Okay I’ll admit it – Sarah’s been a whole lot busier as Membership Secretary than I’ve been as Occasional Blogger. Somehow in the middle of moving house and welcoming the lovely Polly, a new Poo sister for Max, she’s found time to enrol a whole heap of new members. Here we are with a startling 2,500 human members and it’s anyone’s guess how many Poos.
Our Chat Forum continues to flourish, though there are still quite a few of you who don’t seem to have arrived there yet. (Where are you?) Registering couldn’t be simpler and there’s always a helpful techie person to attend to the bewildered. It’s amazing how much more knowledgeable we’ve all become in the last year since we’ve been sharing experiences and info on Chat. (Everything from the perils of walking dandruff to the joys of sardines and Poo Puddles.) And for those of us who’ve suffered the odd crisis along the way there are always listening ears and outpourings of support. Poo owners really do seem to be as lovely as their dogs.
Recently Chat’s been inundated with photos of Poos up to their armpits in the white stuff with vast icy balls dangling from unfortunate parts of their anatomy. There’s something magical about dog walking in the snow and I have to admit to getting a bit over-excited this year. We live on the top of a hill and the views across Herefordshire towards the Welsh Borders have been distinctly Alpine.
One morning, after a particularly heavy dump of snow, I took Rupert and honorary Poo, Alfie, for a frolic in the fields at the back of the house. It was fine going downhill but by the time we turned round to climb back both dogs were encased in snow up to their beards and couldn’t move. Funny at first – but then I found I couldn’t shift it out of their coats and there was no way they were going to make it home on their own. Aaggh! So trying not to panic or collapse into a snowdrift, I had to trudge up the hill carrying one block of heavily iced dog under each arm. Ironically OH wasn’t around to witness this trauma. Despite all the off piste opportunities at the bottom of the garden he’d loaded up his skiis and braved icy roads to get to the dry ski slope in Gloucester. Hmmm.
Now that we’ve survived the snow we’re all thinking about holidays of course.
The BIG NEWS is that plans for the 2013 Cockapoo Games are well under way. Friday Aug 30th – Sunday Sept 1st to be held at Woodland Waters - the same excellent venue as last year. Already we have nearly forty families planning to come along to the Poo social event of the year. (Lots of additional details on our Chat forum.)
I see my last blogging effort was rather optimistically titled ‘Taking to the Open Road’. Well we have bought a motor home, but so far have only made it as far as the next village to pick up a prescription. We have big plans to spontaneously take off for the car park in Stratford-on-Avon for the day, to have a practise camping experience and a McDonalds – but we haven’t made it yet! Clearly we need to work on the ‘Spontaneous’ thing.
Love from Eileen and Rupert xxx
Things move fast in CCGB Land. Since Sarah and Max’s last post we’ve had a re-shuffle and Sarah, brave girl, has taken over the membership secretary role from me. When we started the club back in November it never occurred to any of us that it might become quite so huge so quickly. In less than a year we’re approaching 1,700 members. It’s exciting if not a little scary to watch the membership applications flooding in – keeping on top of them is almost a full time job. I had to quickly get over my spreadsheet phobia and give up watching television. On the plus side CCGB members are a particularly smart, friendly, funny and ever-so-slightly eccentric band of enthusiasts bound together by acute 'poo obsession. So it was definitely more entertaining enrolling new members than slumping in front of Corrie!
Anyway lots of good wishes to Sarah (and Max) in their new role and hope they manage to sneak away from the computer occasionally for a frolic in the park.
So here I am sitting in Sarah’s state of the art blogging chair with assistant blogger, Rupert Bear happily emptying my rubbish bin. Rupert’s the angelic looking pup on the home page of the website. Sadly his early modelling aspirations were thwarted by chronic tattiness syndrome and a tendency to point the wrong end at the camera.
We’re having a quiet day as OH has gone off to the Caravan Show at the NEC. He’s never recovered from the trauma of watching our rusty heap being towed away to the great caravan park in the sky and I’ve always put down a very firm foot when he’s suggested replacing it. Now I think I might be relenting. A caravan/camper van/tent seems pretty well mandatory if you’re going to be a proper 'poo owner. The hugely successful Cockapoo Games has initiated a flurry of plans for next year including Cockapoo camping holidays. We’ve come a long way since our first tentative Cockapoo Meet when a few people met up with their dogs for a walk in the park.
So I think I won’t be totally averse to taking to the open road with the other CCGB nomads. Being owned by a 'poo is definitely a way of life. Back home in Liverpool in the sixties dog owning was a quick stroll round Penny Lane and half a tin of Chappie.
Just look at us now!
