Did you know we now stock a wide range of products to support your training journey?
Are you looking to start your tricks journey? We have both the official tricks manual and USB for starters and novice in stock. We also have limited stock of the Black Dog Wear Target Stick.
Looking for some calming options for your dog? We have a number of different lickimats in stock including the lickimat slomo!
Of course, we have our ever-popular Tate Animal Trainers Training Pouch, available in the standard large and the smaller pocket pouch size. Fully washable and comes with a great belt.
Looking for a great transportable boundary bed? We have these great travel mats you can take anywhere!
Of course we have a range of leads including long lines, short competition leads and the balance harness (Seen above) in a range of colours and sizes to ensure the perfect fit for your dog. We also have training treats for sale should you have forgotten to bring yours.
If there is something you would like to see us sell, let us know. Products can be bought from the counter on a training night.
Did you know that RDOC is completely run by volunteers?
RDOC is a member-based organisation run by a group of dedicated volunteers but we need you. We have a range of roles to suit your skills and available time.
As you can imagine running any volunteer organisation in the modern world takes significant effort and it is thanks to the dedication of our volunteers that RDOC continues to grow and be a successful club. With that growth and improvement comes it’s own challenges, mainly that of managing and communicating the every day running of the club to ensure that you, the members are happy and safe.
We are currently looking, as part of our strategic planning process, on how we can improve and as such we are looking for people to volunteer their time or skills.
If you can spare an hour a week to do some admin or a few hours on a weekend to help at a trial, you will be directly contributing to the success of the club, we will also provide you with some free lessons as well!
Some of the roles we are looking for help in include;
One-off support
Trial Steward – Helping at a trial, using scribing or putting out equipment, supporting judges and generally helping out.
Canteen Helper – Helping at events in the canteen, serving food, collecting money.
Ongoing Support
Volunteer Co-Ordinator – Supporting and managing a volunteer roster, communicating with the members.
Administration – printing documents, helping with data entry, record keeping, helping apply for grants. (Could be one-of support for projects)
Helping us use Social Media to communicate with members and the community
Website Skills – maintaining and improving our website
Event management – publicity, managing and running events to promote the Club and dogs in general
Instructor – Taking and running classes – (Full training provided)
If there are any skills you could offer the club, we would be keen to hear from you, even if it is not listed above.
The club cannot succeed without our dedicate volunteers so thank you for considering supporting us with your time or skills. Every little bit helps, from offering to straighten pegs to cleaning up to running trials and being on the committee, thank you.
How long have you been with the club? – For about 3
years
What do you do? – I am currently the club president,
an obedience instructor for the foundation course and class 3, as well as a
general dog’s body!
Tell us a little more about yourself – I am a
relative newcomer to the dog world, having only had one dog in my life, my 3.5
year old Koolie Cross, Biscuit.
I have had a bit of a baptism of fire, having to learn
quickly how to not only train a dog but also how to manage reactive, nervous
and easily aroused dogs. I have amazing people supporting me on my learning
journey and have learnt the most modern training methods from the great team we
have at the club and through my own drive to extend my learning.
That support and learning has helped Biscuit and I
achieve our Rally Novice title, and re-start our agility training, as that is
what we hope to get more involved in, in the future.
I am passionate about creating great relationships both for people and their dogs but also people and their community. As a community, volunteer-run club, I strive to see those volunteers supported and empowered.
I may be a relative newcomer to the dog world, but not to
clubs and volunteer organisations, having run a number of clubs since I was at
university. I see the best in people and what they can become with a little
support and encouragement.
It is my goal to create an inclusive and supported club
that is as self-sufficient as possible, so that our
volunteers can do what they love, whatever that may be.
Name – Julia Fenton
How long have you been with the club? – On & Off
since 1984
What do you do? – I am the OIC (Officer in Charge of
Instruction), as well as an instructor (mostly class 4) and the clubs Vice
President.
