The Kennel Club agility finals

All the events at the City of Birmingham Championship Dog Show are important, none more so than the Olympia Semi-finals. This is one of the most important events in the UK, and it is certainly one of the most sought after final to be competing in. Many thousands of competitors try and get into the semi-finals, and it is an accepted fact that this has helped drive the popularity of agility in the UK. If you ever have the chance to visit the finals at the magical Olympia Christmas Horse Show you will understand why.

This year we held a selection of Kennel Club Olympia Agility Semi-finals and Pedigree Finals between Friday, 4 to Sunday, 6 September. As usual, we ran the Crufts Agility qualifier for the YKC as well. Our judge this year was Roger Griffin, one of the most experienced judges that the UK. He's judged and competed at all levels and has been active in the sport for 20–25 years. Apart from being a great judge and course designer, he’s a really nice guy and a pleasure to work with.

Just a final word as the Event Organiser before the Judge's report. I would like to thank Keith Young and the Committee of City of Birmingham for allowing us to have our agility events at their prestigious show. They even managed to arrange good weather!

I'd also like to thank all the team who help me run these events every year. Apart from our judge for this event Roger Griffin and his lovely wife Jackie, I had Pauline Barr, Roger and Pauline Churchill, Rob Hunter, Elaine Seagroatt, Pauline Fletcher, Shaun Young and Liz Morgan. I can assure you that when you are running back to back events three days in a row, you need a good team and I am blessed with the fact that I have one.

Judge's Report

My course designs were set up for fast and open running but required enough handling to take through the dogs which would perform well at Olympia.

Friday, 4 September

KC Olympia Novice Semi-Final
The Novice Semi-Final on Friday saw 60 dogs taking part. The top 35 would qualify. In the end 23 clear rounds went through while 12 handlers of the fasted handlers qualified on 5 faults. This competition was at a very high level and it was exciting to watch as the competitors with 5 faults had to push for time.

The winning dog, Nedlos Jitterbug, with handler Angela Williams won in a time of 27.18. There was little to differentiate between the top five handlers. All were in the 27 second bracket. In fact, the top 14 rounds were sub-30 seconds. This was was an excellent level for this Grade 3–5 competition. Course Plan

Qualifiers

KC Olympia Large Semi-Final - Heat 6
Friday afternoon saw the first of the Large semi-finals I was judging over the weekend for Grade 6 & 7 dogs. We had four clears and a fast 5 faults qualifying on this day. Greg Derrett really had to go for time when he incurred 5 faults for a pole down/. He finished with a stunning time of 26.79 which was the fastest in the competition. 

Once again, the level of competition was high. There was were handlers on 5 faults, four of which had times in the 27 second range. It was a close competition. Well done to Katie, Stuart, Rebecca, Anthony and Greg for qualifying for Olympia on the penultimate heat. Course plan

Qualifiers

Saturday,  5 September

YKC Birmingham Agility Final
The YKC events on this morning were a pleasure to judge. These Over and Under 12 handlers were very professional and the parents were extremely well behaved, too! The juniors qualifying for Crufts in each category will be a must to watch. Well done everyone. The overall winner and runner up were both in the Under 12 category. Course Plan

• Overall winner - Ella Garwood with Cories Afkka (Australian Kelpie)

• Runner up - Sarah Wolverson with Ashpen Santa's Secret (X)

KC Olympia Large Semi Final - Heat 7
Dave Ray deemed this Semi as the 'last chance saloon.' It was the second of the Large Semi-finals that I was judging and so I tried to keep the course similar to the day before by having a box and a tunnel after a contact point. The second handler to run, Kathrin Tasker, set the sights high when she ran clear with 'ell for leather’ in a time of 27.69 but, sadly for her, her lead did not last as the clears started to come in thick and fast. She eventually had to settle for 7^th place as we had 11 fantastic clears today.

Elaine Auty with Nedlo Heeza Beauty won the competition in a time of 26.99. He really is a great dog to watch. Well done to Elaine, Becca, Sarah, Toni and Sue for qualifying the latter in a time of 27.39 so you can imagine how exciting this semi final was. Course Plan

Qualifiers

KC Olympia Small Semi Final
The Small Semi-final on Saturday was the same as the Large except for a change in the box running the diagonals instead of straight through and back around.

Second to run was Nicola Garrett who put in our first clear in 29.43 seconds. Dawn Weaver qualifying two dogs for the semi ran 7^th with Chelsea and she pipped Nicola in a time of 27.74. Then running 18^th with Puzzle, Dawn pushed into 2nd place where she would remain. Miranda Frankham had qualified no less than three of her dogs. On her first run, she picked up 5 faults but she put in two clears in her subsequent runs.

We had a total of seven clears in this competition which meant that fast dogs with faults had a chance of qualifying. As both Dawn and Miranda can only take their top placed dog, it meant that we had to go down to 12^th place to find our 10^th finalist. This was Jeanette Tandy and Wee Betsy Boo. Jeanette clearly showed her delight at qualifying at the prize giving. I believe she had been trying for some years to qualify for Olympia.

Well done to the ten finalists.

Finalists

Sunday, 6 September

Pedigree Team Relay
In the morning we had the Team event. It was a fast course with the added fun of a baton change making for an exciting competition.

The Wilmslow Wonders were drawn first. They had 10 faults until the last handler and dog were eliminated. The second team to go was Formula One. Unfortunately for them, their first dog suffered an elimination. Team 3 was the SOATC Babes. Although all team members incurred faults, none of them were eliminated si with a team total of 45 faults and a time of 127.89, they took the lead.

Team 4 was the Levenhall Flyers, down from Scotland. With one clear round and the others with faults, they snatched the lead of the Babes with 20 faults in a time of 125.73. Team 5 five was the blonde and bold Wannabees (aka Diesel and the doughnuts!) Three of the team got 5 faults, but sadly the other member was eliminated so that put them out of contention.

Running sixth was Paws One, down from Lincoln. Pete Wells, running first, kept going on despite two missed contacts and incurring five faults. However his wife Shirley and team members Jill and Jo put in three lovely clears in a time of 130.12. With just 10 faults into the lead they went.

Beacon Red was the penultimate team. Their first handler made an error on the weaves but didn’t correct it so earned her team an elimination. The team had one clear and two on 5 faults in a time of 127.67. The last team up was Midsomer whose first dog started with 5 faults. They still could go for it, but sadly the second dog was eliminated. With another 5 faults and another elimination from Midsomer's last dog, Paws One knew the title was theirs. Great handling under pressure. Well done, you four. Course Plan

Winners

Pedigree Pairs Relay
In the afternoon we had the Pedigree Pairs Relay Final. There were some very fast dogs out there competing and their handlers were just as quick to get good positions for the turns and an awkward weave entry from an offset tunnel entry equally tricky. The competitors for this event were very supportive of each other and there was a great mixture of sympathy and fun depending on the outcome of each pairs run! 

Well done to the top five pairs, all with double clears. Sharon Brooke and Brad Moyler put in an amazing time of 46.66 closely followed by last years winners Tom Hadaway and Mark Douglas in 46.98.

My commiserations go to Tracy Flower and Paul Oldfield who would have won this competition with two clears in a time of 46.46, Unfortunately Paul, running second, let his dog take the first jump after he had completed his run. In my briefing I told the competitors that this would mean elimination. Course Plan

Winners

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