Game Changer of the Month

Sharon took the initiative to contact fellow Hawkes Bay club members post Cyclone Gabrielle. She arranged a care package to get to me (and I'm sure others!) in Napier consisting of dog and people food. The roads had only just opened and groceries were still scarce. It was/has been a very scary time being completely isolated and no communications and then to have someone come out of the blue to reach out with a hello and a care package. I will be forever grateful.

Jo goes out of her way to help people at our club - across all codes! She is the ultimate volunteer and giver of time & her knowledge. for example with agility she lends out her 2x2s to different people so they can use them at home, she goes above and beyond to ensure people have access to things to make their training with their dog easier and successful. Jo advocates for positive training and watching her with her own dogs is pretty special. An example of jo going above and beyond- in the lead up to NZDAC (which she wasn't coming to) she invited me up to her own place and gave me 1:1 training early in the morning (every morning) because I was struggling with a few things. She got out of bed earlier, had everything already set up and encouraged & helped me so much. She helped build my confidence back up again which meant my dogs increased too. It's really hard to put into words but Jo is always there, she volunteers at shows where she isn't competing, across all codes, she's there, she always puts her hand up to help, she's kind and is the best advocate for positive dog training, increasing your bond with your dog and just an all round awesome person. She really deserves it!

Sandra is one of a kind, she has been a member of Blenheim Canine Training club well before I started 15 years ago. I know first-hand how patient and kind she is when training, or in the past as show manager.
Sandra can’t run her dog Fin as she is waiting for knee surgery(it’s a long wait). It’s not until someone is not activity running the shows that you realise what is missing.
I am nominating Sandra because she worked through the pain of her knee to run a Foundation and a Beginner’s class, and after that 12 weeks was up she keep training them all with a painful knee, and at times on crunches. At their first ribbon trial Sandra was there walking the courses with her class, supporting them. Sandra is my role model. All clubs need a Sandra!

Last year at a DAWG show myself and another member of Feilding club had an unfortunate accident with our caravan on Friday night while travelling to the show. The caravan was not towable and had to be shipped to a trucking yard leaving us with no accomodation. We were offered a tent by Marion from DAWG on Friday night once everything was sorted and specially went home to collect it and some stretchers. Come Saturday morning Ang heard what had happened and offered for us to stay at her place and was most hospitable offering dinner and a hot shower and beds for the night. I thought this was pretty amazing as at this point Ang and myself didn't know each other that well. Ang has a great attitude and is always very supportive of everyone's runs no matter how good or bad.

Molly is a young Napier member who offered without prompting helped me get all the prize giving ready and also helped all the prize winners get their generous prizes from Proplan to their car. Molly has stayed and helped all day with a happy smile on her face. And she also received her very first ribbon at the NZDAC benefit show. So cool for her!

Kelly allowed me to take her experienced dog to foundation agility classes before I got my dog, so I could learn to get him off to a good start. She also let me run her dogs in agility shows to get me handling practice. For my whole journey she has been so supportive, even going so far as to give me a voucher for an online dog training course when I broke my leg and lending me many of her books while I was laid up. She has been nothing but encouraging, supportive, and positive, and has also showed similar acts of kindness to others in the agility world.

I would like to acknowledge Linda Martin as a person who should be recognised for a random act of kindness. When she heard of my cancer diagnoses she organised a "Give a little" page for me. It truly helped me not only financially but also emotionally. She has also had health issues, so for her to think of me was really heroic. I also have to acknowledge the amazing agility community who come together at the drop of a hat to help in any way they can. Its a huge bunch of really good people. I can not think of another crew so caring, competitive, hard working, encouraging and nurturing of dogs and people.