Enormous thanks to the merry band of helpers who came together to put on the 2019 Agility Fun Day on behalf of the WCGB. A small, but an incredibly generous group of experienced agility handlers who gave up hours of their time in the months leading up to the event, all working together in planning and running the show on the day.
A special thanks to our judge for the day, Ann Miller and her scrime Jo Hunter.
The central location saw people traveling from as far afield as Somerset, Kent The Wirral, Surrey, North Lincolnshire and all points in between. Some staying overnight in a hotel to make a weekend of the occasion.
The venue was just perfect with a fully fenced menage as the main arena and a separate securely enclosed grass area for training the dogs/or handlers new to agility. It was incredibly kind of Alan Score to allow us to host the event at his home near Rugby and provide all the facilities one could possibly wish for free of charge and thus enabling us to make a small profit.
42 dogs were entered, although some were sadly unable to attend on the day, 8 of these were people who either had no experience at all of agility or had done minimal training and entered our 'newbie session' Other came along to spectate, enjoy watching the dogs and helping us plough through 60 cupcakes and 2 tray bakes.
We ran 6 competition classes (agility, jumping, steeplechase, and All-sorts) and had dogs from all grades.. 1-7 represented. Other breeds were welcome to enter the main classes as long as they lived in a Weimaraner owning household.
The grand finale was The Weimaraner Challenge Cup where 14 of our beautiful breed competed for the amazing trophies
Weimaraner Challenge Cup
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John True Ansona Celebrations AWP
2nd Jo Hunter Precious Diesel AWP
3rd Alan Pickering Minsterggate Britannia
Agility Grade 1=5
Victoria Baker Sterling Silver Sky
2nd John True Braefell Skylark
Agility Grades 4-7
Jo Hunter Precious Diesel
2nd John True Ansona Celebrations AWP
All Sorts
Alison Deakin Felhund Astarte
2nd Clive Hudson Sireva Viceroy
Jumping Grades 1-3
Fiona Somerville Teasles Blue Shadow
2nd Jo Sullivan Trubon Go Dolly Trifik
Jumping 4-7 Jo Hunter Precious Diesel
2nd Imogen James My Alfie
All Sorts Steeple Chase
Clive Hudson Sireva Viceroy
2nd Janet Hudson Sireva Pointless at Silvercoates
Steeplechase
Grades 1-3
Alan Score Trubon Ganaki Tryak
2nd Victoria Baker Sterling Silver Sky
Grades 4-7
John True Ansona Celebrations AWP
2nd Jo Hunter Precious Diesel
It is impossible to pick out just one favourite moment from the day will be different from the favourite moments of others present. I particularly enjoyed watching older dogs and those with previous injury having a blast around the all-sorts courses. Another highlight for me was seeing the 'newbies' giving it a go in the main arena over part of a competition course at lunch time. Most of them .had only had an hour and a half of training at the event before running over a course of 12 obstacles in front of a crowd of spectators. That takes great courage but is a testament to the atmosphere at the event where these new handlers felt supported, welcome, included and encouraged by more experienced handlers. They all did incredibly well and I am delighted to say that 4 of them have been in touch since the event asking for advice about finding a training club in their own locality so that they can progress further.
The other 'stand out' feature of the day was the amazo=ing generosity of those that attended. Not only was everyone supportive of one another and keen to help out if needed but the raffle was beyond my wildest expectations. Everyone brought some nice quality items that you'd love to take home, and everyone bought tickets. I left the book of tickets and an honesty box for the money on the side in the kitchen and people helped themselves. We sold 480 tickets and raised an incredible £ 101. Thank you so much, everyone. All the money raised from the raffle and the profit from the entry fees has seen us be able to donate £150 to WCGB Rescue Rehoming & Welfare Service.
Although this was my first year organizing the fun day I know that it has always been popular and I hope to see it as a regular event on the Weimaraner Club of Great Britain calendar. We are already planning the next one for October 2020, quite possibly Sunday 11th October so tentatively pencil in that date. I would dearly like to host another 'newbie' session in the spring or summer but this would be dependent on demand and securing a suitable affordable venue Please get in touch if this is something that you would be interested in attending
. Alison True
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