Eileen and Rupert xx
Over the weekend, we reached 1000 members of the CCGB! We are astounded that it has happened so fast. Thank you all so much for believing in what we do, it means a lot! For anyone who either wants to sponsor the Cockapoo Games 2012 competitors or even share on the link to get others to sponsor our club members, here is the link: http://www.justgiving.com/CockapooGames2012"Like" it on Facebook, Tweet about it on Twitter or simply email around the link. All money raised will go to the Official CCGB Charity "Hounds for Heroes". Lastly, we have an Inspector training/refresher day coming up at the end of July. If anyone is interested in becoming a CCGB Inspector for their local area, please contact us for more details. You can see what areas we still need to cover HERE. Sarah
I can't believe how fast this year is going. My own cockapoo Max turned one last month, and next month will be a whole year since he joined our family! I hope you all received the latest edition of our newsletter. If you didn't, you can view it here. We always appreciate feedback, so please do let us know what you like about it, what we could change, and if there is anything you would like to see in it next time. You can leave a message under this blog entry, or contact us here. Our thanks go out to Helen and Mandy for all their hard work on the newsletters every month. I am delighted to update you all with the latest member total. As of writing this (9th July 10am) we are at 965 members, with 559 of those registered on our forum. We are over the moon as we haven't even been going a full year yet, and all bets are on as to when we will welcome our 1000th member! Our group walks continue to be popular. Is there one near you? If not, you could arrange one! Cockapoo Meets is the place to do it. Just post a message there, or reply to an existing one, and you may soon be in cockapoo meet heaven :) Sarah
This morning, Wednesday 9th May, we have welcomed our 600th member to The Cockapoo Club of GB. This is less than 2 weeks since we welcomed number 500! The Club is growing at an amazing rate, and we are absolutely thrilled with the support and enthusiasm from our members. 370 of the 600 members have now joined our Forum, where they have access to chat to other members, share photos and stories, and get support when needed. It is proving a very popular place to be! The CCGB are very pleased to have recently rehomed our third cockapoo - Charlie, and we wish him and his new owners a lifetime of happiness together. Our thoughts are also with his previous owner and her family. Please join me in congratulating Ali Shearman Jones on her newly appointed role as Club Secretary, I am sure she will do us proud! Don't forget the Surrey meet is coming up this Sunday (details on the forum or on my previous blog post). I look forward to hearing all about it and seeing lots of photos. I hope the weather is kind to you all! Sarah
On Thursday, exactly 5 months to the day since the launch of The Cockapoo Club of GB, we welcomed our 500th Member! Whilst we always knew the Club was needed and wanted, we never dreamt it would take off as fast as it has, and we are all absolutely thrilled! Thank you to all our members for helping to make The Club what it is, and please, do spread the word when you meet other cockapoo owners! Also last week, The CCGB were recognised as the first club to endorse the new RSPCA/BVA AWF Puppy Information Pack and Puppy Contract and we have started using it for all of our registered puppies. We have been commended for this by the BVA AWF and RSPCA who tweeted about it on Twitter (follow us at @CockapooClubGB) and also by The Karlton Index and Carol Fowler of "Dog Breed Health", who hopes to work with us further on Welfare issues. Jukee Doodles have very kindly started the ball rolling with their recent leavers from Coco's Litter. The feedback from their customers has been excellent, and we envision this as the way forward for all sales of new puppies, and hope that other breed clubs soon follow suit. Lastly I would just like to mention the forthcoming meets. You can find more details on the Cockapoo Meets Board on our Forum. Sunday 13th May - Denbies Wine Estate -London Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6AA - 11am Sunday 20th May - Thorndon Country Park, Brentwood, Essex - 11am - See you there! Sunday 20th May - Irchester Country Park, Wellingborough - 11am (time TBC) Sunday 27th May - Lytham St Anne's Beach - 12pm September 2012 - The Cockapoo Olympics, Woodland Waters There are meets in the planning stages at the moment for Berkshire/Hampshire and The North East/Scotland. Update - Saturday 26th May - Central Scotland. Time and venue TBC.
