More an
'identification' than a breed...
 The
Agility League for Spitz (ALFS) is open to all Spitz breeds including German
Spitz, Japanese Spitz, Husky, Malamute
and Klee Kai etc. plus their first crosses.
The aim of the League is to promote and encourage Spitz owners to take part
in agility and to broaden the knowledge that Spitz breeds do make
fine agility dogs as well excelling in other disciplines.
2020
A Message from Mark
Wow, what a start to the
year! First the floods and now the disease. I guest next will be a plague of
locusts!
Anyway Danielle and I
have decided to suspend the League until further notice but all points earned
between 1st January and 15th March will count. Those who haven't yet claimed
your points, if you can get them in asap, I will upload the standings thus far
in a few weeks time.
Can I also ask that
those who won trophies last year confirm they have managed to acquire them from
the previous holder?
Last but most
importantly, I hope you are all well.
Stay safe guys.
ALFS Does Quadpaws 2020
Done great news guys. This year we are
holding the ALFS steeplechase event on Sunday, 24th May after my ring finished.
I'm judging the Jumping and Danielle has
kindly agreed to RM for me. It would be great to see you all for the event and
would be even more amazing if we can make it an ALFS ring party too.
More info nearer the time but please let me
know if you can attend and also if you can help out on the ring that day.
ALFS Inaugural Year Comes to an End
For all those times when the darned Shelties pipped our Spitzes
at the post.
Well, what a year it’s
been!
Danielle Walker and I
took up the mantle to re-instate a Spitz specific agility league after the
retirement of OPALS League earlier in the year and I am so grateful for all the
support, encouragement and assistance she has provided.
I must say how rewarding
it was to meet so many lovely, like minded people and follow and record their
successes in the Agility circuit in our league table, publishing monthly updates
on progress.
Allowing Spitz breeds
and Spitz cross breeds to take part together has allowed many folk to
participate. I have had great pleasure in watching some of our more experienced
members compete as well as being there at some shows to encourage and support
those peeps just starting out on their agility journey.
We pride ourselves on
being inclusive and fun based - maybe with a tad bit of a competitive edge at
times. Our Facebook page has many members who don’t partake in the League but
the main thing is we all have a common forum in which to chat, ask for
assistance and share advice etc. Our grading system takes in to account KC and
also allows assimilation of the UKA performance grading system to allow
comprehensive and fair competition
We ended the year with
32 competing members' dogs and we have already added to that for this year’s
renewals.
The Northern Japanese
Spitz Club very kindly allowed us to carry across the trophies donated when
OPALS was running in memory of the late Kathy Crowe.
This last couple of days
have seen the first annual awards being announced thus:-
-
 Grade
1 Winner– Kevin Butler with Ice Baku (JS)
-
Grade 2 Winner - Sue
Taylor with Shoya (Shiba Inu x Whippet)
-
Grade 3 Winner -
Mark Bunyan with Kaspa (JS)
-
Grade 4 Winner – Kim
Krausher with Foxy (Finnish Spitz)
-
Grade 5 Winner –
Neil Olver with Buzz (GS)
-
Grade 7 Winner –
Emma Ginster withTeaza (Collie x JS)
-
Best Newcomer –
Kevin Butler withIce-Baku
-
Best JS (Kathy Crowe
Memorial Trophy) – Kevin Butler withIce-Baku
-
Overall Runner Up -
Kim Krausher withFoxy
-
Overall Winner –
Kevin Butler withIce-Baku
It has been an amazing
year particularly for Kev and Ice Baku year. They, like many of our members,
start this year in a much higher grade, making future competition very exciting
indeed, with new opportunities for those starting out in the lower grades.
It's not all has been
rosy, though, as we have had one very unfortunate handler whose dog was injured
and is unlikely to be competing for a long time, if ever again. Our thoughts go
out to Cathy Withal and Storm.
My goal for this year is
to increase the awareness of ALFS throughout the Spitz community and try to get
an ALFS class included in one of the UKA shows this year.
We will be canvassing
for sponsorship from businesses to provide prizes for this year’s presentation
at the end of the year, so if you know of any, please let myself or Danielle
Walker know.
If you are a Spitz
agility person, or are even interested in finding out about Spitz and Agility,
please do come and look us up on the
Agility League for
Spitz Facebook
I sincerely wish you all
a very happy and healthy New Year and thank you for taking the time to read this
year end summary.
September News
 We
have been running ALF for a little over four months now, and what a time it has
been!
Membership has doubled
and half those people are actively competing. It's been very rewarding hearing
how everyone is progressing, entering their points in the League and just being
aware of how well everyone is doing. At lower end of the league, it’s amazing
when folk get their first points and share their successes.
Let’s look at some
stats:
I have personally
watched Krystina with Nala and Paige with Penelope Jane at UKA shows starting
out on their agility journey and watched Sandra and Keela and Danielle with
Marshall competing at a high standard.
