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Good things come in Small packages
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Large
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Medium
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Small
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The
Competition In the Large Team event, the GB team were the last to run, and with a very tight time allowed, had Brazil, with 2.12 time faults, the team to beat. Karen Stanbrook with Kai just nudged a pole and Lesley Olden with Beanie missed a weave entry to pick up 5 faults each, whilst Dave Alderson, going well with Spice, stepped back onto a jump and was eliminated, leaving the team in 23rd place. The Agility round, again with a tight time, proved equally difficult with both Karen and Lesley picking up eliminations, whilst Dave and Spice had a good clear round, but left the team in 27th place in the Agility and 27th overall. Brazil were the eventual winners, with The Netherlands and Belgium in second and third.
The Agility round again caused some problems, Angela and Ten again being eliminated, whilst Alan Gardner had a refusal, but Natasha Wise showed the true spirit of agility, and had the fastest clear round of 36.58secs, to leave the team in 17th place and 15th overall. The eventual winners were France, from Switzerland and The Czech Republic.
The Agility round saw Dave Alderson again going clear, whilst Nicola had a fast clear round and Rachel, just 1.36 time faults to take the lead with just 6 teams left to run. France, Switzerland, The Czech Republic and Germany all picked up faults, but Brazil and Russia held their nerve to go first and second, with the GB Team in a very creditable third place. The Small Individual Jumping course again caused problems with only 18 clear rounds. Dave Alderson with Libby, going clear in 30.72secs. Rachel Mowbray going next had 2.84 time faults and Nicola an excellent round to take second place in 28.49secs, with Dave in 16th and Rachel in 32nd.
Marcy Mantell of the USA with her Sheltie was the eventual winner, followed by Switzerland and Sweden. Rachel being 11th and Nicola 12th. The Medium Individual Jumping round saw Alan Gardner the first to run, but Jude took a wrong jump when going well. Next saw Natasha Wise really showing the way to tackle a difficult course, taking the lead in a time of 25.66secs. Angela Williams with Ten showed their true form, with a nice clear round. Natasha held her lead throughout, winning the jumping round with .93 of a second lead over the very good second dog, Nitro from Canada.
Anton Zurcher with the Border Collie, Witch was the winner with Germany and Russia in second and third. The Large Dog Jumping saw Karen Stanbrook and Kai picking up a refusal, whilst Lesley Olden and Beanie had a refusal and time faults for a 61st and 62nd placing. Dave Alderson with Spice went round in 28.36secs for 15th place.
The overall winner was the popular American, Marcus Topps with Juice, from the Norwegian Jan Egil Eide with the Malinois, Cirkus and the Finn Jouni Orenius with Yoko. The courses were at times on the 'strange' side for a world championship, with the course times in the first couple of days very tight. Some of the judging decisions were the talk of the Championship, but unless you are in the middle of the arena, you are not sure what the judge saw, so we have to accept that things may have appeared different from the ring. Having said that, there were some excellent runs, with Natasha and Dizzy putting in some dazzling performances, much admired by the press bench, and the audience as a whole. Marcus Topps, continued with the fine performance he gave at Crufts, and I look forward to him coming to England again next year. |
Steve Croxford said: 'This was one of the most exciting World Championship events and the first ever podium win by the Small team was an incredible achievement. We are really proud of all of the dogs that took part and this shows that we remain a force to be reckoned with on the world stage of agility.'
Overall a very good World Championship, well run by the Finnish Kennel Club, and well supported by the many very knowledgeable spectators that made the long journey to Finland.
Photos reproduced with the kind permission of Antti Karppien 2008
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British
dogs have proved that the best things come in little packages after a team of Small breeds
jumped to victory and won its first ever podium place at the 
The
Medium Team event started with Angela Williams and Ten picking up three refusals in an
uncharacteristic nervous display, whilst Natasha Wise and Dizzy and Alan Gardner and Jude
both had refusals, but both clocked fast times to leave the team in 14th place. 
The
Small Team event started as usual with the jumping round. Dave Alderson with Libby going
clear, whilst Nicola Garrett with Indy picked up 5 faults whilst Rachel Mowbray with Meg
had 2.12 time faults. The team at this time in 7th place. 
The
Agility round saw Rachel and Meg the first GB dog to run, but again picked up 1.12 time
faults. Dave and Libby were eliminated, but all eyes were on Nicola, the last but one to
run, with a great chance of a World title. Unfortunately Indy just tipped a pole for 5
faults to put Nicola out of the running. 
In
the agility round, both Alan Gardner and Angela Williams joined the 50% of dogs that were
eliminated, but Natasha, being first in the jumping was last to run, and had to watch
whilst the 5 dogs running before her were all eliminated. She started off with
determination, making sure on a very tight course. With just three obstacles to go, she
made sure that Dizzy was lined up for the hurdle, but was given a refusal, a decision
that was very hotly debated for the rest of the championships. Natasha eventually
finishing 17th in the agility round, and 7th overall, 3.5secs faster than the winning
dog. 
In
the Agility round Lesley picked up two refusals and a time fault, whilst Karen had 3
jumping faults and a refusal. Dave and Spice were determined to go for it, but picked up
a jumping fault and a 45th place. Overall Dave Alderson was 24th with Lesley Olden in
61st and Karen in 63rd place.