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Submitted 3/28/13

I am embarrassed to say that I neglected an additional well-deserved congratulation when I wrote the most recent President’s update for the LV America website.

Our own LV America Hartmut Beckmann has been selected to be one of the judges at the 2013 DVG Bundessiegerprüfung. This is indeed a well-deserved honor. Hartmut came to us from Lübeck, Germany, in 1987. He is known as a demanding, but very fair judge, and is an excellent trainer as well as a judge.

Congratulations to Hartmut for receiving a well-earned recogition for all he has contributed to our sport in LV America, both as a judge and as a competitor.

Have a great time at the Bundessieger, Hartmut.

Congratulations to SEKG president, Melissa Hepler and to Amanda Hoskinson. Both were certified this past weekend at the Tulsa Schutzhund Club trial. Thank you, Tulsa SchH Club for hosting the certification and all the additional people involved with the certification. We were honored to have DVG LRO (Chief of Judges), Udo Stachowiak come all the way from Germany to certify our new judges. Accompanying Udo was Wolfgang Pahl, first Vice President of DVG. There to welcome everyone was our DVG Chief of Judges, Ray Reid. Thank you, Ray. I wish I could have been there.

While Udo was here to certify our new judges (both through testing on the trial field and also with a written test), he also approved our two new apprentice judge applicants – James Akin-Otiko and Jacki Purdham. Congratulations to both Akin and Jacki. Now they can both begin the process of apprenticing at trials all over LV America in preparation for their own certification some time down the road.

I would like to put before you the names and addresses of those who will be competing in international events as DVG members. Our representative from LV/DVG America who will be participating in the DVG Bundessiegerprüfimg in Eschweiler, Germany April 26-28 is Lisa Little, with her Mal, Haylie. Lisa is a member of the Working Rottweiler Assn. of Canada. Our expected 2nd LV America participant for the DVG BSP was to be Ludovic Teurbane, but unfortunately his dog was injured and unable to compete. There is an additional DVG America member who will be competing internationally this year and that’s Tom Shelley, a member of the Mid-Rivers WDA. Tom and his Mali, Byela, will be representing the AWDF (and LV/DVG America) in the 2013 FCI IPO-FH Championship in Ebeltoft, Denmark, April 10-14.

Ludovic and Lisa receive some financial help from LV America to cover their travel expenses. Believe me, it’s not enough. They’re both out of pocket a minimum a couple of thousand bucks. Tom, on the other hand, is out of pocket for all his expenses.

These die-hard dog sport folks deserve our help. They’re the ones out there showing the world what good dogs can do when properly trained. They’re the ones taking time off from work, flying for hours, trusting the airlines with their dogs (which is a scary proposition in and of itself) and so on. And they do it willingly. Let’s help them out.

If you or your club wishes to support our dog sport representatives as they compete internationally, here are their names and addresses:

Lisa Little
PO Box 1669
Stayner, ON L0M 1S0
Canada

Tom Shelley
9872 Towpath Road
Bolivar, OH 44612

Let’s help these folks out. After all, they are OUR representatives!

All LV/DVG America members wishing to enter the 2013 AWDF Championship and Team Challenge, May 15-19, 2013, in Lucas, KY, must fulfill the following requirements:

1. Send a correctly/completely filled out entry form along with a copy of the entrant’s 2013 DVG membership card;
2. Send a check for the amount of the entry fee made out to LV/DVG America
3. Have an AWDF scorebook for the dog to be entered that is issued or signed off on (in the case of a dual issue AWDF scorebook) by DVG America.

The deadline for entries for the 2013 AWDF Championship has been changed to April 26th.
However, ALL Entries sent in AFTER APRIL 22nd WILL NOT APPEAR in the catalog

I must receive the entry form and entry fee check no later than April 26, 2013. Entry forms may be obtained on the AWDF Championship website (see events on the DVG America website home page). DVG America issued AWDF scorebooks can be obtained by following the instructions below. The entry form and the entry fee check are to be mailed to:

Carole Patterson, President
LV/DVG America
7543 Gartner Road
Evergreen, CO 80439

If there are any questions, my e-mail is caroledvg@mindspring.com.

February 9, 2013
To: All LV/DVG America Member Club Presidents
From: Carole Patterson, President, LV/DVG America

Even though there has been some confusion with the 2013 membership cards, member cancellations and so on. LV America membership officer, Ann Thomas is working with the DVG office to get this all straightened out. Apparently a couple of packets mailed never reached the DVG office.

However, I'd like to address a different subject. All member club presidents received their club members' membership cards. Additionally, you received a delegate card to fill out and send to your KG president. The instructions should be pretty clear and are in English.Your KG president, in turn, will sign off on these delegate cards and send them on to me.

The 2013 Vorstandsitzung (DVG Board meeting) and Mitgliedsversammlung (membership meeting) will be held the weekend of March 23 and 24 of this year. As many of you know, I have had some physical problems over the last 3 months, including heart surgery. I'm to have another surgery on February 13 to remove a blockage in my right carotid artery.

Because of these problems, I am not yet committed to being able to attend the board and membership meetings in Germany in March. I very much want to attend because this will be my very last year to do so as president of LV/DVG America. So, assuming my health does improve sufficiently and that I can get reservations at the last minute, I will do all in my power to attend the meetings.

In view of that, I very much want to have as many delegate cards in my possession as possible to take to the membership meeting. Therefore, I request that you follow the instructions included with you membership cards and the delegate card, fill in and sign and send them to your KG president. Your KG president, in turn, will sign off and send the cards to me to take with me to Germany.

Thank you all for your understanding over the last few months. I thank you for your good thoughts and prayers. And I very much hope that I will, once again, be able to represent you at the meetings in Germany this coming March.

