KST Christmas Show (Dec 2024)
The last show of the year saw Will setting 3 challenging courses at his most local show. Grade 1-3, Grade 4-6 and a tough G7 course that attracted a whole bunch of spectators that oohed and aahed appropriately.
Bonamassa Boom! – Bossy and Brave make the Grade at Pawsability..(Dec 24)
Will was running competitively for the last time in 2024 with a great deal at stake for Bossy and Brave at the brilliant Pawsability show.
The morning was all about Brave. He needed one win to move up to Grade 4, but it had to be an agility win. The first agility run did not go to plan so the team pulled themselves together for a jumping run and bonded beautifully:
This clear round gave Brave and Will 1st place and set them up nicely to have another go at their last agility run.
After a lovely smooth start, there was a slight hesitation in taking a jump. All eyes turned to the judge who, luckily, did not mark this as a refusal. The rest of the round was clear leaving the RAW pair in 1st place:
The nervous wait to the end of the class was rewarded with confirmation that Brave had clinched the win that took the RAW youngster up to Grade 4!
Brave has reached Grade 4 in a relatively few number of shows and is deceptively quick. There is still the feeling that, as his confidence grows, he can go even quicker – exciting times ahead!
The afternoon session, all Grade 4-6 classes, saw Bossy take centre stage. She needed one win, either agility or jumping, to progress to the highest grade and qualify to run at the elite level of Championship shows only open to Grade 7 dogs.
After a long wait through the morning and queuing in 70 mph winds, Bossy wasn’t quite in sync with Will in the first two runs. Their next chance for promotion came with a jumping run on a lovely course. The run was probably the smoothest and most controlled that the pair have ever ran together:
Will and Bossy were the first pair to run so the clear put them at the top of the leaderboard but they had a long time to wait until the final results could be published:
The wait was worth it. The win, by almost 4 seconds, gave the wonderful Bossy a place among the elite. As always, the team thanks go to the amazing Kate Prosser for allowing Will to run this wonderful girl.
There are so many plans for Bossy in the coming 12 months and Will is looking forward to the chance to run this talented Bonamassa girl in Championship competitions against the very best dogs in the UK.
What a super day. The objective to grade up both Bossy and Brave was achieved – what a great way to end the competitive year for Will:
Bossy and Brave starring at Inspire (October 24)
The team travelled up to Warwickshire to take part for the first time at the lovely Inspire Show and what a worthwhile journey it was!
Day 1 saw Will & Bossy start with a superb clear round in agility that was not going to be caught in terms of time giving the pair an impressive win:
The dynamic duo followed this up by ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’ (thanks Kate):
This again demonstrated that nothing can be taken for granted in agility! The home stretch was exactly the same as the previous run and no one could see a reason why the last jump was missed. Still, a great day with Bossy achieving her second win of 5 needed to move to the Grade 7 elite.
It was then the turn of Brave who was running competitively in a show for the first time since July. The first agility run showed great promise considering how little training the RAW youngster had been able to undertake. It was so close to a clear with a tunnel jump proving too tempting near the end:
Their next run was again quick and accurate. A clear round gave Brave second place, missing out by just 0.09 of a second on his first win at Grade 3:
Day 2’s highlights again saw Bossy making a flying start. Another rapid clear round in the agility ring gave Will and Bossy their second win of the weekend:
So clean and fast was this run, that the RAW pair were the fastest across all Grades:
Bossy now had 3 wins in the bag in her progression towards Grade 7. Her next run gave her the chance to rack up another. This would have been the case were it not for the dislodged pole half way round:
This was still good enough for 3rd place and the end of a great weekend. There is every sign that it won’t be long before Bossy joins the elite at Grade 7 – 2 more wins needed!
Brave was raring to go and started with a really controlled agility round. Just one hesitation gave a refusal and 5 faults that left Will and Brave with a 4th place finish:
The final highlight of a super weekend was another agility run from Brave. Another tiny hesitation wasn’t marked as a refusal and the rest of the run was quick and clear. This gave Brave his first win at Grade 3!
A really super weekend for Will and his young spaniels with 3 wins and three other places. Many thanks to Ruth Abrahams and Paul Smith-Moore for organising such a lovely show and to all the judges and helpers.
The venue – Moreton Morrell – brought back some lovely memories. It was where the Bretford Champ show was staged where Aston and Will won a Championship Reserve ticket several years ago.
