Season Highlights 2023

Here Comes the Judge! (Dec 2023)

Will achieved an agility ambition that he has held for quite a while. Having previously been delayed by a hectic competition schedule, injury or illness, Will successfully completed the two day course to qualify as an accredited Kennel Club judge.

Many thanks to Paul Hinchley for leading and assessing the course and to all the other successful would be judges!

Will is now allowed to act as a judge in KC classes and is looking forward to his first appointment.

One of the tasks that Will had to undertake over the weekend was to design a Grade 5 agility course and then take comments and thoughts on its design and flow:

Let us know what you think of the course on the Contact Us page – would you like to give this course a go? Any suggestions to make it even better? We would love to hear your thoughts!

Rudi’s Scot talent –

Back in the team for WAO 2024! (Oct 23)

Will had to drag himself from his sick bed to compete for a place in the Scotland team. Due to a nasty case of glandular fever that had kept him out of action for nearly three weeks, his participation in the tryouts for the Scotland team for the World Agility Open 2024 was in doubt until the last moment.

After a 10 hour drive to the stunning scenery of Perth and Kinross, Will had Rudi, Brave and Bossy entered into the competition – the latter two very much for experience for future years.

With Will feeling pretty exhausted before the start, a total of 15 runs was always likely to be too many in a single day. So Brave was rested after 2 runs and Bossy after 4, meaning Will focussed on Rudi for the full 5 runs.

The first event was Snooker and, after surviving the trip hazard at the starting jump, Will and Rudi completed a steady run to put the pair in 3rd place:

After a costly error in the jumping (7th place) and a slow but steady Gamblers run (8th place), Will gathered himself after sleep and food for his agility run – a lovely challenging course from judge Steve Richardson. 5 faults for a refusal denied the RAW pairing 1st place but left them in a creditable 3rd place finish:

The final run needed to be good. The Speedstakes is essentially a jumping course with an A frame. Will and Rudi put in their quickest and best run of the day to go clear for a 4th place finish:

All credit to Will for getting through a very tough day. His illness and fatigue meant he couldn’t go at full pace and found it hard to focus but his super partnership and understanding with Rudi pulled them through to give an overall 3rd place finish. Credit too to Rudi who is such a reliable dog who got Will out of trouble on the course a couple of times too!

Will and Rudi finished as the top junior pairing at the 400mm height meaning they once again were selected to represent Scotland at the World Agility Open in the Netherlands!

A huge thank you to manager Alan Short, Laura, Dawn, Eilidh and the team for organising a long day and to judge Steve Richardson for five great courses and lasting the day!

A big thank you to the amazing Kate Prosser for trusting the RAW team with the amazing Bossy. Rudi is a big fan!

Let’s Rave about Brave at Cornwall and who is Bossing it at Grade 4? (Sept 23)

It’s always a pleasure to run at the Cornwall show – local, full of friends and super flowing courses for the team to take on.

All the team were in action on both days of the show with Brave, Rudi, Wizard and Bossy excelling. Will had 28 runs altogether, so just the highlights here!

We have to start with Brave who had his first ever clear round in competition. It came in the Grade 1-2 Agility and gave the youngster a magnificent 2nd place:

This also gave Brave his first trophy and rosette at just 19 months old. He is so keen to learn and is loving his agility. Brave followed this with another clear round in the Steeplechase which gave him a 4th place finish and another rosette!

Will and Brave followed this up on Day 2 with Brave’s first ever win in competition. A really lovely, confident clear round in Grade 2-3 jumping secured a win by nearly 7 seconds!:

Rudi is as consistent as ever and appears to be fully recovered from his recent enforced break. He started with a lovely clear round in the G6-7 Agility on a very technical but fast flowing course. This was enough to give Will & Rudi a win by nearly 8 seconds!:

The pair followed this up with another great run and clear round in the G6-7 Jumping (4th quickest).

The pair followed this up on Day 2 with another lovely clear on a challenging G7 course that gave the RAW team another win:

Will also had the chance to run Bossy again. Remember, Bossy only needed one more win to progress to Grade 4 and the team again came so close on Day 1, including an agility run that was the fastest time in the class but a missed dogwalk contact cost them the win.

