Redanmuir Wild and Wicked

• Handler name: Lee Warford
• Dog name: Todd
• Breed: Border Collie
• Age: 3 year
• Current Grade: Todd is now in G3
• How long have you been training:
• Where do you live?
• Rescue?
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment:
• One surprising thing about your dog: Todd is my first 'proper' agility dog. I previously ran a friends dog in Veterans.
• Last word: Todd had a fantastic time at the KCI Festival, winning a total of five classes including the Starters Cup Semi-final and both Agility and Jumping qualifiers!

Afterglow First Noel

• Handler name: Laura Maxted
• Dog name: Splash
• Breed: American Cocker Spaniel
• Age: 2 1/2 years
• Current Grade:
• How long have you been training: I have been competing with Splash for a year now
• Where do you live? (Whitstable, Kent)
• Rescue? No, I've had her since she was 12 weeks old
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: Jumps
• One surprising thing about your dog: Splash came from a show breeder but has taken to agility and seems to really enjoy it
• Last word: Splash and has a huge attitude. 

Gwynion Ice Lady

• Handler name: Jake Wilkins (12)
• Dog name: Ice
• Breed: Red Merle Border Collie
• Age: 3 years
• Current Grade: G1
• How long have you been training: Before I got ice I was running and training with my Dad's dogs
• Where do you live? Swindon, Wilts
• Rescue? No
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: Tunnels
• One surprising thing about your dog: This year Ice and I appeared on the Children's BBC programme 'Who Let The Dogs Out' where we competed against other kids and their dogs, learning new tricks in each round and we came out overall winner.
• Last word: This will be my first time visiting and competing at Discover Dogs.

Silent Bob
Photo: Ian Watts Photography

• Handler: Corinne McLavy
• Dog's name: Logan
• Breed: WSD
• Dog's age: 2 1/2 years
• Current Grade: G2 + 2 Jumping wins
• How long have you been training: Since 2010 with Charlotte Hughes at Kampeon.
• Where do you live? Leicestershire
• Rescue? Yes, from Many Tears. He was an unwanted puppy from Ireland.
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: Tunnels & weaves
• One surprising thing about your dog: Bob likes to sing along to the radio – a real treat when I am trying to work!
• Last word: People bring your earplugs. He does enjoy a good bark while running. He's not called Silent Bob for nothing!

Brundledean Beleza

• Handler name: Jane Stafford
• Dog name: Pixie
• Breed: Portuguese Podengo
• Age: 4 years
• Current Grade: Pixie is my first agility dog and this year was our first ever trip to compete in the UK. She did amazingly well, going G2, winning the Starters Cup Semi-finals and then qualifying in the top spot for the Dogs In Need Small Classic Graded 1-2 finals. Unfortunately, it all went a bit pear-shaped in the final, with Pixie literally flying off all the contacts. I think the excitement was too much for us.
• How long have you been training: 2 years. Pixie is not a natural agility dog and I am definitely not a natural agility handler, but I know that she'll always be there doing her very best for me even when she'd rather be somewhere else doing something else!
• Where do you live? Jersey (Channel Islands)
• Rescue? No
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: Dog Walk
• One surprising thing about your dog: She is one one of the only Portuguese Podengos competing in agility. 2012 has been quite a year for us, because apart from all of the above, we won the agility round of the Jersey Agility Dog of the Year and then went on to represent Jersey in the World Agility Open (WAO) in Belgium, making it through to the second round.
• Last word: Pixie is truly awesome and I love her to bits.

A Trick of the Tail
The song that was playing when I was born!

• Handler name: Hayley Telling
• Dog name: Barney
• Breed: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
• Age: 4 years
• Current Grade: G4
• How long have you been training: 1 year and 2 months
• Where do you live? Rustington
• Rescue: Yes, Barney was bred on a puppy farm and was sold to a pet shop at only a few weeks old. He developed very severe kennel cough, and the pet shop assumed due to his breed that he was in heart failure so were going to put him to sleep. He was rescued by a lady who gave him to the Worthing & District Animal Rescue (WADARS) who took him to the vet practice where I work as a nurse. With no fosterers available, I offered to take care of him until he was back to full health. It took many weeks, several different courses of antibiotics, a general anaeasthetic and a lot of love, but eventually, at around 6 months of age, he was healthy enough to be vaccinated! By tht time I had fallen totally in love and wasn't able to part with him. Even my mum who is terrified of dogs agreed that there was no way he could leave!
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: He loves all of it equally!
• One surprising thing about your dog: He has battled lots of health issues from his poor start and bad breeding but still blasts the agility courses with the waggiest tail!
• Last word: Barney is a pleasure to train and just loves to work and learn! In his first year of competition he has by-passed everyone's expectations of what he could do and I am incredibly proud of him!

