As ever the Welsh Kennel Club wishes to record its thanks to our judges this year and joins them in congratulating the winners, all the competitors and the team who makes it all work and is very grateful for the support of Eukanuba of the 2019 Agility Championships at the summer show.

After the previous week's wet weather, the condition of the ground was of some concern to both the Champ Judges Gary Murphy and Alan Mitchell.  After an inspection on Friday, they agreed the ground was very wet but looked like it would remain stable, so they set up their course and hoped for the best. When they arrived on Saturday morning, they were both pleasantly surprised to see how well the ground had drained overnight.

Having just the one ring for all Championship heights meant Gary and Alan needed to agree the course design the courses so that it would suit all heights, flowing but challenging.

 Well done to all who competed though there were some no shows. Weather may have put a few off!

Small & Medium Champ
Saturday was dry and an ideal day for dogs to compete. Small went first, followed by the Medium, both judged by Gary.

First in the ring were the Small and Medium dogs. There were some great runs in the Final but the odd 5 faults plagued a few. In the end it was Mark Wingate - Wynne (Small Dog) and Harriet Harding  (Medium Dog) who won the tickets.

For Harriet and her dog Izzy, winners of the Medium class, it was their third CC, making her Ag.Ch. Little Miss Izz.

Small Dog winner Mark said, 'Snazzy winning a CC in her first season at Grade 7 surpassed any goal we had for the year. Our qualifying rounds went well but a couple of unexpected poles gave us an early run in the Final. We really enjoyed Gary Murphy’s fast flowing and technical courses, so we went into the Final confident, knowing that a good run would put pressure on those running afterwards. And that is how it turned out. I am very lucky to have Snazzy as a partner - such a talented Obay Sheltie, bred by Bernadette Bay. Now to look forwards to Crufts 2020.'

The 20 finalists promised to provide a great final and did not disappoint. Stuart Harmes and Mole were the first to run, They did a ballistic clear run setting a time of 37.043 secs. This set a high target for the other competitors, but to no avail. Try as they did, the other 19 dogs could not better Stuart's run, and he was ticket winner by a mere 4.5 seconds with Emma Haines and Dexter achieving the Reserve. What a final ending to the Welsh Kennel Club Large Championship Agility class with Welsh handlers 1st and 2nd.

Stuart Harmes told Agilitynet, 'Was a wonderful day with amazing courses and so special to win in Wales. Big shout out to Alan, the judge, and the organisers of the show - even more special that at the age of seven, it was Mole's first ticket, and that I retired the day before I won the ticket after 33 years in the NHS.'

Results