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GB Team Report

The FMBB Belgian Shepherd Dog Agility World Championships 2010 were held on 21-23 May Cottbus, Germany about 100kms south of Berlin. After a year of a lot of hard work fund raising, organising, training and selections days the Championships finally arrived. Team Manager Louise Challis  reports.

Team GB and grooms gathered at Lincoln Kennels, near Swanley (Kent), very early on Tuesday morning. This year we had five handlers and six dogs who had not competed before in the Championships which added an air of uncertainty and excitement to the Squad.

No sooner had the coach arrived than it was loaded and we were on our way. Anne Challis supplied a 'good luck cake' which has become a tradition over the last seven years and by lunch time we were all indulging in a light sponge cake, iced with the team GB logo on it. 

The journey went well. We travelled for 16 hours in rain and sunshine over land that was so flat sight of a hill caused excitement. We arrived in Cottbus, Germany at 10.00pm. We were staying at the Lindner Congress Hotel in Cottbus. It is a stylish glass building with 14 floors and marble bathrooms. We were pleasantly surprised as the rooms were cheap. However, the food was not, so we supplied our own breakfast and the whole squad ate out together every night in the town square at Cottbus. This was not only fun but great for team building and morale.

The hotel was situated in the centre of Cottbus and towered above all of the other buildings which were all very square and appeared to be made of a concrete construction. The roads in the area were all wide and had electric trams, cars and bicycles going in all directions. The shops were pleasant and there was a local market.  We were also really lucky that a park and a nice river walk were situated by the hotel. Each day we travelled to the Stadium by coach which was about two miles away from where we were staying.

The GB Team had members representing Great Britain in both the team and the individual events, selected after two qualifying competitions

Team &  Individual Competitors

Individual Competitors

When we arrived at the venue, Mike and I set about finding the organiser's office which was over a very busy road on the other side of the Stadium. I registered the team and collected the team bibs and pass cards.

At first we were unsure where the Agility competition would take place as the allocated area was on a low pile Astroturf surface with sand on top. There was a lot of debate as to whether it was a suitable surface. The FMBB were to make a decision and let us all know at the managers' meeting if the competition would be moved or if we were to go ahead on the Astroturf.

We decided that we would set up our tents and flags anyway, ensuring we had a base during the day where the dogs could rest and be in the shade. This proved to be a good move because, by the time we returned to the agility area before the team parade, there was not a space left.

We all attended the parade in our team strip. This is a time when all of the teams get very patriotic and are proud to represent their country. The noisiest and most colourful team and supporters would have to be the Dutch! After the parade, we made our way back to the hotel to rest before the next days events.

Team practice
Next day we were up nice and early and off to the venue for team practice.  Fortunately this year team GB had time to watch a few other teams practice on the equipment. I personally really enjoy watching the practice session as it gives you an insight on how the other countries train and what methods and techniques they use.

You never know what type of equipment you might find when arriving at the Champs. This year we had some differences with regards to the surface of the contact equipment. It was like a tough rubber mat that had been wrapped around the planks and was very harsh to touch, similar to the rubber matting you might find in swimming baths. We had some concerns with regards to the agility area because the surface looked slippery and because it was so short we felt that there was a possibility the dogs could burn their feet. With this in mind, we were very conscientious and set out from the start to preserve the dogs pads as best we could.

As on previous years, we were very pleased with the way we organised ourselves in the practice session, and we got the best out of our 16 minutes. We split into two groups and covered all of the equipment ensuring the dogs were familiar with the surface they were to run on and the contact equipment.

We were all a bit surprised at the introduction of a table which was a bit low and had the same rubber on as the contact equipment. It also had an electronic senor attached which counted down with beeps. A quick succession of beeps meant you could leave the table. The Squad all practiced this once and then incorporated it into a sequence of obstacles. Unfortunately Andy's Thor misjudged the table and caught his left hind leg on the edge. He appeared to have a dead leg for a few seconds but then bounced back with no sign of lameness. We hoped that he had not knocked his confidence and that he would remain sound for the rest of the competition.

The vet check went well. All of the dogs' microchips were read and passports checked so we were ready to compete the next day.

Team briefing
Everyone headed back to the hotel, and Mike kindly offered to accompany me to the Team Manager briefing. We walked to the stadium from the hotel and found a very picturesque route to take across the town and along the river. Team briefing started 45 minutes late which is not unusual. The Judge addressed us and gave us a run down on how the competition was to be run.

The venue surface was deemed to be safe. The competition was to be run over FCI rules. If eliminated you would get your course time but there was to be no training in the ring. If you made a mistake in the weaves after being eliminated, you were not allowed to go back to the start of them as this was classed as practicing.

• The table would not be used nor would the drop tunnel as there was no way of fixing it to the Astroturf.

• A fixed tyre would be used because the two judges would not agree on how to judge the breakaway tyre.

• The equipment would be marked on the ground so that if there was any movement it would be replaced to the same spot. 

• The seesaw must touch the ground and all leads would be placed in a bucket at the end of the course.

