Dogs & Toddlers™ is science-based, proven training that promotes the human-animal bond. The program is ideal for families with dogs and babies soon to be crawling or walking. Gain insight and proactive options for common challenges families with dogs experience as baby becomes mobile!

Lisa Bert is a licensed consultant for 'Family Paws Parent Education' and will present the program to interested club members on Sunday March 29th, after usual training at 11.30am.

If you are interested in becoming members of KODTC to train your dog, welcome to our website. We welcome dogs of all breeds/cross breeds, shapes, sizes and ages to our club (pups as soon as they have completed their vaccination program).

What differentiates us from some other clubs is that we are a 'positive reinforcement' dog training club. We do not use discipline as a training tool, we find that we get much better and quicker results and happier, more confident dogs with positive training methods. (We are in step with current research into the best dog training methods).

We are now taking enrolments for April 2020.What you need to do is register as a new member via the Website. You will then be contacted by our President Joy who will allocate you to the evening 'new member' induction session. This evening session is compulsory for all new members and will be held on Wednesday 8th April from 7.30pm for approximately an hour and a half.

When you join online you can scan in evidence of your dog's current vaccination which is required prior to him or her attending KODTC classes. You can take a photo of the documents and attach a copy to your registration, or bring your vaccination evidence with you when you come down to the club for the new member evening or when you come with your dog.

Please do not bring your dog with you to the evening session, which is held inside the pavilion on Wednesday evenings once a month. As previously stated, the evening induction session is compulsory for all new members.

Please note that we have had several people who have used their GPS map advice to find our club and have been very confused at that advice and have arrived late for the induction session (or not at all!!). please see a map prior to coming, there is one on the bottom of the home page...

When you join your membership will cover you until the end of 2020. We do not meet in December or January apart from an end of year Funday. The joining fee of $25 is not refundable if your circumstances change.

If you have any concerns or questions, please email us on kodtc12@gmail.com

Click here to fill out an online membership application form.

Story Dogs is a reading program that aims to make reading fun for children, so they become confident lifetime readers. The program is voluntary and involves a dog and handler listening to children read, on a weekly and on-going basis.

When children read to a dog, the outcomes are amazing! it is a non-judgemental setting, with the children's focus improving, their literary skills increasing and their confidence soaring.

If you are interested and think your dog has the appropriate temperament, please visit www.storydogs.org.au to read more about the program.

This is a reprint of an entry on Facebook by the owner, Eliza Ryan, of a very loved young Kelpie. It is a reminder for us all. (For the Facebook entry please google 'Kelpie Rosie's Weather Warning', also has some lovely pictures of the pup). (The image above is like Rosie but not Rosie).

Rosie's Legacy 31.3.16 - 30.12.16

Rosie died in December 2016 from overheating whilst playing ball. She was a healthy 9 month old kelpie pup and died because she was exercising in the evening just after 5pm on a 34 degree day with high humidity (54%) - a lethal cimbination.

Rose was only playing for 10-15 minutes before she crashed to the ground whilst chasing a ball, and went into seisures and within an hour of making it to the vet, she died. The tragedy was that it was all preventable.

There were no symptoms. However I did not allow her to stop and rest in between throwing a ball as far as I could, in an open space with no shade. I did not take water out with us. She has no chance.

I am sharing this to educate owners on heat stress as it does kill.

A dog's resting body temperature is between 38-39 degrees. If it reaches 41 degrees it will be fatal.

I urge dog owners to not esercise their pets on warm days. Playing ball or exercising a dog on days above 30 degrees is dangerous.

Leet a dog play in a pool or int he sea on a hot dday. Never feel guilty for not exercising a working dog it is a warm day. We are their protectors and it's our responsibility to keep them safe. I have heard people say 'but my dog was born in a hot climate so they are climatized'. This is absolute nonsense. A dog's core temperature should be kept to 38-39 degrees. Make sure thay have a cool place to rest and escape the heat if youn live in a hot climate.

I hope by sharing Rosie's story I can help educate dog owners on how quickly heat stress can happen.

Help Rosie raise awareness on Heat Stress by sharing this important message.

