Dogs Tasmania

26/07/2025

I’m Mel and my training journey kicked off in 2016 at the Tas Dog Training Club with my very first dog, Luna the Keeshond. We started in beginner obedience and dipped our paws into Rally, and I was instantly hooked! I now work in promoting various dog sports through my Canine Performance Association of Tasmania involvement.

Fast forward to today, and Luna is now 11 and has a resume that would make any dog and handler proud: Rally Champion, Masters in Agility and Jumping, Novice in Gamblers and Snooker, CD in Obedience, Advanced in Scent Work, and Intermediate in Trick Dog. She’s mostly retired now but still has her eyes (and nose!) set on Trick Dog Advanced and Scent Work Excellent. She’s not done yet!

Then there’s Archer, my 9-year-old Finnish Lapphund. Despite having epilepsy and only one eye, he’s a total superstar. He’s just one pass away from his Rally Champion title, recently earned his Scent Work Excellent, and competes in Masters. He’s also got Trick Dog Intermediate, CCD in Obedience, and a whole list of agility titles. His determination and joy are nothing short of inspiring.

And now, meet Dio, the newest member of the crew! He’s a Yakutian Laika, the first of his breed in Tasmania and the first in Australia to take on the majority of dog sports. He’s already strutting his stuff in conformation shows earning an Australian Champion Title and he recently achieved his Rally Novice title. He’s clever, confident, and has a bright future ahead!

I love all the sports we do, each one brings something special. Trick Dog is a favourite for its creativity and accessibility (and as a national judge, I might be a little biased!). Scent Work sharpens my observation skills and taps into my dogs’ natural instincts. Obedience challenges our focus and teamwork. Agility is pure joy and sneaky cardio. But Rally? That’s where it all began. It’s the heart of my journey and the foundation of the incredible bond I’ve built with my dogs. There are also several other sports I can’t wait for us to have a go at in the future such as Dancing with dogs, sprint dog, herding, and backpacking if we get the chance!

There have been so many proud moments, Luna scoring 99/100 on her final Rally Champion pass, being featured on Channel 10’s The Dog Down Under as a finalist, and Archer smashing his first agility trial post-surgery with three passes. Every time we step into the ring, I’m reminded of their resilience, spirit, and love for life.

Over the next year, I’m aiming to start working on Luna’s Trick Dog Advanced, Archer’s final Rally passes, and Dio’s Trick debut. But more than anything, I want to keep having fun with my dogs and grow the dog sport community in Tasmania through my CPAT Meander Valley Training Group and beyond.

As for breeds, I’m a sucker for a spitz with attitude! I adore the loyalty and smarts of my Keeshond, the energy and enthusiasm of my Lapphund, and I’ve fallen head over heels for the Yakutian Laika’s clever, mature, and driven nature. It’s like all my favourite traits rolled into one.

Outside of sports, Luna has been my trusty therapy dog at work for the past seven years, and Dio is getting ready to follow in her pawprints. I love our cuddle time, shopping trips, beach adventures, and just being together, doing whatever we’re doing.

When I’m not training or working as a child mental health therapist, I’m hanging out with my husband and daughter (who I’m gently nudging toward the dog-loving life), diving into fantasy video games, reading manga, or getting crafty with arts and crafts.

Hopefully I might see you at a competition soon, so please come and say hi as I’m always happy to help out with guidance or just chat about my dog sports obsession!

25/07/2025

Hello I’m Karen Leslie and my kennel prefix is a little tribute to the big and the small,my beloved Bernese Mountain Dogs and the cheeky Cairn Terriers. It’s a blend of heart and hilarity, elegance, and energy!

After nearly four decades of showing horses, I decided it was time to swap saddles for snuggles. Dogs had always been part of my life, and over 20 years ago, I welcomed my first pedigree show dog, the stunning Bernese named Zali. That was the beginning of a whole new adventure.

The Bernese will always be my heart breed, loyal, loving, and the calmest companions you could ever wish for. They’re everyone’s best friend and absolutely gorgeous. Then there are the Cairns, tiny tornadoes of joy! Independent, full of zest, hilarious, and tough as nails. I adore them both for very different reasons.

One of my most cherished memories is breeding my heart dog Kiki and welcoming my very first litter of Cairn puppies. Pure magic.

I’ve been in the dog world for over 20 years now, and what keeps me coming back is simple: I just love dogs. Showing, breeding, cuddling, every part of it brings me joy.

Outside of dogs, I’m a bit of a houseplant enthusiast. Okay, maybe more than a bit, I have over 70 plants scattered throughout my home. It’s a jungle in there, and I love it!

If I could have any breed in the world, it would be a Bernese that lived forever. No question.