Yours in the Sport,

Carole Patterson, President
LV/DVG America

Submitted 5/31/11

As of April 1, 2011, scorebooks from DVG are no longer free. This decision was made at the DVG Board meeting held the last weekend in March. The charge for scorebooks for all DVG members is now $18.00 US. DVG America members may no longer fax their scorebook applications directly to the DVG office in Germany. All scorebook applications must be sent to LV Secretary, Sandi Purdy. Each application must be accompanied by a check in the amount of $18.00 made out to LV/DVG America. Sandi will fax the applications to the DVG office as soon as she receives them, noting on the application that the LV has been paid.

This change in procedure is effective immediately. Do not send any scorebook applications directly to the DVG office. Mail them with accompanying check in the amount of $18 as follows:

Sandi Purdy, Secretary
LV/DVG America
2101 Westmoreland Road
Red Oak, TX 75154

The DVG office has been asked to return any applications received after the posting of this notice on our website.

*Note to club presidents/membership officers: If a new joining member wishes to apply for a scorebook at the same time, the membership application and membership dues check and a separate scorebook application with a separate $18.00 check, payable to LV/DVG America, must be sent through your KG membership officer.

Submitted 4/18/11

This notice is for anyone holding membership in more than one LV/DVG America member club. If you have a scorebook on your dog that lists only one club and membership number on it, you are required to send the book to the DVG office to have the second club and membership number added to the scorebook. The scorebook is invalid for entry in a trial until you have both clubs and membership numbers listed on the book.

Submitted 10/12/10

To all LV/DVG America Members,

I’d like to address the issue of the magazine to all of you. This subject will be discussed at Nationals by the Board and membership. This is part of the letter that will be in the November/December issue of the magazine. I hope you will read this and think about what I have written and talk to your club members about it.

There has been some discussion about our magazine in the various Kreisgruppe meetings around the country. A lot of the discussion has been regarding magazine content, or lack thereof. I want to point out to all of you that this magazine is YOUR magazine. If your club, your KG and you, yourself don’t contribute to the magazine, then that leaves us with very little to print. When the magazine was first started, each KG was appointed the task of providing one article per magazine issue. It could be an article from a member club about the trial it held, an article about a “Fun Day” that a club had with the members and their dogs, an article about a seminar held by a club. The articles could be about anything that would promote the concept of our sport and what we do with our dogs. What you do with your dog. Unfortunately, the practice of an article from each KG for each issue of the magazine fell by the wayside. And that’s too bad. If you don’t contribute to your magazine, then there will be no magazine. I can’t write enough articles to fill the space. I realize in this electronic age, most of you can find out what other clubs are doing and what events they’re holding or they’ve held by checking into the home websites that many clubs have now. But believe it or not, not everyone has that capability. And somehow, it’s not the same as sitting in your easy chair and reading about what other members and other clubs throughout LV/DVG America are doing. But the magazine can’t offer that if you and your club and your region don’t contribute to it.

Some members say they don’t want to spend the money for the magazine. Well, the magazine is part of your membership and represents our organization. One thought is to reduce the number of issues and make it a quarterly publication. Another is to change the type of paper, etc. Another, which has been discussed before, is that it be available electronically. I will tell you that this would save paper and printing costs, but the make-up of the magazine format would still require the ability of a competent production artist. But as members of LV/DVG America, if you don’t contribute, the magazine itself loses its purpose.

I hope you read this and think very seriously about it. The magazine and the DVG America need your input to remain viable. Only you, all of you, can make this happen

Yours in the Sport,

Carole Patterson, President

Submitted 2/25/10

AWDF Scorebooks

Any DVG member who wishes to enter the AWDF Championship must have an AWDF scorebook

To obtain the scorebook send:

• 1. A check made payable to “LV/DVG America” in the amount of $ 10.00 USD.
• 2. A copy of your current valid membership card.
• 3. A copy of your current DVG scorebook (cover & inside).
• 4. The following information is required:
  • Dog's registered name (if registered -- if not, simply the dog's call name)
  • Breed
  • Male or Female
  • Dog's date of birth
  • Color
  • Is the dog a mixed-breed? Neutered?
  • Tattoo or chip number
  • Sire
  • Dam
  • Breeder's Name
  • Registering organization
  • Registration number

• 5. Mail all the above items to:

Please note:

• 1. As a DVG America member you still need to submit your DVG scorebook for all DVG trials.
• 2. At DVG trials you may also submit your AWDF and other breed organization scorebooks in addition to your DVG scorebook to record your trial performances.
• 3. Non DVG members may submit their AWDF and/or recognized breed organization scorebooks at DVG club trials. However, you must also be able to present proof of valid current membership in the organization that issued the scorebook

If you need to contact me or want further information, my e-mail address is caroledvg@mindspring.com

Submitted 2/19/2010

To the members of LV/DVG America

I am pleased to announce the LV/DVG America Board officers elected for 2010 and 2011. Five offices were filled by incumbents running unopposed and one office was filled by a candidate new to the LV Board, also running unopposed.

• President – Carole Patterson
• Vice President – Fred Marashi
• Secretary – Sandi Purdy
• Treasurer – Nancy Schick

• LRO – Hartmut Beckmann

• LV-OfS – James Akin-Otiko

Additionally, I want to thank Randy Theen for his many years of service as the LV/DVG America OfS and previously, as OfS of the SEKG. Randy, good luck with your new dog and we wish you success in all your endeavors.

E-mail addresses and phone numbers for the various officers are available on our website. Thank you to all of the clubs that voted in the election.

Yours in the Sport,

Carole Patterson, President
LV/DVG America