Novice Cup Final – Bossy ‘Sorted for E’s and Whizz’! (October 24)
After their fantastic win in the qualifier at Iconix at the end of August, Will and Bossy travelled north to Dog Sports Derby for the Novice Cup Final. The organisers of the event, recognising the distance that some would be travelling for one run, put on a Jumping round for dog and handlers to warm up for the main event.
Bossy went at full speed to get the journey out of her system and it was only the briefest loss of connection between Will and Bossy towards the end of the course that led to an elimination:
The warm up run was soon followed by the agility final. The pair started at lightning speed on a fast flowing course from judge James Adams. Bossy, loving the super surface, could not decelerate in time to make the weave entry and went through the weaves the wrong way on her way back to try again, resulting in another ‘E’ (elimination):
Although the pair were naturally disappointed to have been eliminated in the final, there were enough positives in terms of speed, connection and experience in a new environment on a different surface to have made the trip worthwhile. This relatively new partnership continues to show fantastic promise!
Thanks to the organisers and judge James Adams for a super event that unfortunately saw Bossy, in the words of the appropriately named Jarvis Cocker, ‘sorted for E’s and whizz’…
Evolution- Bossy takes first step to Grade 7 (September 24)
After his Scottish exertions last week, Brave was taking a rest so Will travelled to South Wales to team up with Bossy who was in her first show out of ‘limbo’ as a fully fledged Grade 6 competitor.
The Day 1 highlight was a superb agility run with a touch of controversy. First, the important bit – another run that shows the developing bond between Bossy and Will. A lovely, speedy clear round:
The video shows the run to be a fraction under 34 seconds, but the official time showed 40.837. This was exactly the same time (right down to the 1/1000 of a second) as the pair that ran immediately before Will and Bossy. There had clearly been a timing issue but there is very little that can be done in this situation.
The pair were given 3rd place when 33.9 seconds would have given them the win…
However, everyone realised and accepted that the more important factor about this run is that on her first day running in competition at Grade 6 (on a Grade 6/7 course), Bossy showed she can definitely compete at this level and has the capability to gather wins to move to Grade 7.
This was demonstrated perfectly on Day 2 in another Jumping round again on a Grade 6/7 course:
This gave the RAW Agility pair the win and Bossy’s first step on the route to (hopefully) Grade 7.
A quick mention for the venue – The David Broome Event Centre. The centre provided superb facilities and the best surface that the team had run on.
Many thanks to the judges too for their open, safe, flowing courses all weekend.
Scotland – The Brave boy returns in style (September 24)
Will, Brave and Bossy made the long trek north to take part in the Agility Team Scotland tryouts for a place in the team at the World Agility Open Championships in 2025.
Having competed for the last three years with his now retired partner, Rudi, Will was hoping at least one of the youngsters would be able to continue his streak. This time though, Will was competing for the first time as a senior handler at the tryouts.
Win on spots were up for grabs in biathlon, pentathlon and games.
That meant a lot of runs over the two days so here are the highlights. On day 1 the biathlon spot was up for grabs and it was the RAW youngster, Brave, who stepped up to the mark. His qualifying jumping round gave just 5 faults for a knocked pole and 2nd place:
Will and Brave quickly followed this with their qualifying agility run. A lovely clear round that gave the pair 1st place!:
The combined results gave Will and Brave first place overall securing the win on spot for biathlon. Brave is just two and a half years old and still competing at Grade 3. He has just gained a place in the Scotland team at the World Championships in the Netherlands next year.
When all the results across the weekend were totted up, Brave had also secured second place in the pentathlon meaning Will and Brave would be able to pair up for the blue riband event at WAO too – what a result. He is a special little fellow!
Things didn’t quite go Bossy’s way this weekend but we know she is capable of the occasional ‘wow’ round and she duly obliged with the very last run of her tryouts. The Speedstakes, the last leg of the pentathlon, provided a super quick clear round and 1st place:
Both dogs have so much to look forward to in the coming months and years!
The RAW team would like to say a big thank you to Alan Strong & Eilidh Murray on the Scotland management team and the amazing group of helpers that saw the whole tryout weekend run so smoothly.
The RAW team would love to pass on our gratitude to our accommodation host, Gemma, at Boll Cottages on the outskirts of Alva. Very dog friendly in beautiful surroundings. Alva Glen park, just two minutes away is definitely worth a visit!