Tell us a little more about yourself – As OIC, it is my job to look after the instructors at the club, provide them with knowledge and training of new methods being taught in the training world. Provide training manuals and innovative courses for members of the club, inspire new members to become instructors, and bring exciting guest speakers to the club to share their knowledge. It is also my responsibility to provide a training night for our triallers and help them reach their goals in the competition ring, which led me to studying and becoming an obedience judge. Lastly, my role is to test each dog’s skill levels and promote them onto the higher levels.
As
an instructor, I try to inspire my class to grow their relationship with their
dog to a level above and beyond one they thought they would ever have. This may
include trialling or a dog sport, or it may just be having their dream
companion.
I
have successfully trained 6 dogs to various levels in obedience. My current dog
‘Annie’ is my heart dog and we have had a lot of fun dabbling in many sports
from obedience, agility, flyball, non-slip retrieving, tracking and scent
works. She is a DELTA therapy dog visiting nursing homes, hospitals and
corporate events. Our most exciting venture was her playing a role in a stage
musical.
Name – Jennie Day
How long have you been with the club? – For about
4 years
What do you do? – I
am the Club Secretary and one of the agility instructors. Currently I am involved in helping us to create a more modern club
for our members including grant writing, co-ordinating a strategic plan and
getting our constitution up to date.
Tell us a
little more about yourself – From a young age I loved animals, art and children. Did teaching
(geography), youth work and human services policy. Retired, with 5
grandchildren. Now I’m doing animals, namely dog sports with my Australian
Shepherd Alfie, my second dog. I joined the Club specifically to do agility and
we now compete in Obedience, Rally-O and Agility (which is my favourite dog
sport).
Maybe I’ll take up art
later in life!
Name – Jan Dixon
How long have you been with the club? – For about 15
years.
What do you do? – I am currently the trial secretary
for Obedience and RallyO (Rally Obedience) as well as the Instructor for RallyO
Tell us a little more about yourself – I have been on
the committee for about half the time I have been with the club in various
roles including the role of treasurer.
I have titled 8 Golden Retrievers to various
levels of obedience. The most successful being Obedience Grand Champion &
Rally Champion Euraidd One Night Stand UDX RAE NRA (Yogi).
My current Golden is Euraidd Stand Beside Me RN
(Herbie)
Name – Sonia Austin
How long have you been with the club? – On & Off
for nearly 20 years.
What do you do? – I am currently a member of the
management committee and one of the agility instructors.
Tell us a little more about yourself – I currently
compete in Obedience, RallyO and agility with my two Labradors, Winston and
Jedda.
I work full time as a Dental Technician in Manly and I am
a Mum to two gorgeous young boys. I love hiking when I can, running and all
things Outdoors and as far away from housework as possible!
In my spare time I like to…. Oh, hang on!
Name – Vicki Hogan
How long have you been with the club? – For about 5
years
What do you do? – I am currently a member of the
management committee and also one of the agility instructors.
Tell us a little more about
yourself – I joined for help with my mischievous beagle, Elsa. With a lot
of assistance from both the obedience and agility instructors at the club, we
now compete in both agility and tricks competitions. I am also now part of the
agility instructor team and am really enjoying my time introducing new people
to the sport.
I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and currently work as the financial manager in my family business, Hogan’s Wellington Point Hotel.
Name – Karin Burns
How long have you been with the club? – For about 5
years
What do you do? – I am currently a member of the
management committee and also one of the obedience instructors, I also produce
the clubs newsletter.
Tell us a little more about yourself – I joined
RDOC when my Golden Retriever was a pup about 5 years ago to teach him to
socialise, to learn basic obedience, as well as to just spend time with him and
have fun. Since then we have discovered there is a whole new world out there
involving dogs.
We have learnt some more advanced Obedience, Rally O,
some fun tricks, basic agility, scent work and been part of the Obedience
display team.
Along the way I have made some great friendships with
other like-minded dog lovers. Having their support has been extremely valuable,
whether it be providing me with training advice or being there for me when my
dog had health issues.
