Will & Brave pay fitting tribute to Rudi on their most difficult day (August 26)
Will & Brave were back at the Royal Welsh Showground for the Welsh KC Championship. Having travelled up to Wales on Thursday, they received the heartbreaking news that Rudi had lost his battle against lymphoma and passed away on Friday evening.
The team decision was to stay and run the champ classes for Rudi. So, a very emotional day saw Will and Brave give it their absolute all in memory of the wonderful Rudi who taught Will so much and took the RAW team on so many adventures across Britain and Europe.
First up was the jumping round:
A great start – a quick clear and 5th place on a flowing but challenging course. Will was determined to hold it together for the agility round to gain a place in the final. Brave responded so well:
Another lovely clear round and another 5th place finish. So Will and Brave finished in 3rd place when the two results were combined meaning they had qualified for their 10th Championship final in their first year competing together at this level – a testament to their consistency and teamwork.
The final:
A fantastic run on one of Will’s favourite courses of the year. Their third clear round of the day gave them a 3rd place finish. On a day with plenty of tears and emotion, this was a fitting tribute to the agility star that was Rudi.
Will is incredibly grateful for all the support given around the rings by his friends and the agility community.
Many thanks to all involved with the Welsh KC show, it is always a friendly, well organised event that the team hope to return to many times in the future. Also a thank you to Champ judges Hilary Poole and Ian Armstrong for super courses all day.
Will & Brave hit new heights at KCI (August 26)
One of the annual highlights of the agility calendar is the Royal Kennel Club International Agility Festival – the biggest agility show in the world.
Will had one goal which was to reach the Championship Final at KCI, something he achieved once before with Rudi when finishing in a very creditable 4th place.
As a couple of bonuses, Will and Brave had reached the KC stakes semi final and Will had a day of judging at the four day festival.
On Day 1, Will and Brave had two runs. The first was the KC Stakes semi final that they qualified for at the Axstane show. 51 dogs had reached this stage with the top 10 going on to a prestigious final:
A steady clear round in the main arena was a good start but was not quite quick enough to finish in the top 10.
Their only other run on Day 1 was a Grade 7 agility round:
Another steady clear in a field of well over 100 dogs gave Will and Brave a 13th place finish.
Two clear rounds out of two was a good start, but Will was very aware that more speed would be needed to challenge in champ classes.
Will had the honour of judging the YKC pairs competition and Grade 1 agility on Day 2. A really lovely experience and the courses seemed to be well received.
The challenge with the pairs is to incorporate an agility and a jumping course into the same ring whilst ensuring the right level of challenge, safe lines and an exciting watch for spectators. This is how Will achieved that:
A big well done to all the junior handlers who showed a super standard of agility and particular congratulations to each of the winning pairs who qualify for Crufts 2027!
Day 3 – Saturday – Champ Day. There were 199 Grade 7 dogs entered in medium champ this year vying for a place in the main ring final on Saturday evening. First up was the agility round:
A 5 fault round at this level is usually a decent return, but the mistake on the weave entry and the lost time meant Will and Brave finished the round in 50th place, such is the level of competition.
They had it all to do in the jumping round to try and find a way into the top 20 to make the final and how well they responded:
A super fast and clear round meant our pair won the championship jumping round at KCI! When the results were combined, Will and Brave had jumped to 14th place overall meaning they had qualified for the final two ways – winning a class or finishing in the top 20 overall gives a final place.
So, Will had achieved this year’s goal of a Champ final place. In such company, with a big crowd always there to watch the evening final, there is only one way to approach the final – go for it.
The official KCI livestream of this run can be found by clicking here.
Wow! The RAW pair stormed around the course to go into the lead by 14 seconds! There were still plenty of very good dogs to go and one of Will’s GB team-mates Summer and her spaniel, Arrow, went into the lead.
Will and Brave had finished second to win their first Champ Reserve Ticket and they had done it at the biggest show in the world.
The official livestream version of the presentation can be found by clicking here.
Huge congratulations to Summer and Arrow for a stunning final run to take the ticket.
Thanks to everyone at RKCIAF for another fantastic show, to all those in the crowd (mainly from the south west) so enthusiastically cheering on Will & Brave and to judge Dan Hodson for 3 super champ courses.
