Agility Team Scotland tryouts – October 2021 – Will and Rudi qualify for their place at WAO!
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After the disappointment of making the Scotland team for the World Agility Open in 2021 and then seeing the event cancelled, Will and Rudi were back to try and claim their place in the team for 2022.
Each national team for the championships, to be held in the Netherlands in May, is made up of four dogs at each height plus one junior handler and their dog at each height who compete in a junior competition.
Will and Rudi had four courses to run at the tryouts – agility, gamblers, speedstakes and jumping with juniors and seniors running the same courses – as will be the case at the WAO event next year.
The RAW Agility pair started with a beautiful clear round in agility:
After a satisfying 3rd place in the Gamblers round, Will and Rudi then ran another lovely clear in the Speedstakes:
With all to play for, the final round was jumping. After a long day and with pressure on, Will and Rudi produced a speedy jumping round that was, once again, clear!
When the results were announced by combining the results of all four runs, Will and Rudi were announced in first place, giving them an automatic spot in the Scotland senior team. As the top handler overall on the day, Will had the lovely option of choosing a place in the senior Scotland team or to take the only junior spot at this height.
After careful thought, Will is going to take the junior spot in the Scotland team at the WAO next year. Thanks to everyone involved in the Scotland team management and organisation who provided a super day in the most friendly and welcoming atmosphere.
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Cornwall Agility Club – November 2021 – Wizard gets his first win!
A really lovely weekend saw Will and all the RAW Agility team in action.
The definite highlight for the team was Wizard’s fantastic clear round in the G1-3 Helter-Skelter (a sort of steeplechase on a circular course). It gave the youngest member of the team his first ever win at a show in a time 5 seconds ahead of any other dog!
Will hopes this is the first step on a career that will follow and match those of Aston and Rudi. Wizard was delighted and both dog and handler are very proud of their achievement!
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Welsh Kennel Club Championship Show – August 2021
The RAW Agility team rounded off a very busy month with a visit to the beautiful setting of Builth Wells and the Welsh Champ show.
After being rested and fuelled by a fantastic overnight stay and breakfast at Llanwrtyd Hall, Will, Rudi and Aston were ready to take on the elite in the Champ class.
The first qualifying round was jumping. Aston ran a lovely steady clear round, and Rudi ran a quicker round that was clear up to the very last obstacle when he clipped the tyre to give 5 faults.
In the agility round, Aston had a slight issue in the weaves to finish with a total of 5 faults and Rudi ran a beautiful clear round to finish in 4th place.
This meant, for the second champ show they had entered in a row, Will had guided both dogs into the champ final – the elite 20!
Both dogs performed well in a challenging final round, both picking up some faults, but happy to both finish in the top dozen in a champ final.
Congratulations to Jo Gleed who also had two dogs running in the final and produced a stunning winning run in the final.
It was not the top five finish Will was hoping for, but to have two dogs in the champ final for the second show in a row is a super achievement for a handler aged just 15!
Kennel Club International Agility Festival (KCI) – August 2021
Will and all three dogs competed at the biggest agility show in the world and, with 4 days of events in 17 rings here are a couple of highlights!
On day 1 the highlight was definitely Wizard’s first ever run at the event. He went clear in his Grade 2 jumping, finishing in 10th place in a field of 161! Without the special dance at fence 5 just after the weaves, the team could have been celebrating a win:
On day 2 top marks went to Will and Rudi who again paired up with the very talented Mariann Bayliss and Betty. After a stunningly quick double clear, the team won for the second show in a row to confirm their place in the YKC Pairs final at Crufts next year.
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Derbyshire Agility Show – July/August 2021
After a really tough journey the day before, Will and the dogs showed some signs of tiredness on the first day of the show. On the Sunday. after a rest, Aston and Rudi both took part in the YKC Pairs Crufts qualifier. Rudi paired up with Betty, while Aston teamed up with Coral, both run by the very talented junior handler Mariann Bayliss.