Are you fascinated by how effective positive reinforcement dog training can be and wanting to learn more? If you are interested in developing your skills and understanding of positive reinforcement dog training further maybe you might be interested in becoming a trainee Instructor. We have a program for trainees and regularly invite guest speakers to keep our instructors on the cutting edge of training techniques and understanding. New trainees are always welcome.

Talk to our training manager Noelene, or any of our committee or instructors for more info.

Last Saturday, at the Flyball competition at Ballarat, our Flyball team set a new club record. It was the first time a club team has run under 20 seconds since starting to compete back in the nineties. The time was 19.511 seconds with the team being Max, the border collie with Rhiannon, Griffon, the border terrier with Julie, Jessie the gold and white border collie with Drew and Paris, the malinois, with Max (the person). It is only the second time that Jessie has run, she is just 15 months old and is a very fast, enthusiastic little dog. The box loader for the record run was Joy. The team looks forward to more very fast runs as they get more experience running as a team with Jessie.

The November new member intake was the last for 2019. Our club has its last meeting for the year on Sunday 1st December with a FunDay and then will be in recess for the rest of December and January, and will start up again in early February.

If you are wanting to train your dog with us in 2020 you can join online via this site or alternatively you can come down to our new member day on the first Sunday in February. Once joined, you will be booked into a Wednesday evening new member induction session in early February. We do need to see your dog's current and up to date vaccination evidence which can be scanned with your online registration or brought along to the Wednesday evening induction session.

The Wednesday evening new member induction session is compulsory for all new members and contains info on how our club runs and how we train using positive reinforcement methods. You will be given some homework to prepare you and your dog for your first training session at the club.

We usually have a lot of new members over the summer break so new dog numbers are limited. If you are interested in joining it is best not to leave it to the last minute or you may have to wait until March to start training.

We look forward to meeting you and your dog in the new year!

Every year the KODTC committee votes on the most valuable club member. This year the award went to Rob Youdan who is an Instructor and committee member. When he is not taking classes, Rob likes to come to the club with Moto his Ridgeback cross who has had problems with cancer. Most weeks Rob is at the club taking classes to ensure that we have enough instructors available, with Moto left at home. Rob has a particular interest in 'difficult' dogs and is always ready to give any assistance that he can in that area.

He is also attending Kaye Hargreaves mentoring sessions with several other of our instructors to further his knowledge on dog training. Rob was presented with a set of glasses and the honour shield at the presentations yesterday. Congratulations Rob from the rest of the committee and our members.

The awards for Members achieving Best Handlers, Most Improved and Encouragement awards and titles in Dog Sports such as Obedience, Agility, Flyball, Tracking and others that were made at club at the December Fun Day, were beautiful pairs of drinking glasses. The glasses are engraved with the name of the handler and his or her dog, the name of the award and the club emblem. The glasses are lovely to have, especially as the years pass.

The photo was taken by Hans van der Post.

At our December Fun Day eight members were honoured for their achievements at the club over the 2019 club year.

Wally with Eva the black Labrador Retriever received the Best Male Handler Award.

Leonie with Maggie, a very regal Airedale was awarded the Best Female Handler Award.

Jamilla with Jazz, the little black Kelpie, was awarded the best Junior Handler.

Most improved Handler was awarded to Durai with Riley, a lovely Golden Retriever.

Encouragement awards were made to Pauline with Ollie, the French Bulldog; Nicholas with Miller, a German Shorthaired Pointer; Teigan with Bronte, a Staffy; and Michael with Bobo, a German Shepherd.

Huge congratulations to all of these members. Below are photos of Wally, Durai, Jamilla and Pauline.

At the AGM on November 24th Joy Allen, our current President and Maree Schellekens were conferred Life Memberships of KODTC for their ongoing work at the club. Joy and Maree were caught on camera at the Fun Day in early December.

Our club does not meet in December or January for usual Sunday Training ( Flyball training does continue over December and January).

If you need or want to participate in positive reinforcement dog training, over summer, Kaye Hargreaves is running a 'Summer School'. Kaye runs her dog training activities in Brunswick, has a lot of experience in working with 'difficult dogs' and is recommended by our club. She is also happy to work on more basic activities like socialisation. Several Keilor Dog Obedience Dog Training Centre Trainers are a part of Kaye's team. For details please contact Max, on 0428 260 927. Max is one of our trainers who works with Kaye.