They rounded off the day with a superb display of speed in the steeplechase which gave them the win in a very big class. Unfortunately steeplechase does not count towards Grade progression!:

This meant Will had two dogs in the top four of the steeplechase:

The pair were determined to make amends on Day 2 and they did so in real style. First, the elusive win in G3 jumping that gave Bossy her last win to get to Grade 4!:

With the celebrations still going on, Will & Bossy showed just how quick they can be in the Helter Skelter with another win:

Bossy still wasn’t finished for the weekend. Every so often, there is a run that makes everyone watching gasp in appreciation and Will and Bossy provided that moment with a genuinely faultless, rapid clear round win in the Grade 3-4 Jumping:

Finally on day 1, a special mention for Wizard. His best run was a speedy jumping round gave him the quickest time by over 2 seconds, but a couple of poles denied Will and Wizard a clear round and a win:

And it was a similar story on Day 2 – on two occasions Wizard had the fastest run in the class but with faults. However, most importantly, Wizard was happy, running fast and loving his agility.

A fantastic weekend! Special thanks to Kate Prosser for letting Will run with Bossy. The pair both seem to be loving the chance to run agility courses with each other!

Thank you to all the organisers, judges and helpers for a fantastic show with really lovely courses in some very testing weather conditions.

Brave New World but Who’s the Boss? (August 2023)

With Rudi taking a very well deserved rest to fully recover from his injury picked up at KCI, Will was running with the youngsters at the lovely Mid-Cornwall show.

Brave turned 18 months old this week meaning he was able to experience his first ever competetive runs. This was all about giving Brave some time in the ring and to get used to completing short sequences. As his confidence grows with experience the sequences will get longer. This is Brave’s first ever run – not perfect by a long way, but lots of positives from the latest RAW Agility pup!:

The super Kate Prosser was again kind enough to loan Bossy to Will to run. The pair had a winning start last week and wanted to continue that form. Their jumping run was so close – just a single pole denied them the win:

The final run of the day for Will and Bossy presented a real challenge. This was only the second show that Bossy was running at Grade 3 and the pair were faced with a combined Grade 3-5 Agility class.

They reacted beautifully and combined to produced a beautiful, clear round that won the class by 9 seconds!

With two agility wins at Grade 3 in two shows, Bossy needs just one more win (in jumping or agility) to progress to Grade 4. She is a star in the making!

Mixed Emotions as a New Star Arrives at KCI! (August 2023)

The Kennel Club International Agility Festival is the biggest agility show in the world – thousands of dogs running over 4 days across 18 rings at The Rutland Showground.

It was a festival of mixed emotions for the RAW team. Rudi had performed brilliantly here last year and claimed a superb 4th place in the Championship Final, but this year suffered an injury that ruled him out of most of his classes. Thankfully, and most importantly, after receiving some treatment, Rudi will be fine in a couple of weeks after some rest and rehabilitation. He is far too important to us all to risk running him before he is absolutely ready.

With Brave getting ready to run in his first show very soon, Will was delighted to have the opportunity to run another young Bonamassa spaniel – Bossy.

The highlights included the YKC Jumping Cup – a new event this year where winners go straight through to Crufts. Will and Bossy duly obliged with a rapid clear round to win by over 1.5 seconds. Another Crufts appearance for Will in March 2024 and a debut for Bossy!

They followed this up with a clear round in the very large Grade 3 agility class that was quick enough to register another win!

Their final success came in the Grade 3 Jumping class when another clear gave them another place on the podium with a 3rd place finish:

Will is very grateful to the brilliant Kate Prosser for loaning Bossy to Will to run. Bossy is so much fun to run and Will is honoured to have the chance to take her to Crufts!

Thanks to all the judges, helpers and organisers at KCI – it is a fantastic event on a grand scale. Everything ran really smoothly and the chance to catch up with so many friends from all over the country was much appreciated.

BBC Spotlight August 2023

Not long after winning gold at the Junior Open Agility World Champioships, Will and Rudi were invited to the BBC studios to be interviewed for Spotlight – the BBC news programme for the south west.

