Valgrays Dog
of the Year 2012...
 Jack
Be Nimble of Valgray came into rescue as a puppy and was only there for a few days before he
was snapped up by Ann Young. Sometimes she admits it was hard work, but she has done well with
him. He ended up with 1844 point in the Valgray Rescue Dog of the Year league, so we asked her
to write something about her clever little boy who was the 2012 winner, without much help from
her... or so she says.
I have been doing agility for about 11 years. Jack came to me via Valgrays
Border Collie Rescue in October 2006 as an adorable 12 week old puppy. He was surplus to
requirements on a farm in Wales along with his two brothers. The puppies were called Small, Medium
and Large. All were black & white and all quite bold. I chose the largest puppy, but all
were small framed and beautiful, ideal for agility.
Jack
settled in with us very easily and joined our family of dogs with no problems.
I started
training Jack with Sarah MacNeil along with our other dogs Kelpie Ben of Valgray and my
husband's GSD Merlin. Jack picked things up very quickly and we were soon competing . Jack's
first show at age 20 months was Easter Celebration 2008. He managed to get three places in Grade
2. We had a really good year and at Stour Valley show 2008 Jack won into Grade 3.
 2009 was
not a great year for us, however, as I was involved in a RTA and suffered a fractured sternum.
2010 was a
fairly good year with moderate success. 2011 was a non-starter as I was admitted to Hospital
in January, then again in March and ended up in Guys in July for major surgery.
While I was in hospital, friends and
family helped out by taking all my dogs for a while except Jack who isn't always good with dogs
he doesn't live with. He stayed with my husband Derrick and went to work with him. Jack stayed
in the dog van while Derrick was working, being exercised tea breaks and lunch time. Typically
Jack found out where the canteen was very quickly and was thoroughly spoilt by Derrick's work
colleagues. During
this time, Derrick took over Jack's training for me to keep him fit and even competed with him on occasion
with some success.
By this time, we had moved to Kent and started training at Chart Agility
Club as well as Saramak AC.
 I was full
of hope for 2012 as both Jack and I were fit and well, and my clever little boy didn't let
me down. He'd been ready for ages... just waiting for Mum to get her act together.
Jack is very fast and, as I sometimes
loose my way on courses, he barks at me to ask me which way am I supposed to be going.
Easter
Celebration 2012 Jack won out of Grade 3. He also managed a 5th place in the Olympia qualifier.
On July 22nd at Adams Agility Show, Jack won out of Grade 4 and also qualified for Olympia
Semi finals. 0n August 24th at Summer Agility Jack won out of Grade 5.
We
qualified for the Olympia final at the Derbyshire show and waited for the great day to arrive.
Jack was very excited at Olympia and managed to miss two touch points, but we had a really
lovely day and I was very proud of him.
Derrick and
I have made some really good friends through agility and enjoy the social side as well as
competing. I would also like to say a huge thanks to all who have helped me with Jack.
I am
looking forward to this year and hope to continue competing for many years to come.
About the author...
 Ann Young has been married to Derrick for 40 years next year. They have three sons and
two adorable grandsons.
She
worked for the NHS for the last 36 years but retired this year due to ongoing health problems.
First published
24 June 2013 | 