In order to keep our club vibrant and moving forward, our committee members are inviting interested and enthusiastic club members to consider joining the committee. Our AGM is in late November so now is the time to have a think about helping our club at the committee level.

The club committee meets once a month, currently on the first Wednesday evening of each month, at 7.30pm, in the pavilion.

If you are interested please have a chat with the committee members manning the kiosk. There are lots of jobs that are shared and everyone has a skill or talent that could assist the club to be stronger and better.

The University of Melbourne Werribee Animal Hospital is seeking canine blood donors.

Just like humans, pets can suffer from life-threatening illnesses such as anaemia, toxicity, trauma or severe injury that could result in them needing a life-saving blood transfusion. U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital’s Canine and Feline Blood Donor Programs constantly are in need of blood donations to ensure blood products are readily available for immediate use for critical ill pets in our care.

Your dog may become a blood donor if he or she is:

* 1-5 years old,

* 25kg or more,

* be healthy and have a calm temperament

* up to date with vaccinations and parasite control

* a Victorian Resident (never travelled outside of Victoria)

* available to donate 2 - 4 times a year

* not a blood transfusion recipient.

To volunteer your dog and for more information visit u-vet.com.au/blood-donor-programs.

On Sunday 9th June, Keilor is hosting a Flyball competition. We will have 14 teams of dogs running in competition (2 teams at a time) over jumps to retrieve a ball and then return to their human mate. Dogs of all shapes and sizes love Flyball, with Border Collies , Kelpies and other working dogs ecstatic with joy over it.

The comp starts at around 8.30am and will run well into the afternoon with a break for lunch.

Volunteers are desperately needed for the set up from 6am and for the BBQ (we are providing food for up to around 100 people). Free breakfast for helpers (hot egg and bacon sandwiches!!).

Please let us know via our gmail address kodtc12@gmail.com if you can help.

There were no promotions last week so we are doing a feature on a long term member Wally, and his Golden Retriever Jed.

Wally is a member of the committee and is usually seen helping Mel set up both the outside area and the Kiosk on a Sunday morning. Wally has two dogs, the younger Eva, a black Labrador Retriever and the Golden Retriever Jed, who is now 10 years old.

Jed had many competition titles, including Grand Track and Search Champion (TCH), Rally Novice (RN), Novice Retrieving Dog (NRD) and Open Retrieving Dog (ORA). He retired from competing 2 years ago. Jed and Wally prefer retrieving, with Jed being very food motivated. Wally and Jed do part of a class sometimes, at other times Wally is in class with Eva. Jed initially came from a breeder in Pearcedale.

If you see Wally about the club and did not already know him, say hello. He can give you more details on Jed's breeder if you are interested.

Due the anticipated extreme temperature of 36 degrees this Sunday, the committee has decided that classes will be cancelled. However, the Socialisation Walk will go ahead at 9.00am

This decision has been made with the welfare of the dogs being the concern.

The new Flyball beginners class was due to start this Sunday. There will be a meeting of the members who have expressed interest, on the veranda of the pavilion at 9am. The theory of Flyball as a sport and its training will be explained. It will be too hot to have the dogs out and starting to train. (The new dogs can be present at the meeting).

There is still room for one more dog in this Beginners Flyball class.

Unfortunately the following weekend (March 9th, 10th, 11th) is a long weekend so there will be no training on the Sunday. .

Late last year was a very sad time for several of our members, with the loss of their much too young pooches. The tragedies were not commented on here at the time because it was just too raw and painful to talk about.

All of the dogs were in class 4 and wonderful, clever dogs.

Spencer the Great Dane was just over 2 years old when he died of an acute illness, our sympathy to Laura.

Ziggy, the beautiful Cocker Spaniel who was only 7 years old was also struck down, our thoughts continue to be with Lisa.

And Ruby the beautiful Border Collie who was only 5 years old and lived with Drew, Rhiannan and baby James (and Max the Border Collie and Buddy the Staffy). Ruby and Buddy were both bitten by a snake at their home in Plumpton. Neither pooch survived the bite.

Much love to all of those who loved Spencer, Ziggy, Ruby and Buddy.

