Kick Off – Agility
Let’s try it again . . . plus a word about SWCDP rules as applied to treats on playground
Our decision to postpone Kick-Off event was due to ongoing morning rain during the time needed for set up and the threat of more afternoon rain around the time for tear down. And – sure enough – the time in between turned out fairly nice – but our concern – and ultimate decision influencer – was having hundreds of paws and foot traffic on the turf since it was soft and not stable enough to host a bunch of partygoers.
If any of you have any pull with Mother Nature – ask her to please give us a break ‘cause we are going to try again this Saturday. We have our fingers & paws crossed. Right now, she is dangling the promise of a dry Saturday – albeit hot and humid. Around 94 degrees. Oh, what a mischievous sense of humor!
BIG WEEKEND AHEAD – Two SWCDP Events!
Kick-Off Event
Saturday, June 22
9:30am to 1:30pm
Alternate Dog Park
A chance to get reacquainted with old friends, and make new ones, too. Plenty of activities, treats, prizes, and FUN.
FIRST STOP
Stop by the Main Table to participate in the Attendance Prize Drawing
FIND THE TREAT COURSE
Course Times:
9:30 to 10:00
10:30 to 11:00
11:30 to 12:00
12:30 to 1:00
PEANUT BUTTER LICKING CONTEST
Contest Times:
10:15 to 10:30
11:15 to 11:30
12:15 to 12:30
1:15 to 1:30
POOLS, TETHERBALL
Let your pup take a dip in one of several pools or take a shot at batting the tetherball around.
SWCDP Merchandise
Please stop by our merchandise table to see fantastic variety of dog park gear, quality products with SWCDP logo, everything from $3 Koozies to $36 heavyweight Hoodies – and lots in between. See in person what we have to offer.
Special Orders – We are also accepting special orders at event or on-line at our webstore.
https://stores.inksoft.com/sw_city_dog_park
We prefer that you first consider merchandise on display from our inventory, since we already have dog park cash invested in inventory purchases. But, certainly, if you want another color/size or product not available during event, we will be set up with internet access – so you can place an order directly on our webstore while at the Kick Off. Paypal and Credit Cards accepted for webstore purchases. Cash and Checks accepted for onsite/inventory purchases.
Final Event Note
All of our SWCDP canine members are invited to the Kick Off – and we always have a huge turnout. But – we ask our humans to make a judgment call on this. Because we will have treats, games, and lots of dogs and humans – this is not the best venue for our dogs that have resource sharing issues, or get easily annoyed with crowds, etc. We are not requesting perfect manners by any means – but if you know your dog has issues with sharing or does not want other dogs sniffing his butt…well, this event may not be the best choice for your pooch.
Please, remember, no children under 8 years old.
AGILITY DEMO (free, registration required)
Saturday, June 22, 10:00am to Noon
Sunday, June 23, 1:00pm to 3:00pm
Betsy Boedeker, SWCDP member and agility instructor, is donating her services so members can learn agility basics to better enjoy our agility course. Participating members will get great practice tips & guidance – both through one-on-one instruction as well as by watching others and learning from their maneuvers and corrective actions, too.
The event will be organized into 20 minute practice sessions with a small group in each session – and each student will have one-on-one time with Betsy. Each canine student must have at least one adult handler but also ok to have two handlers per dog. In fact, if you have multiple adults in your household who also bring your dog to the dog park – we encourage dual participation. We will allow children over 8 years old to accompany their parent/guardian if they have a particular interest in learning more about canine agility. But, please remember, children must always be supervised by an adult; no children in the agility area – ever – without an adult present.
We have limited demo slots but are still accepting participants – first come, first serve. Once slots are filled, we will hold the next six entrees on a Wait List – in case we have a cancellation.
To register for this excellent offering – you must sign up here
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AgilityDemo2019
Even if you are not participating in the Agility Demo – you can learn a lot by stopping by and watching the dogs and humans as they pick up tips from Betsy, our agility instructor.