Patchy Dude

• Handler name: Katie Doyle
• Dog name: Archie
• Breed: Jack Russell X Corgi
• Age: 5 years old
• Current Grade: I am currently G1 but putting him up to Grade 2 for the start of next season.
• How long have you been training: We have been training since 2009 and competing since 2011. In 2011 we started to train with a second club.
• Where do you live? Hitcin, Herts.
• Rescue? No
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: Tunnel.
• One surprising thing about your dog: Archie can beg (as in pic) for hours. I have even seen him nod of whilst begging. It's amazing how high Archie can jump considering how small he is.
• Last word: Archie loves agility and will bark his head off to let everyone know he's about to run.

Denicol Caitlin AW/S

• Handler name: Savina Hart
• Dog's name: Tarnie
• Breed: Golden Retriever
• Age: 4 Years
• Current Grade: G2
• How long have you been training: About 3 years
• Where do you live? Bedfordshire
• Rescue?
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: Dog Walk as there is nearly always food at the end of it!
• One surprising thing about your dog: Tarnie is such a happy and consistent dog. When she is on form, she is such great fun and a pleasure to run. She can be hard work in an afternoon or in the heat, but she's perfect in every other way!
• Last word: This is our second time in this final and we are so excited about going to Discover Dogs again. We both have regular blonde moments but we are hoping not to have any in the ring!

Glan Rhyd Seraphim

• Handler name: Rachel Carroll
• Dog name: Marly
• Breed: Working cocker
• Age: 5 years
• Current Grade: G3
• How long have you been training: 4 & ½ years. Marly was also my first spaniel, although I had a Rottweiler and a Bullmastiff at the time. The difference between the breeds was huge. I had no idea how to deal with a spaniel puppy when I first got her! It's taken a while for us to get over some issues, but I have learnt how to work with her to get the best from her and I feel like we're really progressing well at last!
• Where do you live? Huntingdon, Cambs.
• Rescue? Sort of, I bought her at 4 1/2 months old and already on her third home. The person who bought her from the breeder wanted to use her as a gundog but changed his mind. She did have a few issues including sound sensitivity and separation anxiety but she is much better now than she has been previously.
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: All of it!! She absolutely loves agility. She squeals as we arrive at training, flies from the van to the arena and either starts going over jumps by herself - whatever height they are - or she’ll put herself in a 2 on / 2 off on a piece of contact equipment and start barking at me!
• One surprising thing about your dog: It is surprising that she qualified at all! She’s incredibly sensitive to loud noises, and really struggled to cope with the loud speakers at Rockingham so to put that to one side and manage to run an agility course well enough to qualify in 3^rd place is amazing really. I have no idea how she will cope with Discover Dogs, it’s quite possible she won’t cope with the crowds and noise and not want to perform but as it’s such a once in a life time opportunity I couldn’t turn it down. I have however invested in various calming products, and I have learnt to take the attitude that if she does it, great, and if not well, it’s one of those things. We’ve still done amazingly well to qualify!
• Last word: Marly is an amazing little dog - affectionate, sweet and funny and so cheeky. I love training her and spending time with her at home. I really feel like we have overcome so much to get where we are - both behavioural and physical problems - and our bond is stronger today than it has ever been.