This page will only accept one photo and it is of the youngster, and the biggest, Spencer with Laura taken around September.

We need to acknowledge Keith's red border collie 'Collie', who was in class 4 and attended every Sunday for at least 10 years. I chased up Keith prior to our last funday and found that Collie had passed earlier in the year, at a big age. Keith was invited to our Funday. This photo of Keith and Collie was taken back in 2016.

Have you watched the Flyball dogs and thought that maybe your dog would enjoy it?

The Flyball team is offering the opportunity for 6 dogs to participate in an 'Introduction to Flyball Course' which will run in March , from Sunday 3rd, for 4 weeks. From 11.30am until 12 noon, we will introduce you and your pooch to the basics of Flyball and start him (or her) off with some beginning training.

Generally dogs who are interested in balls make great Flyball dogs. The working breeds LOVE Flyball.

Dogs need to be over 9 months of age to start training, and cannot compete until they are over 12 months.

If you are interested please leave your name at the kiosk.

On Sunday 2nd December, Carol Di Teodoro was presented with the Club member of the Year Perpetual Trophy, in recognition of her long standing support and commitment to the club and for her generosity of spirit and assistance in the 2018 club year. Carol is always the first to volunteer to help any committee or club member who may be in need of assistance. Carol runs our library and also runs a little Jack Russell called Abby in our Flyball team. Carol has been a committee member since 2006 and was a club member for many years previous to that time.

Huge congratulations Carol....

Laura and Xena, the Silky Terrier, were promoted to class 4 last Sunday. it is a great achievement for any member and their dog to be promoted to class 4.

However, it is especially significant for Laura and Xena because Laura has been battling some severe health concerns over the past few years, and Xena (who is an assistance dog) was recently attacked by a quite large dog while she was 'on the job'. Well done Laura, keep up the fantastic work.

Audrey, the Labrador Retriever, was initially a Customs puppy who did not make the grade with respect to the Customs Department training. She is a beautiful, quiet, empathic dog who has recently met the criteria to be accepted as a Delta Therapy Dog. Audrey and her mum Evelyn are now visiting Western Hospital and are interacting with patients who love dogs and may be missing their own pooch. Audrey and Evelyn are in class 3. Congratulation Evelyn and Audrey on behalf of the club. We are so proud of your achievement......

As members would be aware, we supply yellow dog coats at KODTC. They are worn by dogs who are not comfortable being close to other dogs or people. These dogs may not have had the necessary socialisation with other dogs or people as pups or as they grew up, or maybe had an traumatic encounter with another dog or person at some stage. They are usually fearful if put in the 'wrong' situation, and to protect themselves may use aggression to try to defend themselves. Hence the need for the yellow coat to let people know that they need space.

KODTC has previously had coats for members to borrow for the morning's training. However it has usually meant that the dog is left in the car while the member comes down to get the coat and then has to return to the car to fit the coat to the dog.

To make life easier for members, we have some yellow coats available for sale. The sizes are Small, Medium and Large (no larger sizes available). They are $7.50 each and are available from the kiosk.

We still have the usual yellow coats available for members to borrow.

Pictured is Julie's Griffon modelling a small sized 'yellow coat'.

Buddy who is a very little and vivacious Jack Russell Cross, finally achieved his first clean Flyball runs in competition at the Kong Flyball Competition on the Queen's Birthday Sunday. Buddy has been training for quite a long time and has frequently had clean runs but he also has been easily distracted by the wonders of the world. He has shown huge enjoyment at running great loops around the training track and has needed much alluring to return to his human, Josie. At the Flyball competition Buddy ran 3 clean heats and did not make any mistakes. He achieved 5 points which gives him his first Flyball title. The T'Keilor Flyball team is totally ecstatic at Buddy's success. And he ran a very fast 5.9 seconds in one of his runs!!! The photo is of Josie and Buddy receiving a training award early in 2018. Josie is also seen on Sunday morning as a trainee Instructor, out with the class groups.

We are very proud to acknowledge the wonderful achievement of Doris and Chester, her Havanese, who has qualified as a therapy dog at the Royal Children's Hospital. Chester has a lovely temperament and is a beautiful woolly dog with a very cute face. He will be loved by every child he meets and will do great work with sick children who need a woolly comforter. Congratulations Doris and Chester.

