitors at the Nationals. These were a big success and very well received. We still have a few left for sale.

In closing, we would just like to say again how proud we are to be part of Ontario Schutzhund and to be associated with such a dedicated and committed group of people. Go Team Ontario!

Yours in Sport
The Ontario Region Schutzhund Association Board of Directors
Hank Bowden, President
Dwyn Tomlinson, Secretary/Treasurer
Juergen Fischer, Trial Director
Frank Caputo, Show Director