Everyone there was incredibly welcoming and were clearly dog lovers! After a quick peek behind the scenes:

It was time for the RAW Agility pair to do their interview with Victoria Graham:

After the interview, lots of the production team came to say hello to Rudi and the other dogs in the RAW team, including Natalie Cornah who interviewed Will and Rudi on their way back from winning gold in Finland the year before. Natalie was particularly taken with Brave!:

A big thank you to all the BBC team in Plymouth who were so friendly to humans and dogs alike!

Will & Rudi – World Champions again in 2023! (July 2023)

Wow, Wow Wow again! The RAW Agility pairing of Will and Rudi have done it again!

Will and Rudi are once again World Champions as part of the medium team that won gold medals at the Junior Open Agility World Championships held this year in the UK!

To see more pictures and videos of their runs, click here.

To give you a flavour of this amazing event, we are again indebted to the brilliant Gavin Lyons for this superb musical montage of the GB team in action:

Rudi gets the All Clear at Tuffley (July 2023)

The RAW Agility team headed to Tuffley for the day knowing that this would be the last competition for Will & Rudi before the Junior Open Agility World Championships. What better way to aim for clear rounds than at a Championship Show with super courses set by judge Natalie Grace.

As well as the champ rounds, Will also ran three courses with our speed merchant Wizard. Although the clear round remained elusive, Wizard showed more confidence, speed and flow than in recent weeks. This was shown in one of his agility runs where, despite needing a second go at the weaves, Wizard still had the second fastest time in a large class:

Will & Rudi’s first run was in Champ Agility. A lovely controlled round saw the pair go clear and finish in 8th place among the country’s elite:

This put the pair in a great position to go into the jumping round. They stood up to the pressure and put in another super clear helped by Will using his speed to get in a blind on the yellow tunnel to guide Rudi away from the trap that others had fallen into of taking the first jump:

The placings from the two runs are then combined and the top 20 take their place in the Champioship Final. Will and Rudi were delighted to finish in 9th place overall to once again earn a place in the final competing against the best Grade 7 partnerships. The pair were running order number 12 and once again showed their consistency:

This put the pair into the lead in the Champ final!:

With plenty of the top senior pairings in the country still to run, it was not a place the pair held on to for long! However, their final placing of 8th with three clear rounds out of three meant they had had a very successful day that was perfect preparation for JOAWC now less than two weeks away.

Rudi shines at CSJ (June 2023)

For the first time the RAW Agility team took part in the fantastic CSJ event near Slapton. Four days of high quality agility with indoor and outdoor courses set by top international judges with the possibility of claiming a place in the Scotland team for next year’s WAO.

Rudi was the only dog from the team running this weekend and it would be a genuine test of his fitness. He responded superbly, putting in a total of 14 runs as he reached the steeplechase final, the pentahlon final, took part in both biathlon runs both games runs (Snooker and Gamblers) and missed out on the CSJ final after two qualifying runs by just one place!

It would be too much to show videos of every run, so here is a selection of the team’s runs across the weekend. Will was particularly pleased with the speed that Rudi showed in some runs despite the quantity and conditions.

A big thank you to Greg Derrett and all the helpers who made this such a special event. Our pair didn’t do quite enough to claim the win-on spot for the Scotland WAO team but that didn’t stop them enjoying such a great few days. Thanks to all the judges for flowing, challenging courses: Esa Muotoka, Natalie Webb, Phil Barber and Jari Suomalainen.

Will also caught up with plenty of friends from this year’s Scotland team and Junior Team GB who will be his team mates at Junior Open Agility World Championships next month:

Will & Rudi represent Scotland at World Agility Open Championships – Ermelo, Netherlands (May 2023)

All the details, photos and videos of the RAW Agility pairs latest international adventure can be found by clicking here.

Mud, Mud, Win a Crufts Qualifier, More Mud (May 23)

The Dartmoor Show holds one of the YKC Agility Dog of the Year qualifiers and this year’s was held in treacherous conditions. After persistent heavy rain, the course was soon as much mud as it was grass!

This year ADOTY has a new format. The qualifier now consists of a jumping run and an agility run on courses that must be at least Grade 5 standard. Only the winning partnership in each height and age category qualifies for Crufts in 2024.

The jumping run was first and the conditions played their part. Rudi slid into weaves and picked up 5 faults and took a pole at the end of the course. This left the pair in 6th place with 10 faults:

Will also had the chance to run Bossy again. The jumping round showed the potential of this partnership:

This stunning run was good enough to win the jumping round!