Early training and socialisation is so important for pups and dogs. For new puppies early socialization is vital, your dog should meet lots of friendly people and other dogs really early, especially in the period from 6 to 16 weeks (the experts talk about 100 dogs and people needing to meet your dog and vice versa during this period). This ideally means getting your young puppy into a good, 'positive only' puppy school at 8 – 10 weeks of age. (Jean's Puppy School in Keilor and Kerryn at Caroline Spring Vet Hospital run positive puppy classes, there are also many others around). This training needs to be continued in a proactive way for at least the next 12 months to help ensure you have a social, 'people' and 'dog' friendly dog and a dog with a lovely temperament.

Meetings should, of course, be carefully controlled and you should ensure that your puppy does not have any negative experiences during this time and at KODTC we do this during our Socialisation Walks and during Classes.

At KODTC, we take pups and dogs from 16 weeks onward. Pups need to have had all of their vaccinations prior to commencing classes

The class promotion photos of members and their dogs promoted in 2018 can now be accessed on this web site under 'Club Information' and 'Class Promotions 2018'. This is Tahla and Logan, the very photogenic Rough Collie who was promoted from class 1 in March.

Honey was a little Jack Russell Cross who, with Carol, was a part of the T'Keilor Flyball Team for many years. Honey ran as a 'height' dog. Honey delighted everyone who saw her run, not for her speed but for the height of her jumping. She must have been quite concerned about clearing the jumps because she cleared them by around 30cm every time she ran. Honey was extremely reliable and always came back over the first jump even after the ball went really wide when it came out of the box.

Honey and Carol ran together for many years until Honey retired a few of years ago. Honey reached quite a respectable age but had been declining for a little while and finally passed last week.

The Flyball team will miss seeing Honey around, she was a lovely little dog. We are thinking of Carol.

Classes were back on again on Sunday 18th March after the Flyball Competition on the Labour Day Sunday. And we welcomed the new many members who joined in March and had attended the new member induction evening on the previous Wednesday evening.

One dog was promoted from class 1 to class 2 on Sunday, that dog being Lexi, a little black Staffordshire Bull terrier who attended with Sylvia and Mia. We look forward to lots of dogs being promoted in the next few weeks.

There will be no 'usual classes' on Sunday March 11th because of the Labour Day long week-end. However the club will be hosting the '4 Legs Flyball' Competition.

Set up starts at around 7am, with racing starting at 9.00am. There will be a 1 hour break for lunch.

Come along and take your dog for a walk at the reserve and watch the enthusiasm of the dog teams.

The Flyball dogs run in teams of 4 dogs, in divisions depending on the teams' potential speeds. The height of the jumps depend on the height of the shortest dog. The aim is to run 'cleanly' (not to start too soon or cross with another dog too soon, to jump all of the jumps, and bring the ball back, efficiently). In other words, for the dog and handler to work really well together and with other team members.

The competing dogs LOVE Flyball. Border Collie and Kelpie heaven........

Sunday Feb 11 was the first day back for the club with its very late Funday (should have been in early December but was threatened with a washout and hence was postponed).

Perfect dog weather, lots of doggy activities for members and their dogs to try, very good sausages on the BBQ, and '4 Legs' dog food for all of our members. And lots of members went home with 'Kong' toys. Presentations were made to members who have done especially well training their dogs during 2017. A full list of members achieving awards will be put up on this site asap, along with photos on Facebook. A full gallery of Feb 2018 FunDay photos will be also put on this site.

Thank you to 'Kong' and '4 Legs' your support is hugely appreciated by all at the club.

Thank you to Rodney Gooch and Kim Murray for coming all the way to Keilor to demonsrate Frisgility. Playing with a frisby with your dog is very easy to do but very few people are aware of the dog safety concerns if you overdo it. Hopefully lots of dogs will benefit from advice from the experts in this developing dog sport.

On Sunday 26th November, the class instructors had the pleasure of hearing Dr Marika, a Behaviour Vet from Caroline Springs Animal Hospital, talk about managing 'difficult dogs'. The presentation was extremely interesting and helpful and contributes to the considerable knowledge and experience of our Instructors.