Katajack Deppity Dawg

• Handler name: Lisa Tarry
• Dog name: Depp - And yes, he was named after the fabulous 'Johnny'
• Breed: black and White spotted border collie
• Age: He was 5 years old last Saturday.
• Current Grade: We are now G3. Depp won out of G1 at the beginning of June this year at the Keston show and then won out into G3 at the end of July at Tenterden. This has been his best year ever!
• How long have you been training: We live in a rural village near to the Thames Estuary, Upper Stoke, which is about 10 minutes from Rochester in Kent. We train at Keston Agility Club which is near Orpington and have been training there for three years.
• Where do you live?
• Rescue? I've had Depp from a pup. He was bred by one of out trainers, Kate Davoll. His mum is only a Medium but Depp is a very large, Large! To see him next to his mum, you wouldn't think she could have produced such a big boy!
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: I don't think Depp has a favourite piece of equipment, but he definitely has a least favourite which are the weaves!
• One surprising thing about your dog: His favourite toy is a rubber ball on a rope, but we get through loads of them especially in the winter when we lose them in the dark! He won't go on a walk without his toy!
• Last word: He is a big lovable lump. He is very gentle and likes his cuddles - he loves to put his paws around your neck and sniff your ears. Despite being a border collie Depp is quite a chilled out dog at home and loves to just veg by the fire. I have three other dogs, 2 border collies and an italian volpino, and Depp is very much the boss of the gang!
  
  Depp was my first agility dog and we have such a special partnership now thanks to the agility that allowed us to spend time together on our own away from the other dogs. He is very special to me and I love him very much. I wouldn't change him for the world.

Miss Maisie Minx

• Handler name: Kate Davies (15)
• Dog name: Maisie
• Breed: BC X Working Cocker
• Age: a 2 ½ year old
• Current Grade: We have recently won into G3
• How long have you been training: I have been involved in agility since I was seven years old but have been training Maisie since she was a little puppy, doing tricks and foundation work for agility.
• Where do you live? West Sussex
• Rescue?
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: She loves the tunnel also likes the end of the contact> Sometimes in the middle of training, she just goes and stands on the end because she has learnt that this is a rewarding exercise through shaping the position.
• One surprising thing about your dog: Maisie is that she may look all sweet and innocent but she is very cheeky, hence her KC name, she has been known to steal things like glasses cases, pens, paperwork, letters, food, even to the point where she put her foot through the stair gate to drag my brand new shoes down.
• Last word: Maisie and I love doing agility together as it is great fun. She is such a sweet, fun dog to work and I hope to be doing agility with her for many years to come.

Lady Tealington of Rutland

• Handler name: Emma Drabble
• Dog name: Teal
• Breed: Spaniel X
• Age: 2 1/2 years
• Current Grade: We competed in our first Kennel Club show this summer and have managed to move up to G2 over the last few months.
• How long have you been training: We have been training for just over a year at Paws on Dog Training Club in Leicester where the lovely Julie has put up with both me and the crazy spaniel and taught us loads. We attend one class a week where we practice an agility and a jumping course.
• Where do you live?
• Rescue; No
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: Teal's favourite piece of agility equipment is the tunnel with her least favourite being the weaves. 
• One surprising thing about your dog: Teal was initially meant as my boyfriend Andrew's gun dog, unfortunately for him but luckily for me she turns out to be a rubbish gun dog so I kidnapped her and we have become agility addicts!
• Last word: I can't wait to compete at Discover Dogs and am looking forward to our trip to London. A spaniel on a tube could be interesting!

Rhuaridh's Red Devil

• Handler name: Ruth Mackintosh
• Dog name: Bailey
• Breed: Working Cocker Spaniel
• Age: 2 years (born Jan 2010)
• Current Grade: G2
• How long have you been training: 1 year
• Where do you live? Inverurie, Aberdeenshire
• Rescue? No, Bailey is son of one of our other dogs.
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: This is a hard one... A-frame maybe because he likes to sit on top and admire the view or the see-saw because he likes to be 'Super Dog' and fly off it.
• One surprising thing about your dog: Not really got one
• Last word:

Helles Belles

• Handler name: Amanda Coles
• Dog name: Ellie
• Breed: Jack Russell Terrier
• Age: 3 years
• Current Grade: When she qualified for the final she was G1. She is now G3
• How long have you been training: Ellie has been training for two years, but has only been competing for the last year. I’ve been training for about four years. I also run a whippet.
• Where do you live? Northamptonshire
• Rescue? No
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: The contact equipment because she gets treats in training
• One surprising thing about your dog: Her best friend is a cat!
• Last word:

Sarasal's Blue Cascade of Pepperbox Nov Ex

• Handler name: Becky Collier
• Dog name: Storm
• Breed: Cocker Spaniel
• Age: 8 3/4 years
• Current Grade: We won into G3 in September this year
• How long have you been training: About two years, attending a class most weeks.
• Where do you live? Bristol
• Rescue? No
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: A-frame
• One surprising thing about your dog: He used to do forward rolls as a puppy!
• Last word: I'm really excited to be a part of the final at Discover Dogs and hope that everyone involved in the events has an enjoyable day.