Brave plays it tough at Tuffley (July 26)
With the incredibly hot weather showing no sign of abating, Will was again competing in Champ classes with Brave and Bossy.
Bossy had a couple of eliminations (but was super fast!) so didn’t make the final.
Brave continued his incredible level of consistency at Champ level. First up was the agility round:
A really great start which meant that any non-elimination in the jumping round would likely mean a place in the final:
Just 5 faults for dislodging a brick in the wall was the only blemish in another excellent round. This put Will & Brave comfortably into their 8th Champ final of the year. They had a running order of 12 and knew a clear round was needed to put them into the running:
The extremely hot weather over the past few weeks made ground conditions tricky for all the finalists and you can see Brave slipping on a couple of turns in the final. However, Brave again tried so hard and put in another clear round that gave our pair a super 4th place finish, just 1.4 seconds off top spot.
Many thanks to judge Nicole Turner for a series of great courses that she cleverly adapted to suit the conditions. Thanks too to everyone involved in the running of the Tuffley Show.
Brave and Bossy flying at Wonderful Weardale (July 26)
In the absolutely beautiful setting of Wolsingham Showground, Brave and Bossy were in Championship action.
After a near 11 hour car journey the day before, Will and Brave had a running order of 3 in the first class of the day – not ideal! The Champ jumping was the first challenge:
Will was full of praise for little Brave who coped really well and (in Will’s words) got his handler out of trouble on more than one occasion to post yet another clear round and finish in 10th place.
So, the job in hand was to get around the agility course to secure a place in the final. Feeling more awake and refreshed, Will and Brave responded beautifully:
Another clear and a 4th place finish to give our pair another champ final appearance. They finished 4th overall when the two qualifying rounds were combined meaning a running order of 18 in the final.
When competing against some of the super fast dogs that were at Weardale, Brave performs best on a more technical course. The final course this time was less technical but fast and furious. The RAW pair could just give it their best:
Another lovely, solid clear but the previous day’s journey, the length of the day and the nature of the course to suit speedy dogs meant Brave finished in (a still very creditable) 7th place.
In his very first season running at Champ level, Brave has reached 7 finals and there are still more chances at Champ this season.
Congratulations to Laura Chapman and Endeavour for their win in the final.
Bossy had a couple of eliminations in her champ rounds so didn’t make the final but had a really interesting highlight on Day 2. Her last run was a Jumping round:
A really nice, controlled clear round put Will and Bossy into the lead, but there were still around 50 dogs to go. The final results table put our pair in 3rd place but just 2 hundredths of a second off 1st place:
Just to prove how tight the margins can be at the top level!
Many thanks to all the judges, organisers and helpers at Weardale for a really lovely show in the most stunning surroundings.
Brave makes his first Champ podium at RVS Cambs! (July 26)
Will and Brave travelled to the RVA Cambridgeshire show for the first time to take part in another Championship show.
The weather was hot but Brave kept cool thanks to fans, showers and plenty of shade. They started with the jumping round:
A steady clear round with a good save at the weaves gave our pair a 6th place finish. A great start!
With the top 20 from the combined results going through, a good non-elimination round in agility would likely see Will & Brave into the final:
A missed A Frame and weave entry were the only issues early on in an otherwise lovely round. Even with 10 faults the RAW pair finished in 10th place when the results were combined meaning they had comfortably qualified for the final.
Very unfortunately, due to technical issues, there is no video of Will and Brave’s final run…
But, a lovely clear meant that Will and Brave finished in 3rd place – their best championship finish so far:
Congratulations to Amy and Ollie who won the ticket. Amy is a Team GB team mate of Will and has been so close on many occasions to gaining a ticket so this is a lovely result!
Keeping Cool in Cornwall (July 26)
Will was happy to return to judge again at the Cornwall Summer Show in the prestigious Ring 1 where he set courses for and judged G6-7 Agility all heights, G4-5 Agility all heights and G1-2 Agility for small and medium dogs.
Setting up the G6-7 course the night before gave Will the chance to give Brave the ‘White Dog’ run. Despite running in socks and jeans, Will managed Brave around a challenging course:
Many thanks to Kim Lawyer and her team at the Cornwall Show and to the excellent ring party headed up by ring manager Angelina Grylls who ensured everything ran smoothly on a very hot day!
