THE CAVALIER CHRONICLE

As we are approaching the summer months there are many exciting activities ahead of us.

On June 8th we will have our Puppy Social at Paula Ayers' home in Madison. This is a rain or shine event and a ton of fun with puppies, good people and great food. If you haven’t been to one of these yet, you are missing a lot and would like to see you there. If you have attended before, we are looking forward to seeing you again.

We also have a fall social coming up and are working on finalizing a date and host.

We have locked in our judges for the February 2026 show (Paula Ayers and Carolyn Herbel) and are wrapping up contracts for our February 2027 show (Peggy Reed and Lucy Koster).

We have also begun planning to add a third specialty in May 2026 at the Perry Fairgrounds.

Lots of exciting things happening - please come along for the ride.

Thanks and have a safe rest of the spring.

Jim Utych

President

I hope you enjoy the April newsletter. This month the sports focus will be reporting from the ACKCSC National!

As always, thank you for continuing to provide content for our newsletter. If you have any overall suggestions, would like your kennel to be included in the "What's in a Name" column, have general feedback, and especially if you have brags, please send them to CKCSCAtlantaNewsletter@gmail.com.

Thanks -

Beth Lassiter, Editor

May 12, 2025 - Regular Meeting (zoom) at 7:30pm. No Board Meeting

June 8, 2025 - Puppy Social at Paula Ayers – Noon to 4om

June 9, 2025 - Board Meeting (zoom) at 7pm

July 2025 - NO MEETINGS

What a GREAT time we had at the Lawrenceville KC Training Facility where we held our annual puppy picnic and health clinics. The venue was perfect, the food was fabulous, and the fellowship was as great as always! We even had a few new folks join us, including a new fun match attendee! (I don't think she knew she'd be in the ring upon arrival, but she took to it splendidly!) Here's hoping for even more attendees and interest in the club!

A few THANK YOUS, as it takes a village to pull off an event like this:

• Carolyn Powell for handling the health clinic, settling up with the Doctors and keeping all the monies in order
• Judge David Frederick for coming in from Nashville to judge our Fun Match
• Our Doctors for supporting our health clinics
  
• LaVada McCosh for setting up the pot luck table and thank you all for the incredible food
• Sharon Utych for setting up the Fun Match trophy/rosette table, and for keeping all the sign-ups organized (& all of us in order)
• Jim Utych for emceeing, doing the final clean up, sweeping up of the facility, and taking out the garbage
• All the attendees for participating in the contests, fun match and health clinics

Winners at our Fun Match under judge David Frederick:

• Best in Match, Best Puppy, winners dog: Decker
• Best of Opposite, winners bitch: Camilla
• Reserve Winners Dog: Guy
• Reserve Winners B!tch: Judy
• Best Veteran: Stevie
• Best Novice: Collins
• Best in Exposition: Lennyn

Congratulations to all the winners and their owners!

Thank you everyone for supporting our fun match. It was one of our biggest entries!

Fun Class winners:

• Balloon dog: Beth Lassiter
• Biggest eyes: Stevie
• Longest ears: Stevie
• Fastest biscuit eater: Catcher
• Longest sit/stay: Collins
• Hairiest cavalier: Collins
• Fastest weave time: Westley
• Waggiest tail: Kylie

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everybody who entered!

We hope to see you all again next year!!

The Nominating Committee has put forward the following slate for the 2025-2026 club officers:

• President: Jim Utych
• Vice President: Paula Ayers
• Secretary: Sharon Utych
• Treasurer: Carolyn Powell
• Directors: Linda Whitmire, Ashley Powell and LaVada McCosh

Floor nominations were held at our April regular meeting. There were no nominations from the floor at the April meeting. As such, at the May regular meeting, the club secretary will cast 1 vote for the Nominating Committee slate as submitted.

A very big thank you to outgoing Director Alice Alford for her dedication to the club in serving on the Board.

Our next quarterly puppy social will be Sunday June 8 from noon to 4pm at the home of Paula Ayers, Madison GA. Bring a snack to share (especially one that can hold up in the potential outside heat), bring a chair and a water bowl for you cavalier (if you are bringing your furry friend). An Evite invitation has been emailed to club members so be sure to RSVP to that evite invitation. Evite reminders will be sent out closer to the date.

We are supporting the Sat/Sun cavalier entry at the Crossroads of Georgia show in Perry GA on May 10 & 11, 2025 (Macon KC shows). Please consider entering and supporting the cavalier entry! Superintendent is Onofrio and the show closes at noon on April 23rd.

Our club has also committed to hold a third Specialty show in 2026 in conjunction with the Saturday Macon KC show. As we begin planning this show we hope our members will come to support the show and our club. We will be holding Sweeps, Regular Classes with NOHS and Beginner Puppy (pending AKC). More information will be forthcoming as we begin to plan this exciting expansion to a third Specialty show.

Would you like to volunteer and help the club out? We would love to have you consider taking on various roles in the club listed below. Please let Jim Utych know of your interest or any questions you may have!

Hospitality Committee – this includes coordinating the Specialty Saturday Social which is the biggest item! It would include ordering food, set up at host hotel, beverages and paper products. Typical interactions beside the social would be the quarterly puppy socials (bringing paper products, ice and water/tea and cups), Christmas Luncheon set up (if at 5 Paces Inn or venue we set up). You would keep track of club inventory of paper products etc and be provided with a budget to purchase items.

Programs/Speakers – Do you have an idea for a topic or better yet a speaker that would like to speak to the club at one of the zoom meetings on a topic of interest? In the past we have had vet specialists speak regarding SM, CM, nutrition, and holistic approaches. We also have had an animal communicator speak to us on the topic and had an in person grooming seminar. Give us your thoughts, leads and topics!

