From the Welsh Hills to
Novice Agility Dog
 Junior
handler Gina Graham got her 'little freak' as company for her crossbreed Dizzy who had been in
training for about five months. Dizzy had already been to her first agility show, got clear
rounds in all classes, had some placings in Obedience and Heelwork to Music competitions. Gina
realised, however, that Dizzy was too slow to do well in Agility so she decided she wanted a
Border Collie. And what a dog she got! This is Cassie's story - a fruit 'n nut case makes good!
I desperately wanted a blue merle, but to be honest would
have had anything. When we heard The Border Collie Trust had a four month old blue merle in, I
was ecstatic and didn't sleep that night. My mum said she didn't think we should go and see
her, because she was too young - we were aiming for six months up- but when we got there, we
realised she was really about six months. So we took her home. She weighed about a 1/3 of what
she should have done and she had kennel cough and diarrhea. And then we found out she hated
everyone... except us.
 She
had been roaming the Welsh hills for all of her life and was definitely not house-trained. It
took about six months to get her health sorted, and we are still working on the people problem.
Although now she is fine with 'doggie people,' but hates anyone who doesn't smell of dogs. She
still chases cars as well.
How we got there
Cas (Flibebrty Gibbet) started agility in March
2001, and we decided to join a club. Agility really brought her out of herself - another case
of agility and the shy dog, I think. We soon discovered she had speed -more, at least, than
Dizzy anyway.
In fact, as she was so nutty I thought that I would never
have control over her, but because she is a one person dog, she stuck with me and did as she
was told,. She has never been a problem control-wise even though she speeds round like a
maniac.
I made sure right from the beginning she knew her lefts
from her rights, and we did a lot of work on that. We didn't have any problems, apart from the
fact she was too scared to go into the tunnel. In the end we put little bits of treat all the
way along the inside and left her outside with it and watched. After running round it for about
ten minutes trying to figure out how to get to them without going inside, she finally stepped
foot inside the tunnel.
 It
took a while to get her to weave. At first I tried the channel weaves method, but it didn't
work for us, so I just lured her through with a treat, and she picked that up in no time. Now
she has solid weaves and picks up entries very well even at funny angles. She is so good I even
entered in the 60-pole weave challenger at Easter Egg'stravaganza.
I quickly learned that where I could run Dizzy any way I
like and she'll still do everything, with Cas I have to have my body position exactly right. A
turn of my body even the slightest movement will send her flying off in that direction.
 Success
We were ready for out first competition at
18 months. I broke her in gently entering one class - The Agility Club Starters Agility
Challenge Heat for 2002. She came eighth. I was very pleased. Then we won KCJO Biathlon
qualifier and came second in the flyball qualifier for Crufts. She went to a couple more shows
picking up a second in Elementary Jumping at Tuffley Limit. At Crufts she enjoyed her agility
and Flyball, but was very nervous in the Obedience. Then it was Easter Egg'stravaganza where
she won a Junior Agility. At Dordale she won out of Elementary - a third in Starters Jumping.
The next week at Beacon she came second in Junior Agility.
 Then
came Worcester. It was lovely weather for dogs, cloudy but warm enough for us to sit out in.
The Agility Club Starters Challenge Heat was our first class. Oh no, there were nine weaves! It
was just as well we had been practising nine at home that week. She went clear in a time of
21.49 seconds. She definitely wasn't as fast as she usually is so I never thought we'd win by
three seconds! It was our first ever class we entered a few months before and the one we won
out of!
The next day was Wilmslow and a lovely Elementary Jumping
course I just blasted her round and she won by two seconds clear!
Out of nine shows that we have been to so far this
year, she's had:-
- 11 trophies
- 6 x first placings
- 4 x second pacings
- 2 x third placings
A total and utter nutter
No doubt you'll see her bouncing and yapping in Novice and Intermediate queues. She doesn’t
need training for Novice/Intermediate courses, I do! She maybe a little
bit of a freak, but she's my little freak and I love her for it.
 About
the author...
Gina Graham got her dog Dizzy as a rescue
at the end of 1999 and Cas in mid-2000. She discovered agility when she found Agilitynet in
2001.
She goes to most shows in the Midlands and will most
probably be found camping in her tent with her friend Rachel and their three dogs, soon to be
4!
Gina is a member of the YKC and attended
KCJO camp in 2001. She
would love to set up an agility training club when she is older as there aren't any competitive
clubs closer than 30 minutes away. She rents a field so she can go and train there anytime. She
has designed and built some of her own equipment. Rachel comes along sometimes to train and
they help each other which is nice.
Her aim in agility is to have an agility champion at some
point in her lifetime. She would love to make it to Olympia with Cas at some point in her
agility career.
Gina also does Obedience, Flyball and Heelwork to Music.
Her other interests include horse riding, swimming and going out with her friends as well as
working on her websites http://home.talkcity.com/earthteam2000/dogmad1/ and
http://members.tripod.co.uk/Exemptionshows.
Feedback
From Catherine Cronin
I like this account as it shows not just a keen interest and achievement in trials
but a lot of love for the dogs as well. (252/06/02)
From Sally Myndock...
I am new to the agility world and have just recently found your website, I too have
a rescue dog like the one in the story 'From the Welsh Hills to Novice Agility Dog'. It has
really inspired me, I think it is a brilliant article. It shows that you can do anything if you
really want to and Gina is obviously very committed and to have achieved so much in such a
short time! (12/06/02)
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