The 2016 finals of the Brillo International Bounce competitions for Small and Medium dogs was held in glorious, mid-September weather. It was hosted by Blenheim Agility weekend on West Midland Showground on the banks of the Severn. As well as awards and prize money on offer, each competition winner was set to win a £250 Dog Friendly holiday voucher courtesy of Agria Pet Insurance, sponsors of the Final and Dog Friendly. Championship Agility judge Mike Hallam officiated and reports.

I was lucky enough to be invited to judge the Brillo Finals by Graham and his team. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and felt honoured to be asked.

Mandy Melville-Love and Darren Stokes and the Blenheim team supplied the atmosphere as well as the venue. Throughout the day, the support I received and the atmosphere around the ring was a credit to everyone. We were also lucky enough to run the finals when all the other rings had finished, allowing the competitors to watch.

The level of the competitors was mixed, as you would expect, and as usual the top pairings came to the fore, tending to dominate the top places. We had a few with navigation issues but, on the whole, most managed to cope with the course. I’d pitched it around about Grade 4-5 as this was a 1-7. In old money, that would have been called an Open.

The Mediums seemed to cope better with the courses and we had high levels of competition from all. However, when you have someone as experienced as Amanda Hampson it does make it a challenge for the others. Amanda achieved 2nd place in both the qualifiers and ultimately taking a well deserved win in the final round, completing the course nearly two seconds ahead. All the others should be proud of what they achieved in getting to the Medium final, many tried and didn't make it.

The Smalls were similar to the Mediums but a little less successful with fewer getting through to the final. Again, the more experienced coped better and in Amelia Nicholson we had another dominating performance. She achieved 3rd in both qualifiers and then won the final four seconds ahead of second place. Again all the other Small competitors should be proud of their achievement in qualifying in the first place.

So both Amelia and Amanda each won a £250 Dog Friendly holiday voucher, courtesy of Agria Pet Insurance and Dog Friendly.

Brillo International Bounce Final Small Dogs Amelia Nicholson with Roo My Little Gem - 34.795 secs (C) Wendy Swadlo with Hey Presto Its Basil - 38.774 secs (C) Heather Leary with Wychlea Don’t Stop Me Now - 49.405secs (C) Craig Woodhead with Let Robbi Entertain You - 36.659 secs (5)

Brillo International Bounce Final Medium Dogs Amanda Hampson with Ag.Ch. Shoredancer Sea Jade - 31.668 secs (C) Andrew Stockton with Ttrue Blue's Amazing Destiny - 33.218 secs (C) Abigail Phillips with Danas Tiger Lilly - 34.518 secs (C) Sandra Jones with Bordertime Sandra Luna - 35.596 secs (C) Katie Lines with Under The Archies - 35.046 secs (5) Rob Morley with Leonis Minoris Praecipula - 31.224 secs (5)

I hope everyone enjoyed my courses and they enjoyed the day. I know I did and I look forward to seeing some of the competitors grow over the coming years, hopefully seeing some of them in the Championship classes.

Again a big thank you to Graham for the invite and Agria for their sponsorship. I look forward to competing with my Small dog next year.

Finalists Announced

Congratulations to the following partnerships who have qualified so far for the Brillo International Bounce Finals that will be held at Blenheim ATC Agility Show Weekend at West Midlands Showground, Shrewsbury on Saturday 10th September 2016 judged by Championship Agility Judge Mike Hallam.

Each Final will consist of two rounds (1 x Agility and 1 x Jumping) at each size which will not be timed (max time specified) and all double clears will go towards the final round. In the event of less than 10 double clears at either size then all double clears and dogs with the minimum combined faults will be selected to produce 10 dogs for the final round. Time will be used with faulted dogs to determine those chosen up to 10 dogs. The 10 dogs will compete in the final jumping round against the clock to find winners and enjoy a share of the £50 prize money at each size with the winner at Small and Medium size receiving a Holiday Voucher thanks to Agria Pet Insurance.

Heat 1
Working Belgian Shepherd Dog Society

Trust Judge Barrie James to be surrounded by the ladies! Some of the first qualifiers for the 2016 Brillo International Bounce competitions for Small and Medium sized dogs.

Brillo International Bounce finals will be held as part of Blenheim AC September Weekend at West Midlands Showground. The overall winner of each size wins a holiday voucher courtesy of Agria Pet Insurance  and Dog Friendly.

Congratulations to all.

2016 News

Brillo International Bounce is pleased to confirm that alongside other prestige Agility events the Brillo International Bounce Final will use jumps set at 450mm for medium-sized dogs and 350mm for small-sized dogs.

The 2016 competition consists of 16 heats with three handlers qualifying from each. The class must be judged using current Kennel Club rules and each host venue will chose which grades are included for each size of Brillo International Bounce qualifier. Last year's finalist, Championship Agility judge Mike Hallam will officiate at 2016 final at the Blenheim show on the 10th September.

The first qualifiers of the Brillo International Bounce competitions for both Medium and Small dogs are at Working Belgium Shepherd Dog Show during the weekend 23 - 24 April at Thame Showground. The schedule is available now on Agilitynet.

The 2016 qualifying heats will be held at the following shows:-

• Saturday, 23rd April
  WBSD Open Agility Show, Thame Showground, Oxfordshire
  
  Sunday, 24th April
  Lincoln Agility Enthusiasts Open Agility Show, Lincoln Showground, Lincolnshire
   

• Monday, 2nd May
  North Somerset Severnside Open Agility Show , Wraxall, Somerset
   

• Sunday, 8th May
  Hatton Agility Festival, Hatton Country World, Warwickshire
   

• Saturday, 5th June
  Wye Valley Premier Agility Show, Monmouth
   

• Saturday, 11th June
  Oswestry Open Agility Show, West Midlands Showground, Shropshire
   

• Sunday 19th June 
  Golden Valley Open Agility Show, Top Barn, Worcestershire
   

• Saturday, 25th & 26th June
  Milton Keynes Open Agility Show, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   

• Sunday, 26th June
  Dogs Unleashed, Bakewell, Derbyshire
   

• Sunday, 3rd July
  Lune Valley DTC Open Agility Show, Westmoreland Showground, Cumbria
   

• Sunday, 10th July
  Just Dogs Live Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
   

• Saturday, 23rd July 
  Caerphilly & District Agility Show, Usk Showground, Monmouthshire
   

• Sunday, 24th July 
  The Pet Show, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire
   

• Saturday, 30th July
  Orchard Agility at Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   

• Saturday, 27th August 
  Q-me Open Agility Show, Bath Racecourse, Wiltshire
   

• Saturday, 10th September 
  Blenheim Open Agility Show, West Midlands Showground, Shropshire

Brillo International Bounce, 2 Medley Grove Leamington Spa, Warks. CV31 2GA. Tel. 01926 315335. Email: rover.pro@virgin.net