I think the most
remarkable journey must be Kevin and Ice Baku, who started competing this year
and are already notching up the wins and progressing up the grades. Then at the
other end of the progress scale is our very own Snow, who has not yet managed a
clear round but entertains the judges and crowds by embarking on her mid-run
zoomies.
The League
After 10 years of dedicated
hard work, Kim Bailey has decided the time has come to let go of OPALS
Spitz League, and so Mark Bunyan and Danielle Walker have decided to set up a new
league for Spitz in its place.
Eligible breeds and
crosses include: Akita Inu, Alaskan Husky, Alaskan Klee Kai, Alaskan Malamute,
American Akita, American Eskimo Dog, Black Norwegian Elkhound, Canaan Dog,
Canadian Eskimo Dog, Chow Chow, East Siberian Laika, Eurasier, Finnish Lapphund,
Finnish Spitz, German Spitz, Greenland Dog, Guejae Gae, Hokkaidō, Icelandic
Sheepdog, Indian Spitz, Jämthund, Japanese Spitz, Kai Ken, Karelian Bear Dog,
Keeshond, Kintamani, Kishu, Korean Jindo Dog, Labrador Husky, Lapponian Herder,
Mackenzie River Husky, Norrbottenspets, Northern Inuit Dog, Norwegian Buhund,
Norwegian Elkhound, Norwegian Lundehund, Nureongi, Pomeranian, Pungsan,
Russo-European Laika, Sakhalin Husky, Salish Wool Dog, Samoyed, Schipperke,
Seppala Siberian Sleddog, Shetland Sheepdog, Shiba Inu, Shikoku, Siberian Husky,
Swedish Lapphund, Swedish Vallhund, Tamaskan Dog, Thai Bangkaew Dog, Volpino
Italiano and West Siberian Laika.
Current membership is 33 and rising.
ALFS does not discriminate between UKA and KC
shows regarding points values and even allows placings at independent shows to
be claimed. Full details, rules, membership forms etc are
available in the files section.
There are no membership fees involved.
There is £100 prize money for the overall
winner, kindly donated by Cotswold Dog Training.
Please share with your
own Spitz friends and Community if you wish
If you would like to know
more then please feel free to come and look at the group I have set up
called Agility League For Spitz (ALFS). For more information or to join email:
agilityleagueforspitz@gmail.com or go to ALFS website: https://m.facebook.com/groups/243197402922400
Danielle Walker has very kindly offered
to come on board and help, with her experience and success in competing I think
that is a great asset to help us run things smoothly.The name is just to get us
up and running and if anyone comes up with a better name then great.
 ALFS Rules
1. ALFS is open to all Spitz breeds
and their 1st crosses and is a free league, we will fund rosettes
and returnable trophies to each grade winner.
2. The league will run from 1st
January to 31st December each year, final results must be received by 7th
January.
3. Points can be claimed for fault
free rounds for a top 10 place in classes at KC and non-KC shows, as
follows:
|
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
5th
|
6th
|
7th
|
8th
|
9th
|
10th
|
UPC |
|
20 |
19 |
18 |
17 |
16 |
15 |
14 |
13 |
12 |
11 |
2 |
4. Points can be claimed for all
scheduled classes except for pay on the day only classes, teams, pairs,
trios or interclub matches. You can claim points for the Champ
qualifying rounds, but not the final. Again, only fault free runs can be
claimed.
5.
Points can only be claimed if a placed rosette is presented by the show,
otherwise clear round points must be claimed.
6.
Clear round points can be claimed for clear rounds within course time,
even if no clear round rosette is awarded by the show.
7.
When claiming points the show, date, class and place must be stated.
8.
Points cannot be claimed from NFC runs, or runs using toys in classes
such as Nursery or Introductory
9. For the duration of the league
your dog will stay in the Grade category they were in on the 1st January,
regardless of any progression gained during the current league year. They
must then be moved up the following league year.
10. For the purposes of this league,
UKA Performance programme assimilates thus:-
11.
It
is the handler’s responsibility to send in their points to the league email
account
agilityleagueforspitz@gmail.com
12.
There will be
separate awards for:-
-
Grade 1
-
Grade 2
-
Grade 3
-
Grade 4
-
Grade 5
-
Grade 6
-
Grade 7
-
Anysize
13.
Heights will be combined.
14. The Anysize
category is for those who can no longer compete at their full height due to
injury, age, etc. only points can be claimed from anysize and veteran
classes (or UKA Casual) in this category, we will not accept points from
standard classes. Once you have entered your dog into this category you
cannot move it to any of the grade categories for the duration of the year.
15. All members are
expected to be honest about their results, if anyone if found to be
dishonest then they will be removed from the league. Results will be subject
to random spot checks.
| 
