The Poodle Papers - Poodle Club of America

PCA Tracking, Hunting, WC WCX Events
Feature Poodles In the Field
Submitted by Dana Stewart and Claudia Straitiff – Co-Directors
Working Poodle Program
The 2009 Outdoor PCA field events were nothing short of
wonderful. Once again God watched over the Poodles and
we enjoyed blue skies and sunny warm days for the Tracking,
Hunting Test and the WC WCX tests in Salisbury, MD.
When late in the year we asked the Board to support a Tracking
event for 2009 – people thought it could not be done.
But with the hard work of volunteers PCA was able to offer
the first Tracking Dog Tests in Elkton MD on Friday. We
had 8 trackers actually try to qualify for their Tracking Dog
titles. Seven Poodle/handler teams passed, including three
teams that achieved new titles.
On Saturday and Sunday we moved our outdoor Poodle party
to the Anatidae Farm just north of Salisbury. This was a new
venue for us. The setting and the owners could not have been
better! Frank and Teri Durham – owners of Anatidae hosted
our event on their farm which offered great water for tests
and lovely terrain that allowed for spectators to get closer to
the action than ever before! We had a new format to operate
the tests this year, and a willing pair of judges that agreed to
the format.
Another new addition to the weekend was a Performance
Raffle to benefit the PCA Foundation. There were plenty
of Tracking and Poodle Retriever focused items in the raffle
and Tracking and Retriever enthusiasts were able to generate
more than $1100 dollars!
The weekend culminated with what is now the Working Poodle
Dinner on Sunday night. This year we added the Tracking
folks so our party is getting even more festive! We recognized
qualifiers from Tracking, Retrieving and WC WCX
events and awarded the 2008 Medallions for which many of
our WC WCX exhibitors work throughout the year.
Once again the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center catering
team served up our feast for our exhibitors and guests.
We’d like to thank the following team of workers who
Chaired “field” events and supported them with hard work
and sponsorship!
• Glenna Carlson, PCA National Show Chairman who
always believes in us!
• Members of the Board of Directors who continually
support our events.
• Tracking: Joan Scott, PCA Board Member and Carol
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The Poodle Papers
Pernicka , Joyce Lindloff and Kim Raymond who did all the
work necessary to offer a Tracking Event at the caliber that
PCA expects – and on short notice!
• AKC Hunt Tests: Linda Miller and her committee of
volunteers including Margaret Fox and Susanne Nash
• WC WCX Hunt Tests: Joyce Carelli, Chair and her
committee, including Dana Stewart and Kim Raymond.
• Joyce Miller who organized Hospitality for us all
weekend
• Carolyn Wray (Tracking) and Carol Stone (Retrieving)
who put together a Performance Raffle that was such a
success.
• Our many performance participants who pitched in
as volunteers throughout the weekend. These events don’t
happen without YOU.
PCA’s Tracking Event Launches the Weekend!
PCA held its first Tracking Dog test on Friday, April 17 at
Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area in Elkton,
Maryland.
Fair Hill is a 5600 acre multi-use facility with beautiful rolling
hills, light woods and lush grass, perfect for tracking. It
was originally an estate of the famous DuPont family, and
is still maintained meticulously, hosting numerous tracking
tests during the year as well as international horse shows.
Judges say this is one of the most lovely tracking sites in the
entire country, and it made a beautiful backdrop for all the
Poodles – even with their noses to the ground!
Carol Pernicka – judge and owner/handler of a Champion
Tracking Poodles herself, and Jacob Kay kept everything organized
and the operations running smoothly throughout the
day! Carol Pernicka had many nice things to say about the
field of Poodles who participated in this inaugural event.
“I cannot say enough about how well they [Poodles and
Handlers] worked. Every dog was better than the last, moving
steadily, methodically, and confidently down their track.
They all ran their tracks in about 6 or 7 minutes; corners
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