Bossy has Six Appeal at Iconix Festival (August 2024)
With Brave still being rested, it was once again down to the Will-Bossy partnership to represent the RAW team at the brilliant Iconix Summer Festival.
The show was at Dallas Burston Polo Club, a venue for which Will has fond memories after winning JOAWC Gold in 2023 with Rudi and his GB team mates.
After a ‘nearly’ day on Saturday, on Sunday Will and Bossy once again went in search of the final win to take Bossy to Grade 6 – and in their first agility run of the day they came so close:
The miss on the dog walk one obstacle from home proved costly – the pair had the fastest Grade 5 time but 5 faults denied them the win after a fantastic run. This was the closest they came on Sunday to a clear round so it came down to the final day on Bank Holiday Monday.
After 10 faults in their first agility run, Will and Bossy had a jumping round. Playing it fairly safe, the pair finally secured their first clear round of the festival:
This lovely, controlled run put Will and Bossy in first place and so the chance of going to Grade 6 was on! After a long wait to see the rest of this large class complete their runs, it was hard to imagine a closer finish – Will and Bossy won the class by 9/1000ths of a second!
So, the wonderful Bossy had got the win to go to Grade 6 – a fantastic achievement given that her first day of being a Grade 5 dog was on 8th August. Will & Bonamassa Bossy Boots celebrated in style (yes, that is a crown on Will’s head…):
After a long break to come down from this high, there was still one more run – the Dogs Sports Derby Novice Cup Agility qualifier. A big class combined Grades 3-5 from which the top 3 would qualify for the grand final in October. With nothing to lose Will and Bossy really went for it and produced one of the true ‘wow’ runs of the weekend. Just listen to the spectators to hear the excitement generated:
This amazing run gave Bossy her second win of the day and booked a place in the final of the competition in October. This win was much more convincing – by 1.8 seconds.
Will would again like to thank the amazing Kate Prosser for trusting him with Bossy over a long weekend. The partnership is blooming and Will loves running such a special dog.
The whole RAW team would like to say a big thank you to Neil Ellis and the brilliant Iconix Agility team. The whole show is a wonderful experience with top judges setting fast flowing courses in plenty of well spaced arenas. The whole show with its music, energy and exciting evening finals, is a highlight on the agility calendar. Thanks to the judges – every one of whom kept to the spirit of the flowing courses with super safe lines for fast dogs – and to the brilliant ring parties.
Bossy Blooms at KCI (August 2024)
With Brave still not quite ready to return to competition, Will was delighted to have the chance to run the brilliant Bossy across all 4 days of the the Kennel Club International Agility Festival. KCI is the biggest agility show in the world with 18 rings all providing high quality competition each day.
The first day of the show was also Bossy’s first at Grade 5. The event started for her with a big competition – the Crufts Novice Cup. This is a competition for dogs at Grade 3-5. There were around 230 dogs entered at medium height.
The course was superbly designed and judged by one of Will’s Team GB team mates, Dylan Osborne. The course suited Bossy’s style – very fast and flowing, and she responded with a stunning clear round:
This put the pair into the lead by three and a half seconds but there still around 80 dogs to run. After a tense couple of hours constantly checking results, Will and Bossy were confirmed as winners – what a way to start life as Grade 5 dog – winning a premier class at the biggest show in the world!
Bossy wasn’t finished there. In a Grade 5 Agility class later in the day, she again excelled on another cleverly designed Dylan Osborne course:
This lovely run gave Will and Bossy another class win, their second of the day.
To progress to Grade 6, Bossy would need 4 wins of which at least two would have to be agility. On the first day of competition as a Grade 5 dog, Bossy had ticked off the two agility wins. This is an achievement in itself, but to do it at KCI where the competition is so intense and the classes so large is pretty remarkable!
To match the heights of Day 1 was always going to be a challenge and so it proved to be. The epic win in the Novice cup put Will and Bossy into the semi final in the main arena. A top 6 finish meant a place in the main arena at Crufts. An early elimination was disappointing and showed better than anything the highs and lows of agility!
Will and Bossy then joined forces with Maryann Bayliss and Betty to see if they could secure a visit to Crufts in the YKC pairs competition. The runs by both pairs were superb:
With only the winners qualifying, that one dropped pole proved costly. Bossy and Betty posted the quickest time, but the 5 faults meant they were beaten by the double clear round achieved by the winners. They were so close but can take heart from the excitement and entertainment of two super runs.