Thank you to Toni and Justine, Miro and Sonny (their dogs), and Shaun and Morgan and Tess (their border collie cross) for allowing the club to use them as case studies.

We were all very impressed at how much thought and effort Toni, Justine, Shaun and Morgan were all putting into helping their dogs overcoming their fears and behaviour problems. And thank you to Marika, your participation in our training sessions is so valuable and so appreciated.

At our AGM last Sunday (November 26th) the membership charges for Penioners and Health Care Care Holders were ammended to the equivalent of Junior members. KODTC kiosk workers do need to see a Pension Card or HCC in order to reduce the charges to these people. We do not think age or income should be a factor in preventing people from accessing quality dog training for their dogs.

When children read to a dog, the outcomes are amazing! It's non-judgemental, children's focus improves, literacy skills increase and confidence soars. The non-judgmental, loving nature of dogs gives this program its magic and helps children relax, open up, try harder and have fun reading to a friendly and calm dog.

Story Dogs is based on the successful American literacy program Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.). The R.E.A.D program was launched in 1999 in Utah USA, as the first comprehensive literacy program built around the appealing idea of children and young adolescents reading to dogs.

Check out their website here: http://storydogs.org.au/

Use the Hill's Dog Condition Chart to estimate if your Dog's weight is about right or perhaps a little or more than a little on the heavier side.

Overweight young dogs have problems with joint development, and as they age dogs have problems with more arthritic pain and immobility, more health problems like diabetes and heart disease and die younger.

for the Hill's Dog Condition Chart

For everyone who has already registered and paid for their KODTC membership and has not yet attended an induction session, the next Member Induction session is Wednesday November 8th at 7:30 PM.

For anyone who has not yet registered to join, here is what you need to do:

Come down to the AJ Davis Reserve on a Sunday morning between 9.00am and 11.00am before October 29th.Bring your Dog's current Vaccination Certificate.Register yourself and your dog(s).Pay your membership fees.

Click Here for more information on how to join.

Once you have completed the steps above you can then attend the Member Induction Session on Wednesday evening November 8th.

The New Member Induction Session is compulsory before people can attend with their dogs for training.

KODTC is very fortunate to have 'Kong' (Dogs Need to Play) as a sponsor. Kong's products include 'Wobblers' and 'Jumbers', are high quality dog toys and include a wide range of products.

Kong has agreed to allow our members to purchase the Kong products at just under half of the Recommended Retail Price. A catalogue will be available at the KODTC Kiosk from 24th September, orders can be placed during October. Payment must be made at the time of ordering, and products will be available for pickup from the second Sunday in November.

Understandably, puchases can be for personal use only.......

Spencer is a black, very Great Dane and along with his human Lauren, he was promoted from class 1 to class 2 last week. Spencer would be the tallest and definitely Greatest canine member, and very likely our gentlest.

A fantastic opportunity is available for club members to extend their understanding and knowledge of dog behaviour. At Keilor we have some very knowledgable and experienced dog training instructors who would love to have some new trainee instructors developing under their mentoring 'umbrella'. If you would like to extend your dog behaviour knowledge have a chat with Noelene, our training manager.

Keilor is a great dog club and we would love to share some of the knowledge that has been gathered with respect to positive reinforcement training. KODTC also provides opportunities for instructors and trainees to attend presentations and workshops held by people who are respected as leaders in the field of positive reinforcement dog training.

It was a less than ideal day at training on Sunday 27th August. The Socialization Walk was OK, as was half of the first classes. Then a change came through and it blew, rained and hailed.

Attendance was down on usual, just the very hardy, determined souls and their pooches.

It was good to see how well the dogs who were sheltering from the rain coped with being quite close to lots of other dogs under the porch. Well done everyone.

Hill's (the Dog Food company) have a very handy dog condition score pamphlet that we have been giving out at our member induction sessions. However, Hill's no longer are giving out the hard copies. They have sent us a soft copy which is now included on our 'Dog Issues' page via a button............

It is worth having a look at. The table gives you an idea of what weight to aim for if your dog is overweight.

Overweight dogs get more arthritis and joint problems, other health problems like heart disease and diabetes, and do not live as long as they might if they were in the healthy weight range.

