This year’s dog Halloween party was lots of fun! We dressed up (and our pooches!) and played some fun games. Miss Amanda, our 4-H agent, even came. She shared with us an important lesson- to realize that everyone is their own Superhero!
We had lots of fun playing games, dressing up, snacking, and chatting!
~Hope (4-H Secretary of Top Dog)
Top Dog 4-H has elected their officers for this coming 4-H year! This year, we did something a bit different. In the past years, we’ve written down which officer positions we were interested in and why. The adults would choose based on our answers.
This year, we did speeches and secret ballot. This went very well for the club!
Here are Top Dog’s 2016-2017 officers:
President: Delanie Potteiger
Vice-President: Javier Ardon
Secretary: Hope Potteiger
Treasurer: Jackson Jones
Sergeant-at-Arms: Isabel Jones
Historian: Belle Williams
Reporter: Elliot Potteiger
Congratulations to the new officers!
~Hope (4-H Secretary of Top Dog)
Our end of year celebration, on July 29, was a blast! This year, we decided to have theme, which we chose to be Fiesta. At the Fiesta, each member was given a year pin. We also presented our historian Zaya Owen’s PowerPoint presentation, featuring the club’s year events. It was so nice to see how much we actually did!
Later, we played many games- Taco Battle, Nacho Macho, and Limbo!
Officers and The Group:
Taco Battle:
Nacho Macho:
Limbo:
We all had so much fun and look forward to the 2016 – 2017 year!
~Hope Potteiger (4-H Secretary of Top Dog 4-H)
As our main community service project for the year, we decided to have a beach clean-up in honor of Earth Day! We met at Sand Key Beach in Clearwater, Florida. Grouped in pairs of 2-3, we searched for trash around the picnic area and the playground. Lots and lots of trash was collected!
After cleaning up, we all ate lunch together and headed to the beach to have some fun!
Thank you to all the Top Dog 4-Her’s who participated in the clean-up!
~Hope Potteiger (4-H President of Top Dog))
This year, six of Top Dog 4-H’s members entered into County Events Day, which was April 1, 2016! Thank you Natalie Barlow, Emily Brown, Hope Potteiger, Delanie Potteiger, Elliot Potteiger, and Belle Williams for competing in County Events! Thanks to Emmajames Stanton for coming to support the members and to volunteer.
Everyone received wonderful awards! The leaders of Top Dog are very proud of everyone who participated!
Delanie Potteiger and Belle Williams performed a skit in Share-The-Fun!
Natalie Barlow, Emily Brown, Hope Potteiger, Delanie Potteiger, Elliot Potteiger, and Belle Williams entered in photography!
Natalie Barlow entered three photos and won green awards for all three! (Natalie is a Cloverbud and her entries were not competition.)
Emily Brown entered two photos and won a red award and white award!
Hope Potteiger entered five photos and won blue awards for all five! She also won three best of shows!
Delanie Potteiger entered five photos and four of them won white awards and one won a red award!
Elliot Potteiger entered five photos and two of them won red awards and three of them won white awards!
Belle Williams entered five photos and four of them won white awards and one won a red award!
Congratulations to all the participants! We look forward to next year!
~Hope (4-H President of Top Dog)
Today was the Southeastern Guide Dogs Walkathon! Southeastern Guide Dogs is a non-profit organization, raising puppies to become superheros! Located in Palmetto, Florida, they have served over 400 graduates all over the U.S. and places more than 100 dogs each year into careers to help visually impaired and veterans.
The Southeastern Guide Dogs Walkathon was located at Lake Hollingsworth in Lakeland, Florida. The purpose of the walkathon was to raise money and awareness.
Top Dog 4-H created a team called ‘Polk County 4-H Dog Clubs’. Hope Potteiger, Delanie Potteiger, Elliot Potteiger, and Emmajames Stanton attended the walkathon. We were all happy to support the Southeastern Guide Dogs!
Next year, we plan to volunteer at the Southeastern Guide Dogs Walkathon!
~Hope Potteiger (4-H President of Top Dog)
The Polk County Youth Fair, which was January 27 – 28, 2016, was a great event for the Polk County 4-H members. Five 4-H members (Hope Potteiger, Delanie Potteiger, Elliot Potteiger, Belle Williams, and Emmajames Stanton) of Top Dog 4-H participated in the Youth Fair. All of the 4-H members did very well and had a great time! Hope placed 2nd in obedience. Delanie placed 2nd in showmanship, 1st in obedience, 1st in agility, and 2nd in rally. Elliot, Top Dog 4-H’s only junior participant, won Junior High Point and placed 1st in showmanship, 1st in obedience, 1st in agility and 3rd in rally. Belle placed 2nd place in obedience, 2nd place in agility, and 3rd place in rally. Emmajames placed 2nd in showmanship, 2nd in obedience, 1st in agility, and 1st in rally. Congratulations everyone!
We would like to thank IPOC for supporting the Polk County Youth Fair. Three of the judges (Debra McKnight-Schirck, Bob Withers, and Kathy Marks) at the Youth Fair are IPOC members and we would like to thank them as well for being wonderful judges!
At the Florida State Fair, a total of five 4-H members of Top Dog 4-H participated in the State Fair. Hope Potteiger placed 3rd in the Senior division of the Champions of Youth program and placed 1st in showmanship and came in 3rd as Best Junior, 1st in obedience, and 2nd in agility. Delanie Potteiger placed 2nd in obedience, 2nd in agility, and 4th in rally. Elliot Potteiger placed 2nd in showmanship, 3rd in obedience, 2nd in agility, and 2nd in rally. Emmajames Stanton placed 4th in obedience. Everybody is now looking forward to next year’s State Fair!
