Welcome from Nigel Trainor, Dogs NZ President
Welcome to the 2017 Black Hawk NZ Dog Agility Championships (NZDAC)
I wish you all well at this year’s NZDAC.
Executive Council has been privileged to read of progress to date from both Bevan Dale and Nick Chester at our meetings. Congratulations go to all involved in the event in attracting record entries to Kihikihi. I have never been to Kihikihi and can honestly say I had never heard of it! But I am sure that the locals will certainly know that NZDAC and Dogs New Zealand have been in town in what will obviously be a fantastic weekend.
Apart from the record entries we have been amazed to
read of the number of camping sites sold and the interest from stall-holders. What appears to be a small organising committee has certainly
been busy and on behalf of Dogs New Zealand I wish to congratulate and thank them. I encourage you to do the same as they have obviously dedicated countless volunteer hours on your behalf.
It is appropriate that I acknowledge Masterpet NZ as having the naming right sponsorship rights of NZDAC through their new range of Black Hawk dog food. Our relationship with Masterpet NZ now extends over seven years and has recently been secured through to the end of 2019. The Masterpet NZ team has always been a pleasure to work with and it is great that Dogs New Zealand is associated with such a credible brand. Given the hype leading into NZDAC I am sure the Masterpet NZ team will thoroughly enjoy their time with you all at Kihikihi.
Over the past few years Executive Council members and, in particular our breed representatives, have been proactive in attending both NZDAC and NDOA. This is very important as it gives our team a first-hand understanding of all of our disciplines. We are of course now trading under our new name Dogs New Zealand with this change made to better reflect the make-up of our membership and the activities they are involved in. I am sure that Steve Tate (Saturday) and Maree McKenzie (Sunday) will enjoy their time with you at NZDAC in 2017. It has been pleasing to read of the relationship developed between the organising committee and the Dogs NZ main office. I know the office staff have been keen to assist with both NZDAC and NDOA events but have been limited with all three National events being held in October but this is changing from 2018 which should allow the relationship to further develop in the future.
Finally, to all of you; the event committee, judges, club personnel manning the rings and competitors alike we wish you all the best for a fantastic event.
We look forward to the delivery of an event that the Agility fraternity, Dogs New Zealand and our sponsors can be extremely proud of.
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