The agility round proved to be a tough round for many of those running. The tunnel under the dog walk right at the start proved too tempting for many meaning a number of eliminations at number 2 (including Bossy who was not able to capitalise on her jumping win). Will and Rudi took a different route to most and were happy to take the 5 faults rather than an elimination:

The tactic paid dividends as Will and Rudi were the only pairing to get around the course without being eliminated. This gave them first place overall and meant Will and Rudi qualified for the Crufts Medium ADOTY in 2024 – a title they won in 2023.

Many thanks to Anthony Bray for the challenging courses, amazing outfit and braving the awful conditions! The team love the new ADOTY format too.

Crufts Qualification at Wallingford (April 2023)

First up was the pairs. Will and Rudi teamed up with Mariann and Coral to reform the partnership that won the overall pairs title at Crufts 2023. Despite a rule change that meant a baton handover between the two handlers was now required,they did not disappoint!

The partnership again proved successful with a first place finish and the fastest time across all heights and age groups! Will and Rudi had guaranteed themselves an invite to Crufts 2024 at the first attempt.

Champ Final and High Jinx at Wye Valley (April 23)

The RAW team travelled to the beautiful setting of Wye Valley in South Wales for their first Championship Show of the year.

Usually, Will and his four dogs try to rest and relax the night before a show to ensure they are as ready as possible for their runs the following day. Brave and Wizard had a different plan for this show:

Will and Rudi were taking part in the Champ class. As a reminder, Championship classes are only open to the elite Grade 7 dogs. They each run one jumping round and one agility round and the top 20 partnerships, when the results are combined, run in the Champ final. An elimination in either round means no progression to that final.

Will and Rudi started with the jumping round. The judge, Jason Bartram, set really challenging but flowing courses all day that really tested the very best partnerships in the country:

A slip in the weave entry and a brick out of the wall gave Will and Rudi 10 faults and a 25th place finish. This was not an ideal start but gave them plenty to play for in the agility round, particularly as only 28 dogs got around the course without being eliminated.

An even more challenging agility course saw even more excellent partnerships eliminated. Will and Rudi, however, managed to keep their cool with just 5 faults on the dog walk:

This gave our pair an 8th place finish. When combined with their jumping run, the pair finished in 10th place which was more than enough for a place in yet another Champ final.

A measure of how challenging the courses were was that only 10 dogs out of the 73 entered got around both courses without an elimination meaning that the final would contain half the number of dogs that would usually contest the event.

Will and Rudi were first to go in the final. A close call on the dog walk and, unusually, 5 faults on a slow moving seesaw gave the RAW Agility pair 10 faults:

The initial disappointment of getting faults in the final was slightly diminished when the challenge of the course became clear. With only one clear round and several eliminations, Will and Rudi finished in a very creditable 5th place – not a bad start at all to their Champ competitions for 2023!

Congratulations to Liz Carpenter whose quick, clear round deservedly took the win.

Thanks to all at Wye Valley for a super show and to Jason Bartram for courses that were of a true Champ standard and provided entertaining runs for all those watching.

Easter weekend at the Kernow Show (April 23)

The 3 day Kernow show is always a highlight for the RAW team. Being so near to home, the team meet with all of their friends in the local agility community, but the show is also big enough to hold some prestige events that attract top handlers from much further afield.

One of the highlight runs for Will and Rudi was the KC Agility Stakes that saw a large field of top handlers competing. As is often the case, the pair rose to the occasion:

This lovely clear gave the team a very creditable 5th place in a high quality field.

The pair maintained their form the following day in the G6-7 Agility. Will was particularly pleased with the super dog walk to jump finish:

The long weekend was topped off by a gathering of Bonamassa spaniels – the family of spaniels that produced Brave. As well as getting to see his mum, Brave had a fantastic time playing with old friends!

Will was also delighted to be able to run two other Bonamassa dogs – Bossy and Ellie May to round off a super Easter break.

Rudi & Will are back in Team GB – Tryout triumph! (March 23)

A really challenging weekend saw Will and Rudi in the final tryouts for a place in Team GB to compete at the Junior Open Agility World Championships and have the chance to defend their gold medal won last year.

