Northern Pwrc

[Steve Jonigk]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

I feel ashamed to be a Northern member. What a complete shambles the open on Sunday was.

For experienced officials and committee members not to have purchased two good lure machines, a motorbike, and have decent charged up batteries was unthinkable, and then having to borrow battery leads from a visitor.

To use an old slow lure, not fit for open class dogs was a disgrace. If someone wanted to ruin this open - they succeeded. :angry:

All the loyal supporters of this club, who have travelled long distances in traffic, year in year out, have been badly let down.

This club used to take pride in running opens, and servicing equipment - and not taking nearly 6 hours to run less than 50 races!

It's a sad day, but I won't be renewing my membership, or travelling to any more Northern opens in the foreseeable future.

 

[Strike Whippets]

I think that it was very unfortunate that once something went wrong, that it snowballed but i give full credit for the members for seeing it through :huggles: .........and we had a good day

 

[BeeJay]

Wasn't there so ............

However what I DO know are a few results.

So congrats from us to Darcia and Rob and that lovely brindle boy Ross. :thumbsup:

Congrats also to Jane and her lovely brindle boy Smokey. :thumbsup:

Oh and congrats to Hannah and the twit. :wub: for winning a big cup. Still waiting for the photo Hannah.

Don't know any other results I'm afraid. So I bet that I've missed a lot of folks out but it's just 'cause I don't know not 'cause I don't want to congrat you. :thumbsup:

Might even see some of you and your dogs racing before the year is out. Yeh pigs might fly eh!

 

[John E Greenwood]

Thought that I would try and explain......probably a mistake (w00t) :nuke:

This is my own personal take on events.......not an official Northern view point.

1...Racers did not want the track in its' normal position along and under the bank, because they didn't want their dogs running across the rugby pitch markings (fair comment.....we aim to please )

2...Track is moved to the middle of the field...equipment tested. Wonderful....let's make a start.

3..Wind gets up and begins to blow the lure into the netting..(where we usually run, under the bank is sheltered, and we don't have this problem)...lure hits netting, dogs catch it, racing stops.

4..The lure is weighted to try and stop the wind blowing it across.

5..With the track in it's new, improved position the angle on the pulley between the lure driver and the track is more acute than it would be with the track in it's normal position. This couple with the extra weight on the lure, slows the lure down....dogs catch the lure.

6..More power is tried..2 x 12volt batteries, plus a small generator, kindly loaned by Steve Jonigk (Thanks Steve)...This doesn't do the trick, the lure is still slow.

7..Racing stops whist the lure drivers' posion is moved to reduce the angle at the pulley....the 2 batteries AND the generator remain in use, just to be on the safe side :b ... All goes well for a number of races.

8..The starter motor on the lure machine burns out....a volt meter is produced, to make sure the motor is at fault, not just a conection...Both batteries were producing just over 12 volts, (and so were fully charged).

9..A members' own personal lure machine is used to replace the knackered one...(Thanks Rebecca Abbot)...Obviously this machine is not used to the amount of work which it was given yesterday, and so although we managed to finish the meeting, there were several unfortunate hold ups when the string broke on the lure.

In hind sight....no doubt mistakes were made, and at some points in the day, possibly, the situation could have been handled more efficiently. The lack of a motor bike was more of a problem than we thought it would be. I think that you are right, Steve, we should have bought another......BUT we were under INCREASING pressure as the day went on, and acutely aware of the distances which some racers had travelled.

I would like to offer my personal thanks (I am not in a position to speak for the club)..for the patience of the racers in VERY trying circumstances....and my best wishes and praise for my fellow cub members who all worked very hard in an effort to pull the meeting together despite all the problems.

WELL DONE Rob and Darcia ON YOUR WIN AND FASTEST TIME OF THE DAY. :cheers:

 

[Mark Roberts]

I would like to offer my personal thanks (I am not in a position to speak for the club)..for the patience of the racers in VERY trying circumstances.

umm I can tell you weren't mingling with the visiting racers while things were going wronge? not much patience was being shown.
Things did go very wrong most of them could of been avoided and lessons need to be learnt, i've given The Chairman my thoughts on what went wronge and what needs to change.

 

[Judy]

Ah well. As the day went on I just thought it was funnier and funnier. I'm not sure everyone agreed with me though

The important thing was that the ground was perfect for the dogs so I shouldn't think there were many injuries and in the end the racing did get done. I would have hated to have been an official on the day so well done to those that soldiered on in trying circumstances.