Brave Breezes into Champ Final at The Agility Club Show and Chases Crufts Singles Spot (July 26)
The Agility Club Show holds fond memories for Will as he and Rudi won a Reserve Champ ticket a few years back. This was Brave’s first experience of this excellent show.
Once again, our pair were competing at the highest level starting with Championship classes all judged by the excellent Neil Ellis. First up was the jumping:
Great start! A lovely clear round was good enough for fourth place on a challenging course that only 28 dogs were able to complete without elimination.
Will and Brave needed to follow this up in the agility round:
A small error on the weave entry (Will’s error) and a cheeky dogwalk from Brave meant the RAW pair had got around the course safely enough but had picked up 10 faults on the way.
Such was the challenge of the two courses, that when the results were combined, only one pair had achieved a double clear and only 14 dogs had avoided elimination. Will and Brave had finished in 3rd place overall meaning a running order of 12 in the final:
So, to the final. In the eleven runs before Will and Brave there had only been one clear round so Will and Brave had everything to play for:
After a great tunnel save, Brave tried so hard to enter the weaves correctly, but just couldn’t find the angle to stay in them and so picked up 5 faults and lost a chunk of time.
The rest of the course was fantastic and gave our pair another top 5 finish in a Champ final. They are so close to a ticket or reserve ticket…
Brave is trying so hard and is coping so well with the highest level of courses – Will is so chuffed with his little spaniel!
Thanks to Neil Ellis for 3 lovely challenging and flowing courses.
The final day saw our pair competing in Crufts singles. One agility run, one jumping run with the results combined. Only the overall winner qualifies for the prestigious Crufts final.
First up was agility:
Just 5 faults for a leapt dog walk made qualification a remote possibility, but very few dogs had a clear round so there was some hope going into the jumping round:
A super clear gave Will & Brave 3rd place in the class. Then a look at the overall results showed how costly that single fault in the first round would be:
Without the 5 faults, Brave’s combined times were quicker than the winner by a fraction of a second….
Rather than focussing on what might have been, Will and Brave were determined to adapt training to continue to improve and to reflect on how close they have been this weekend in Champ and Singles classes. They can really take heart that they are right up there competing at the highest level – with hard work they are so close to taking the next step to a big result.
Thanks to everyone involved with The Agility Club Show – what a great event!
Three thirds make a whole lot of happiness at Axstane (June 26)
Will, Bossy and Brave made their first visit to the excellent Axstane Champ Show. Both the spaniels were competing in Champ, ABC Stakes and KC Stakes.
First up was Champ. Bossy started well in the jumping round and picked up just 5 faults on a missed weave entry:
Unfortunately, an elimination in the agility round on a very tight course ruled out any chance of a final place.
Brave was very unfortunately eliminated in the jumping round but made up for this with a super agility round:
This clear round gave Brave a 3rd place finish. A super effort, but not enough, given the jumping round, to make the final but again highlighting that Brave is able to compete with the best at the highest level.
Next up was the ABC (Anything But Collies) stakes. In a huge field, only the top two would qualify for the ABC Final at Crufts 2027.
Brave took a pole meaning he finished with 5 faults and out of any chance of qualifying.
Bossy had other ideas:
Will and Bossy really connected and this was their first clear round as a pair for quite a while. The run put Bossy into second place, only for her to be overtaken by one dog later on. So a third place finish meant no qualification this time, but lots of hope the next time our pair attempt an ABC qualifier – they were just 0.7 seconds off a place at Crufts!
The last challenge of the weekend was the KC stakes. The top five dogs would qualify for the semi-final to be held at the KC International Agility Festival in August.
Bossy was eliminated early on so the RAW team’s last run of the weekend was Brave and he decided to finish in style:
This lovely clear round gave Brave and Will a third place finish and a place in the semi-final.
So, in three qualifying competitions, Will finished with three third place finishes, two for Brave and one for Bossy. Will thinks there is even more to come from both dogs which could mean even more exciting times ahead!
Training on an IQ course (June 26)
After a very well deserved weekend away from competition, Will and Brave stayed focussed on upcoming competition by going full pelt on a training course that was a replica of the IQ agility course used at Kingdom of Fife. They look sharp!:
Thames gives Brave another Champ Final Appearance (June 26)
Will and Brave continued their run of competitions at the highest level with entries in Crufts Singles and Champ at the excellent Thames show.
