Events

SCHUTZHUND CLUB of BUFFALO Founder - Owen Tober Established: 1978



Trial/Show/Seminars Schedule - 2008
June 7,8/08 - Schutzhund Trial SV Judge Fred Findiesen Results
EVERYTHING OLD RENEWED AGAIN by Ken Payne, President, Schutzhund Club of Buffalo We are still here. With more then twenty-five seasons behind us, The Schutzhund Club of Buffalo is one of the oldest schutzhund clubs in USA. Last year we suffered a terrible blow that rocked us hard and almost meant the end of our club. That blow was the unexpected and sudden death of our founder, training director, and long time friend Mr. Owen Tober. Many of you knew Owen. He was a force of nature, a man of great passion for the sport. Owen cut a wide swath through the Schutzhund, and K-9 dog worlds. Owen and his wife Kathy founded the club and hosted it at the training field they built behind there home. They graciously put up with us all as the club has held at least two and sometimes three or even four schutzhund trials and events every year since its founding. This year will be no exception. We held our first trial on June 7 and 8 and are in the process of planning our fall trial. On the strength of what Owen and Kathy and other long time members such as Billy McGlynn built we continue. It has not been smooth sailing, we had some serious fits and starts along the way. Some times training in parks or at other venues that did not work out. Some members lost patience and went their own way, we wish them well. Other could not get past the death of Owen Tober and have left the sport altogether. At times it did look like we would not recover. It was down to a few die-hard members determined to train our dogs and keep the club alive. Then we had a stroke of good luck. One snowy day in Buffalo, I made arrangements to meet with Carolyn Nervo at the Amherst Boarding Kennels. I don’t think any one would describe Carolyn as warm and fuzzy but she did whole-heartedly welcome us to come and train with them. So we did and what we found was a band of dedicated Schutzhund trainers headed by training director Richard Smehlik. Richard is a native of the Czech Republic and co-owns Amherst Boarding Kennels with Dave Starke Richard, Carolyn Nervo and the others members took us in and what started as an arranged marriage has turned into a solid union as we slowly get use to each others quirks, personalities, various training techniques and annoying traits. Richard has formed a good working relationship with our own training director Lance Zee (AKA Zoo). For our first trial we were able to get the services of SV Judge Fred Findeisen. Fred does not speak much English, so club members trotted out their high school German. I was impressed with the number of club members that spoke some small amount of German, most notably Tom Marsteller who also did a great job as trial secretary. Lance, who hosted Fred in his home, and Richard also dredged up enough remnants to make Fred feel quite at home. Fred turned out to be a great guy whose remarkable sense of humor caught us off guard and got us all laughing in spite of the language barrier. For the trial we were able to secure the services of translator Heike Jones. Heike is a native of Germany but is now a long time U.S. Citizen. Heike found her self a long way away from her world of miniature Schnauzers. But she took to Schutzhund in a big way studying the rulebook at home and coming out to the practice field to try and get a feel for the sport. Not to mention providing great a relief for our judge who now had some one to give full voice to his sometimes mischievous sense of humor, at times Heike would only blush and refuse to translate what he had said. As is usual at a spring trial for the Schutzhund Club of Buffalo, the long string of warm days, cool nights and gentle rains that had provided perfect schutzhund weather for training and tracking were replaced with an unseasonably hot spell of 90 degree weather that lasted exactly the length of the trial week end. It was not a big trial but spirits were high. Many of the entrants were first time competitors just beginning their schutzhund careers by successful putting B’s on their dogs. The schutzhund degrees were run on Saturday with Carolyn showing her coolness under pressure buy scoring high in protection with her dog Ex Altojan. While veteran Schutzhunder Lance Zee scored high in tracking with 94. Lance also scored high in obedience with a 96 and he took the overall title of high in trial. Our decoy Marcus Hampton turned in a solid performance and was rated excellent by the judge as he put the dogs through their paces under a blazing after noon sun. It was also great to see many former club members come out to watch the event and give support to the first trial at our new home. On Sunday we got a small break in the weather for the competitors running their dogs in the AD. We had met early with a six A.M. start trying to beat the heat. The sky was threatening rain but the clouds and the wind kept the heat at bay for almost the entire time. Some of the spectators were kept busy shooing a flock of ducks and ducklings’ back into a nearby pond so as not to tempt the dogs with an early meal as they coursed their way around the one-third mile track. We finished the competition part of the day with a Tr-1 degree and then back to the club where I believe some folks drank some beer as the judge and Tom finished the trial paper work. Although not an officially sanctioned event, the beer drinking part of the day is an important schutzhund ritual. We honored the tradition as we toasted the judge and our very successful born-again trial. We are hoping for an even bigger and better turn out as we plan for a late fall trial. Thanks to our new home and new members the Schutzhund club of Buffalo will be around for at least another 25 years, but don’t wait that long come and join us at our next event. After the regionals and after the nationals etc. come end your Schutzhund season with us at our club with a nice relaxing low pressure schutzhund event. Check the web page for information and up dated photos.
Please watch for updates for our Fall Trial!

Trial/Show/Seminars Schedule - 2007
June 2 & 3/07 - Schutzhund Trial SV Judge Hermann Schamann Due to unforseen circumstances, we regret to inform you that our September /07 trial and seminar were cancelled.
Trial/Show/Seminars Schedule - 2006
May 27 & 28/06 - Schutzhund Trial SV Judge Jacob Meyer June 17 & 18/06 - Conformation Show/Breed Survey SV Judge Franz Peter Knaul Show Results Helper Seminar July 22 - 23/06 with Jim Hill. Anyone interested, please let me know. The requirements are you must belong to USA and you must obtain a helper book from them. The cost of the book is $10.00 Anyone wanting to be certified, must get their own books. September 16 & 17/06 - Schutzhund Trial SV Judge Ulrich Rottenberg 2006 was very sucessful year for the Schutzhund Club of Buffalo, that all members can be proud! TWO working trials, a Helper Seminar and a very sucessful Conformation Show with Breed Survey! An excellent accomplishment! A special THANKS to all who made it possible!