President Sue Yeap
Vice President Adreinne Lim
Secretary Donna Chee
Treasurer Alexis Yeap
Committee members Chok Kean Siang Lim BanHo Ooi Ban Hin Peter Moey
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Promoting the Sport of Dog Agility in Malaysia Volume 1, Issue 1 15 January, 2007. By Sue Yeap and Adreinne Lim Dark clouds and forecasts of thunderstorms and mini-cyclones a few days before the 6th of January, 2007 did not dampen the spirits of the members of the Persatuan Agiliti Anjing Pulau Pinang ( PAAPP). Our wishes were answered as the sky cleared up and the dog trials proceeded as planned from 5pm to 8.30pm at the Chinese Recreation Club in Jalan Padang Victoria, Penang. A large crowd was attracted ranging from people with their pets, curious onlookers to dog lovers of all ages. Fortunately the weather held on long enough for us to complete all the trials and it only poured when the prize giving ceremony was due to start. The organizers of the trials are the Persatuan Agiliti Anjing Pulau Pinang (PAAPP), which is a non-profit association registered with the Registrar of Societies in 2001. It started off with a group of dog enthusiasts, 8 founder members who got together in 1999 to train their dogs to jump over hurdles, go through tunnels, fly through tyre jumps, go up the A-frame and dog walk- all in the name of fun!. Soon this group was giving public demonstrations for the food fairs organized by the Women’s Crisis Centre, SPCA and birthday parties! To further promote the Dog Agility sport in a more organized and structured manner, the PAAPP was born. The sport of Dog Agility in Malaysia progressed throughout the years with instructors gaining more experience and knowledge. Until PAAPP came along, there was no single dog show specifically for dog agility and dog obedience where competitors can enter trials and win titles for their dogs. There are dog conformation shows where dogs can earn CC (Certificate of Conformance) for their dogs and achieve the Champion title but that was only reserved to pure bred dogs. Thus PAAPP is non discriminatory and gives owners and their dogs no matter if it is pedigreed or non-pedigree a chance to earn titles for their dogs in both agility and the obedience discipline. The inaugural dog trials organized by PAAPP on 6th and 13th January, 2007 was a great success and the association awarded the following prizes, clean run certificates and obedience certificates ( see table A and B.) What’s a Clean Run certificate? A Clean Run certificate is issued to the dog which has no faults while negotiating the agility course. To achieve zero faults, handling skills and teamwork between dog and handler is essential. To be successful, speed and accuracy is needed from the team. For the Agility trials on 6th and 13th January, 2007, only Basic Jumpers Courses were offered to MINI and MAXI dogs. MINI category is for dogs below 450mm at the dog’s withers (shoulders). MAXI category is for dogs above 450mm at the withers. Basic Jumpers class is the lowest or simplest class of Agility course. The next 3 categories in order of complexity are- the Elementary Class, the Novice Class and the Open class. The foundation of the agility dog is basic dog obedience. However, your dog does not need to obtain an Obedience Title to excel in dog Agility. For those interested in titling their dogs in the Obedience category, PAAPP also offers Dog obedience certificates and titles. Table B gives the results of the Obedience certificates. For obedience, the classes in order of complexity are- the Pre-Novice, the Novice, the Intermediate and the Open. The dog trials were a great success due to a great venue and publicity by the local press. Even Dog lovers from Kuala Lumpur drove all the way up to Penang to compete and have a good time. Many dog lovers came to support the trials and we believe that more people now understand what the Dog Agility sport is all about. Here are a couple of questions asked by the public- "Does PAAPP train dogs?" No, PAAPP do not train your dogs for you. If you join PAAPP as a member, you can join the training classes for agility and obedience by paying a small fee. The instructors from PAAPP are qualified voluntary instructors who will train you to train your dogs. Entering your dogs for future PAAPP organized trials will be FREE once you are a member. "If I am not a member of PAAPP, can my dogs enter future dog trials organized by PAAPP?" Yes you can, by paying a small amount of administration fees as decided by the PAAPP committee. "When is the next dog trials?" There will be 4 trials (Agility and Obedience) in May and another 4 trials ( Agility and Obedience) in September 2007. The PAAPP thank the following Agility Judges- Adreinne Lim and Alexis Yeap; the Obedience Judges- Thomas Nugroho(Indonesia) and Sue Yeap; the Chief Steward-Lim Ban Ho. We also thank the Show Manager- Pauline Lee and the numerous volunteers in assisting to make the dog trials a great success. Last but not least, we salute and thank Eukanuba for sponsoring the dog food prizes and Chinese Recreation Club for the venue. Contact- Sue Yeap- 012-4015882,if you are interested know more of PAAPP dog training programmes. |
Table A
Table B
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