Happy Birthday North Derbyshire DAC

It all started when Jackie Kenny, her hubby Kev Kenny and their friend Cheryl Bowler decided that they wanted to look for a place where they could train their dogs. They found a suitable venue, bought a set of agility equipment and then thought if they advertised to train a few beginners for the first hour of the night, it would help to pay for the venue so they could train their own dogs at a reduced rate. And that's how North Derbyshire DAC was born.

We held an open night. A few friends came along to help us. Good job they did as 40 handlers and dogs turned up. After the training session, at least 38 of them wanted more lessons, so we had to run two x 1 hour training sessions each week before we could train our dog ! Any profit made was banked in case we needed it in the future for rent or to replace equipment.

From then on we ran the club each week, eventually running two nights a week as we do now. We decided to apply to become a Kennel Club registered club, mainly so we could host a KC show.

It took quite a while for the KC to recognise the club as KC registered, and we were desperate to put on a show, so we borrowed a licence from Derbyshire DAC.  Since then, North Derbyshire has held a KC show every year.

Each year the club celebrates its birthday with its members, usually by a club fun day. We will be doing the same again this year, but also treating all the members to a sumptuous buffet afterwards, too. To carry on the 10th birthday celebration at the show, we will be giving out even nicer rosettes and trophies this year.

Cheryl Bowler doesn't compete in agility anymore or get involved with the club, but she has her own business making rosettes and she always makes sure that North Derbyshires are a bit special. Kev and I are still madly involved in agility. I still am Chair at North Derbyshire & Show Secretary.

Here's to the next 10 years !