"An Icelandic for All Seasons"
Contact: Marlys Nesset
Location: Cowlitz County Event Center in Longview, WA
Date/Time: Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Judge: Soley Ragnarsdottir
Info: Join us for a whole week of events! -Breed & specialty classes-Puppy & Veteran-Nearby AKC Obedience-CGC & Trick Dog Testing-Other fun events in the works!
Agility
In conjunction with a local all-breed agility trial, the ISAA has supported the entry and will give awards for the highest scoring Icelandic Sheepdog in each class, the National awards will be available on Saturday 09/21/24 and Sunday 09/22/24, however the trial is from Friday 9/20/24 to Sunday 09/22/24. This event will be held indoors at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Ridgefield, WA and judged by Ms. Debby Wheeler and Mr. Dan Butcher.
Auction & Banquet
The banquet will be held at McMenamins Kalama Harbor Lodge. We will be having our auction this year as always, we hope to maintain the tradition of the awesome state baskets we have had in years past. We are also accepting items for donations. Any items that need to be shipped to the west coast that can be done to either Marlys Nesset or Maiya McAuliffe, please contact one of them before you ship it to let them know your item(s) are coming!
Conformation & Sweepstakes
For the National Specialty itself, it will be on Tuesday September 24, 2024 at the Cowlitz County Event Center in Longview, WA. The judge will be Sóley Ragna Ragnarsdóttir from Iceland. Sweepstakes will be judged by Bryan Martin from Milwaukie, OR. We will be offering Puppy Sweepstakes classes for both dogs and bitches 6-9 months, 9-12 months, 12-15 months, and 15-18 months. Veterans sweepstakes will be offered for both dogs and bitches, 7-9 years, 9-11 years and over 11 years. There will also be Sweepstakes classes offered for Stud dog, Brood Bitch, and Generations. Mrs Patricia Putman will be judging Junior Showmanship. The photographer for win photos will be Photos by Elaine.
Education Opportunities
We will be having several education opportunities including but not limited to an Embark representative, a breeders round table, a lecture from our Judge Soley Ragnorsdottir, and individual dog evaluations.
Host Hotels and Airports
The Quality Inn and Suites Longview Kelso, will also be a host hotel at a rate of $129+ taxes and fees as well as a $20/night pet fee with no limit on the number of pets in the room.
One of the host hotels for the National Specialty is McMenamins Kalama Harbor Lodge, in Kalama, WA, information for booking this hotel can be found at Kalama Harbor Lodge Hotel - McMenamins. CLICK HERE
For all hotels they can be booked with the name Icelandic Sheepdog Association of America.
The closest airport to the national specialty and the supported entry is Portland International, Seattle-Tacoma International is also available but is further away.
Merchandise and Logos
The specialty will have two logo options, there will be ample merchandise options available for purchase in the coming weeks.
Rally and Obedience
On Monday 9/23/24, an obedience trial and two rally trials will be held indoors at the Cowlitz County Event Center in Longview, WA. The two trials will be all-breed with preference for Icelandic Sheepdogs. Obedience will be open to only Beginner Novice and Novice, rally however will be open to all levels of competition. Our judges are Jesse ‘Chip’ Taylor and Carolyn Wray.
Supported Entry in Richland
The weekend following the National Specialty, the ISAA has a Supported Entry from Thursday September 26 - Sunday September 29, 2024. It will be hosted by the Walla Walla and Richland Kennel Clubs, in Columbia Park, 5111 SE Columbia Drive in Kennewick, WA. This will be four all-breed shows, with NOHS, Junior Showmanship, Rally, Obedience, and FastCat. This show closes on 09/11/2024. This is an outdoor show, and the judges for the Breed will be Mr William G Daugherty on Thursday, Mrs. Cathy H Daughtery on Friday, Mrs Judi Bendt on Saturday, and Mrs Linda M Riedel on Sunday.
