RAW Agility Summer Road Trip (August 2025)
Will, Bossy and Brave undertook a mammoth 12 day agility tour that would see them competing in three of the biggest shows in the UK.
Part 1 Kennel Club International Agility Festival
The starting point was a big one – the biggest agility show in the world! Held at the Rutland Showground, thousands of dogs competing over four days in 19 rings.
Day 1
The Will/Bossy partnership is promising so much and this wonderful dog showed so many skills and so much speed across her four runs today, but the team didn’t quite gel enough to get any wins. This run is a good example. The YKC Jumping Cup had just one error when Bossy missed a second tunnel – most unusual for the speedy spaniel who loves a tunnel!:
Brave also had a couple of errors in early runs but made up for it with a steady clear in his last run of the day. This was his first day of competition as a Grade 6 dog and, on a tough but fun course set by Dave Cooper, the RAW youngster picked up a third place finish. All of the class sizes at KCI are big, so any podium finish is a great achievement!:
Day 2
This was definitely Brave’s day. In his first Grade 6 show, Brave had only two runs, but both were in the Crufts Singles qualifier with over 220 dogs in his class all at G6 and G7 and just about all of the top handler/dog partnerships in the UK and challenging courses to match – quite a test!
He started with the jumping round and Will and Brave coped superbly with a lovely speedy clear round:
This gave our pair a 13th place finish. A super result in such illustrious company!
They had to then run the agility round in the main ring at the biggest agility show in the world – no pressure then! Another super effort with Brave just hesitant at his weave entry to give 5 faults. The weave/tunnel trap saw the elimination of many dogs in this round so to just pick up 5 faults was an achievement in itself:
This gave the RAW pair an overall position of 14th in an enormous field of top competition. So much promise!
Will and Bossy had another ‘nearly day’ summed up by their Crufts Singles qualifier jumping run. It’s not that often that an elimination run is so exciting and makes the handler so happy, but Will was delighted with the speed and tightness of Bossy right up until just two from home:
Day 3
Brave qualifies for Crufts! Brave was competing in the YKC Agility Dog of the Year qualifier today. One agility round and one jumping round. The times and faults of the two rounds are combined and the top dog in each height qualifies to compete at Crufts in 2026.
Brave started with a super quick clear round in agility in the main ring:
This gave him first place which was a great start, but still the jumping round to go. Brave, slightly slower, again obliged with a clear round:
The run was steady and good enough for 3rd place and, when the results were combined, Will and Brave had finished first overall by over a second meaning Brave had qualified for his first appearance at Crufts. He was justifiably proud!
It was also champ day for Bossy and yet again she showed a huge amount of speed and skill but just a mistake or two at this level costs dearly. Her jumping round had so many good things:
Will remains positive and rightly so. It will soon all fall into place for her and could mean something special happens!
Day 4
The final day of this great show and definitely the hottest. Brave still had the energy to put in another couple of great runs in his first G6 show that so nearly gave him a win. Each contained a single refusal which could have been down to handler and/or dog fatigue!
First was a jumping round that Will did not have the chance to walk, making the run even more impressive:
Brave’s final run at this year’s KCIAF was a Grade 6 agility course judged by Will’s two time junior world champion team mate, Max Glover:
On a challenging course that only saw one clear round, Brave finished in second place with a time that was 7 seconds quicker than the winner. Nothing could highlight the importance of clear rounds more.
So another KCI comes to an end. A fantastic celebration of agility and Will has had a great time with Brave and Bossy as well as so many agility friends.
On now to Dogs In Need Show in Suffolk!
Part 2 Dogs in Need Agility Society Show
Will was competing at DINAS for the first time and had Bossy and Brave to run at this fantastic, 14 ring show.
Day 1
After Bossy and Will couldn’t quite get things together in the morning, Brave had three runs in quick succession in the afternoon.
Will and Brave’s first run was a Grade 5-6 agility judged by the excellent Adam Watson:
This super clear round gave the RAW pair 1st place in a competitive field and Brave’s first strike towards Grade 7.
They quickly followed this with another agility run:
A slight error on the weave entry meant 5 faults leaving them finishing in 4th with a time quicker than the winner – a super effort from Brave who was not showing any signs of fatigue despite the warm conditions and a week at KCI.
The pair’s final run of the first day was a jumping round and little Brave delivered once again:
Another fast clear round gave Brave another win and another step towards Grade 7.
Five wins are needed at Grade 6 to progress to Grade 7, at least 3 of which need to be in agility. Brave has taken the first two steps towards reaching the top grade – fingers crossed!