Bramble the Mudlark

• Handler name: Julie Mason
• Dog name: Bramble
• Breed: Border Collie
• Age: 9 years
• Current Grade: We are Grade 1
• How long have you been training: have been training for 6 years although only competing for 3 years.
• Where do you live? Aylesbury, Bucks
• Rescue?
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: She loves all the equipment but weaves are possibly one of her favourite pieces of equipment. Bramble loves agility and once in the ring is totally focussed on what she is doing.
• One surprising thing about your dog: She is toy mad (especially tennis balls) and can find a tennis ball (or piece of tennis ball) that no-one else would know is there. She is even known to leave a good tennis ball for a manky piece of tennis ball!
• Last word: I am delighted to be at Discover Dogs and pleased with our achievements. I only wanted to do agility for fun in the first place but, thanks to my trainer Gloria and the other members of Rebels 2000, we got sucked into competitions and are now hooked.

Brindlebay Kilt

• Handler name: Liz Williams
• Dog name: Bryn
• Breed: Labrador
• Age: 5 1/2 years
• Current Grade: We went into Grade 2 in August 2012 and have an ambition to make it to Grade 3 next year.
• How long have you been training: Bryn started his agility career four years ago at Letchworth DTC. I now run three dogs, two of which have qualified qualified for the KC Starters Cup this year.
• Where do you live? Bedfordshire
• Rescue? No
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: Bryn doesn't have a favourite piece of agility equipment. He loves the lot
• One surprising thing about your dog: For the first two years, I thought we would never have a clear round. He was enjoying himself so much that he was forever missing contacts, knocking poles and missing weaves. In the last 18 months, however, he has suddenly grown up. Whilst we still have our overenthusiastic moments, he has gone from strength to strength and has gained his Bronze Agility Warrant and is only ten points away from his Silver.
• Last word: I would like to say a special thank you to all the Club Instructors, we wouldn't be competing at Discover Dogs without their help and advice.

Decoymans Piper Guelder

• Handler name: Liz Williams
• Dog name: Rudi
• Breed: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
• Age: He is nearly four years old
• Current Grade: We went into Grade 2 in August 2012 and have an ambition to make it to Grade 3 next year.
• How long have you been training: He went to his first agility show when he was four months old, just to watch. He was fascinated. Rudi started training when he was eighteen months and started competing nine months later. 
  Where do you live? Bedfordshire
• Rescue? No
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: Rudi just loves the weaves to the extent that, given the choice, he will run through them in preference to going through a tunnel. He also likes the contact equipment.
• One surprising thing about your dog: This year is only second year of competition and he has gone from 'Mr Clear Round' to consistently gaining top ten places. He has had a fantastic year gaining his Bronze Agility Warrant
• Last word: I was really pleased to qualify one dog for the Final, but when I realised I had qualified both I was over the moon. We are really looking forward to the day but hope that I don't let the dogs down by letting nerves get in the way. Whatever happens on the day we are just going to enjoy ourselves.

Keigame Smart Mover

• Handler name: Chris Lawes
• Dog name: Todd
• Breed: German Short Haired Pointer
• Age: 8 years
• Current Grade: G2
• How long have you been training: A long time...
• Where do you live? Langley, Berks
• Rescue? No
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: Loves it all
• One surprising thing about your dog: Nothing surprising. He's just a great dog!
• Last word: I am very proud of him and looking forward to Discover Dogs

Lozek Daisy May

• Handler name: Dean Williams
• Dog name: Daisy
• Breed: Papillon
• Age: 8 years
• Current Grade: G1
• How long have you been training: 6 years
• Where do you live? Ramsgate, Kent
• Rescue? No
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: See-saw
• One surprising thing about your dog: Her speed
• Last word: I was as at Discover Dogs last year and am pleased to be here again.

Dassett Jess

• Handler name: Sara Acock
• Dog name: Jess
• Breed: Labrador
• Age: 5 years
• Current Grade: 2
• How long have you been training: 3 years
• Where do you live? Banbury
• Rescue? Yes, privately 
• Dog's favourite bit of equipment: A- Frame
• One surprising thing about your dog: She likes spicy food.
• Last word: She loves loves life to the full!