 

[conway]

i still can't blieve it...................

 

[Scott Frodsham]

I feel ashamed to be a Northern member.  What a complete shambles the open on Sunday was.
For experienced officials and committee members not to have purchased two good lure machines, a motorbike, and have decent charged up batteries was unthinkable, and then having to borrow battery leads from a visitor.

To use an old slow lure, not fit for open class dogs was a disgrace.  If someone wanted to ruin this open - they succeeded. :angry:

All the loyal supporters of this club, who have travelled long distances in traffic, year in year out, have been badly let down.

This club used to take pride in running opens, and servicing equipment - and not taking nearly 6 hours to run less than 50 races!

It's a sad day, but I won't be renewing my membership, or travelling to any more Northern opens in the foreseeable future.

Steve, I'm disappointed to read your comments as you've been a very active member of the Northern long before my time and I am genuinely sorry that you will no longer be a member.

I would also have hoped that you'd aired you're views 'in house' rather than waiting until you were hundreds of miles away trying to distance yourself from a far from perfect open, on the internet, for the world to see.

I apologise to people that travelled to the Northern, not all problems were under our control though (wind/caterers/track change), although I admit lessons have been learnt. The batteries were all charged and the lure used was the same that was used sucessfully at the bend open earlier in the year. As most will know our shed was broken into a fortnight ago and the motorbike stolen, we did not realise that this would have caused the time delays that it did. I've already discussed the purchase of a new lure/motorbike with the Chairman and this will be discussed

further at the next committee meeting when we also need to discuss a new secretary following Mark's resignation.

I'd like to commend the Northern members/officials who stayed at their posts despite very trying circumstances, also the few racers that offered assistance/support. :thumbsup:

The easy option would have been to pack in and call it a day(and it crossed my mind a few times!), but that would have been even more unfair on the people who had travelled.

I'd also like to thank the majority of the racers for their patience/behaviour.

Regards,

Scott.

 

[John E Greenwood]

Let's all look forward to the next one........We have something to prove now 8) :thumbsup:

 

[Smiffy@VeronnaV]

Well Barbara, I was there, I went, having spent good money on a B&B as well, just so that I wouldn't kill anyone by falling asleep on the way home too! Now, if all the things that had gone wrong had been done on purpose, then we could moan. And hindsight, aka Wisdom is a wonderful thing, but the problem about that is that it happens AFTER the event. Things do go wrong, even with the best laid plans, but what do the majority do? Do they help? Nope. Just the usual of do nothing and wait for someone else to do it. The delays were our COLLECTIVE fault, because we could have got in there and helped to save the day, then it would not have taken so long. For instance, there could have been a rota for walking the lure down the track, four people taking it their quarter would have speeded things up a vast amount, but instead we just watched. Or did that happen after I left with my injured dog? One of the unfortunate ones on the day I guess, and it always happens to me! I sometimes think God is trying to tell me something!!!!

What got to me was not the breakdowns, and I was involved in several of them, indeed in my round they had to run the first round 3 times, but the attitude of some of the racers in that round. Having run the first time, two of the other owners in the race DIDN'T WANT A 20 MINUTE BREAK TO LET THE DOGS RECOVER BEFORE RACING AGAIN. What a disgrace, particularly in the heat. Lady Luck came to the rescue 'cos there was a 'breakdown lull'anyway - twice, but had that not happened, they would have had to race again, immediately. If you can't rely on the race manager to MAKE people do the right thing, then it's a sorry state of affairs. After the second re-run I spoke to the race manager, not the other owners in the race, and it was moved to the end of the heavyweights - so one does learn I guess!! So that's my grouse, not that the equipment kept breaking, but that we failed the dogs. The dogs in that heat ran THREE first rounds. So had done their racing for the day before they began the rest of the programme. And had we all pulled together, (and I'm as guilty as everyone else, I just watched like nearly everyone else), we wouldn't have failed the dogs, would we? In retrospect, I feel ashamed that I didn't muck in, it would have helped. But I was delighted to hear Steph and Tony had a win, as did Darcia and Jane, it's so good to see people who don't win much even they always go racing, actually win - I bet they all floated home.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Carmel, my dog was 1 of those in your race and both Paula & myself were more than happy for our dog to go straight back in without a break as was Nevil, if the dogs cant cope with that then they shouldn't be on a race track, whippets are a sporting breed bred to run and any dog not caperble of the 3 quick(ish) consecutive runs doesn't deserve to be called a whippet.

the ground wasn't hard the wind was keeping the dogs cool so we saw no problem in ours re-running quickly, when they are out working they can have 5 or 6 quick consecutive runs after a bolting rabbit so in futur i'll block the holes up to give the dogs a break.