One further run on Day 2 was again very quick, but a missed weave entry gave Will and Bossy 5 faults.
The highlights of Day 3 included two clear rounds out of 3 runs for Bossy. The first was in an agility run:
This lovely run was good enough for a second place finish and was quickly followed by a clear in a Jumping class that gave Will and Bossy 3rd place:
The final day of an epic four day show did suggest that Bossy was a little tired – mentally if not physically, with three eliminations but with one more super run to round off a fantastic week. Grade 5 Jumping:
This gave Will and Bossy their final win of the week.
To give their achievements this week some perspective, there are some handlers that will try for years to win a class at KCI. This is due to the quality of competition and the size of the classes which are far bigger than a standard show.
This was Bossy’s very first competition at Grade 5 and she managed to win three classes and finish on the podium 5 times across the week. She is now just one win shy of moving to Grade 6. So, a very successful experience. Thank you so much to the wonderful Kate Prosser for trusting Will to run her very special spaniel.
As an added bonus, Kate had notable success herself. Ellie May, (Bossy’s mum!) running at small height ran a double clear in Champ Agility and Champ Jumping which gave her a place in the KCI final in the main arena – a fantastic achievement!
Thank you too to the Kennel Club, the judges, ring parties and organisers of this mammoth event. As well as the thrill of competing, it is a chance to watch the highest quality agility with friends and team mates.
It was also a chance for a group of the Bonamassa spaniels to meet up:
Squidge Bossy Brave Ellie-May Envy
Judging and Loving Lapford (July 2024)
Will’s first ever judging appointment could not have been at a more lovely setting. The Lapford summer show in Devon is one of the team’s favourites. Stunning scenery, really well organised and super friendly. To see how this first for the RAW team went – click to see the RAW Judging page.
Just a boy and the Boss at Cornwall (July 2024)
With Brave taking a rest due to a slight injury, Will was lucky enough to again be paired with the magnificent Bossy. The day before Will took on the handler role, the brilliant Kate Prosser had secured Bossy’s last win to take her to Grade 5 so Will was run the ginger speed merchant under no pressure while she was in ‘in limbo’.
The pair’s first run was Agility. They ran as if they had worked together for years and at high speed. A smashing clear won them the class:
This was quickly followed by another super quick, clear round, this time Jumping. Will even had time to take a tumble on the way – Bossy was beautiful in waiting for him before taking off again at high speed to complete the course and win by 7 seconds!
The first day was rounded off with a jumping final judged by the brilliant Barry James. Bossy, thanks to Kate’s efforts on Friday and Will’s run on Saturday, had qualified. The very clever course was a real crowd pleaser and, in a lovely atmosphere, Bossy showed her phenomenal speed which the crowd loved (listen to the oohs and aahs and the applause), but a missed connection meant a tunnel was taken by Bossy when it shouldn’t have been and an elimination. Still a great experience!
The final day of this brilliant show saw Will and Bossy have two very near misses – a flying dog walk in the agility round and a pole close to home in the jumping meant both rounds gave the Bossy the fastest time but 5 faults in each meant they missed out on the win. Both runs are worth a look:
The RAW team are very grateful to Kate Prosser (again!) for allowing Will to run this special girl. Thanks too to the brilliant team at Cornwall Agility Club for a super show and to the judges and ring parties for cracking courses.
Bossy flies and Brave comes of age at CSJ – June 2024
One of the highlights of the domestic agility calendar is the CSJ Open. It is in the style of the World Agility Open with international judges, WAO style courses and the first opportunity to book a spot in your national team to appear at WAO next year.
The event consists of 5 competitions over 4 days – Pentathlon, Biathlon, Games, the CSJ National and Steeplechase. This was the first appearance at the event for both Brave and Bossy (our thanks again to the brilliant Kate Prosser for loaning Will her precious girl). Both dogs were there just for the experience – their competition consisted of dozens of Grade 7 dogs, plenty of whom had considerable championship and international experience. Brave at Grade 3 and Bossy at Grade 4 were there to find out if they could cope with this style of course and challenge.
Event 1 – Games Challenge
The Games Challenge consists of a Snooker round followed by a Gamblers final for those that qualify. Brave was first up:
A solid 30 points was not spectacular but was more than enough to see Brave into the final! Bossy only managed 7 points but this was enough for her to squeak into the Gamblers final too.