Sarah
Hi everyone I have to apologise for the lack of updates recently. I'd rather not go into any detail here, so will just say that I am at last back to Blogging duties! Now, where to start...! Breeder Inspections have commenced, and we now have 3 CCGB Approved Breeders. Reports are due in for at least another 2, so please watch this space! We now have approximately 450 CCGB Members, having gained 100 new members in the last 2 weeks! Our Forum is also going from strength to strength, with 281 members as I type this. It really is so nice to talk to all our members and see and hear about their cockapoos. If you haven't joined yet, what are you waiting for? One of my personal favourite parts of the Forum is The Nursery, where all the CCGB Approved Breeders post announcements and details about their new litters. It's not helping my broodiness though, so do be warned! There's been lots of updates on the website, I hope you have noticed them. Lots of lovely new photos have been taken from the Forum and added on to the Cockapoos Are.. page. We always welcome new photographs, stories and product reviews that you might like to share with us, so please do send them in so we can add them to the site. Another new addition to the site, is our page of CCGB Approved Stud Dogs - currently 5 very handsome proven stud dogs, all have had the mandatory minimum health test: prcd-PRA DNA test clear. If there's anything you would like to see, or if you have any suggestions for us, we welcome them too. Feedback on our Newsletter would also be appreciated. Please contact us HERE or comment at the end of this blog message. Sarah
Team CCGB have been continuing to work hard behind the scenes (we never stop!), and I am pleased to report that we are nearing completion of our Inspectors Manual and Breeder Approval Inspection Forms. We hope to have them finalised by next week! So now is a good time for any Breeder Members to apply to the Club. Our Chair Dave Sharples and his lovely cockapoo Luna, have been featured in the Bedford Today free press (See Here), and we are continuing to gain members to The Club at a steady rate. We now have 221 approved members, 125 of whom are registered on our Forum. We currently have March meets planned for Sheepleas - West Horseley, Sale Water Park -Manchester, Bushy Park - Middlesex, and there are plans being made for Colchester - Essex (April/May) and a North East meet (TBC). There is also The Cockapoo Olympics 2012 - Woodland Waters in September. Details for all can be found in the Meets section of the Forum. Speaking of our Forum, it is a great place to chat to other cockapoo owners and see photos of their dogs - a great way to pass the time when awaiting your own puppy! Come and share your journey with us, we love hearing about new puppies - from birth, to collection, what are you buying in preparation? What names have you picked out? Where will your puppy sleep? What shampoo will you use?! Many of our members have been there and done that, and we love to support new owners and owners to be! And then very soon you may find yourself planning for puppy no 2, as I am! Sarah
It's been a busy couple of weeks. The CCGB team are working hard behind the scenes on getting press coverage (See Here) and completing the first draft of our CCGB Breeder Inspection Manual. We continue to gain members to the club every day, and the forum is going from strength to strength! We are also hoping to post details of some more Cockapoo meets soon, the forum is a good place to find out details of these, if you are interested. Sarah
Here is our official report!
An increasing demand for honest, reliable Cockapoo related information being sought by the growing UK market triggered a group of dedicated owners, enthusiasts and breeders to join together to form The Cockapoo Club of GB. The sole focus of this Club was to produce a static website where this valuable information could be set-out to assist, educate and advise on all aspects ‘Cockapoo’.
To all regular followers of an on-line forum, it became quickly apparent that the same questions were being posted on a weekly basis as rolling threads which made information difficult to access. With breeder specific websites not all able or willing to show the potential range of Cockapoo options, one breeder posted a question on this global forum as to what would be wanted, needed and desirable for a GB based organisation. The response was huge and the number of other forum users who put themselves forward to assist with forming a GB club surpassed expectation.
Within 4 weeks, a select team was engaged in open on-line dialogue and with a prolific work rate they created a Members' Club. A full Committee was voted on and the duly elected Chair announced the Club in November 2011. People wishing to join put themselves forward for proposal and seconding by way of a brief summary of their interest in Cockapoos.
The CCGB’s focus is to offer information, encourage members' networking, offer support and advice, promote animal welfare and actively encourage ethical breeding practices. To this end it offers a registration for puppies to all Approved Breeder Members and will produce five generation lineage papers showing parents' health test results and identification details. Validation of the information provided was part of the incentive in setting up an inspection scheme for all prospective Breeder Members. This ground breaking approach has been backed up by training of the CCGB Inspectors at Wood Green Animal Shelter in Godmanchester,Cambridgeshire, which was sponsored by a suitably impressed owner member. Fourteen of the CCGB members travelled from all over GB to attend. A very successful day saw those members undertaking eye-opening and thought provoking seminars on all the relevant topics of animal welfare, husbandry, Emotion Mood Reinforcement Assessment (EMRA), education, mentoring, support, home visits and rescue. Wendy Kruger who headed the training on behalf of Wood Green said “ What a fantastic group of people. You’re doing a great job and I wish you all the very best of luck with it.”
Breeding membership is open to anyone whether it’s for a one-off litter, a Hobby breeder or fully Licensed breeder. The CCGB Inspectors' role will be to both gather the required information and to offer the Club's support and advice to the breeder, from conception through to how to give lifelong support to the puppies' owners.
Stephen Charlton on behalf of the Club stated “This has been a wonderful day, spent with like-minded people with the same goal and commitment from all around GB . Following this initial step in Inspector training we can now look to visit those breeders who are aready awaiting an inspection which, if passed, will place them on the Approved Breeders' List. The CCGB is certainly going to be a strong force and by setting the bar high we hope that this beautiful, happy, cuddly, intelligent, versatile and loving dog can be fully catered for with regards to health and longevity."
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