The Helen Berg Memorial Water Trial

Please join us the weekend of August 7th-8th 2010 for the PWDCTC water trial with Judge Mary Kay Schroeder. This is always a great time to reconnect with old friends, make new friends, and spend time at the beach enjoying the trials, tribulations and, hopefully, multiple accomplishments of our PWD-human teams. If you’d like to come and watch the trial, please contact the trial secretary for specific start and end times for each day. There are PDFs of the premium, entry form, and the judging program along with the event details on the calendar. All dogs who are not competing are to be crated or leashed on a 6 foot leash.

This season will be special and bittersweet in the history of the PWDCTC water trial. On July 31, 2009 the club lost its dear friend and stalwart supporter, Helen Berg, and to honor her memory the club is officially changing the name of the trial to the Helen Berg Memorial Water Trial.

On Saturday, August 7th, the club will be dedicating in Helen’s name a park bench overlooking the lake, and holding a silent auction of several pieces of dog training equipment previously owned by Helen including a panel high-jump, bar high-jump, a broad jump, utility articles and an inflatable raft for water work. Proceeds from the auction will be used for the care of “Punzi”, a rescue PWD being fostered by Carol Konkol.

Helen Berg was one of the original founders of the PWDCTC and remained the heart and soul of our club for over 20 years. Her original PWD, Calypso (CH. Camerell’s Neocles Calypso UD, WWD, ROM, POM), was the ancestor of many of the dogs in our club and a foundation dam for much of the PWD breed in the USA as we know it today. Her second PWD, Brio (Ch. Galamar Bossa Nova at Brio UD, WWD, SROM), is a descendent of Calypso and the dam of eight, one and a half year old fabulous furry tykes currently running around the continental USA and Alaska.

Helen enjoyed great success with both standard Poodles and PWDs, earning championships and advanced performance titles on her dogs. Both of her PWDs earned their Working Water Dog titles and, though, sadly, Helen took sick before ever earning Courier titles on either Calypso or Brio, she was a driving force behind many, many PWDs earning their own Courier titles. Helen’s spirit and passion for our beloved PWDs and her love for the people who love them will live on as she watches over us from the hillside above the lake.

On Saturday, August 7th, the Helen Berg park bench dedication will be held at 11:45 AM; also on Saturday, August 7th, auction bidding will begin at 8:30 AM, and will close at 1:15 PM. Water trial competition will be held on both Saturday and Sunday.

Keep splashing and we hope to see you at Crooked Lake Park for one or both days of the Helen Berg Memorial Water Trial!!!