 

[Smiffy@VeronnaV]

So you go out rabbit catching in the middle of a boiling hot day do you Mark? With the sun blazing down, heat haze on the land and sweat pouring down your back? And that's just you, what about the dogs? Down here the rabbits go to ground in the heat of the day so why waste the time?

And you missed the point, we are SUPPOSED to give the dogs a break if they have run 3/4s of the track, irrespective of whether we think they are or aren't whippets if they can or can't do it. It's not about what WE think they should be able to do, but what SHOULD be done for the well being of the dogs. Isn't that what we have rules for? And there are dogs on the track who aren't allowed to free run, whether yours or mine do or don't is academic really, as the rules are there for the benefit of the dogs, not you and me. My understanding of the rules is that there should be a 20 minute break, before running again, and I would have thought that the temp on Sunday, irrespective of wind or not, should have dicatated the 20 minute break, whether you think it's woss-bag or not! Because you aren't doing the running, what is running is an animal who wears a fur coat which does not lose heat but insulates, and only loses heat through panting and the pads of the feet. So had that happened on a chilly day I would have been OK about going ahead, but not on Sunday. :blink:

 

[Mark Roberts]

Yep I do out out in the summer when requested by farmers to clear rabbits I normaly were a t shirt though so I don't get 2 hot, as for the rabbit being to ground yes again your right but I have a fantastic little animal called a ferret and for some strange reason when the ferret goes in to play the rabbits decide to sunbath and come running out of their holes regardless of the weather.

having had dogs (running dogs) for 26 years (Greyhounds, Whippets, Lurchers) I can normaly tell if dog need a break or are fine to carry on.

non of the dogs in that race were in anyway destressed or the trap staff would not have let them go back into the traps as they did later in the day when they stopped a dog with a bleeding nail/foot that was presented for a race.

We are all responsible owners and the welfare of our whippets must come first but you seem to allways go to the extream and preach about welfare and after a while it wears a bit thin.

if you don't like the way racing is conducted then don't run at it you have the choice (unlike the poor dogs!)

 

[Judy]

My understanding of the rules is that there should be a 20 minute break

There's a 20 minute rule ? Where Carmel ?

 

[Scott Frodsham]

Well Barbara, I was there, I went, having spent good money on a B&B as well, just so that I wouldn't kill anyone by falling asleep on the way home too!  Now, if all the things that had gone wrong had been done on purpose, then we could moan.  And hindsight, aka Wisdom is a wonderful thing, but the problem about that is that it happens AFTER the event.  Things do go wrong, even with the best laid plans, but what do the majority do?  Do they help?  Nope.  Just the usual of do nothing and wait for someone else to do it.  The delays were our COLLECTIVE fault, because we could have got in there and helped to save the day, then it would not have taken so long.  For instance, there could have been a rota for walking the lure down the track, four people taking it their quarter would have speeded things up a vast amount, but instead we just watched.  Or did that happen after I left with my injured dog?  One of the unfortunate ones on the day I guess, and it always happens to me!  I sometimes think God is trying to tell me something!!!!
What got to me was not the breakdowns, and I was involved in several of them, indeed in my round they had to run the first round 3 times, but the attitude of some of the racers in that round.  Having run the first time, two of the other owners in the race DIDN'T WANT A 20 MINUTE BREAK TO LET THE DOGS RECOVER BEFORE RACING AGAIN.  What a disgrace, particularly in the heat.  Lady Luck came to the rescue 'cos there was a 'breakdown lull'anyway - twice, but had that not happened, they would have had to race again, immediately.  If you can't rely on the race manager to MAKE people do the right thing, then it's a sorry state of affairs.  After the second re-run I spoke to the race manager, not the other owners in the race, and it was moved to the end of the heavyweights - so one does learn I guess!!  So that's my grouse, not that the equipment kept breaking, but that we failed the dogs.  The dogs in that heat ran THREE first rounds.  So had done their racing for the day before they began the rest of the programme.  And had we all pulled together, (and I'm as guilty as everyone else, I just watched like nearly everyone else), we wouldn't have failed the dogs, would we?  In retrospect, I feel ashamed that I didn't muck in, it would have helped.  But I was delighted to hear Steph and Tony had a win, as did Darcia and Jane, it's so good to see people who don't win much even they always go racing, actually win - I bet they all floated home.  