Day 1 was the Crufts singles where two runs have results combined and the winning partnership qualify for the Crufts Singles final. With 185 entries, winning the class is a huge challenge! First up was the agility run:
Just 5 faults on the dogwalk was a decent enough run, but would put Will and Brave out of contention for the win as a double clear would likely take the prize.
Will was still determined to give the second run his best shot:
A really nice clear round! When the results were combined, the RAW pair were in 16th place. To show how tight the competition is and how every fault counts, without the missed dogwalk, our pair would have finished in 4th place overall!
So, onto Day 2 and the Championship class. 179 Grade 7 dogs who would compete across two rounds. When the results are combined, the top 20 dogs without an elimination in either run plus the two class winners (if they were not in the top 20 combined) make the final. Brave has consistently reached Champ finals in his first year competing at this level and today would prove to be no exception.
The agility round was first:
A really steady clear – not Brave’s fastest but good enough for 9th place meaning Will and Brave were in a great position going into the jumping round:
Another solid round with more speed gave our pair 4th place. The combined results showed Will and Brave had once again qualified for the Champ final with plenty to spare – finishing in 2nd place in qualifying. The final is run in reverse order of qualifying positions meaning Will and Brave would be running no.21 out of 22 finalists. Rosie and Margot qualified by winning the agility round and went second in the final and produced a super fast clear round.
This meant every pair after this had to go full throttle to have any chance of going faster, including Will and Brave:
A great round with just one error. Because Will had to move fast, he left Brave on the see-saw but Brave followed too early meaning 5 faults were picked up for not touching the contact and another 5 for leaving the seesaw before it had touched the ground.
So, another final but, this time, a good way off the win. But, to make the final, qualifying in 2nd place, in such a huge field is another notable achievement for our young spaniel. Congratulations to Rosie and Margo who were not going to be caught!
Many thanks to Ryan Hennessey for three excellent Champ courses and to all the team and helpers at Thames – the organisation and effort that goes into a 14 ring show is nothing short of amazing!
Hinckley Highlights – Another Champ Final and More (May 26)
We are in peak qualifying season at this time of year and Will and Brave once again travelled to the East Midlands for a host of high level qualifiers.
First up was the Championship. Brave was slightly out of sorts on his first run after a very long journey the day before. Crucially our pair got around the agility course to stay in contention, but did pick up 15 faults:
Despite being a long way down the field, more than half the class were eliminated in this round, so a good jumping round gave Will and Brave a great chance of having their combined result good enough for a top 20 finish and a place in the final:
This clear round gave our pair 7th place in the class and a combined result of 12th place meaning they had comfortably made the final and Brave looked more like himself!
Only 19 pairings made the final. Will and Brave were 8th to go. They started superbly but the slightest break in connection at a crucial moment meant Brave took a tunnel instead of the dogwalk resulting in elimination:
So, disappointment in the final but again, still in his first few months of competing at Champ level, Will and Brave reached the final.
On to Day 2 where the first run was the KC Agility stakes. This is a one run agility course where the top 5 move on to the semi finals to be held at KCI in August.
As with all runs at this level of agility, the slightest error makes a massive difference. That single pole meant 5 faults and denied Will and Brave the 3rd place finish (and qualification) that would have come with a clear round.
The final competition of this busy weekend was the Crufts Singles. Results of an agility run and a jumping run are combined, winner takes all as only the first place pair qualify for the showpiece final at Crufts next year. Our pairing started with the agility round:
What a great start! Clear, quick and vying for the top spot with a 5th place finish.
So it all came down to the jumping round. Two pairs that had finished above Will and Brave were eliminated, the other two had gone clear so Will knew he had to go clear and fast – they definitely went for it.
A fantastic round up to just three from home when Brave just got sent to the wrong side of the jump resulting in elimination.
So a weekend of great runs, high quality and near misses. This is exactly the nature of agility at this level. Will and Brave repeatedly show they can compete at the very highest level. Last week it went their way, this week, not quite. Next week promises another champ competition and more qualifiers – fingers crossed!
Will & Brave show High IQ at Nottingham (May 26)
Our pair made the five hour trek north to take part in their first International Qualifier (IQ) of 2026.
There is more than one route that can be taken to try out for Team GB in 2027. Pairs that take part in at least 4 IQ competitions can then proceed to the Team GB Showcase. Success at the Showcase takes dogs through to the Team GB tryouts.