Fundraising Committee – We would like to have someone as our point person for fundraising – especially this pays for most of our Specialty expenses! You would coordinate raffles with Kathy Knoles Small Dog Club Facebook Fundraising for our club, manage the sponsorships and trophy donations by soliciting via Facebook and email, working with Ashley Powell who does a GREAT job of sourcing items from vendors for our raffle baskets and auctions.

Please help us to celebrate the following members and their accomplishments!!

Did you know that in addition to our website, the club also has a Facebook page AND an Instagram account? These social media accounts are managed by club members Victoria Babcock and Jess Hillman. If you have suggestions for fun posts, etc., please contact them at

victoriaandjessbahill@gmail.com

If you haven’t “liked” our Facebook page, head on over and click the “Like” button!

Our Instagram page is: https://www.instagram.com/CKCS.OF.GREATERATL

Do you know a club member who needs some sunshine?

Our Sunshine Committee Chair is Ashley Powell. If you know of a club member that needs to be remembered or encouraged, please be in touch with Ashley.

Ashley can be reached at ashncav@gmail.com.

We just got back from the 2025 ACKCSC National held in Cape Cod, MA. It was an incredible week full of friends, sports, and memories! If you've never had the chance to step away from the show ring and see what happens in the sports rings, please take some time to do it! It is inspiring to see what these little dogs can do - and they enjoy every second of it! I truly believe cavaliers are the best kept secret in the dog sport world!!

AGILITY

The week kicked off on Friday April 11 with 2 days of agility at the Wild World of Indoor Sports Complex in North Smithfield, Rhode Island. There were 287 cavalier runs over the two day event which was attended by 58 cavaliers and 36 handlers. Roger Jones and Max earned their Master Agility Championship (MACH). What an accomplishment to achieve at the National!

SCENTWORK

Scentwork began on Saturday April 12 - 13. Last year was the inaugural year at the national for scentwork, and this year we doubled the cavaliers competing (approximately 25), doubled the days (2), and tripled the classes offered (novice, advanced, and excellent!) While scentwork is open to all breeds to offset the cost, several of our cavaliers out-performed the other breeds and took top placements! It was also extremely cold, windy, rainy, and even hailed/sleeted on Sunday, which made searching outside painful. However our dogs and humans were happy to search - despite the elements. Fun fact - odor doesn't move as much in the rain, so it often is beneficial to search in inclement weather as it's sometimes easier for the dogs to find!

OBEDIENCE

There were 2 days of obedience (Tuesday & Wednesday April 15-16) and quite a few cavailers competing, particularly in the novice classes (Novice A & B, Beginner Novice A & B). Several cavaliers earned titles, and several Junior Handlers participated (& earned titles) - showing us how it's done! It was also particularly thrilling to watch Michael Bode and his dog compete in the higher levels of obedience - it was incredible seeing what he has trained and watching his dogs perform. He has gotten multiple OTCHs (Obedience Championship) - on the same dog even! AND on Thursday night a new award was unveiled for his commitment to sports - the Max Award (named after his ruby, Max.) If you get a chance to watch Michael in the ring, run to see!

RALLY

Rally boasted great participation for two days also (Tuesday & Wednesday). Many cavaliers earned titles, and multiple obedience dogs also showed in rally - making for long days, but you couldn't tell by watching them - they were just happy to be there! I even took a shot at handing a friend's dog in Rally Advanced who had a ring conflict. Here I learned that even if the dog knows all the commands for rally, if they would rather be with their mother, they will run directly out of the ring in search of her!! The next day she did extremely well performing with her mom and has avoided me ever since.

CGC & TRICK DOG TESTING

Multiple dogs tested for CGC, CGCA, CGCU, as well as Trick Dog, so lots of new titles were acquired! If you're looking for a place to do your testing, this is a great way to do it - it's usually in the evening after the conformation shows, so you can show & then add an extra title!

AWARDS

Thursday night was the Awards Banquet where multiple achievements were recognized, and performance / sports received a bit of a highlight. Three dogs received a Versatility Award (meaning they have achieved at least 4 out of 10 sports titles as indicated here.) Several dogs received an Advanced Performance Award (meaning they have achieved one of the highest titles for their sport as indicated here.) And, as stated above, the Max Award was established.

It was a fantastic week for cavalier sports, and I am inspired to do more and reach higher in my dog training goals. I learned so much - things I want to improve as a handler and also what went well (how do I replicate THAT!!) But most of all, it's always a win when I get to team up and dance together with my dog in whatever sport we're doing - I always get to walk away with the best dog no matter what!

Next year we'll be in Kingsport, TN, and I hope to see some of you and your dogs there!!

Coconut oil kills and repels fleas due to the ingredient lauric acid. This solution can be rubbed through your pet's coat or given to them orally.

Bonus: Coconut oil moisturizes the skin and helps kill yeast, too.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-natural peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon unprocessed coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• silicon paw print tray

Instructions

• Be sure the coconut oil is in liquid form. If not, place coconut oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook until melted.

• Add peanut butter and cinnamon. Stir until mixture is completely smooth and thoroughly mixed. The mixture should be thick, but pourable.

• Pour mixture into a tray and freeze until set.

• Carefully remove from tray and store in an air-tight container in the freezer (they soften quickly).

Notes

These were made for dogs in the 10-15 pound range. Adjust the amount of coconut oil accordingly. Rule of thumb is that you use 1 teaspoon of coconut oil per 10 pounds of your dog's body weight. One treat per day will do the trick.

CAVALIER KING CHARLES SPANIEL CLUB OF GREATER ATLANTA

www.ckcscatlanta.org

Beth Lassiter, editor

CKCSCAtlantaNewsletter@gmail.com