Carmel I'm sorry to hear about your dogs injury. I hope it is nothing too serious and wish a speedy recovery. :luck:

Regards,

Scott (RM)

 

[Strike Whippets]

Your right Carmel, there were a lot more people who could of helped out on the day instead of sat back watching ..........There was alot of unfortunate happenings on the day, but the people who did bother to help all pulled together and did there best and they got there in the end ..........People over look anything good that happened on the day by the way that the Northern offered us their hospitality in the way of free drinks etc.......the ground was excellent and there was some brilliant racing on the day :thumbsup: ..............I for one will definatly go back as the Northern showed complete club spirit .......and isn't that what racing is ment to be about ?? .........After all people also forget that this is an amateur sport that we are ment to have fun at for the love of watching our beautiful dogs running down a field ........I for one was saddened on Sunday to hear people say that they didn't see why they should help out :blink: ..........

I know that if it hadn't been for people pulling together and helping us at South Cots at our open then that day would have fallen apart, and i was so overwelmed by the spirit of the decent racers that got things started and turned the whole day around that it stopped me leaving Whippet racing. These people out weighed the moaners and gave a sense of wanting our club to succeed, it's a pity that there wern't more of these people at the Northern on Sunday

Anyway i now think that Mark should post the results to highlight the quality of the dogs that raced there (esspecially the H/W cons winner lol :lol: ).....

 

[BeeJay]

>Carmel I'm sorry to hear about your dogs injury. I hope it is nothing too serious and wish a speedy recovery.

Regards,

Scott (RM)

Yes Carmel I hope so too. Which one of your dogs is it?

 

[Scott Frodsham]

If you can't rely on the race manager to MAKE people do the right thing, then it's a sorry state of affairs.  After the second re-run I spoke to the race manager, not the other owners in the race, and it was moved to the end of the heavyweights - so one does learn I guess!!

Hi Carmel,

having just re-read your post I thought that as Race Manager I'd try to justify my course of action. I try to take a common sense approach to re-runs, and weigh up how far the dogs have actually run and whether the owners are happy to re-run straight away, after all they know their dogs far better than I do. In the first instance I received no indication that all owners were not happy to re-run, if ANY owner had mentioned to the trap dfficials that they thought that there should have been a break I'd have been more than happy to accomodate that. In the second instance you raised this with me and I took on board your request.

At the end of the day I have the dogs best interests at heart and don't want to see any injuries. If this has not seemed apparent to you then I apologise.

Regards,

Scott (RM).

 

[Barry Jepson]

Hi all as one of the northern members I would like to commend all who pulled together on Sunday in very trying circumstances. I think we should commend Scott on the way he handled and coped with the day and not throwing in the towel which he could have easily done :thumbsup: For all those who know any of the northern members we did not set out intentionally to have a bad day but s**t happens, admittably some of the problems could and should have been avoided, hopefully this won't deter people from coming to the Northern opens. Hope to see you all next year and after 6 hours of running up and down the track I am now a lot fitter! (Not) :lol:

 

[Nigel]

As far as re-runs go, generally I think it's better to go straight back in and run again. All the owners must be happy with this of course but if the dogs have only run part way up the track I think it's a lot less stressful for them to run again straight away.

If the re-run is some while later the dog has to be cooled down, calmed down, watered etc and then go through the whole warm up procedure again. Wating for the start of the race is more stressful for some dogs than the actual running (Carmel - next time we race Ziggy I'll ask you to trap him for us (w00t) ). Time constraints trying to fit in a re-run mean that the dog never gets the long break they really need to fully recover either for the re-run or for their following race. So as long as the dog is fit - and they shouldn't be running if they're not - there really isn't a problem running again straight away.

As for the Northern Open - yes, it could have been better. I really didn't see any lack of help on the day causing a problem. Better planning would have helped but that's easy to say after the event. The club did see it through to the end though, traffic wasn't as bad as it often is for the 4hr+ drive home and the trophies were very good (shame you didn't have a table to put them on )