Each IQ consists of a jumping class and an agility class. The two results are combined to find an overall winner. The winners of any individual class and the top two overall pairs qualify for the tryout stage, bypassing the Showcase stage.
Will and Brave started with a jumping course designed by one of their favourite judges Cedric Bargoin and judged on the day by Team GB manager Greg Derrett:
This super quick, clear round put Will & Brave in first place. With some of the best pairings in the country still to go, there was a tense wait but the final outcome was as welcome as it was surprising:
First place in their first IQ run meant the RAW pair had qualified for the Team GB tryouts!
Next up was the agility round:
Another steady clear was still completed in a fairly quick time even though Brave took a long time to clear the see-saw! This was good enough for a fourth place finish. When the results of the two runs were combined Will and Brave were again in first place – the only pair to achieve a double clear but also in a super combined time:
So, Will and Brave had qualified twice for Team GB tryouts in their first IQ of the year. Brave has noticeably sped up and Will is hopeful that further training in this area can lead to further improvement – the pair certainly made their mark on the IQ.
Brave loves the top courses at Iconix (May 26)
Will and Brave once again travelled to the magnificent setting of Dallas Burston Polo Club to compete on some fantastic courses judged by some of Will’s favourite judges.
There was an extra twist at this show – a team event. Four members of the team take part in a normal agility class. The results are combined and the top performing teams qualify for a final that is a fascinating four way relay.
Our pair’s first run was the team qualifier. An agility course judged by Dan Hodson:
A lovely clear round earned an individual 3rd place.
Will’s team – Chloe Brown & Flare, Kim Holness & Bee and Becky Eldridge & Winston combined to earn the team a place in the final.
There are four courses set up in one ring. The four members of each team start their run from a different corner of the arena and run in a pre determined order once the whistle goes to signify the end of the previous run. Sounds complicated!
The event is also difficult to film – but here is Team WBBF going in the final – Becky, then Will, then Kim with Chloe running last:
Will and Brave had just 5 faults for the missed tunnel. The team didn’t make the podium, but were delighted to have made the final to take part in this unique experience!
The second and final day of the show saw Will and Brave take part in three runs with some prestigious judges.
Jumping, judged by Angelika Brandl – Clear, 4th place
Agility judged by Cedric Bargoin – 5 faults, 6th place
Jumping judged by Tamas Traj – Clear 2nd place:
Thanks to Neil Ellis and everyone involved in the running of the latest Iconix show. As always, Iconix provides a fun weekend with the highest quality judges and courses. Will is focussing on Championship classes and Crufts & Olympia qualifiers but was more than happy to make an exception to run courses of this nature.
Brave competing with the best again at Vyne (May 2026)
Exactly one year after Brave competed at Grade 5 for the first time, Will and Brave again had the chance to show they could compete well at the very highest level. They were entered in three top class competitions at the huge Vyne show.
First up was the Crufts singles. Two runs, one agility and one jumping, have their results combined and the winner qualifies for the Singles Final at Crufts. This is only open to Grade 6 and 7 dogs and attracted a field of 164 entries.
First was the agility round and Will and Brave started well:
This solid clear gave our pair 6th place and something to go for in the second run. They didn’t disappoint!:
This second clear on another challenging course gave Will and Brave 8th place in the class and, when the results of the two runs were combined, 5th place overall. A super achievement in such a big field of the best pairings in the country!
On the same day, Brave also ran a single agility run in the KC Stakes (with a field of over 210 dogs!). Unfortunately an elimination here prevented further progress on this occasion.
The second day of the show was Champ Day. Again a big field – this time 164 Grade 7 teams. This really is a premium show!
The RAW team started with their agility round on another challenging but flowing course:
Another clear round and this time 9th place. So Will and Brave had achieved three top ten places in huge fields in top class company – they are definitely capable of competing and challenging the top at this level.
Another clear in the jumping round would most likely put them in the Champ final for the third time in a row:
This time it was not to be. A really unfortunate and unusual elimination meant our pair could not qualify for the final. Will, when adjusting to Brave overrunning a jump, brushed the wing of the jump with his leg, dislodging the pole a fraction before Brave had cleared the obstacle. This is an elimination. If Brave had completed the jump before Will knocked the wing it would have been just 5 faults.