ISAA FARMDAY FUNDAY
About Funday
On 09/22/24, we are offering a farm day fun day, this is going to be a lowkey, no pressure event with opportunities for many, non-competitive titles. The point of this event is for dogs and handlers alike to come and try new activities that they previously had not tried before. We will be having title opportunities for Herding (AM & PM), Fetch(AM & PM), Farm Dog Certified(AM & PM), Canine Good Citizen, Trick Dog, and hopefully the American Temperament Test(AM & PM). We will also be having an opportunity for you and your dog to try nose work, this will not be for titles! Teams are welcome to participate in any of the 11 stations we will have available, teams are also welcome to not participate in any of the stations available. All of these stations are non competitive so please do not worry about passing or your dog being perfect, it is more important to just have fun. The stations will be available to participate regardless of if teams are seeking an AKC title or certificate, those who do not want a title will be allowed to use treats/toys in stations where they normally would not be.
During lunch we hope to be having a variety of demonstrations in scentwork. A lunch option will be available for purchase.
The two herding stations must have pre entry. If you are planning on entering Herding Instinct Certificate, Herding Tested you MUST enter with AKC by 09/04/24. If you are wanting to attempt a herding instinct certificate test, but not earn the AKC certificate, entries do not have to be done through the AKC and can be done on an entry form that will go to the ISAA. For these stations entries are limited and preference will be given to those actively working towards a herding title or certificate.
For the other stations please enter by 9/11/24, an entry form will be released in July. Any entries submitted between 09/11/24-09/22/24 (including day of) are subjected to if space allows, as well as a higher entry fee, and accepted on a first come first serve basis.
There are two forms to this event, entries for AKC herding are paid separately through the AKC entry form. For the other 7 stations another entry fee and form is required, however all seven stations will be offered for one flat fee, regardless of using them to work towards a title or if teams participate in 1 or 7 stations. If time allows, participants will be allowed to repeat stations for more practice or another title for a small fee.
We are having several evaluators for the ATT, Fetch, Trick Dog, and CGC. For Farm Dog Certified the judges will be Nancy Ward and Melissa Thompson. For herding one of our judges will be George ‘Rusty’ Jeffers. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Maiya McAuliffe at maiyamcauliffe@gmail.com. It can be easily arranged to volunteer and still participate in the events of the day!
What to Bring to the Fun Day:
Crate or Expen
Chairs for people
People snacks
Dog treats (lots)
Dog water bowl and water
People water
Weather Appropriate Dress and Equipment set up ie rain clothes or sun clothes, fan, sunshade etc, this event will be outside regardless of weather
6’ leash
Toy(s)
The Offered Tests- What Are They? How Do I Prepare?
American Temperament Test- The AKC temperament test is not a test of skills or training, but a test of the dog’s natural reaction to unexpected stimulus. No training aids are allowed, in fact, the handler should not be giving cues to the dog at all. The specific tests will vary, but will include things like: greeting a person carrying a large item, passing by a shaken jug of coins, walking past a moving wagon, walking over a flat x-pen and going over a wobble board. The judges and stewards will guide you through the test while observing the dog’s reactions. The ideal situation is that the dog is either not bothered by the item at all, or only shows a brief startle and recovers immediately. The dog can still pass if they struggle more with some items than others (taking slightly longer to recover, under 30 seconds), as long as the majority are easily encountered.
You can learn more about the temperament test here: https://www.akc.org/akctemptest/
CGC- This is the first level of the Canine Good Citizen title sequence. During this test you and your dog must complete 10 tasks successfully. For this test all props will be provided. Unfortunately no treats or toys may be used for this test but you can talk to your dog. A video of what the CGC test will look like can be found at this link. AKC Canine Good Citizen - CGC - Exercises Explained and Demonstrated
CGC-A- For this test the dog must have earned a CGC title, which can be done on the same day.For this test all props will be provided. Unfortunately no treats or toys may be used for this test but you can talk to your dog. A great video of this test can be found here,
AKC Community Canine Good Citizen - CGCA - Exercises Explained and Demoed
CGC-U- The CGCU test, evaluates a dog in more urban environments, such as going in and out of doors, going through small crowds, etc. To get this title your dog must have had a CGC title on record. For more information about this test please see the attached video, AKC Urban Canine Good Citizen.
Farm Dog Certified- This test is similar to the CGC, just designed for a rural setting. To get this title your dog must pass this test twice. At our event two tests will be run, giving you and your dog the opportunity to earn this title in one day. Similar to CGC, you may not use treats during this test, but verbal encouragement may be used. Check out these videos to see a test in action and the exercises you and your dog must complete successfully, to earn a leg at this event. Here is video demonstrating what the test looks like, AKC Farm Dog Certified Test. The most important thing about this test is that your dog does this with a LOOSE LEASH!
