The barks of excited dogs filled Riverside Mission as the Moose Jaw Dog Club presented its annual Christmas donation to the non-profit outreach organization.
Tracey Cook, president of the dog club, presented a cheque for $500 to Riverside Mission manager Rachel Mullens on Nov. 20. Cook — with her dogs Ellie and Keisha — was accompanied by two other club members and a third dog, Rico.
The dog club has supported Riverside Mission for the last couple of years, explained club member Glenn Hagel. The club believes the outreach organization provides an important service to the community by supporting residents facing tough times, while it’s a great feeling to support Riverside Mission as Christmas approaches.
“We raise the money while having fun with our best four-legged friends,” Hagel chuckled. “Riverside Mission is a good one. It captures the compassion and empathy that Moose Jaw people have for each other.”
Riverside Mission will use the money to continue to feed its clients and run its programs, explained Mullens.
“We feel blessed by the community of Moose Jaw,” she added. “We’re glad we’re one charity that they (the dog club) choose to help. They help us serve the community.”
Dog club events
The Moose Jaw Dog Club has two events coming up that should excite anyone interested in dogs, Christmas, or Santa Claus.
This weekend the club is holding a two-day dog agility time trial, which will see more than 40 dogs from across the province attempt to navigate a course quickly as they look to advance to nationals.
There will be more than 200 runs each day across four different events, while the dogs will compete in three different skill levels.
The time trial is being held at the exhibition grounds’ arena on Saturday, Nov. 23 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday, Nov. 24 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hagel will be on hand on Saturday as Santa Claus so dog owners can have their Baxters and Mollys photographed with The Man in Red.
Money raised from the photos with Santa will be donated to Riverside Mission. Admission to the event is free.
This event is authorized by the Agility Association of Canada, Cook explained. Pet owners continuously train their dogs throughout the week and then attend these sanctioned time trials. The youngest dogs to compete are 18 months, while some of the oldest are 12 to 13 years old.
The dog club holds two to three big events each year; the November time trial is the first time the club has held one at this time.
“Come out and enjoy watching the dogs. It’s a fun event,” Cook said. “It’s a sport where the dog and handler have to have a good trusting relationship. It’s off-leash, so the dogs have to obey the commands. There is a lot of pressure on the dogs and handlers. Some dogs handle pressure better than others.”
Dogs have to achieve a high score to advance to nationals. There have been some Saskatchewan pooches that have won national ribbons.
