2010 First Contact

Sadly, the last one...

The last First Contact Grade 1 & 2 Agility Final took place at the Dog Vegas show in August at the Winterton Showground in Scunthorpe. After a lot of discussion, First Contact has decided to move its support, after six years, from the Grade 1and 2s to sponsor a Grade 6 qualifier and final.

We were blessed with a dry, but windy evening for the final. Fortunately the ground conditions were perfect for the competition. The crowd gathered to watch the judge Gary Wilkes set a suitably challenging agility course for the competitors. On offer were some lovely glass trophies and a voucher for £100.00 of agility equipment, t-shirts, rosettes to 10th place, and a rosette for all the unplaced finalists.

With the running orders drawn, the course set and Lotta Bowers on the microphone, it was time to start the evening entertainment. The final was about to begin.

Course Plan

First to go was Helen Jones with Vausewood Skip (AW) who had an unfortunate 5 faults in a time of 37.712. As it turned out, we had to wait until the fourth pair to run, Philip Baukham with Jack So Sunny, to set the standard with a lovely clear round in a time of 33.930. Philip would eventually go on to take the 3rd place trophy.

We all watched a further eight dogs come and go before we had a challenger for the lead. Running 13^th – unlucky for some, but not for this combination - was Stephanie Shann and Wiccaweys Buddy Marvelous. They had a fantastic clear round in a time of 29.277. Was this going to be the winning round?

The next combination to even come close was Lindsey Toon with Sir Barks Alot, running 18^th. They had a clear in a time of 31.045. It was a very good try, but proving that the leading time was hard to beat. Even with a total of 10 clear rounds, Stephanie and Buddy managed to hold on to their lead and be known as the last ever First Contact Grade 1 and 2 winner. Well done to both of you. We look forward to handing you the winning Grade 6 trophy soon.

The final proved to be a very exciting competition to watch. Out of the 24 dogs that ran, there were 10 clears, five with 5 faults, three with 10 faults, one with 15 faults, and 5 eliminations, demonstrating that the course was well thought out. Every partnership was worthy of being there, demonstrating that the standard of our up and coming handlers and dogs is getting higher each year. Grade 7 people - watch your backs!

It was lovely to see that a large number of the dogs were rescued or rehomed and seemed to be enjoying every minute of their new lives together especially our winner.  – another lucky dog from the popular Wiccaweys rescue centre. Congratulations to Stephanie and Wiccaweys Buddy Marvelous following in the footsteps of last years winner also from Wiccaweys – Wiccaweys Dancing Brave.

Well done and thank you to all the competitors who provided us with a thrilling and entertaining final, to the clubs that hosted the qualifiers, and the judges and ring parties throughout the year, Gary Wilkes for judging the final, Lotta Bowers for commentating and thank you to Dog Vegas for hosting the final. We look forward to seeing the Grade 6 dogs and handlers next year and an equally exciting final.

For more information on the Grade 6 competition or the Dog Vegas Agility shows, please email Jackie Kenny on jaxk9@tiscali.co.uk.

Results

For more information on First Contact Agility Equipment, please contact Hazel or David at info@firstcontactagility.co.uk

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