Will can take heart that the rest of the run on a really tough course was completed really well.
Brave has had a fantastic few weeks and over the coming months has plenty more challenges in Champ, KC stakes and Crufts singles to look forward to after next week’s fun at the May Iconix show.
Many thanks to everyone involved in organising, helping and judging at Vyne. It is a top class show that runs so smoothly.
It All About that Base – Will’s Judging Marathon! (April 26)
Will had another exciting judging appointment at Agility Base – a brilliant indoor facility with a fast artificial turf surface. It was quite a challenge – 24 classes, 6 courses, all agility.
The morning session consisted of 3 agility courses for Grade 4 & 5 dogs at all heights. This was repeated in the afternoon for Grade 6-7 dogs.
Will presented a series of fast flowing challenging courses that seemed to please the participants – number of whom commented on the ‘modern’ and ‘international’ style of the courses that presented them with new and enjoyable challenges.
Many thanks to Caroline, Anthony and Helen for their super organisation, communication and help in making the show so enjoyable. Will has previously trained and competed at Base, so it was a lovely way to complete the full set.
Judging in all weathers at Carn Brrrr-ea (April 26)
The morning after the excitement of running so well in the Wye Valley Champ show saw Will travelling south into Cornwall to judge all the agility classes at the Carn Brea show.
Carn Brea is a show that Will has competed in almost since his first year of agility (Aston disappearing from the start line to beg for some Sunday lunch from a judge in the secretary’s office here is the stuff of legend…).
Will judged 12 classes in the agility ring in all weathers – sun, rain, hail and a bitingly cold wind:
Many thanks to the fantastic team at Carn Brea who ensured the show ran smoothly in a super friendly and relaxed way. Every success was celebrated and is a reminder as to what grass roots agility is all about.
Brave & Bossy work wonders at Wye (April 26)
Will had the chance to once again run both Brave and Bossy in a prestigious Champ Show – this time on grass in Monmouth at the Wye Valley Championship Show.
First up was the jumping round and Brave was with Will for his first run of the day:
This solid clear round was good enough for 6th place in a field of over 100 entries. A great start that put Will and Brave in a strong position to qualify for another final with a good agility run.
Next to go was Bossy and her jumping round:
After picking up 5 faults on number 2, the rest of the round was perfect meaning Bossy was also in with a chance of making the final. This was the first time that Bossy had completed a Champ course without an elimination – so plenty for Will to be happy about!
Bossy was first to go in the agility round and again showed how the bond between Will and Bossy is improving with every run:
Running in a very strong wind and freezing rain (you’ll see a jump was blown over during the run – no faults for that), the pair again just had a single refusal and 5 faults. This meant the pair finished in 26th place when the results were combined – just outside the top 20 position needed to make the final. But, the progress in a short space of time that Bossy has made this year is very encouraging for the Champ runs to come for the rest of the summer.
Brave then had his shot at the agility round:
Another really solid clear round! This gave Brave a 5th place finish. When the two results were combined it was confirmed that Will and Brave had not only qualified for the final, they had done so in first place:
This meant they would go last in the final which is run in reverse order of the combined results. The previous runs count for nothing in the final – one agility run to determine the Champ ticket winner.
Lily Woodford & Sparrow and Summer Clark & Arrow had already put in very fast clear rounds before Will and Brave were running, so our pair knew they had to go for it:
Another, super clear round but it was not quite quick enough to win, but instead Will and Brave had to settle for a very creditable 5th place.
In their first three Champ shows together, Will and Brave have made two finals finishing 8th and 5th. At Wye Valley, Brave had three clear rounds out of three and is clearly able to compete with the best.
Will is working hard on training techniques to pick up Brave’s speed in certain parts of the course to make the pair even more competitive – they are back in Champ action next month.
Congratulations to Lily for winning the ticket and to Summer for taking the reserve spot – both were super final runs.
Many thanks to all the organisers and helpers at the Wye Valley show. It is held in a beautiful setting and is always well run in a really friendly way. Many thanks too to judge Dave Cooper for excellent, flowing courses with some real challenge.
Coping with the Cold at Kernow (April 26)
Will, Brave and Bossy were in action in Cornwall – lovely to have a local show after the hours of travel in the past few weeks and to come in the next few.