The Gamblers final saw both dogs perform really confidently in the indoor arena. Both just missed out on the bonus point gambles at the end but lots of promise:
The overall Games Position is decided by combining the points scored in Snooker and Gamblers. This left Bossy 17th and Brave 14th. Another super effort!
The Steeplechase challenge
No contacts, no weaves, just jumps, tunnels and speed! Bossy and Brave both love the chance to go at top speed unchecked. Will guided them both to clear rounds that put both the youngsters into the steeplechase final. A couple of ‘wow’ rounds – Bossy finished in a fantastic 2nd place in the qualifier:
The Steeplechase final was indoors and the first final of the week. This was a bit too much excitement for Bossy and she was eliminated early on in her run. Brave had other ideas:
This lovely run was clear and fast and good enough for a fourth place finish – what a fantastic result for our 2 year old superstar!
The Biathlon
A very straightforward competition. One jumping round, followed by one agility round where the faults and timings are combined and the winners decided. It is the only competition at CSJ that does not have a final run in the main arena.
In dreadful weather, both Bossy and Brave suffered eliminations in the jumping round (along with most of their competition) so it was down to the agility round to make amends!
Brave was first. He battled so hard on an enormous course to finish with 10 faults:
Bossy ran a stunning round with some narrow escapes all the way up to the jump two from home. A potentially winning run ended with an elimination as Will moved a fraction too early and Bossy took the wrong side. But, worth a look to see the potential this pairing clearly have with a little more time together to prepare:
This meant that Bossy finished well down the field but Brave finished in 14th place overall in some very distinguished company!
Pentathlon
As you would expect, this event consists of 5 runs maximum. The first stage is an agility run and a jumping round. Then a cut is made so only the top 80% go through. Then a second jumping and second agility run form stage 2. Only the top 20 after all the results are combined make it to the final – a ‘Speedstakes’ run. This was a tough task for Bossy and Brave – to be consistent enough to get through each stage in such elite company on such challenging courses.
Will & Brave started with 15 faults in Agility round 1:
After an unlucky elimination for Bossy, both dogs headed into Jumping Round 1. Both combined with Will brilliantly to book their places in Stage 2. Bossy with a super speedy round with 5 faults, Brave with a lovely quick clear:
Both dogs started the next stage of the Pentathlon with their second agility run. Bossy was too quick up a speedy starting straight and took the wrong side of a jump to be eliminated. Brave worked hard on another enormous course but ended up with an elimination in the second half of the course. So…the chance to qualify for the final would come down to their fourth run – a jumping round.
Will and Bossy again went very quickly but a tricky middle section caught them out and Bossy was eliminated, meaning an anxious wait to see if they would reach the final.
Will and Brave took on a tough course and difficult weather conditions to put in a beautiful clear round!
This guaranteed a place in the final stage – the Speedstakes. Good news followed as, such was the difficulty of the course, very few dogs got around meaning Will and Bossy also made the final!
The final proved a step to far on this occasion for Bossy and a very tired but excited spaniel went on her own route several times and picked up an elimination. Will and Brave were also eliminated but this was due to one mistake in the middle of the course:
Will was still delighted with Brave’s run and the consistency and promise that he showed throughout a grueling event was rewarded with a brilliant 8th place finish.
The CSJ Nationals Challenge
This event runs very much like a championship event. Each pairing runs an agility round and a jumping round with the top 20 after results are combined reaching the final. However, if either run results in an elimination, then a final place cannot be reached.
First up was Brave who, despite the appalling conditions, had a lovely jumping round with just one mistake at the end of the weaves:
Then it was Bossy’s turn and she flew around! Just one pole prevented a perfect start:
This put both the youngsters in a great position going into the agility round.
Bossy took an extra dog walk early on and was eliminated.
Brave loved the indoor arena in front of a larger crowd and put in the team’s favourite round of the week. A beautifully controlled clear round with Brave barking at Will on the way – the little spaniel looked very happy and at home on a huge course! This super run gave our pair an incredible 3rd place in the class:
This meant that Will and Bossy were not going to get through to the CSJ Nationals final but little Brave, a Grade 3 youngster had made another elite final!
The final was another agility round on the last day. Will and Brave were showing some signs of tiredness but were determined to get around the final course. This was the pairs final run of an exhausting week:
Despite course faults and time faults, the run was still good enough for 7th place. What an effort!
So CSJ was over after a mammoth effort by Will and his young spaniels. Bossy performed with great speed and, although the placings were not what the pair hoped for, there were a few sparkling runs and, as Will and Bossy get more time over the summer to work together, the signs are promising for a stunning partnership.