My dogs live the good life, sun, sea, and surf. They’re show dogs, yes, but they’re also muddy adventurers, bed hogs, and beach bums. They get play and bounce around, and live life to the fullest

25/07/2025

11/07/2025

For Rally participants, this is the summary of rule changes for 2026. As with the Obedience, this is a summary only, not official yet and won’t start till 1st January 2026.

Rally

This is a summary of the new Rules. They have not been published on the ANKC Website so this can only be a summary at this stage. The rules come into effect on January 1st, 2026.

Rally GR CH. 10 scores of 95 points under 3 different Judges

Dogs must be 12 months or over

EXCELLENT Jumps may be used consecutively

MASTER 18. - 24 stations, min 3 and max 10 stationary exercises

The text description is the definitive way in which the station is to be performed. The image is a visual guide only

Certificates, the Judge must check the data base

Delete the sentence Times must not be posted

Distance from station immediately before the jump to immediately after and before the next station to be minimum of 5 m

Can enter the ring on a slip lead for all classes except Novice and lead to be retained by the handler

Signs will now be numbered

N1 - N40

A1 - A22

X1 - X14

M1- M15

There are some clarifications to the wording of signs

Signs moved from Advance to Novice

Double Right U turn

Double Left U turn

Double left about turn

Additional signs Diagonal and Loop turns right and left

Figure 8 with no distractions

Advanced:

Additional signs

Handler front Finish right

Handler front Finish left

Down walk around the dog

Stand walk around the dog

Excellent:

Moving Sit walk around the dog moved from Masters

Stand dog distance sit moved from Masters

Master:

Additional signs

Stand leave dog call to heel

Down leave dog call to heel

Moving Stand,

Moving Sit

Moving Down, leave dog 3m about turn walk past dog 3 m return to heel and continue on

10/07/2025

For those of you who have been waiting to find out the results of the Obedience rules review, the précis below has been posted on FB from a Victorian contributor as a summary of decisions made from the rule review process earlier this year. This post has been okayed by our Dogs TAS delegate. Please note that these are simply a summary and not the official rules, they may be subject to change and are not valid until January 1st 2026.

DISCLAIMER FROM ORIGINAL POSTER
Here is a summary of the new rules which come into effect on January 1st 2026.
A number of people have sent DMs with more complete lists they have received from the governing committees in other states. Below I have compiled them and put them into an easier to read and understand format but please understand I can't say with 100% certainty that this information is completely correct, However as we have not been given anything else hopefully what I have provided is accurate.

Here is a summary of the new rules which will come into effect on January 1st, 2026.

The main points:

• There is a non-jumping pathway to UDX from Open, however Gr Ch can only be gained by way of UD.

• Dogs must be 12 months old in order to compete.

• If the handlers left arm and hand is held on the outside of the dog’s head and body, giving continued guidance and is considered by the Judge as a signal or extra command a non-qualifying score should be given.

• Certificate. The Judge must check the data base. Note the Judges chart is considered a data base.

• Scoring. No half points are allowed.

• Dogs may enter the ring on a slip lead from Novice onwards.

• UD metal scent articles may now be square if desired.

• Signal exercise in UD is now Command Exercise. Handler to choose either signal or verbal.

• Here’s the big one I know a lot of you have been waiting for, drum roll please: NO MORE GROUP STAYS other than the Stand For Exam in UD and UDX. There are now individual exercises to replace these group stays.



CCD Sit stay: This will be replaced with an exercise where the Handler leaves their dog in a sit position and walks off 10 metres, about turns and returns back to their dog.

CCD Down stay: This will be replaced with an exercise where the Handler leaves their dog in a down position and walks off 10 metres, about turns and returns back to their dog.



NOVICE Sit Stay: This will be replaced with an exercise where the Handler leaves their dog in a stand position and walks off 10 metres. The Judge will circle the dog approx 1 metre away, Handler then returns to dog.

NOVICE Down stay: This will be replaced with an exercise where the Handler leaves their dog in a down position and walks off 5 metres and returns on order from the judge after 1 minute



OPEN Out of sight stay: This will be replaced with a Directed Sendaway to a box where the dog must sit. The box is 10 metres away



UD Out of sight stay: This will be replaced with Positions in motion. This is done in a straight line, with the handler moving forward approx 1metre without stopping after giving the command for a specific position before returning around the left side of the dog back to heel position and moving forward again without pause. Judge to choose the order which will be the same for every dog. Moving Sit, Moving Down, Moving Stand in whatever order the judge chooses

06/06/2025

A huge weekend of dog showing, this Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th at the Quercus park at Carrick. Two shows each day, starting at 9. Pop along and see rare breeds, and old favourites. Canteen facilities available.