Will was only running at Kernow on one day, primarily to compete in the RKC Stakes – a high profile competition with the final on TV at the International Horse Show.
Brave started with a G6-7 jumping course as a warm up. The weather was very cold and the conditions a little slippery, so Will went quickly, but not quite full speed!:
A nice, steady clear round was a good start and gave Will and Brave 3rd place.
Then, on to the RKC Stakes. A single agility round that would see the top five dogs qualify for the semi-final at KCI in August. After last week’s reunion, Will and Bossy were again running together. This week’s run was much more controlled and only a mistake before the weaves gave our pair an elimination. The rest of the run looked very good:
An E is always slightly disappointing, but the way the pair connected is very encouraging for Champ runs in coming weeks!
The final run of the day was in the Stakes with Brave. The wind had picked up and Brave followed the route of many other dogs in missing the dogwalk contact very early in the course. Other than that, Brave put in a sterling performance in difficult conditions.
The 5 faults meant a top 5 place was out of reach, but, again, Will and Brave looked very at home competing at the very highest level.
Next week, it’s back to Champ action in Wales!
Wyre Champ – Brave makes his first Champ final in style! (March 26)
Will travelled with Brave and, after a long break, Bossy, up to Preston for the Wyre Championship show.
A champ show consists of a jumping round and an agility round. The results are combined and a maximum of the top 20 dogs qualify for the agility final as long as neither round was an elimination. The winner of each qualifying round also gets a place in the final.
Bossy was her usual wonderful, speedy self but was drawn to take tunnels that were not supposed to be taken! The excitement of running again with Will did cause some lapses of concentration but also showed her range of skills.
The Champ jumping course showed this perfectly:
Hopefully, as the summer progresses and Will and Bossy get to know each other again, the consistency of previous seasons will return.
Brave was competing in only his second Champ show and excelled! His first run was the jumping round:
In a field of around 100 top grade dogs, Brave went clear and quick enough to finish in 3rd place.
So, if Will and Brave could avoid elimination in the agility round, there was an excellent chance they would qualify for the final.
Will’s speed of thought and Brave’s super reaction to follow the directions saved the run from an elimination. The pair got around the course with 5 faults and finished in 13th.
When the results were combined, our pair were in second place overall – a fantastic achievement!
Only 17 pairs made it through to the final round. The final is run in reverse order of the combined results meaning Will and Brave had a running order of 16 – the penultimate team to run.
After a stunning clear run by Liz Carpenter and Maggie earlier in the final, Will and Brave had to be very fast and clear:
This brilliant round was clear until the penultimate obstacle where Brave missed his dogwalk contact and picked up 5 faults. Without the faults, the time was quick enough for second place and a ‘reserve ticket’.
This was a long day for Brave with the final not being run until 7.30pm and he coped so well at the highest level. Will wasn’t disappointed with what could have been, but rather delighted with how Brave had performed and what is to come for the rest of this year.
KC Stakes next week and several more Champ shows in the coming months for Brave and Bossy.
Many thanks to judge Hannah Banks for some great courses, the team at Wyre for a high quality show and congratulations to Liz Carpenter for her win.
More traps than a Rentokil van…Team GB tryouts (March 26)
The final weekend of tryouts for Team GB saw Will & Brave take on 5 challenging courses over the weekend. Our pair performed better than the first weekend, but again were so close to a number of fantastic runs without getting the clear rounds they would have wanted.
Day 1 started with a jumping round, then an agility round:
The top 25% of finishers in each round gained a competitive entry into the final run of the day – the agility final. But, the round had to be clear. So, despite finishing 5th in the agility round with 5 faults, Will & Brave would be running ‘not for competition’ (NFC) in the final.
Such was the level of challenge of the courses, only one pairing were eligible for a competitive run in the final. Will and Brave put in their best run of the weekend on this agility course.
A highly technical course presented the highest level of challenge and only a fault on the A Frame prevented our pair from completing a perfect run and winning the class. Still, a second place finish on this course in this competition represents a huge achievement:
Just two runs on Day 2. A jumping round, where the team picked up 5 faults on a missed weave entry and then an agonizing elimination in the agility final towards the very end of the course when Will inadvertently guided Brave round the wrong side of a jump:
So, a weekend of the highest quality of speed and agility from Will and Brave but no clear rounds. The tiniest of errors in each round proved costly, but this is the nature of agility at the very highest level.