The RAW Agility team’s youngest member, Brave, astonished Will and spectators alike with his consistency and ability to handle long and challenging courses against absolutely top class opposition. The little fella ran 15 times over the four days with every course at World Championship standard and well over 200 metres each. He is under 2 and a half years old, still at Grade 3 competing against a great number of Grade 7 dogs with great experience, many of whom have competed at international level.
Despite all that, he completed 11 of the courses, reached every single final and had the following finishing places:
Steeplechase: 4th
CSJ Nationals: 7th
Pentathlon: 8th
Biathlon: 14th
Games: 14th
This was definitely the weekend that Brave came of age. We are all very hopeful that this is a big step at the beginning of a fantastic agility career. Our little star was a bit tired by the end!
Well done to Will who is gradually getting back to fitness after glandular fever. He ran 28 huge courses over 4 full days of competition, so he can be forgiven for looking a little tired in the CSJ Nationals final!
Many thanks to everyone involved in the staging, managing and running of this brilliant event. It is definitely a highlight on the RAW Agility calendar. For more pictures, results and an overview of this year’s event: https://theagilityopen.com/
World Agility Open Championships 2024 – one final event at the highest level for Rudi before he retires
Click here to see all the runs, lots of photos and stories as Will and Rudi are back in Scotland colours at WAO in the Netherlands for the last time as a pair. This WAO saw Rudi make his final competitive runs before a well deserved retirement.
Working Hard at Wallingford (April 24)
With Will still noticeably suffering the effects of glandular fever, it was always going to be a challenge to complete a full programme of events at the brilliantly organised Wallingford Show. With 13 rings, 3 of which were dedicated to YKC, this was by far the biggest, busiest show that Brave had ever competed at in his short agility career.
Will had 3 aims:
- Get his own mind and body used to competition again
- Give Brave some experience of competing at a big outdoor show (their first outdoor competition as a pair since September last year)
- Compete with Rudi as part of the preparations for the World Agility Open next month
Brave was competing in YKC classes that were qualifiers for Crufts while Rudi was down to run in regular classes at Grade 7. Rudi was not not running YKC classes as they were Crufts qualifiers and Rudi will have stepped down from competitive agility by the time the next Crufts comes around.
Brave showed his inexperience and maybe some apprehension in his first run (YKC Graduate ) and was eliminated. His second run, in the TKC Jumping Cup, was much more in keeping with his potential:
This clear round was good enough for 6th place in a big class. Brave, who only recently turned 2 years old, is showing lots of promise and, more importantly, is so happy when doing his agility.
Will and Rudi ran a Grade 6-7 agility course with the excellent Natalie Grace judging. She will be one of the judges at WAO, so the chance to run one of her courses was an absolute bonus.
Rudi looked really sharp, belying the fact that he is eleven and a half! With plenty of speed and his usual reliability, Rudi was only denied a podium place by leaving the see saw a fraction of a second too early. However, in terms of Will and Rudi pairing up in competition again in preparation for WAO, it was ideal:
KST – Kathryn Secures Trophy – Brave goes Grade 3!
With Will suffering another bout of glandular fever, the decision was taken for him to rest and to give Rudi a break before his Scotland trip next week.
Brave was still as keen as ever to run so Will’s fab trainer, Kathryn Stickney, was given the responsibility of handling Brave around his two runs at the local KST show.
His first run was jumping and the RAW youngster’s slight apprehension at running with a new handler (despite knowing Kathryn really well) showed as he took a detour or two off course and was eliminated.
Brave’s second run was an agility run. He needed one agility win to progress to Grade 3. A really confident run meant a clear round that put Brave and Kathryn into the lead. The anxious wait then ensued to see if they could hang on to their first place to secure the promotion to Grade 3.
The wait was worth it:
Brave was delighted with his first place trophy and promotion!
The RAW team are very grateful to Kathryn for stepping into the breach and showing her expertise to guide Brave around an agility course in a super quick time. Brave is extremely proud of his new Grade 3 status!
Brave blossoms and goes so close!
After the hullaballoo, noise and crowds of Crufts it was lovely for the RAW team to be back at a local show with South Devon DTC. Will was running Rudi and Brave today.
Rudi had two runs. After an uncharacteristic elimination in jumping, Rudi had an agility run that resulted in 10 faults due to errors entering and exiting the dogwalk early in the round.
