Who's Who

Committee Members

Gail Swain - President and Hon. Treasurer
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Gail has been a member of the Club for a number of years and although she no longer competes in any of the disciplines, she concentrates on looking after the club finances and generally helping out where needed. With Gail and Sheila keeping the admin (and the committee!) of the Club in hand there should be no excuses!!!!

Debbie Martin - Chairperson
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Chairman, Show Secretary and Organiser for Manx Action Dog Week, Obedience and Agility Trainer, Chief Bottlewasher...

I’ve been with the club more years than I would care to count and now seem to have an accompanying set of hats that has been added to with monotonous regularity along the way! But I only have myself to blame for that – don’t I?? It all started with a pet dog trainer’s hat, then I added competitive obedience and eventually agility to the collection with the Chairman’s arriving somewhere in the middle of it all! My last addition was that of Show Secretary, initially to a weekend open agility show, but being a glutton for punishment I came up with the idea of expanding two days into a week long event incorporating a weekend of open obedience competition and various fun activities in between (it seemed like a jolly good idea at the time!). And so, in 2005, ‘Manx Action Dog Week’ or more appropriately ‘MAD’ was born!!

Having sworn for years I would never have a collie I now have three and love them to bits! Luke is the eldest and is currently working B and C in obedience but he can also lay claim to the honour of being the first Manx dog to qualify for senior agility. Josh is next in line and came as one of a long line of Manx SPCA rejects! He was the cause of a whole lot of headaches with his behaviour and health problems but a few years on (probably aging me several more in the process!) and he is competing in obedience classes A and B but had to take early retirement from agility as he has hip dysplasia. Last (but never least!) is Baby Bea, also known as the Queen Bea because she is something of a diva and also for her rather snooty attitude towards the puppies at club who all seem to adore her! She is indeed the baby of the family but already showing a great deal of promise in both agility and obedience. All three love flyball too but sadly we can’t fit this into our rather busy schedule as often as they might like!

Sheila Hamilton - Hon. Secretary
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It was all Harvey’s fault. About 7 years ago I got my third rescue greyhound. He was so full of life and did not seem to recognise any commands. The idea was to go along to Dog Obedience Classes for a few basics and to help socialise him. Unexpectedly Harvey really enjoyed school and before very much longer I had agreed to join the committee.

After joining the committee the position of Hon Secretary became vacant and I soon found myself taking on this role.

You can usually find me in the RDTC Tent at most shows trying to ensure that everything runs smoothly on the day. I may not always know the answer to your questions but I ALWAYS know someone who does!

Ruth Dermott - Flyball Co-ordinator
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I’ve been a member of RDTC for about 6 years now (with a little break in the middle somewhere), it all started when I decided to try agility with our older dog Molly, my Mum joined at the same time with her dog Ben. Molly and my Mum decided it wasn’t really for them (Molly doesn’t do organised fun!) so Ben and I teamed up and continued to train. Then in 2004 we went to the MSPCA to get a cat and returned with Chewy!!!! We arrived home with an untrained Chewy (who was even more lively then) and joined up to obedience classes pretty quick as we realised the moment he came home there was a lot of work to be done!

It was at obedience that I heard about a Flyball introduction day and Chewy being ball MAD I thought he might just enjoy it! We were hooked and travelled to our first tournament in September 2004. I was made team captain for the two trips away 2005 and in October 2005 I became Flyball Co-ordinator. We have now got the next generation of Ramsey Flyballers coming up through the ranks and hope to start the third generation shortly. Flyball really is a team effort and this is how the training is structured – everybody helps everybody else - my job is to make sure we all turn up to train on the same day, have the equipment we need and organise entries for any competitions.