Will and Brave dealt with the most challenging of courses so well and did not look out of place in such exalted company. The next few months give our pair the chance to continue competing at the highest level in Championship classes and Crufts qualifiers – so much to look forward to!
Many thanks to Greg Derrett and his team for a superbly organised and efficiently run event and to the brilliant helpers at Dog Sports Derby.
Finally, huge congratulations to all those that made it onto Team GB for this year.
Brave’s Champ debut at Tunbridge Wells (March 26)
Will and Brave left the excitement of their Crufts exploits and the noise of the main arena to travel down to Kent ready for Brave’s first ever appearance at Championship level at the Tunbridge Wells DTC Show.
Champ shows are only open to dogs competing at the highest grade (Grade 7) and always consist of two qualifying rounds – one jumping and one agility. The winners of each round and the top 20 pairs without an elimination qualify for the Champ final. The winners of the final get a Championship ‘ticket’ which gives them a place in the Crufts championship for 2027. Three tickets (earned under three different judges) and the dog is awarded ‘Agility Champion’ status – the ultimate domestic accolade.
So, the competition is extremely tough. The main aim of today was to see if Brave would be able to deal with the level of difficulty in this and future championship events.
The first run was jumping:
Just one pole down from Brave in an otherwise lovely run. But Will made an error right at the end, guiding Brave over the last jump before he had had taken the penultimate jump meaning an elimination.
Will can be forgiven this mistake – he handled perfectly yesterday at Crufts and for all bar the very end of this course.
That elimination meant Will and Brave had to go all out to win the agility round as the only way to progress to the final. The real push the pair gave the course meant Brave missed his dog walk contact so could not win the round to qualify.
Will was kicking himself as, without his error in the first run, the pair would have qualified for the final where all previous faults and times are discarded for a one round run off.
Two important aspects were learnt at Tunbridge:
i) Even the very best handlers can make a mistake! Will has been so consistent over the years from the smallest domestic show, to the main arena at Crufts to representing Team GB. He is even more determined to work to get Brave into champ finals in the future. To even be competing at this level is a huge achievement for this young team.
ii) Brave can clearly cope at this level and will reach Champ finals this year and, hopefully, for years to come
Next week – the final Team GB tryouts in Derby!
Brave Blossoms at Crufts! (March 26)
Brave had to live up to his name at his very first Crufts appearance. Will is an old hand at this, having previously competed at Crufts with three other dogs and racked up 7 YKC titles with Rudi in the process.
However, for a young, inexperienced dog having to deal with the crowds, noise and atmosphere that is unique to this setting, it can be a daunting time.
Will and Brave had only entered one YKC qualifying event during the past year – Agility Dog of the Year – and had won it to make the semi final. One agility run in the medium dog 18-24 year old handler category. Only the top two would qualify for a place in the final in the main arena. So the requirement for Brave was a fast clear round in his very first run at Crufts:
Brave’s fantastic run gave our pair 2nd place, just behind the GB international pairing of Jamie Wright and Dexter. So, in his first year at Crufts, Brave would be running on the world famous green carpet in the Crufts main arena – something that some handlers don’t achieve in their entire career.
The ADOTY final combines all age groups and all heights. This does make it very difficult for small and medium dogs as they run the same course as larger dogs who, at the top level, tend to be quicker. All that Will and Brave could do was to go for it!
Two views of this run. The first with commentary from Jim Rosenthal and Graham Partridge (Click on picture to see video):
This view from the stands with arena commentary:
Another beautiful faultless run in front of an audience of around 7000! You can see just how much Brave loves his agility and Will. This lovely run put Will and Brave into the lead, but there were still 14 larger dogs to run.
Their final position of 5th place was a fantastic achievement and bettered any result that Will had gained in previous finals with Aston and Rudi and shows that, whatever the environment, Brave can deal with it.
He is rightly proud:
It’s nearly time…!
Just a few hours before Crufts 2026 opens its doors.
Will is an old hand after his very successful NEC exploits with Rudi and Aston over the last 10 years but Crufts 2026 will be Brave’s very first appearance at Crufts.
Shirt ready (many thanks again to Young Guns Sports for their shirt design) and tickets ready:
Brave seems pretty chilled at the moment!
willbacchus.com 