All four Champion of Youth Senior winners were from Polk County (Kayla Byrd, Hannah Reeder, Hope Potteiger, and Kathleen Wann)!
Thank you!
~Hope Potteiger (4-H President of Top Dog)
Guess what guys? Fair season is coming up! It is the time to start getting all of your things ready!
For many of you, it is your first time entering the Florida State Fair. Last year was my first year so I understand if you are confused. Well, no worries! I am going to help you by giving the information you need, links, tips, and help!
First, where do you find any information about entering an animal in the Florida State Fair? There is a website called Agribusiness at the State Fair. How do you find information about rules and find entry forms? Simple! Just go to the page called ‘Rules and Entry Forms’. What do you do now? Click on your project on the side. The dog project is close to the bottom. For a quicker way, here is a link straight to the dog project entry forms and rules: Youth Dog Show Rules.
In order to attend the Florida Stat Fair, you MUST attend an Ethics Seminar. Once you do your ethics, it is good for 3 years. You don’t have to attend it again until another 3 years. Cool, right? The last day to attend an Ethics Seminar is January 18. Here is the link to the list of dates/places where you can find the closest Ethics Seminar to you: Youth Livestock Show Ethics and Animal Care Workshop Information and Registration Form.
Now, one of the first things I recommend you do is sit down and read the rule book. Here is the link: Youth Dog Show Information.
Another important thing you do if you are co-owning a dog is a Lease Agreement. A Lease Agreement is required to show a co-owned dog. Your Lease Agreement needs to be signed and turned in to the County Agent by November 1st. Here is the link: Dog Lease Agreement.
Once you decide you think you want to enter the Florida State Fair, it is time to fill out your entry form! Don’t take to long to decide though, the entry form is due to be turned in by December 4th. It costs $15.00 per exhibitor for 2 dogs. Make sure your entry form is completely filled out and correct. I recommend looking at the rule book while filling out your entry form and reviewing the entry form with your project leader and club leader before turning it in to make sure you have the correct information. There are late entry date periods but they cost extra money to enter. Here is the link: Youth Dog Show Entry Form.
There is a program called Champions of Youth. I totally recommend doing this! It doesn’t cost any extra money. The only things required to enter into Champions of Youth is your Record Book, taking the Skilathon, and taking the Record Book Test. You take the Skilathon and the Record Book test the night before the first day of the dog show. How do you study for the Skilathon? Well, there is a Skilathon manual. Each year there is a different theme. Only study the parts that are labeled your 4-H level(Junior, Intermediate, and Senior). Here is the link: Youth Dog Skilathon Manual. What about the Record Book test? Do you have to study for that? No, you don’t study for that. This test is just to see if you really did your Record Book and you understand how to do it. Other things you can do for Champions of Youth points are: Educational Seminar, Ask-Me-Booth, Showmanship, and the Educational Poster.
You don’t have to enter a Record Book to enter the Florida State Fair unless you are entering the Champions of Youth. It is suggested to enter the Champions of Youth so I highly recommend doing the Record Book. We use the same Record Book as the llama entries do. Just cross out the page that says “llama”. The Record Book is due to be turned in by January 11th. Here is the link: Youth Dog Record Book.
In your Record Book, you write an essay. The essay is related to the Skilathon topic. The essay topic is different for each 4-H level(Junior, Intermediate, and Senior). The dog project is on the 2nd page. Here is the link to the essay topics: Project Essay Information for Record Book.
The Educational Poster is the most fun part of the Champions of Youth. Your poster is supposed to be related to your Skilathon topic or essay topic. The Educational Poster is fun and engaging, like a game. The posters are hung up in an area at the Florida State Fair for people to see and play the game. Here is the link: Educational Poster Judging Criteria.
Well, that is all I have for you! If you have any questions, please ask below and I will answer them the best I can as soon as possible. I hope you enter the Florida State Fair and in the Champions of Youth program. Thank you!
~Hope Potteiger (4-H President of Top Dog)
Top Dog has already chosen it’s officers for the 2014-2015 4-H year! This year, we had officer selections. Everyone who wanted to be an officer wrote down which officer position they wanted and why on a note card. Each person wrote their top two officers they wanted to be. When everyone was done, two of our leaders(Lori Potteiger and Donna Williams)went through and read every note card. They selected the people they thought would be best for that officer position.
Here are Top Dog’s 2015 – 2016 officers:
President: Hope Potteiger
Vice-President: Delanie Potteiger
Secretary: Belle Williams
Treasurer: Jackson Jones
Sergeant-at-Arms: Elliot Potteiger
Historian: Zaya Owen
Reporter: Cheyenne LaBarr
Congratulations to our new officers! Our first meeting for this year will be September 14, 2015.
Thank you!
~Hope (4-H President of Top Dog)
Yesterday was Exploding Ideas May business meeting! Our business meetings are held the first Monday of the month. We discussed a few things but one of the main things discussed was a name change. One of the Junk Drawer Robotics project goals is too compete in the First Lego League. The requirements for a club(they are actually called teams in that) are:
1). Have a name, 2). Have a logo, 3). Have a mascot
One of the reasons why I thought we should change the name is because it would be hard to get a mascot for the name Exploding Ideas. Also, another reason why I thought we should change the name was because there is another 4-H club that is here in Orlando that competes in First Lego League and their club name is Exploding Bacon. The names are very similar.
So, with that in mind, I looked at the top three names with the most votes from the name election. The second name with the most votes, besides of Exploding Ideas, was Top Dog. I brought up the name and the majority of the members liked it. If you call someone ‘top dog’ that means they are the ‘best’. Everyone, except for two members, liked the name and voted for it. A motion to change the name to Top Dog was made by Isabel and seconded by Elliot. This name change is now official!
Thank you!
~Hope(4-H President of Top Dog)
Top Dog 4-H 