A roller coaster ....

Almost 700 dogs from four continents and 27 countries including Russia, Japan and The USA gathered at the 2009 European Open Agility Championships, hosted this year by Holland over the weekend of 25-26 July. This competition is open to all dogs - pedigree and non-pedigree from all countries. The Kennel club entered a very talented and enthusiastic team of 17 dogs and handlers, all of whom had qualified via a rigorous and demanding selection process. KC Team GB European Manager Graham Partridge reports...

We had travelled to Holland on the Thursday before the event. The majority of the team opted to travel independently to Arnhem. The Kennel club also hired a mini bus for those who did not wish to drive themselves. We travelled via Euro Tunnel who had very kindly opted to support our team by providing free travel for dogs together with a substantial discount for team members. If you are thinking of taking your dogs abroad, then I would definitely recommend the Euro Tunnel as is it very quick and easy with the added benefit that you can remain with your dogs the whole way.

Friday
On the Friday, we were required to register. We had to have our pet passports inspected and we handed over our Kennel club record books. Following registration, we were allocated a practice time. We were only allowed 1 minute per dog - 17 minutes total so it was important that we were well organised. The British team is well regarded throughout the world and always attracts an audience, and this year it was no different even whilst practicing.

This event is held under FCI rules and equipment specifications which do not differ greatly from ours so it was more a question of acclimatising the dogs and handlers to the location and event than practising. We had prepared well before set out to Holland with Team practice sessions which included the FCI equipment which was different such as the frame tyre and weave frame spacing.

On the Friday evening there was an opening ceremony which started with a parade of teams, each carrying their national flags. It was a proud moment and a great honour for me to lead the GB  team onto the field, carrying the Union Flag  The team looking resplendent in the team uniform which the Agility Team GB supporters club had very kindly funded. Thank you.

Saturday
The competition started in earnest at 8am on the Saturday morning. The first day was devoted to the Individual competition where each member of the Team competed over an Agility and a Jumping Round. The top 20 competitors from each of these rounds plus the top placed member of each country in each of the three height categories qualified for the Individual Finals which were held in the main ring in the evening.

We had a very successful day, bearing in mind that there were 348 Large, 184 Medium and 157 Small dogs competing. Four of our nine Large dogs, two out of four Mediums and three out of four Small dogs qualified for the finals.

During these qualifying rounds, we had one podium finish with Dave Munnings and Dobby (Ag. Ch. Gunran Misteree) taking Gold in the Individual Qualifying Agility round. It was a fabulous result against some of the best dogs in the world. You can see Dave's fabulous run here

The Individual Finals were well attended with a typically testing course for the best in the world to negotiate Accuracy and speed were required and after some awesome runs.

It saw Mark Laker with Kodi (Ag.Ch. Bekkis Carbon Copy) an impressive 4th overall in the Large section, Bernadette Bay with Zen (Ag.Ch. Obay Truly Balanced) an equally impressive 5th overall in the Medium and Rachel Mowbray with Meg (Ag.Ch. Laurelton Winter Nutmeg) in the 13th overall in the Small category.

Sunday
Once again it was an early start for the Team event. This was divided into two height categories - Large and a combined Medium/Small Team. Each member of each team ran Agility and a jumping round. Points were awarded based where you finished. The points accrued by each team member were added together and the team with the most points won.

Again we had some fantastic performances. Notable was Nic Jones with Caleb (Caleb Slieve) coming 1st out of 327 dogs in the Agility section with a stunning run, equalling anything we had seen. Unfortunately, however, no individual prizes were awarded in this section. One of our two Large teams, in fact, the one consisting of Nic Jones, Lucy Osborne, Ann-Marie Froggatt and Malcolm Card was lying 2nd at the halfway point, but they were unable to hold onto this place in the second round, finally finishing 17th.

The other large team of Greg Derrett, Anthony Clarke, Mark Laker and David Munnings had some great runs but they were unlucky to lose a team member through injury and eventually end up finishing 10th.

The Medium team, made up of Bernadette Bay, Laura Richardson, Susie Josty and Cheryl (Beryl) Harkness, put in five out of eight good clear rounds, but such was the standard of the Medium dogs that they could only get 14th place. They deserved better.

Our Small team of Nicola Garrett, Rachel Mowbray, Dave Alderson and Rosie Cavill performed with great distinction. Had they been competing against other Small teams, they would have finished 2nd. However, as it was a combined Small and Medium competition, we finished a very creditable 7th.

Competing in these Finals could well be a dictionary definition for the word pressure . Every one of our team performed extremely well in the face of the very best in the world On another day, we could easily have had podium finishes in each height category.

On the Saturday night the organising committee laid on a BBQ with a Disco where again Team GB were very impressive.

Sunday evening saw the closing and prize giving ceremony and the handing over of the European Open flag to next years host, the Czech Republic. For this ceremony the Team was lead onto the field by the Team coach Dave Jolly who did a superb job throughout the weekend supporting both the team and me.


Large Team
Large Team
Medium Team
Small Team


The Management Team

Thank you
The Sunday evening finished with a Team meal where each member was presented with a certificate by the Kennel Club. I have to say that each one of them did it to the best of their ability, with great distinction, pride and tremendous team spirit. and I thank each one of them for their support and cooperation which made my job so easy and pleasurable.

In addition there are a few other people who must be thanked including:-

  • Liz and Alan Pollock of Premier Show jumps for allowing use of their premises as a meeting point and storage of our vehicles

  • Zoë Tharmasingam from the KC for all her hard work in organising and administering

  • Team vet Rachel Mowbray for her voluntary work in looking after the Team and Pet Passport issues

  • The travelling supporters and grooms for all their support and encouragement

I would like to also thank everyone who sent good wishes and messages of support, I appreciated it and I know the team did as well.

All in all, it was a trip to be remembered for its roller coaster of emotions in the successes and disappointments, but more so, one to be remembered for the hard work, team spirit, mutual support and fun that we as Agility Team GB all had.

Author credit...
Graham Partridge, Kennel Club Agility Team GB European Manager, is a retired police officer from Cornwall who now runs Kernow K9 Dog Services and breeds Gunran Border Collies with his wife Pat. 

He started Agility in 1987 and judging in 1991 and is now a KC Accredited Judges Trainer. He has Judged throughout Europe. He is currently competing with his Grade 7 BC Polly and younger Grade 5 BC Tip.

Photos: Martin Tait and EO web site

First published in the Kennel Gazette (September)

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