30/05/2025

If you would like to see the rare Skye Terrier, there is one listed to be shown this weekend at the Pontville Dog Grounds on Saturday, starting at 9. There will be many rare and vunerable breeds been shown, pop on in and say hello. 😁 Canteen facilities available.

Our canine companions have lived beside us in all shapes and sizes, but plenty of breeds have disappeared along the way thanks to changes in jobs and fashion.

24/05/2025

Introducing Maree Crombie who started training with her first dog, Macchiato, at Eastern Shore Dog Club in 2012 and is sharing her training journey.

I started puppy classes with Macchi at Eastern Shore Dog Club in 2012. Macchi retired from competition at the age of twelve and a half. Throughout her sporting career she reached Masters level in Rally, Agility and Jumping.

My second dog, Kodi, aged seven, is currently competing in Rally Masters, needing two more passes to achieve his title. As well, he has previously attained his Novice Jumping title and his Companion Dog (Novice) title in Obedience.

Of the sports we have participated in I enjoy Obedience and Rally the most, due to the fact that, as I get older, Agility is just a bit too fast for me.

2020 was a year to remember for me as Macchiato achieved twelve trial passes and got both her Novice Agility and Novice Jumping titles. For this feat she was recognised as the Hobart Dog Training Club Junior Agility Trial Dog of the Year. She backed this up in 2022 when she was named as Eastern Shore Dog Club's Trial Dog of the Year. Not to be outdone, Kodi achieved Hobart Dog Training Club's Obedience Trial Dog of the Year in 2023 and backed it up with winning Eastern Shore's Trial Dog of the Year in the same year.

Sadly, in October last year Kodi was diagnosed with Progressive Retinal Atrophy and is 80% blind. Consequently I am concentrating my efforts on training him to respond to voice cues instead of hand signals with the goal, firstly, of attaining his Masters Rally title and hopefully progressing towards his Rally Champion title before he becomes totally blind. As he is only 7 years old I have also started training Scentwork to keep him engaged and learning.

I love training my dogs because they are calm, intelligent, relatively easy to train and well suited to most dog sport disciplines. I love to walk, play, learn, compete and curl up to read a book together with my dogs. I also enjoy reading, cooking and dining out.

23/05/2025

Meet Frances Chamley who is involved in a number of dog sports (Tricks, Rally, Scent work, Obedience and Tracking) with three dogs, three different breeds and two classified as elderly dogs. She sees her participation as 'Dog Sports with a Difference".

Frances started working with her dogs when she got her first job and house and started dabbling in training and tricks about 5 years ago.

Her first dog, Indy (a Rottweiler), is nearly 13 now. She started competing as a 10 year old with Trick trials when they first started and also with Rally. They then went to Scent work which Indi loves and got her Novice Scent work title.

Odin, her partner's dog, is a long stock coat German Shepherd, nearly 9 years old. He got his first title in Tracking, then gained his Rally Excellent title last year. But the necessity of rapid sits in Masters stations might make the Rally Masters title unobtainable. They are still working on what Intermediate tricks he might be able to learn, but are actively competing in Scent work at the Advanced level.

Her Leonburger, Beaumont, is the baby of the family at two and a half. They got through the early levels of a number of sports, but are slowing down as he gets through his teenage years. He is at Rally Excellent level, has dabbled in CCD, has reached Track 5 and is slowly learning Intermediate tricks, which can be tricky (pun intended) with his big body. They are also part way through Novice Scent work.

Of all the sports Frances has done, Scent work is her preferred game, as it's an activity that all three dogs of different breeds and different ages are able to participate in with success. It's also great for teaching independence and building a great relationship, as only the dog is able to find the hide and you have to learn to trust your dog. However, she has enjoyed all the sports she has done as she learns more about what her dogs like and can or can't do well. The collegiality of dog sports people is also something she really enjoys.

She is proud that all her dogs have gained titles in the varied dog sports as it verifies the work that has gone into preparing the dogs for competition. But she is proudest that, on looking back at the support and advice from others, when she starts training an aspect for competition and it finally clicks and both you and the dog get it, it's a great feeling of achievement.

Her goals for the next year are to keep having fun and looking at dabbling in other disciplines to see where they end up. A few more titles will also be the icing on the cake.

She feels lucky to currently own a unique, reasonably rare breed of dog in her Leonburger. This isn't a breed traditionally thought of when it comes to dog sports, but they are capable in their own way. He's a gentle giant who gets a manic little look in his eye when he's ready to learn something new.

Her favourite dog activities are camping, bush walking and swimming, along with the training they need to do. She also loves hiking and gardening.