The teams did their job beautifully with Rudi and Betty winning the event to book their place at Crufts 2022 and Aston and Coral finishing in second place!
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The Agility Club Show 2021 – What a Weekend!
One of the most prestigious shows of the year saw Will and all three dogs perform superbly and pull off some amazing results. We would like to say a big thank you to Satti and Sam for their hospitality at Oldlands Farm during the weekend. A super place to stay (hosted by dog lovers!) just 15 minutes from Ardingly.
There were two highlights in particular:
Rudi takes the reserve ticket at Agility Club Show Championship final!
The final day of the Agility Club Show is Championship day- a magnet for the elite handlers and dogs across the UK. Each dog must be at Grade 7, the highest grade, to qualify to enter the competition. Each dog runs two rounds, one agility and one jumping. The results are combined and the top 20 dogs compete in a third round of agility to decide the overall winner.
After the opening two rounds in a field of 85 medium dogs, Will was delighted to find out that both Aston and Rudi had made the top 20 and earned a place in this prestigious final.
Aston went first and, showing some signs of tiredness, was unfortunately eliminated after a good start.
It was then Rudiโs turn to run and Will handled superbly for the pair to get a clear round. Here it is:
After a nervous wait for the remaining runners and the results to be announced, Will and Rudi came second earning the Reserve Ticket at one of the biggest shows of the year – a fantastic result for a 15 year old handler!
Congratulations to the winner Lily Dakin and thanks to the judge, Jason Bartram, for a lovely challenging course and the awards presentation:
Aston performs beautifully in Crufts Singles qualifier
Willโs reliable little show cocker put in a lovely clear round in a top quality field of well over 100 dogs to finish in 9th place at The Agility Club Show and gain two points in the race to earn a place in the Crufts Singles.
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Aston Strikes Gold! FAB 2 – May 2021
With a very successful career so far, Aston’s next goal was to achieve his Gold Warrant for achieving 800 points. Points are awarded for every clear round in KC competitions with more points added for a clear round that earns a place. Aston went into the FAB2 show needing 13 points to reach the Gold mark. After a clear round in G7 agility (2 points) he won the G7 Jumping (10 points):
Will continued his great form by guiding Rudi to a win in G7 Agility:
So the boys went into Sunday with Aston needing one point. He achieved the mark in style! Aston ran in three classes, two G7 Agility classes and a G7 Jumping class. Not only did he run three clear rounds – he won all three classes! (50 points).
This is a wonderful achievement for Will, Rudi and especially for this weekend, Aston. The team won five of the 6 Grade 7 classes they ran, and Aston joined Rudi in earning a Gold Warrant.
The team were fuelled by a great breakfast and a good night’s sleep prior to both days’ competition – many thanks to the staff at the wonderfully dog friendly Benett Arms in Semley. They have been super supportive every time Will and his dogs compete at Gillingham!
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First Shows after Lockdown – May 2021
The team made a welcome return to competition at the beginning of May with a visit to FAB Dorset and Hope Agility in Daventry over the same Bank Holiday weekend.
The boys all ran well with two notable achievements. First, Rudi won the Grade 7 agility class at FAB:
Then, having performed beyond all expectations at FAB, Wizard continued his fledgling competitive career with his first ever clear round in G1-3 Jumping at Daventry:
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British Agility Winter Series
In mid-December, Will had the chance to take part in the first of the British Agility Winter Series at a fantastic venue – Inside Football Stroud. Organised by Ant Clark and judged by Greg Derrett, the competition consisted of two agility runs with results combined for overall placings.
On the Wednesday before the weekend event, Will broke his wrist (again!) and had to battle through the pain and the inconvenience of running with a splint cast on his left arm. The boys still put up a fantastic performance and, with the help of painkillers, Will finished well inside the top ten with both dogs. You can see in the runs below how Will had to use the โwrong armโ on the start line.
willbacchus.com 