Fetch Novice- Retriever- This title can be achieved by fetching your dog's OWN toy, ball, or other item 4 times in two different legs, with a total of 8 retrieves. Two legs of the fetch test will be offered, an AM and PM trial. Here are two videos of the Novice and Intermediate requirements. In total 4 fetch titles are offered from Novice-Retriever each getting more difficult. AKC Fetch Novice TFN - Explained and Demonstrated AKC Fetch Intermediate TFI - Explained and Demonstrated
Herding Instinct Certificate/ Herding Tested - The AKC provides two herding titles and a certificate all considered “tests” before a dog goes into actual competitive herding trials. None of these tests are actually required before competing in herding trials, but they are great opportunities for dogs to be introduced to herding in a formal environment, especially for new handlers. These tests are the herding instinct test (two passes to earn a certificate), herding test (two passes to earn a title) and the pre-trial test (two passes to earn a title. While the herding instinct test and the herding test sound similar, they have notably different requirements that are important to note before entering.
The herding instinct test does not require any prior herding experience for you or the dog. The test is pass/fail, with a “pass” indicating that the dog has demonstrated some level of herding “instinct” without prior training or exposure. This will generally be sustained interest in the stock (in this case, sheep). For the instinct test, the judge will walk you through exactly what they want you to do and how to introduce the dog to the stock. This test is started on a longline (that the club will provide) that will only be dropped if the judge tells you to, and only if they have observed that the dog is relatively safe around the sheep. A dog showing aggression toward the sheep will be excused. The judge will fill out an evaluation form with comments on your dog and their style of herding. This is a great place to start if you are interested in trying herding with your dog and want to see their potential!
Dogs and handlers should have at least some experience with stock to enter the HT and PT tests. These tests are done off leash and the dog must be under control at all times. Both tests are also pass/fail, and require the dog and handler to navigate the sheep through a simple pattern in less than ten minutes. This is a great starting point for a handler and dog team that have some experience with stock (ideally have started taking herding lessons), and want to get a feel for how a herding trial works, and test their skills in a new location with different stock.
Regardless of what you enter, or even if you attending without a dog, watching the other dog and handler teams will be a great learning experience for anyone interested in herding with Icelandic Sheepdogs. These dogs work differently than a border collie or other dogs that most herding instructors will regularly see. This is a great opportunity to see a number of Icelandic Sheepdogs interacting with sheep, in addition to learning from the judge while they work with the dogs. We invite everyone to join us to celebrate the working heritage of our wonderful dogs!
Scent Games- This is an opportunity for dogs and owners to try K9 nosework. If your dog is already doing nosework and would like to try this with odor, please identify which odors you will want to try. If your dog has not been trained on odor that is totally okay and this is a great opportunity to learn about nosework.
Odor Recognition Test (ORT)
Nose Work Magic run by Alecia Elvstad will be putting on an ORT at the Cowlitz County Events Center on Monday 09/23/24. ORTs are required in order to compete at NACSW (National Association of Canine Scent Work) events. To compete in this event your dog must have an NACSW registration, this is separate but similar to an AKC registration. This event will be open to all breeds. More information about entering this event can be found will be posted in the coming weeks. Linked below are several resources including their description of ORTs, NASCW Registration, and a video of an ORT. From Intro to First Trial: Getting Started | NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CANINE SCENT WORK
Dog Registration | NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CANINE SCENT WORK
Trick Dog- Novice-Elite Performer- All levels of trick dog will be offered at this event, you must earn your titles in order from Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Elite, Elite Performer. In this evaluation you are allowed to use treats and toys. For each title, AKC has developed a list of tricks that can be performed at each level, some overlap between levels but tricks cannot be recycled between titles. Several props will be provided, but if you are wondering about something specific and/or unusual you can ask about it to Maiya McAuliffe at maiyamcualiffe@gmail.com and you may need to bring it yourself. If you are working towards your elite performer title you must have a prepared script for your evaluation, we will have volunteers that can read it aloud for you. Attached are links of videos for several levels of trick dog and some of the options for tricks you can do at each level. AKC Trick Dog: Elite Performer Routine (Sheltie) AKC Trick Dog - Novice Trick Dog Titles (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert) - Kova