Let’s Talk Agility
*** Click here to get Betsy’s Agility Tips 2019. It is loaded with fantastic information to help you get the most out of the SWCDP agility course. The most important tip is “have fun”. No pressure should be placed on you or your dog. In fact, the most effective approach is to keep the sessions to just a few minutes – get in and get out. Repeat often.
Why does SWCDP support agility and why are we so darned excited about it? Agility began in late 1970s and has been one of the fastest growing dog sports especially over the past couple decades or so. We have many human and canine members who are naturally athletic and competitive – so we are delighted if the SWCDP agility course helps them get started in a rewarding athletic adventure. What a great sport to share with your 4-Legged.
But we like it even more – and enthusiastically promote it – for several other reasons.
- Self-confidence – both human and canine benefit
- Bonding and Trust – fantastic relationship builder
- Coordination and Balance – strengthens muscles and stamina
- Brain Work – most dogs could use more challenges & thinking tasks; will learn to follow your cues
- Exercise and Energy Burn – seriously, a purpose to run and jump
- Excellent Playground Break and Redirect – our favorite reason: When things escalate during play and your pooch needs to refocus or is getting board…a few minutes on the agility course is a wonderful distraction
A Word About Treats
St Louis City Ordinance 66595 as well as SWCDP Rules forbid food and treats of any kind on the dog park grounds. SWCDP has made arrangements for two exceptions:
1) SWCDP sanctioned, managed events
2) Agility Course. Only bring enough treats for one brief agility session. Keep treats tightly wrapped in your pocket until you are inside agility with the gate closed. If you have any left over – you must take it to your car. SWCDP recommends lots of vocal praise, too – cut down on the edible treats.
Agility Users Have Special Privilege. Please do not abuse this. If members get sloppy with the treat usage or disregard the rules, we will have no choice but forbid treats on the agility course. One person could ruin it for everyone! Be a responsible agility participant; follow treat guidelines exactly as written.
No Treats Rule – applies to all members, not only the ones using the agility course. Never walk around the dog park with treats or give treats to other people’s dogs. Treats may bring out the aggression in some of our canine members, some 4-Leggeds may be on special dietary restrictions, and some members may simply forbid random snacks for a variety of reasons. Having treats at the dog park sets up a scenario for things to go bad quickly. Just don’t do it.
AND, FINALLY, WE NEED HELP
We cannot pull off the weekend events or the ongoing agility course unless we have adequate volunteers.
KICK OFF EVENT VOLUNTEERS
The tasks are easy to do – and actually quite fun to be part of the action. Help Joan at Info Table, keep merchandise restocked & orderly, hide treats on Treat Course, refill spoons for peanut butter contest, refill pools and drink buckets, etc. We prefer 2 hour work slots and ask you to either bring your canine (s) to play at the party before or after your shift – or – have another adult with you to supervise your dog (s) while you are on volunteer duty. Also, a few helpers needed to put up pop-up tents, arrange merchandise and then tear down and pack after event. We also need helpers on both Sat and Sun to control the in and out of Agility participants – dogs usually try to sneak in and we need human intervention during the entire time the demo is underway.
SATURDAY SLOTS:
8:30 to 10:30
10:30 to 12:30
12:30 to 2:30
AGILITY COURSE OVERSIGHT VOLUNTEERS
Warm Weather Crew (June thru Sept)
Monday Team – Between 6pm-10pm
Tuesday Team – Between Noon-7pm
Teams will put away agility equipment so grass can be cut on Tuesday morning – and then set equipment back up afterwards. Putting away and setting back up should be quick job if we have 2-3 people each time….maybe 10-20 minutes.
Each team can decide amongst the group how/when to rotate tasks so no one works solo; maybe divvy it up so 2-3 people have duty a couple times per month – or whatever your team prefers.
If you can assist with either event activities or agility oversight – contact Judi right away . . .
Hope to see you on Saturday.
Remember SWCDP is always closed on Tuesdays from 8:00am to Noon for grass cutting and other general maintenance. Always check the HOTLINE after heavy or prolonged rains to see if dog park is open.
314/567-2012, Select #2