3^rd ANNUAL TOP DOG FUN MATCH

And AWARENESS DAY

On January 14, 2012 we will hold our third annual TOP DOG event. It’s been a huge success, growing each year, and we hope to make this one the best one yet.

Come out and support the wonderful TOP DOG program, and have a great time!

WHERE  It’s held at Reid Park, in the SW corner near Country Club and 22^nd. Ramada 14

WHAT  Fun match—obedience, rally, and conformation

            Canine Good Citizen Test

            Raffle prizes

            Food—hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks, and cookies

            Vendors with fun and practical dog related items

            Artist—making wonderful drawings of your dog

WHEN  Registration for the fun match begins at 9 am. Judging begins at 10.

            Raffle tickets may be purchased from 9 till 12:15. Drawing of prizes begins at 12:30

            Food will be sold from 11:30 until it’s gone

WHY  Because TOP DOG is a great program serving the Tucson disabled community for nearly 25 years and because we want people to know what we do and why we do it.

Read on to find out more about each of the events on January 14, 2012

THE RAFFLE  Raffle tickets will cost $1.00 or 6 tickets for $5.00. Donations are being collected and we expect to have a wonderful array of prizes. We’ll have baskets of different doggie items, spa treatments, restaurant gift certificates….

THE FOOD  For a measly $5.00, you will get either a hamburger or a Hebrew National 100% beef jumbo hot dog, cooked to perfection by our chef Jerry, on a bun with condiments of your choice, plus a bag of chips, a soft drink (or water), and a homemade chocolate chip cookie (judged the best in Pima County many years ago!). That’s a bargain you can’t beat!

THE VENDORS  Come out and support some local vendors who are supporting TOP DOG. And the Humane Society will be there with adoptable dogs!!

THE ARTIST   Renee will be there once again, and for a donation to TOP DOG (whatever you can afford), she will make a beautiful pencil drawing of your dog. These special portraits would sell for at least $25.

THE FUN MATCHThe heart of the day is the fun match. Obedience will include beginning novice, pre-novice, novice, graduate novice, open, and utility. Rally will include novice, advanced and excellent. Conformation is primarily for the younger crowd—but we will include a class for dogs over 18 months. The CGC (Canine Good Citizen) is a wonderful chance to test your dog in general manners and basic skills. Check out the list below for the required exercises. If you think you and your dog are ready, come on out and earn your good citizenship certification. It’s fun for everyone.

CGC   Even if you’ve never thought about showing your dog, you can earn a Canine Good Citizen degree if your dog has basic good manners and can do the following ten exercises. You must pass every exercise so practice them with friends to see how you’ll do. Then come out on January 14 and show the world what a good citizen your dog is.

1.      Accepting a friendly stranger—your dog will allow a friendly person to approach and pet him.

2.      Sitting politely for petting—your dog sits quietly while person pets him gently

3.      Appearance and grooming—your dog must appear to be in healthy condition. Evaluator will softly brush your dog and examine feet and ears.

4.      Out for a walk—walk with your dog on a loose lead, including a few turns and at least one stop. You can talk to your dog the whole time.

5.      Walking thru a crowd—you’ll continue to walk your dog while several people mill around you and you keep him under good control.

6.      Sit and down and stay—basic command to sit and then to down. Then you can tell your dog to stay from either position. You walk 20 feet away and return.

7.      Coming when called—you walk 10 feet from your dog and call him to you

8.      Reaction to another dog—a person and dog will approach you. You stop and sit your dog and shake hands with the person, then continue on.

9.      Reaction to distraction—two disruptions will occur to see that your dog doesn’t spook excessively. It’s usually a sudden sound or a person on a bike. They stay at least 10 feet away from your dog.

10.  Supervised separation—this demonstrates that your dog can be left with another person for 3 minutes while you go out of sight. Your dog shouldn’t whine or bark excessively or pull strongly to get away.

These are all basic good manners type of exercises, and everyone should train their dogs to this level. So come on out and see how you do. It will benefit TOP DOG, and at the same time, show off how wonderful your dog is.

The CGC is also the basis for therapy dogs, so if you’ve ever wanted to take your dog to hospitals or nursing homes, this is a great start. What a fun and rewarding activity to become involved in.