Online NEWSLETTER

Volume 1

October, 2004


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From the President
Meeting Minutes and Committee Reports

Articles:
"Toes" by Cynthia McCollum
"Pet Friendly Shelters" by John Pfohler
"Obedience Tricks..." by PJ Lacette
Wanted: Dog Buddies
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Salasana Steeple Ashton at 4 weeks

Name this Newsletter
 And you could have the chance to have your dog featured with his/her picture on the front of our website along with his/her story! Submit your names to Claire at ckoshar@southernskiesfcrc.org . Be creative! Submissions will be voted on by the board. Please have them in by November 1,2004.


Notes From The President

Fall has been ushered in at hurricane speed. Fortunately for us, we own water dogs. Thankfully, although there has been much damage to property, we have heard of no injuries to our people or dogs. My new puppy thinks it's a pretty exciting welcome to her Florida home.

As a result of these storms Southern Skies is designing a plan for emergency situations for our Flat-coats and owners. A list will be kept for temporary shelter as well as a buddy system so that we can stay in contact with our members.

Some Southern Skies events have been cancelled as a result of the storms, most notably our Supported Entry at the Boca Raton show. Much work had been done in preparation. We thank Barbara Silverman for her continued efforts to provide for us an exceptional show experience. We'll get back to the Boca show another day.

In the upcoming weeks there will be educational activities scheduled on the web site. For each of us, there is so much to learn. Club events are always a great opportunity to gain new concepts and to enjoy the company of fellow flat-coat owners. This is as true for the "wise owls" of our club as well as the "young lions". A viable organization needs both. Your participation is the only thing that provides a promising future for our club and for our breed.

And finally, remember that there are no strangers among us. We are a family, related through our kind and loving dogs.

The best to each of you. Stay safe.

Claire Koshar, President


Board Meeting Minutes

Southern Skies FCRC Annual Board Meeting Minutes

Claire Koshar, President, called the Southern Skies FCRC board meeting to order at 1:45 on May 23, 2021 at Three J Dog Training School in Winter Garden, FL.

Members Present: Claire Koshar, Pam Hind, Carol Cassidy, Alison Schultz, Cynthia McCollum
Guests Present: Marge Cassidy

Items Discussed:
1. Duties of new officers- expectations discussed

2. Calendar of events for the 2004-2005 year -
August 1st Agility fun day at Best Paw Forward in Sanford.
Sept 5th Dog Obedience Clubs of Florida (DOCOF) competition. We would like to field a team, contact Cynthia if you are interested in participating.
Sept 18 social gathering and Sept 19 Supported entry at Boca show.
December or January holiday meeting. In conjunction with the Orlando show Dec 10-11 or with the Eukanuba Classic in Tampa - January 15-16, 2005.
Feb 13th WC/WCX, Annual meeting and a bar-b-que at Claire's
April 2-8, 2005 is National Specialty in Atlanta, GA

3. WC/WCX in conjunction with the Golden club - needs to be researched more

4. Board members and Committee Chairs - appointments and include committee chairs in board information unless there is something confidential

Board Members and Committee Chairs
Fundraising
Jackie Fried
Obedience Cynthia McCollum
Laura Johnson

Committee Chairs
Supported Entry &
Liason with FCRSA
Joan Dever
WC/WCX Mary Smith
Website John Pfohler
Newsletter Liz Mound
Rescue Donna Chocianowski
Education PJ Lacette

Meeting adjourned at 2:45
Respectfully Submitted - Alison Schultz Recording Secretary




Committee Reports

Rescue
 

Florida rescue continues to stay busy. Almost daily there is a something
happening, either someone wanting an application for adoption, a dog needing ID, looking for foster homes, etc. Last year we placed 11 dogs in new homes. Interestingly, the homes ranged from Key West to New Hampshire with North Carolina in between! So you never know how far a person will go to find the perfect dog for them.

About a third of the dogs placed this year were pure FCRs that were in
unhappy situations and the remainder were "ID'ed" as FCR by one of us.
Though we can never be 100% sure that a dog we ID is pure FCR, we look at head type, body shape and temperament to make a reasonable decision. It is a fact that some pure FCRs do end up in shelters or in rescue situations. No matter how careful a breeder is when placing a puppy, you can nevercontrol what someone will do 5-10 years down the road behind the breeder's back.


 Yes, we had a 10 year old pure FCR end up in rescue this year unbeknownst to the breeder until one of our volunteers started to put the puzzle pieces together. He's now in a happy new home (unbeknownst to the
previous owners :)

Another purebred girl needed help because her owner had died and no one in the family wanted the dog. She came very close to an unhappy end until a family friend stepped in and got in touch with us. This situation made me realize to make arrangements for not only my "real" child but also my "furry children" in case something should happen to me.

There were numerous calls that turned out to be non-FCR. Unfortunately, the shelters & "Petfinder" type websites like to call any nice (and sometimes not so nice) black dog an FCR because they feel it will get the dog needed attention for adoption. Problem is, it makes our job much harder. I spend a lot of time explaining what real Flat Coats look like & why we can't help all the nice black dogs in the world.

While most of our rescues don't require much from us as fosters, except some food & love for a few days (and maybe a bath) a few of the dogs this year did need some extra care. We had Shader, a really cool dog who need hip surgery. Baxter came to us with heartworms & Charity had a severe upper respiratory infection. Jackie Capes & national rescue are wonderful! The finances are always there to help these dogs make full recoveries so they can go into their new homes with a clean bill of health.

I have several people who have been an immense help to me this year. Thank you to everyone who ID'ed dogs, fostered, transported, made phone calls, emails, etc. We have a great group of people in this club who really love the breed and are eager to help.

For those of you who haven't helped, but would like to, please let me know what you can offer to rescue and I'll add you to my list of volunteers.

Rescue is hard and sometimes heartbreaking work. But to watch a dog go from days away from euthanasia or living off garbage in a field to being the light of someone's life is truly a remarkable experience.

All the best,
Donna Chocianowski
Florida FCR Rescue Chairperson
Winter Garden, FL


 
Cassie/Owner: Joyce Leonard
 Cassie says:
"November is almost here.
Ya'll don't forget to "

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