Nick Dermott - Sponsorship Co-Ordinator
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I'm still quite new to the Ramsey Dog Training Club as I joined after going along with Ruth to the Fly-ball training sessions early in 2005. I soon got hooked on Flyball and offered my services as 'box-loader,' an integral and hugely important member of the team, for the two Live-Wire tournaments in May and September. After our very successful 2006 trip to the Live-Wires competition, I'm now taking over the mantle of running Chewy at Flyball as Ruth is taking on the challenge of introducing our latest dog, Clio, to the
joy of tennis balls and running over jumps! Suits me, as I get to reap the rewards of a fully trained flyball dog and Ruth gets the headache of trying to convince a Cocker Spaniel that her world should revolve around a tennis ball!

My involvement on the committee is also very new, I offered my services at the beginning of 2006 when there was a shortfall and I'm now happy to be involved and helping out with raising money through new and existing sponsors.

James Bailey
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I started off with Ramsey Dog Training Club with my Jack Russell Terror (sorry Terrier!) who sometimes is known as Schumie (amongst other words beginning with S***). It all started due to my participation in the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award. I began with obedience where Schumie would love to take on anything bigger than him and that’s not hard, in his mind the bigger the better! If given the chance he would take on a T-Rex! We then progressed to agility but he would run off at any opportunity. Then along came Zulu my trust black lab who enjoyed everything deep in the know that food was at the end.

I am now the Webmaster, photographer and general helper.

Andy Race - Agility Trainer and Points Steward
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Andy joined the club early in 1998 and soon became involved with the club’s agility section, going on to become a very proficient trainer too. Andy’s retriever, Dillon, has now taken retirement but is known to come out to play on the odd occasion otherwise leaving Andy free on other occasions to officiate at various agility events such as the annual Crufts qualifier in 2005 and also our Summer League in 2006. In addition to his involvement in agility and flyball, Andy keeps meticulous records of who has gained rosettes at any shows (local or UK) or test nights that they may have attended and at the end of each year has the unenviable task of working out who is to be awarded which of our annual trophies. Then of course there is the ‘small’ task of ordering and providing rosettes for each of the club’s many events!

Carole Faragher - Agility Co-ordinator
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I had not been a member of Ramsey DTC for very long when Debbie sent a request for an Agility Co-ordinator. As I was the only volunteer - here I am.
There are 4 dogs in our household concentrating mainly on agility.
Polly is a 9 year old Pointer cross who I am sure everyone knows.
Katie and Tad Orry are Border Collies aged 4 and 3 normally handled by Ian.
Finally new kid on the block is Lily (Lilian when naughty) a 13 month old Pointer cross who originates from a rescue centre in Ireland.
We all love doing agility and hope that it continues doing well on the Island.

Marie Horne
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"I have been a member of RDTC since 2005 when, along with my daughter Voirrey, we went along to Obedience at Lezayre, after our local dog training club closed and we were told that Ramsey was a good Club. We soon joined the Competition Class and Voirrey decided that she would like to give Agility a go when the next Beginners Class started. We have one dog, Muffin, a black cocker spaniel.

As you have probably guessed, I don't actually do any work with Muffin - I am the chauffeur who ferries Voirrey and Muffin to training and Shows.

I was asked if I would assist Sheila in the tent at MAD and from that I now help out at any Shows where I can. Last year, I took over the job of taking the Minutes at Committee Meetings, leaving Sheila free to do the other one hundred and one jobs that need doing."

Fiona Bryans – Membership Secretary
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In 2004, Jet the ‘empty nest dog’, joined our family as a cute ball of tri coloured fluff and proved to have some very wayward habits…. After asking around, Ramsey Dog Training Club was recommended to me by a local lady who also has Shetland Sheepdogs. We started in the puppy obedience class and Jet quickly became a devoted fan of M & S cocktail sausages. She refused to give up after basic training was completed and we proceeded through the intermediate class to the competition class. I seriously doubt that we will ever compete in a show, however, training is fun and I find it quite de-stressing after a hard day at work. I volunteered to look after the membership lists in April 2006 and as there were no other volunteers the job was mine. I enjoy the committee meetings as Sheila is a wonderful hostess who provides a mouth-watering supply of homemade cakes – well worth volunteering for!

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Ramsey Dog Training Club

Who's Who