He handled the rest of this challenging course beautifully. As the only pairing at Grade 7 to complete the course, Will & Rudi picked up the win! As always, he was pretty relaxed about his latest trophy:
Brave ran his agility course first. It was a superb round that saw the youngster complete the course in the fastest time. Just a slight timing issue on a tunnel entry denied Will and Brave the win and they had to settle for 5 faults and 3rd place. However, Will was delighted with the confidence and speed shown by Brave:
Brave also ran two jumping courses both of which resulted in 10 faults. Again, Will was so pleased by how much more confidence and speed Brave is showing with each competitive run. Here he is with a run that gave a 2nd place finish:
Many thanks to all at South Devon DTC, the judges and the ring parties for a really lovely show.
Brave is so close to making the step up to the next grade and is making progress every week. Will is quick to remember that, as a youngster, Rudi had many runs where he accrued 5 or 10 faults, then, when it did click, lots of clears, progression, trophies and titles followed. The RAW team is very hopeful that Brave can follow the same route!
Crufts 2024 – 3 Finals and another Team GB victory parade!
To see all the videos, news and pictures of Will, Rudi (for the last time) and Bossy (for the first time) at Crufts click on this link.
The Brave boy loves Lapford (Feb 24)
The RAW team were once again delighted to be able to run at the Lapford show – the last of their three indoor league meetings this winter. All three dogs, Rudi, Wizard and Brave were in action. Rudi continued his steady build up to Crufts but it was Wizard and Brave who really showed their speed particularly in the Steeplechase.
Wizard, despite crashing a pole at the second jump, still got round the course in under 20 seconds!:
In the same class, Brave managed to run even quicker! The pole cost Wizard some time, but even so this was a super run from the RAW youngster (still short of his second birthday) to win the class. The great thing is, the team feel that there is plenty of scope for Brave to go even quicker as his jumping style can be more efficient and his running style will mature:
Brave absolutely loves the Lapford trophies:
Thanks to all the team at Lapford for another lovely show and to the judges Chloe Brown and Colin Hill for lovely open, fast flowing courses.
Consistency, a bit of magic and monkeys at Lapford (Jan 2024)
All three of the RAW dogs were in action at one of the team’s local shows hosted by Lapford DAC, with Rudi, Wizard and Brave all running Agility, Jumping and Steeplechase courses.
We’ll start with Wizard. Even though he didn’t get a clear round, he deserves so much praise. He ran with confidence, yipping as he went, and even barked with excitement while waiting to run. This is a new side to Wizard whose anxieties at shows have probably stopped him achieving what his speed and skills deserve. Here are two of his runs – 10 faults in agility and an elimination in steeplechase right near the end:
The whole team are hopeful that this is a sign that Wizard is turning a corner and can develop enough confidence to start to fulfil his undoubted potential.
Brave had a mixed day that finished on a high. After two eliminations where he again showed some nerves about running indoors, his last run was in the steeplechase. After being coaxed into the ring, Brave took off and ran a nice clear to take first place:
Brave was delighted that the trophy was a cuddly monkey that was an instant favourite for the RAW team’s own little monkey:
Rudi showed how consistent he is in all circumstances. Will and Rudi were running together in competition for the first time this year and had only had two competetive runs as a pair in the last couple of months.
Rudi was slightly distracted by horsey smells in one ring, but still managed to run three clear rounds out of three which included a second place in agility and third place in jumping:
In the last three years Will and Rudi have used the January Lapford show as the start of their preparations for Crufts, so today’s show was a great start to that build up. The focus at Lapford was on clear rounds, with a view to building up speed in the coming weeks.
Brave continues to improve at Pawsability (Jan 2024)
With no Grade 7 classes available at the super Pawsability show, the focus was very much on Brave and Wizard. Brave continued to show fantastic progress in another new environment and achieved two podium places in his four runs.
In Grade 1-3 Jumping he went clear despite something distracting him part way through the run – we think it may have been a large mirror that appealed to his vanity!
Brave was only beaten by good friends in Kim Holness and Bee and they were happy to pose on the podium together!
Brave’s last run of the day was in the Grade 1-3 Agility and, despite the RAW youngster showing some signs of tiredness at the end of a long weekend, Brave put in a super clear round:
This was good enough for 3rd place in a class of over 60 entries. Brave is still a couple of months short of his second birthday so Will is really excited about Brave’s undoubted potential.
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