I have been a committee member for approximately 18
months and have found the team to have the vision to enable the club to be in a
good position to thrive in the future.
For the last 2 ½ years I have been a part of a team of Obedience instructors. Although instructing is not my natural habitat, I find it rewarding and have discovered, as Albert once said, “The more I learn, the more I realise how much I don’t know.”
Name – Nicky Wright
How long have you been with the club? – For about 3
years
What do you do? – I am currently a member of the
management committee and also one of the obedience instructors.
Tell us a little more about yourself – I originally
hail from the Northern Suburbs of Sydney. I moved to Queensland several years
ago to work at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, as an experienced
veterinary nurse with birds, reptiles and exotic animals.
I am currently working for Defence Community Dogs, teaching prisoners to train rescue dogs for defence force veterans with PTSD. I have German Shepherd Dogs, one of which is a certified wildlife detection dog, trained on koala and spotted tail quoll.
I have a Certificate lll in dog training and behaviour (NDTF), have studied under Dr Susan Friedman, completing the Living and Learning with Animals professionals course, I am studying a Bachelors of Zoology degree, and I have completed a Pro Dog Trainer course in concept training for behaviour modification.
Name – Kate Hutchinson
How long have you been with the club? – For about 3
years
What do you do? – I am currently a member of the
management committee and I also compete in agility.
Tell us a little more about yourself – I started training
with the club in 2017 with my Kelpie pup ‘Charli’. I compete in Agility and
Jumping which are my favourite events. I work for All Horses Veterinary
Services and prior to that I have been a small animal nurse around Brisbane and
at various clinics in N.Z.
Currently I
am working on Obedience with my Jack Russel pup ‘Ralph’ who can concentrate for
the first 5 minutes of each lesson!
RDOC
held its first Agility and Jumpers Trial for the year on Saturday 1st
February. It was a great and busy start to 2020.
The
weather had been extremely hot and humid over the summer which makes the conditions
difficult for the dogs and handlers, however RDOC was well prepared with some
refreshing paddle pools set up to cool the Canines. The 2-month break may have
taken its toll as there were some very excited dogs. It’s always difficult
getting back into the swing of training and competing after a long break.
It was the first
time the club had used the new barrier set up (as captured in the photo above by
Sonia taken from the top of the hill). This system received some positive
feedback from competitors as they felt they could run their dogs without the
anxiety of feeling they were going to escape.
It worked well for all but the most determined of dogs… notably Jedda
who managed a quick social visit during one of her runs, disqualifying herself
in an otherwise clear round. Thanks for organising this Paolo.
The
night had some good results showing that RDOC has some pretty fast dogs! With a
qualification and first place for Jedda and Sonia in Novice Agility 500, and a
well-deserved qualification and first for Layla and Tess in Novice Jumping 600.
Charli
and Kate also achieved a tidy qualification and first place in Excellent Jumping
600. Paolo ran both Chica and Strudel as Anne had a very sore foot. He gained a
second place with Chica in Novice Agility 300 and Strudel ran beautifully with Dad for the first run but
decided to go find Mum in the second run!!
Winston also ran well and just a couple of handler errors cost
him a qualification. His obvious enjoyment was reward enough for his weary
handler!
A few of our usual competitors were absent from the night’s
activities due to varying Canine misadventures.
Sonia, Tess and Kate with their dogs Jedda, Layla and Charli
Many thanks to all the judges, scribes,
marshals, stewards and canteen peeps. We were short on volunteers for this
trial, but the camaraderie of the sport was evident in the many lovely helpers
from all the other clubs. THANK YOU! And thank you to Jeremy and Eukanuba www.eukanuba.com.au for donating prizes for first place
getters and qualifications.
Overall, the night was a great success and ran
smoothly, no lights going out, no sprinklers, no rabbits running across the
field, it didn’t rain and not a single Streaker in sight!
Our next Agility & Jumpers Trial to be held
on home soil will be Saturday 2nd May, so please come along to
watch, help out and/or support the Agility team.