• The A-frame and dog walk had electronic contact sensors. No noise would be emitted but the judges would wear a bracelet with a wireless connection to the sensor that vibrated when the contact was touched. In the briefing, the Judge stated that the sensor was to aid him but not be used instead of his eyes.

The starting order for the Team competition was drawn with Great Britain going first in the Team Jumping event.

I wrote down all of the information and reported back to the Squad before we all went for our evening meal. We all turned in early as we had an early start the next day!

Friday
The competition started with the first Individual Agility course. The squad was spaced quite evenly through the 140 or so competitors with Helen first to go.

Individual Agility
The squad did well with Dave, Helen, Gill, Michelle and Tony going clear. Mike had 5 faults and unfortunately Andy and Jo picked up an elimination each. Dave was in the top 10 so qualified for the final with this run.

Individual Jumping
Dave, Jo & Tony went clear. Andy and Helen had 5 faults while Michelle, Gill and Mike were eliminated.

Team Jumping
Being drawn first was unfortunate but possibly turned out to be a good thing. The course had a couple of traps but was otherwise quite fast. We needed quick, clear rounds to be in with a chance. Jo ran first and produced the first clear (lots of cheering!) Michelle next – also clear, then Gill – another clear!!! With only three of the four runs counting Dave now had the opportunity to improve our times so went as quick as he could but this cost him a pole for 5 faults.  The team was lying 10^th at the end of the day.

Saturday
The second day of the competition started with the Jumping round. As the surface was Astroturf with sand, Dave decided not to run Rusty un order to save her feet for the Team Agility and the Individual Finals.

Individual Jumping
Andy, Michelle, Helen and Gill all collected 5 faults on different parts of the course.  Jo, Tony and Mike were eliminated.

Individual Agility
Michelle, Jo and Gill were all clear but not quite fast enough to qualify. Helen, Tony and Mike were on 5 faults while Dave had 15 faults and Andy was eliminated Team Agility. 

Team Agility
Quite nail biting as we were in with a chance.  Jo was first to go but left the A Frame a fraction early to collect 5 faults, Michelle went clear but then Gill got eliminated when Check slipped around to back jump a fence.  The pressure was on Dave who came up trumps with a great clear.

In the end, only two teams had three clears in both the Jumping and Agility with GB coming a creditable 6^th out of 19 teams!  France retained their Team Champion title.

Sunday
It was the last day of the  Finals Day. Dave with Rusty and Helen with Zeus had qualified for the finals.

Individual Final Jumping
Dave had qualified on the first day and Helen also qualified as best of the rest i.e. the best dog from each country that had not already qualified. Dave ran first but picked up an unfortunate 5 faults for a refusal when he and Rusty had a misunderstanding about jumping a fence or going round it.

Helen and Zeus were flying around the course but came to grief at the same fence as Dave. This time Zeus back jumped for an elimination

Individual Agility
It was a very exciting final – running in reverse order, the last 4 dogs had either eliminations or faults leaving the Finnish girl to come up from 5^th to World Champion!

Dave pulled off some outstanding handling with Rusty and layered a peel away pipe tunnel whilst she completed the Dog walk it had to be seen to be believed but the crowd clapped him for this manoeuvre before he even finished the course!  They finished a creditable 15^th of the 61 qualifiers.

The day ended with the Closing ceremony and lots of beautiful trophies were awarded in all of the disciplines. As soon as the ceremony had ended, we all got back on the coach and headed for home!

Final assessment
The results for Team GB were very encouraging. The squad have worked hard over the winter to become more competitive on the FCI courses and the experience of competing at the World Champs will be carried forward to next years selections.

The FCI courses are so much faster than UK courses and, although they sometimes appear easy, they present very different problems when trying to negotiate them. We did not think that the standard of dogs could get much higher but each year we return and the standard has improved. I believe we have some fantastic Belgian Shepherds in GB and our standard is also improving year on year as can be seen by the results achieved at our KC Agility competitions in the UK.

The Championships are extremely exciting to me. It was an honour to watch these world class dogs, many of them Champions in their own countries, working in a lot of disciplines Mondioring, IPO, Showing, Obedience and Agility and seeing how versatile and talented the Belgian Shepherd Dog can be. It was a privilege and a pleasure to watch a breed I love excelling in their own field.

	Joint sponsors of the Great Britain Agility Team for the FMBB World Championships
Thank you I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the team to thanks Mike Bacon for organising the entries, travel arrangements and accommodation a difficult task always well executed which makes the whole event come together and run smoothly. Thank you to Candice Robinson who kindly made tuggy leads in red, white and blue for all of the squad the dogs loved them. A big thank you to Nancy Hudson, Helen and Andy Brown for their training prior to the Champs your knowledge and dedication to the Squad has proved invaluable.

The substantial amount of funds required to send the team is jointly raised by the Belgian Shepherd Dog Association of Great Britain and the Working Belgian Shepherd Dog Society who jointly manage the whole enterprise. We would like to thank both societies for giving up a lot of their own time and for putting in so much effort to make it possible for the BSD agility community to compete in this prestigious World championship competition.

Photos thanks to Candice Robinson &  Michelle Griffiths

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