full April Bulletin - Biggleswade Rugby Club

18 BULLETIN APRIL 2012 TEL: 01234 834700 EDITORIAL: editorial@biggleswadebulletin.co.ukWhat’s a cockapoo? A fluffy bundle of funby Shirley Fearnleyand Sarah WebbCOCKAPOOS are fantastic dogsand it's not only their name thatoften causes people to smile whenthey hear it mentioned. They arefriendly and fun and can make anideal family pet. This wonderfulcross breed has been growing inpopularity for some time andunfortunately with this has resultedin them often being bred byunscrupulous breeders who do nothave the dog’s welfare at heart butare just in it for the money.Unlike the Kennel Club andBreed clubs that people looking forpure breeds can go to there isn'tanything out there for Cockapoosin this country. Whist informationon good breeding practices andhealth tests can be found on theKennel Club website many peopleowning or looking for a crossbreeddon't realise this or think theKennel Club only represents purebreeds. There was a need for informationto be out there to the publicand this is where we step in.Kings Arms AC charity nightby Max Hill‘What a brilliant night’, ‘the bestyet’! Just two of the many glowingcomments about the latestKings Arms charity evening,held at the Holiday Inn GardenCourt in Sandy in aid of Stjohn’s Hospice in Mogger -hanger in February.Over two hundred anglers,many from some distance away,turned up to meet and listen to agalaxy of angling legends:renowned ‘grand master’ BobChurch was present for the sixthyear running to sign copies ofhis latest book as was MikeGreen, who interspersed photosof fly fishing for tarpon in theexotic scenery of Costa Ricawith a few ‘risqué’ jokes. WellknownTV presenter and journalistMatt Hayes was perhapsthe main draw this year and hegave his audience a wonderfulinsight into how photographyhas enhanced his passion forangling. The photographsshown were truly stunning andfeatured every kind of landscape,weather and sky pattern.The final celebrity was ChrisBall, carp historian and directorof the weekly Carp Talk, and hishour-long presentation was centredaround his obvious enthusiasmfor the legendary DickWalker, native of Bedfordshire,and the carp angler’s paradise,Redmire Pool.In addition to the presentations,those present had thechance to take part in an auctionof several days fishing innotable carp and pike venues,try their luck on the tombolawith a host of prizes or perusethe second-hand tackle sale.They could even purchase jamsand chutneys as a sweetener tothe other half!Both the tombola and theauction were hugely successfulfinancially and, a week after theevent, the total for the charitycurrently stands at over £3600with a bit more anticipated. Atruly magnificent effort.Roy Smith and GrahamInwood did much of the legworkbut many other club membersmade important contributionsand we would like to thank allthose who made major contributionsto the success of the event;the staff at the Garden CourtHotel, our four guest speakersand the representatives from StJohn’s. Special mention too ofHeathrow Bait Services whosponsored the event.We hope all those presenthad a great evening. See youagain next year!■ ■ ■We are Shirley and Sarah andwe met online, on a forum for petlovers, often having lively debateswith others on crossbreeds and inparticular Cockapoos. Throughthese discussions and realising ourshared passion for the Cockapoosand responsible breeding, arespected breeder of labradorssuggested that we put together awebsite for owners. From that dayour inspiration grew and evolvedinto The Cockapoo Owners Clubwebsite. We had not met each otherbut what we had was a commonaim to raise awareness of badbreeding practices and to help educatepeople and to assist them infinding the right type of breeder. Atthe start we were very busy emailingeach other ideas and writingarticles and it was often hectic as itwas just the two of us, but with thehelp of Helen, Sarah’s sister, whoput our website together, welaunched in Nov 2011. luckily weagreed on what our website shouldcontain, the hardest part waschoosing the colour scheme! Inaddition to helping prospectiveCockapoo owners we also providelots of information and advice tohelp existing owners with regardsto the everyday care of their dogs.We feel that people can come toour website and find lots of informationon Cockapoos all underone roof.■ ■ ■Our website is not just forCockapoos we do have a sectionfor other Poodle crosses especiallyCavapoos. Shirley owns aCavapoo and we agreed that wecould incorporate these as againpeople who own them havenowhere get advice and to sharetheir stories.Part of our clubs website is alsoorganising and advertisingCockapoo meets arranged by usand others and through one ofthese we are happy to report thatwe finally met! The meets are a funway to meet our members and ofcourse everyone’s lovelyCockapoosIn December 2011 we becamethe official Breed Advisors forCockapoos for Dogs Today magazine,again another positive stepforward for us and our dreams ofhelping more people.Since then membership isgrowing every day and we are sopleased with the support we havereceived. It's not just our Cockapoofriends but we have support fromrespected breeders of Pedigreeswho think we are inspirational ingetting something out to the publicfor crossbreeds. Support has alsocome from respected organisationssuch as The london Dog Forumand Puppy love campaigns andvarious dog related businesses.We have included a section forRescue and Rehoming on our website.It was a way that we couldhelp by advertising poodle crossesthat are looking to be re-homed.We are also in regular contact withthe labradoodle Trust who hasalso been supportive of ourendeavours. We have currentlybeen working together on rehominga Cockapoo that one of ourmembers saw advertised. Both theowner and the Cockapoo hadhealth problems and we quicklyintervened to help them both. Wegot in touch with the owner and thelabradoodle Trust kindly agreed tofoster her. We are pleased to reportthat the dog is doing very well.We also wanted to have a featureddog related business page.Here we advertise people whomake handmade items for dogs.We feel it is a way for us to supportsmall businesses that in this difficulteconomic climate need all thehelp they can. In return they giveour members small discounts orhave donated a competition prize.The Cockapoo Owners Clubwebsite has free membership andwe have free competitions for ourmembers to enter plus discountsfor products. Our third competitionis a photo competition in conjunctionwith Equafleece who makefleece coats for dogs and horses.The lucky winner will receive anew Equafleece dog coat and theirCockapoo will feature on the coverof their next catalogue. For childrenwe have a printable Cockapoocolouring page and we will beadding more items for children inthe near future. Alongside the funis the serious information on healthissues with stories from ownersabout their dogs illnesses. This notonly highlights the potential ofhealth problems but also helpsother owners who may feel theyare on their own.■ ■ ■We also have Twitter and aFacebook group. We are so pleasedwith the how our club has grownand have been overwhelmed by thesupport we have received. As twoordinary women with no experienceof running a website we neverimagined that we would be creatingsuch a big resource and that itwould be as popular as it is! Itshows if you share a common goaland dedication anything is possible.We continually update ourwebsite with information and areopen to ideas from our members.It's not just the two of us but awhole Cockapoo Community.So if you are Cockapoo crazylike us or wish to become a memberof The Cockapoo Owners Clubwe look forward to welcomingyou.Just go to the join us page onw w w . c o c k a p o o - o w n e r s -club.org.uk and we look forward tosharing all things Cockapoo withyou.