Defined as a breed of small scent hound with
an intelligent, determined, gentle temperament. This breed is the 5th
most popular breed worldwide and in the top 20 of the most popular breeds in
the Redlands.
But did you know the word ‘Beagle’ is also used as a verb!
Being scent hounds, they are also known for
being stubborn and require very patient and creative training techniques. They
are also very food motivated and they really enjoy using their noses.
Elsa is a 5 year old Beagle and started her training at RDOC in Obedience classes as we all do. She excelled through the classes and her owner, Vicki was teaching her lots of tricks which she also learnt very quickly. Learning these tricks would keep her inquisitive mind busy……………… you would think! But Elsa had other ideas.
She has learnt to move chairs so that she can
climb onto the bench to steal food.
She has burrowed into the mattress of Vicki’s
bed.
Opened the pantry and eaten coffee sachets.
Elsa can easily get into a container with dry dog food. If it has a clip on lid, she simply unclips it. If it has a screw top lid, still no problem, Elsa has learnt to unscrew a lid using her dexterous paws and mouth.
Elsa now, competing at Masters level Agility events
She has been to the vet numerous times for
eating chocolates which she stole from high up on cupboards and from handbags.
And most recently, she has learnt to climb
ladders!!
Vicki & Elsa in action
Elsa started in Agility classes a few years
ago and is now successfully competing in Masters and Open level.
However, in the early stages, Karen D, our agility instructor, was not going to be out-beagled by this beagle. Elsa was showing her stubborn streak and would not jump. Karen was very patient and would not give up. She set up barriers, which ended up stretching to metres wide but Elsa would still go around rather than take the simple option. Her owner wanted to melt into the ground in embarrassment….but Karen would not be outdone It took a bit of time, but eventually, Elsa went over the jump. and she has never tried to out stubborn Karen again! Vicki has taken Elsa to other agility training clubs and was basically told, she’s a beagle, can’t train a beagle for agility.
Vicki with a lot of help from the agility team
has proved them wrong.
However, Elsa is still a Beagle and every now
and then she does go full Beagle.
Vicki never knows what dog she will have on the day
Elsa doesn’t like running in the heat, or in
the rain, or if there are prickles, or during her nap time, which is most of
the day time. Conditions have to be perfect and when it does suit her she runs
brilliantly.
Elsa doing her Tricks – backing up
Some Recent Elsa moments:
At an Agility Trial, Vicki felt Elsa was not quite herself as her belly looked full although Vicki had not given her anything to eat. But Elsa must have eaten something that did not agree with her. She did feel a lot better after she relieved herself, but unfortunately, it happened on the Agility course!
An Agility trial at Durack running in the rain –Elsa ran to the shelter to keep dry.
Elsa loves the contact equipment and will run full speed if she knows the A frame and Dog Walk are on the course, but will then lose interest and slow down once these are done.
Elsa will sometimes stop mid-course to follow a scent trail. Once she has detected an interesting odour nothing else exists in her brain.
At another trial at Oxley Elsa ran really well and gained her Excellent Jumping Title…..but broke out of her crate while Vicki was walking the next course. She ate all the chicken treats from Vicki’s bag, as well as Vicki’s leftover hot chips and the aioli that came with it! Then went to the next-door camp looking for more food. So when she went to run her agility course she could hardly move, she did the weave poles then dropped on her side and didn’t want to get up. This was after a lady had said “I can’t believe you have a beagle doing agility, can I film it for my sister?” Elsa’s jumping was great, but Vicki later heard the lady on the phone to her sister saying, ‘yep, she is definitely a Beagle, you won’t believe what she has just done!”
Then there was the time Elsa turned on the cooker as she grabbed Vicki’s bag from the counter while home alone and almost burnt the house down. This one was quite serious, so luckily not too much damage and Elsa & the house were ok, but there was a badly burnt bag and a house full of smoke.
Elsa takes a bow
Thanks so much for sharing these stories with us Vicki.