The format was two runs each day – one jumping and one agility. The top two from the combined results each day would be guaranteed a win-on spot into the GB team with remaining places to be decided by the management team.

The first jumping course was incredibly challenging but the RAW Agility pair found a way:

This super clear put the pair in third place giving them everything to play for.

The Day 1 Agility course was also of true championship standard requiring a lot of expert handling:

This well handled run gave Will and Rudi a well deserved 1st place. The combined results meant the partnership were also in first place and had booked themselves a guaranteed spot in the 2023 Team GB!

On Day 2 the pressure was certainly less in terms of securing a place on the team but Will & Rudi were determined to give their best. The jumping course opened the day:

This speedy run put the pair in 4th place – again really well placed for a top two spot in the combined results.

The final run of the weekend was a very tough agility course with a lot of traps and a very tough weave entry!:

Despite a super round (and a perfect dog walk)their only error of the entire weekend gave the pair 5 faults and cost them some time meaning their overall position on Day 2 was 4th. This would have challenged for a place on the team in its own right, but with the results from the first day, the pair were very satified with their performance and delighted to have the chance to represent Team GB again.

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Final training session with Team Scotland before WAO – March 2023

The long journey from Cornwall to Kinross was well worth the effort for Will and Rudi who had a great time with the Scotland squad in their final team meeting before the World Agility Open in the Netherlands in May.

First up was a new experience for the pair – a team relay. Three pairs run three courses in the same arena with baton exchanges. Will and Rudi were the middle pairing in a triple clear:

The team were then given a testing agility course to run in a huge space! The journey and the exertions on a draining surface may have started to show as Rudi looked a little tired as he went round with 5 faults:

The day also included the mega prize raffle draw, kit sizing and dog health checks. The pair were delighted that all was in order and they cannot wait to be back representing Scotland as part of the friendliest team at WAO!

Team GB Pre Selection Qualifier – Rudi nails it! – February 23

After some time away from competition, Rudi was back in action in the first of a run of weekends that are filled with important dates.

The first of these was a trip to Derby for the Team GB pre selection qualifiers where the target for Will and Rudi was to perform well enough to qualify for the final Team GB tryouts at the end of March.

The day consisted of two competitions, each consisting of one jumping and one agility round. The winners of each individual round and the top two when the results of the two runs were combined would get a guaranteed place in the final tryouts.

The RAW Agility pair started with a jumping round, knowing that the standard this year was higher than ever and that the courses were set at World Championship level.

A clear round put the pair in second place, so all to play for with a top two finish in the combined competition a real possibility. Will and Rudi needed a fast clear in the agility round:

The team came 4th in the agility round, but the double clear gave the pair overall 1st place and a guaranteed spot at the final tryouts!

But the day didn’t end there. Will was determined to go for a second win in the afternoon competition. Again, they started with a jumping round:

A third consecutive clear round showed how consistent the pair are, even on the most challenging courses. Again they sat in 2nd place at the end of the jumping round.

The final run of the day was a really challenging, flowing agility course designed by Lee Gibson. The pressure was off in terms of qualifying, but the determination to win was not diminished as they stood on the start line:

The elimination was Will & Rudi’s only mistake of the entire day and despite being slightly frustrated at just missing out on another win, the pair can be highly satisfied with their day.

Congratulations to all those who qualified in all heights across the day, especially Taylor and Max who were two of Will’s team mates in the GB team last year that won gold medals in Finland.

Lots of thanks too to all the Team GB management team, the helpers and Ian Patz for judging superbly all day.

Next up for the Will & Rudi pairing is training with Team Scotland – the last session before the World Agility Open in Netherlands in May. This is soon followed by Crufts where the pair are due to appear in two finals. Exciting times!

Team Scotland Training

After a 1200 mile round trip to take part in Team Scotland training, the RAW team had a chance to reflect on a fantastic weekend. It was great to catch up with friends made last year and to get to know new team members preparing for the World Agility Open in the Netherlands in May.

Many thanks to Katrina Hands for the use of her facilities in the stunning location at Finavon:

And great thanks too to Alan Strong, team manager, for organising and leading such a great session. The team are looking forward to meeting up again at the start of March.