2018 awards presented at the February 24, 2019 Annual Banquet (with awardees' comments about their dogs):

Kitt, an Australian Shepherd, and Mary Ash:
8 scent work titles, 1 trick dog title, 1 obedience title, 1 rally title

"Kitt has matured into a very sweet and loving dog although the "red head" still appears at times.  She is most definitely a people lover as many of you know.  I am extremely proud of how versatile she is.  She is competing in three venues, Scent work, Rally, and Obedience and doing well in all three arenas.  We will be entering Novice Obedience with the goal of getting her CD this year as well as continuing in Rally and Scent work."

U-be, a Border Collie, and Donna Golemon:
8 scent work titles, 1 trick dog title

"U-be lover to all, if he was a Hollywood actor he would be Clark Gable! U-be brings such joy to our lives; he has such a gentle soul.  Not your typical border collie, he is a dog all of his own. He will be 10 in February.  I do not know where the time has gone onlt that it has been incredible. I am blessed to have him in my life."

Nickel, a Border Collie, and Donna Golemon:
16 herding titles, 4 scent work titles

"Nickel achieved all the goals I had for her this year. Her herding abilities at Trials exceeded all of my expectations. Nickel not only qualified at all he herding events, but in AKC and ASCA she walked away with all the big awards.  I am so proud of her and it is a joy to share myself with her.  Love her like a pig loves the mud."

Cosmo, a Boxer, and Christy Rose:
1 trick dog title

"Cosmo is easily distracted.  Everything clamors for his attention, so earning this very first title is a huge accomplishment."

Chopper, a Boxer, and Christy Rose:
1 trick dog title

"Chopper is Cosmo’s half brother and he too inherited the distractibility gene.  Working with him keeps me on my toes."

Jive, a Cocker Spaniel, and Linda Wargo:
2 scent work titles, 1 rally title

"Where has the time gone?  Jive is now 12 years old and still enjoys training and competing.  So what do you do when agility and barn hunt become too much for an aging body?  Well, Jive has taken up scent work and rally.  And, although barn hunt is now too much for him, he still loves to hunt and this year brought me a squirrel that I thoughT was a stuffed toy!"

Hef, a Cocker Spaniel and Linda Wargo:
2 scent work titles

"Although Hef has master agility titles, it was always an issue to keep him working for the 20+ obstacles without him wanting to run to the exit gate for his reward.  To him there is nothing better than getting immediately rewarded. I blame this on his time in the confirmation ring where treats were freely available.  I’m sure he thinks why can’t this be the case everywhere!  Enter scent work, where if you show Mom where the scent is hidden, you immediately get a great treat. Tailor made for Hef. We will continue in Scent Work (he’s earned five titles in 2019 so far), and hopefully I will get it together, and do the paperwork for his AKC therapy dog title this year as well."

Lola, a Cocker Spaniel, and Linda Luchsinger:
1 trick work title

Teddy, a Cocker Spaniel, and Linda Luchsinger:
conformation championship and grand championship

Brooklyn, a german Shorthaired Pointer, and Sue Osborn:
conformation championship

"When we lost our first German Shorthaired Pointer, Paris, in December of 2015, we checked with her breeder to see if they were expecting a litter. Yes, they were expecting one right away so we sent in a deposit even though we had to go on a waiting list for a girl, which is what we wanted. Turns out the litter didn’t take.

"So we rolled over to the next litter. That litter didn’t take either. We rolled over to yet another litter due early June, still on the waiting list for a girl. This litter took but there were only two girls, both of which went to the top two people on the waiting list. So again there was no puppy for us. We rolled over to yet ANOTHER litter due the following fall.

"Then, our daughter, Kathy, remembered a friend of hers was looking for a German Shorthaired Pointer a couple of years back. Kathy had told her the name of the breeder Paris came from. Kathy’s friend then called Paris’ breeder and was told no puppies were available at the time but was given the name of a breeder in Fairfield.

"Knowing how frustrated we were not being able to get a new puppy, after waiting through one litter after another, Kathy called her friend to find out the name and number of the other breeder for us. I immediately called the this breeder and learned there was a 10-week-old female puppy available. The breeder, Julie Lahr-Toral, had kept two of her best female German Shorthaired Pointer puppies not knowing for sure which one to keep for showing. She had just decided a couple of days before I called. The very next day, on June 16th, we brought
home the one she chose not to keep. And that is how we ended up with Brooklyn, a show German Shorthaired Pointer.

"All we were looking for was a pet German Shorthaired Pointer so I totally did not have any plans to show her. However, when I posted photos of her on Facebook and Julie commented I really should show her, I told her I didn’t know the first thing about conformation. She told me there was a show coming up that had a 4 to 6 month puppy class I should try entering to see how it went. So I did. Brooklyn placed first in her class and took3rd place in the puppy-sporting group AND I had a lot of fun showing her.

"I was hooked.

"I then decided I wanted to learn more about conformation so started classes in Benicia. At about the same time, thanks to Donna Golemon, I hooked up with Arlene McCabe who breeds and shows Brittanys.  Arlene turned out to be a wonderful mentor! Learning more about how to show encouraged me to enter more shows. At first I was just doing it for fun, and even though we weren’t getting points, we always came home with one or more ribbons. It took almost a year learning the ropes before Brooklyn received her first points.

"Even so, I was on the fence about continuing and going for a championship. Just when I thought we had the hang of it, we would go to shows and often finish last. However, Brooklyn and I kept getting better with each show and so did my confidence.

"So I kept going and on November 9, 2018 at the Wine Country Classic, Brooklyn became a champion! Because Brooklyn is such a nice girl and I am having so much fun showing her, and there is still a lot more I want to learn about conformation, I am now looking at going for her grand championship!"

Bill, a Golden Retriever, and Linda Wargo:
2 agility titles

"Everyone adores Bill. He is just that kind of Golden. This year we completed both of his premier agility titles which each required 25 Qs (5 had to be super Qs placing in the top 25% of the height class) on international style courses. We had such fun running those courses together!  Since he’s now nine years old we have taken a step back from agility and are concentrating on competition obedience and scent work.  Hopefully we will get his CD this year and some Scent Work Titles.  But most of all he is my steady Eddie who gives me lots of golden love."

Ziji, a Golden Retriever, and Linda Wargo:
1 agility title

"Agility has taken a bit of a back burner this year for Ziji and I. Ziji has her master agility titles and is working on her MACH title which is coming along slowly.  We are hoping to do a lot more USDAA in 2019 while continuing to pursue her AKC MACH.  I am also just starting her in scent work."

Bliss, a Miniature Schnauzer, and Sandy Bonifield:
conformation championship

"Bliss is my first female champion. We worked very hard and went to a lot of shows to get her title.  It was well worth it. She’s a great dog!"

Jacques, a Standard Poodle, and Carol Coawette:
2 trick dog titles

"Jacques is a very loving and sweet boy who has enjoyed learning many new things via NVDTC during his almost 7 years. He learned tricks from 12 weeks on and even learned new ones to earn his AKC Intermediate Trick Dog title this past year.  He also just took second place in our Scent Work trial in Exterior search and 5th place in Container search even though we have not had time to practice much outside of Donna’s terrific classes. He is very interested in life and other dogs and people- he really loves all of his NVDTC teachers and friends and you know who you are. 

"These past few months he has also been patient and sweet to his new little “brother “ Pierre ( which his “Mom” appreciates).

"Congratulations Jacques!"