During the last few weeks of the last financial year the KODTC Committee made 2 donations of $1,500 each to Lort Smith Animal Hospital and The Lost Dogs Home, on behalf of our members. We have received a letter back from the Chief Executive Officer of The Lost Dogs Home (Andrew Israel) expressing his appreciation for the donation and indicating how helpful it will be to rescue dogs and other animals that The Lost Dogs Home assists (Haven't heard from Lort Smith as yet. On contacting, it seems Lort Smith have not received the cheque, so we will resend it).

On Sunday July 30th, the KODTC trainers had the pleasure of listening to Mira Thomasello, who presented to the Instructors about how to help our members get the best out of their dogs. Mira has extensive experience with working with dog owners in a variety of settings, including being the primary trainer for puppy classes at Caroline Springs Vet Hospital for many years. She is an inspirational speaker on many aspects of dog ownership and training. Mira raised some ideas that we will discussed at our next Instructors meeting. Mira’s talk also reaffirmed many of the things that we currently do which is great. Thank you Mira for your presentation it was much appreciated. (And huge apologies for spelling your name incorrectly.)

Mid year Funday was again really successful with around 70 members and their pooches attending and participating in a variety of activities. There was a 'noseworks' activity, the ever popular tunnelling, a demo by Max on use of the Kong toys for feeding and play activites, and jumps. The day was rather chilly but otherwise the weather very reasonable. And the BBQ went well although we did run out of bread. The first day of class for the new members from the previous Wednesday evening went ahead as usual.

A wonderful day was had by all on Sunday 11th June with 20 Flyball teams from all over Victoria running their dogs. The weather was magic, sunny with a maximum of 17 degrees, the warmest day that we have had in weeks.

KODTC Flyball ran 2 teams, with 4 new dogs whose first competition was at our competition. The dogs and handlers were Rikki with Trixster (a little Jack Russel), Riannon with Max (a Border Collie), Drew (Rhiannan's partner) with Ruby (also a Border Collie) and Maree with Paris (a Malinois). Rikki, Rhiannon and Drew are all new to Flyball along with their dogs.

All of the new dogs and handlers did beautifully with all of the dogs achieving their first Flyball titles.

All of the new handlers and dogs are now hanging out for the next competition.

Special thanks go to the Leo's Club and the Lions Club of Sunshine for catering the event.

Please visit their website and like their Facebook page.

On Sunday 11th June, KODTC will run a full day Flyball competition with 20 teams from all over Victoria competing. The teams are divided over several divisions depending on the speed of the teams, the fastest teams running a 4 dog team in less than 20 seconds. That means the dogs each run down, trigger the 'box' , catch the ball and run back in around 5 seconds, with no mistakes from either dogs or handlers. And the dogs LOVE it.

Come down and have a look. Rotary and Lions Clubs are providing a lunch and there will be (God willing) a coffee van.

Rohan with Choccy, the little furry Staffy Cross, are another team that received an Encouragement Award at the Fun Day in December, for their excellent work together in class. Rohan shares Choccy from his partner Julie and her mum and now runs Choccy in Flyball competitions for the club. (Rohan is also on the KODTC committee and assists in the Kiosk when he is able, both vital to the club's effective functioning. ) We eventually caught up with Rohan and Choccy.

Last December at the Funday several awards were made to members who were not present (its a busy time in early December). One of these awards was an encouragement award ro Emily and Jake the Black Kelpie. We caught up with Emily early in May and finally gave her and Jake their engraved wine glasses.

Tamara Jackman from 'Underdogs' presented to KODTC instructors on Shaping Dog Behaviour on Sunday April 9th 2017.

Shaping is a particular training technique that uses Successive Approximation to teach a new behaviour to a dog. It involves breaking down any behaviour to tiny increments. In free shaping we reinforce each increment that moves closer to our end goal or final behaviour that we are teaching. It combines positive reinforcement and frustration, in a game that is very similar to the 'hotter' or 'older' game we played as children.

Tamara demonstrated the techniques with her dogs Morgan and Cosmo.

Pictured is Tamara with Morgan the Heeler Cross. Morgan is moving closer to opening the red door behind him with Tamara using 'Shaping'. (The words were 'Yes' and food treats very strategically delivered). A very interesting and informative session for all who attended.