Club History and some of
its Activities
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How NJBE began
In 1993 I decided to call a few people who were
interested in
hunting with terriers and dachshunds to arrange dates to get together
to hunt. Everyone was interested in the idea of a group to share the
hunt and to visit new locations. We ended up meeting in
central
New Jersey, near my farm, most of the time. The next year, using the
name New Jersey Beanfield Earthdogs, I prepared a "meet card," listing
dates and places of "meets" and one thing led to another. The group
grew and we wanted to offer den trials to help people get to know their
dogs and to see them do what their instincts dictated. An AWTA trial
followed in 1994, and then we voted to become a formal club
so we could host AKC Earthdog Tests. Our members hunt
woodchucks
in the summer and rats and fox in winter. We
represent many
breeds, including Australian, Bedlington, Border, Norfolk Terriers and
Dachshunds, all doing what they
love best.....WORKING JoAnn Frier-Murza
In 1999 the NJBE held
a
Working
Earthdog Week, which
included a schooling day and a working earthdog
seminar. Our
featured speaker was Mr. Palle Thomsen from Denmark
. He
breeds Border Terriers, uses them for hunting Fox and is a recognized
earthdog test judge there. During the course of
the week he
judged AKC Senior Earthdog and Master
Earthdog Tests.
Our first year was
such a
success we followed it up with an even more ambitious program in 2000
when we hosted Margaretha Grafström as the featured speaker. Mrs.
Grafström is a long time Border Terrier breeder in Sweden where she
hunts with her Borders and judges in their earthdog tests.
The AKC seminar was geared to educating prospective judges. A
schooling day and two AKC earthdog tests were held later in the
week.
Another year we
welcomed Mr. Klaus Bangert, a working
Dachshund expert and judge from Germany, as the featured speaker at our
working earthdog seminar. Mr. Thomsen from Denmark was also present and
gave a talk on earthdog tests in Denmark. At the end of the day
both
speakers were able to go over some of the dogs present. This has become
a
tradition and the experts comments about the dogs are much appreciated
by both the owners and other observing. Our AKC
earthdog test
was a grand success, with both gentlemen judging and there
were many qualifiers.
We have also welcomed John Broadhurst as an evaluator of terriers and
dachshunds. Mr. Broadhurst started in the UK as a profesional
terrierman in 1979 and his last job there was as kennel-huntsman for
the Royal Rock Beagles in Cheshire which he left due to injury in 1997.
Since moving to the US he has remained active with working terriers.
NJBEC
continues to support working earthdogs by hosting seminars, AKC
Earthdog Tests, an annual AWTA Den Trial. The annual Earthdog Festival
late May-early June features a schooling day, fun day with games for
earthdogs, two AKC Earthdog Tests and often some sort of educational
seminar so that earthdog owners can learn more about their dogs and
their heritage or the sport of earthdog tests. The North American
Teckel Club hosts an AWTA Den Trial during the week at the same venue,
too, usually
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