Friday April 16, 2004 – Annual Membership Dinner and Meeting – 6:30pm no host bar; 7:30pm dinner buffet.

Join fellow club members in celebrating another great year past and yet to come at the Sacagawea Motel and Helm Restaurant – located on Main Street in Lewiston. Your dinner ticket is only $15.00 for a superb turkey and all the trimmings buffet dinner. (See enclosed reservation form – fill it out, mail it back, see you there! You may also contact club President Bart Dearborn 509-334-3774 or bartd@pullman.com for additional information and reservations)

This is an evening event (children are welcome, but please leave the fur kids at home!) for socializing, recognizing, and discovery. Meet, greet, and eat hearty in the Lochsa Room. A brief program will follow dinner – the agenda includes: surprise announcements, door prizes, special awards and installation of officers for the next year.

Saturday April 17, 2004 – TRAIN-the-TRAINER - 10:00am – 12:20 pm

Now that spring has sprung, the much requested TTT sessions with Cam Hershaw are set for five (5) Saturday sessions beginning April 17, 2004 and continuing into early June…this is a chance for you to come and learn about working with your gun dog – regardless of breed, age. Read for details inside this newsletter. Class size is limited – there is no charge, however, you must pre-register. Preference given to current SRSGDA members. Contact: Nance Ceccarelli, 208-883-0752 (home) or njc@moscow.com.

DID YOU KNOW?

There are a whole bunch of attachments in this newsletter? Dinner reservation form? Officer ballot form? New membership list? Have your checked your address and telephone number? Do you have an email contact to share with us?

Saturday May 22, 2004 – FUN TRIAL AND TRAINING DAY – 8:30 a.m. Shea Meadows, Bovill ID.

Directions: From highway 95 in Moscow turn east on State Route 8 to Bovill. A mile west of Bovill, on the north side of the road, will be a Vassar Meadows road sign and the club’s Field Trial sign. Follow Vassar Meadows Road to Shea Meadows.

Pre-registration by telephone or email to anyone of your trial chairpersons: Gary Gage, Jerry Thiessen, Carol Ramsey and Darrell Tonn. (see enclosed membership roster for updated contact info!) Onsite registration will begin around 8 a.m.

As is our custom, the previous fun trial winners graciously chair the next event – ably (?) assisted by the current club officers. Early registration is desired - but is not required. Brace fees are $15.00 – PER BRACE entered. Back by popular demand is the “puppy field” – if you missed the training day in March, this gives you an opportunity to work with your young dog with or without training aids, with or without a gun, and with or without a trainer, coach, videographer, photographer… you decide.

The “competitive field” operates just as in all our previous fun trials and training days – however, photography by Gage and Watson is available upon request for no additional fee.

Please RSVP with your desired number of braces as soon as possible. Our goal is to give everyone interested in running a dog an opportunity to run at least one brace in their choice of field, and additional braces as entries, time, and available birds permit. Bobwhite Quail are on the way from Dunlap Hatchery.

Lunch will be potluck, please plan to bring a dish to share. Hope to see you on May 22^rd! Bring your bug repellant!

Calendar

April 16` Annual dinner

April 17 TTT sessions begin

May 22 Fun trial &Training Day,

June Poker Shoot, Lewiston Gun Club,

July Family Picnic,

Aug Sporting Clays,

Classifieds: Sep Fun Trial and Training Day

If you have not had a moment to send in your membership ($25 per family) dues, please Consider doing so at this time. We’d love to see all of you participating in the next club event!

TRAIN the Trainer

This is a chance for you to learn new skills – and as one individual quipped - perhaps a time to teach an “old dog” new tricks. Actually, there are no tricks, or hocus pocus, or fancy gizmos or expensive paraphernalia to be covered - These are sessions designed to guide you, the handler, as you work with your gun dog – regardless of the dog’s age and previous training. Longtime SRSGDA member Cam Hershaw will lead five (+) sessions beginning Saturday, April 17, 2004 at 10 am for approximately two hours. On subsequent Saturdays, Cam will work (demonstrate and discuss) on opportunities, problems, and solutions with a variety of dogs at different stages of development/training. During the days following each Saturday session you will be expected to train (practice/homework) your dog.

The schedule for training sessions and topics is as follows:

April 17^th Intro, Philosophy, Outline, Equipment

Beginning yard work

April 24^th WHOA

May 8^th BIRDS! “Walk around” and “stop to flush”

June 5^th BIRDS! “Flyaways, intro to the gun

June 19^th Putting it all together

There is an optional day available in May – depending on trainer and participants’ schedules and training needs. You will have opportunities to work one-on one (you and your dog) with Cam and other guest trainers at different points in time following the first session. DO NOT BRING YOUR DOG TO SESSION #1.

Training will be conducted at Cam’s place in Palouse (not to be confused the eatery in Pullman “Tam’s Place”). The address is: 12 Boone Road, Palouse WA and his telephone number is: 509-878-1871. Registration is required and space will be limited. Attending all sessions is not required, but highly recommended. Interested attendees may register by calling SRSGDA Secretary Nance Ceccarelli 208-883-0752 (home) or email njc@moscow.com.

Although not required reading, Cam recommends: “The Training and Care of the Versatile Hunting Dog” by Bodo Winterheldt, as a training manual. This book will be available for purchase (at a discount) through the club for club members.

PUPPIES – GSP puppies to be specific –

Gary Gage is expecting during this first week of April a litter of ticked and solid liver German Shorthair puppies sired by his hunting companion, HARRY. For particulars such as pedigree & price, please call 208-285-1608 or ggage@turbonet.com.