Day 2
Brave had the chance to make further progress towards Grade 7 and he took full advantage in his first run, a jumping round:
This speedy clear round gave our pair their third win at DINAS and their third of five wins needed to reach Grade 7. In terms of counting towards progression, the remaining two wins both have to be in agility rounds.
Will & Brave had another jumping round next:
This run was another that was good enough for 1st place. Will and Brave had notched up their fourth win inside two days at Dogs in Need!
This run also meant the pair were guaranteed a place in the Medium DINAS Classic final where dogs at each height that gain enough points in qualifying rounds over the first two days of the show earn a place in a final to be held on Day 3.
Bossy also had runs with Will today at Grade 7. The first of these was a very welcome clear round in jumping:
The wide turns meant Bossy’s time was slower than usual and gave her a 4th place finish. After several runs that had resulted in elimination, a clear round today was very welcome. Bossy will have a well earned break on Day 3 in preparation for her championship classes on Friday.
Day 3
Day 3 at DINAS is finals day for small and medium dogs across all grades. So, the only run for Will today was the G6 DINAS Classic final with Brave.
The pair reached the final based on their great performances in qualifying classes over the past two days.
Brave showed some sign of nerves on the line which resulted in a slow start and a missed contact on the dog walk early on. He soon got into his stride though and showed what he can do for the rest of the course:
Will and Brave still achieved the fastest time but the 5 faults put them in 3rd place – we need to remember the context that this is only Brave’s second grade 6 show and he finished 3rd in the final!
Day 4
The Thursday at DINAS was Champ day for small and medium dogs giving Will and Bossy the chance to compete at the highest level. The jumping run didn’t go as planned but the pair looked much more connected in the agility run even though it resulted in an elimination as handler and dog moved away from the weaves slightly too early!:
After a quick exit from the first of Brave’s runs, Will quite rightly took the decision to rest Brave for the rest of today. There was a long journey from Suffolk to central Wales still to be made today for the final part of the Road Trip.
DINAS was a fantastic show and Will and Brave’s first visit to the show had been highly successful – 4 wins and a podium in the Classic Final!
Part 3 – Welsh KC
The Welsh KC show is one that Will has competed at in previous years reaching Champ finals with Rudi and Aston, but this was a first visit to the show for Brave. Set in the beautiful surroundings of the Brecon Beacons it was a stunning way to complete the RAW Agility road trip.
Day 1
After a 5 hour journey on Friday evening, Will and Bossy were straight into action on Saturday with another Champ class. They again showed just how close they are to challenging the very best with a great agility run that resulted in an elimination:
Meanwhile, Brave had more success. He ran a super jumping course and went clear:
Our pair achieved the only clear round in the class but, because there was a fault on the timing equipment, the rules say that they had to rerun. It looked like their initial win could be taken away. The pair ran again as the last competitors in the class knowing that another clear round would give them a well deserved first place:
Despite the amount of rounds Brave has completed in recent days, he managed to go even quicker on this round and, crucially, went clear giving the pair their first win at Welsh KC 2025.
Day 2
Both dogs had two agility runs today in the same classes – a Grade 5-7 combined class and a Graded 6-7 class.
The first was run on sand and the Will and Bossy posted the quickest time in the class by a distance but a cheeky A Frame meant 5 faults and no win:
As this was a combined class, Brave was competing against Bossy! He was slightly slower but went around clear and gained a very respectable 3rd place:
Will’s final runs of the road trip again had both dogs in the same class but, as a ‘graded’ class, Bossy would be competing against the Grade 7 dogs and Brave against the Grade 6 dogs.
Bossy was first and put in a stunning run until just two from home when the tunnel trap proved just too much of a temptation instead of the A Frame:
So, it was down to Will and Brave to finish the show in style. Like Bossy, and so many other dogs in the class, that final tunnel was a distraction, but Brave made a brilliant correction at the last second and went clear to win the class!:
That last second correction meant Brave had taken another step towards Grade 7. He now needs just one agility round win to progress to the to the top grade – a remarkable achievement given that this was just his third show competing at Grade 6.
So, the 12 day RAW Agility road trip came to an end with some fantastic memories. A three event marathon with lots of friends, fun and fabulous agility.
Will and Bossy are a pairing that those ringside stop to watch and they are so close to breaking through to win against the very best. Will is so grateful to the brilliant Kate Prosser for the trust she puts in Will to run her wonderfully talented girl.
Will and Brave go from strength to strength as a partnership. This trip has given them a total of 8 wins, qualification for Crufts and 4/5 wins needed to progress to Grade 7 and the chance to compete in Champ classes.
willbacchus.com 