The A1 K9 UK Challenge 2007  The Results, Pictures and Editorial.

This years A1K9 UK Challenge was even better supported than the last with competitors travelling from as far afield as Cumbria, Bedfordshire and London. Visitors too in many cases travelled great distances to come and spectate and support the event, one couple travelling down from Inverness having been told of the competition by friends a week earlier.

Some of our friends who came to help and support made the journey from Germany and the competition decoys were flown in from Belgium and France to add a little something different to the protection work scenarios.

The event which was the second of it's type to be held at A1 K9 was in all a great success, a combination of skill and great sportsmanship by the competitors. It proved to be a great showcase and spectacle for those interested in seeing working dogs at their best whilst raising a considerable sum of money for Macmillan Cancer Support the chosen charity absolutely blitzing what was raised last year.

The competition was designed to give exposure to working dogs and handlers allowing both the private sector security companies and Service dog and handler teams to compete against one another in three disciplines, obedience, agility, and protection work.

There certainly was hot competition for the top spots with only a few points seperating the top of the pack.

John Humphris one of the judges sent in the following summary of the days action.

Hello Charles

At long last I have put finger to keyboard to thank you and Gaynor for the invitation to judge at the A1 K9 Challenge

2007 Competition. Also for your hospitality in putting up with me over the weekend.

The trials were as usual efficiently run at a superb venue. The weather was kind which made the day even more enjoyable.

My co- judge was Jim Gaule from South Wales Police. Jim judged the obedience whilst I judged the agility. We then both judged the Manwork in the afternoon.

For my part it was nice to see so many dogs and handlers giving a good account of them selves in the agility. Many of these jumps the dogs had not seen before, some only once when they competed last year.

Marks were out of 150. I was looking for the control of the dog as well as negotiating the jump. I wanted the dog and handler to stay together all of the way round the arena

Each obstacle to be jumped separately under the command of the handler. This could be done at the run by the handler as long as he was able to keep the dog with him prior to each jump.

We had one full mark round by the outright winner of the competition Peter Branch and his 5yr old GSD  bitch MEG. A pleasure to watch. We had other good rounds from Scott Boardman and his 2 year old Malinois bitch Gwenny who gained 148 marks and David Clarke with Asko 18months old GSD dog who gained 146. As it turned out later these three came 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the whole competition.

In the afternoon we had the Manwork. A few surprises, and a quick change in the escort exercise where we had the escort after the chase was done off the lead. We consulted all of the competitors and it was agreed that it would make it easier for marking if this was done.

The surprises came with the French Ring helper, who was the gun criminal. I do not think any of us realised how amazingly agile these fellows are.

In their own sport it is the intention for the helper to evade the dog. This he managed with most dogs. It was necessary to mark most dogs on the tenacity of their attacks. Lessons to be learnt from this by both sides.

 No problems from the Stick Criminal, an IPO helper who although young and lithe was able to put each dog under pressure.

There was not any problems from the two chase criminals. One stopped before the dog got to him the other kept running then threw a bag away to distract the dog. All dogs managed this without much problem.

Both Jim and I marked on what we saw. To my mind the team that won deserved to win. My congratulations to Peter and Meg who came first with 376marks, Scott and Gwenny with 374 marks, who came second, David Clarke and Asko with 370 marks. who came third, and to all of the other teams that competed. I hope to see you all next year. My best wishes to you all.  

My thanks to all of the A1K9 team that helped to make this an enjoyable day and to all the members of the Macmillan Cancer Support  who ensured we all had plenty to eat and drink during the day and the Bar-B-Q after the competition.

Thank you again Charles for a great day

Kind regards

John

The Competitors of the day were as follows:

 

Competitor	Company/Sevice	Dogs Name	Breed	Age of Dog
Victor Bragga	Top Dog Security	Jet	Dobermann	5
Damian O Donnell	ODC K9	Baz	GSD	4.5
Peter Zemek	Top Dog Security	Argo	Malinois	6
Peter Branch	Caesar Security	Meg	GSD	5
Ron Stanley	Heath Working Dogs	Duke	GSD	5
Scott Boardman	Security (Mali Club)	Gwenny	Malinois	2
Jim Szmidt	Heath Working Dogs	Simba	GSD	3
James Hughes	Town and Country Security Svcs	Tzar	GSD	6
Craig Baker	Bedfordshire Police	Diva	GSD	3
Mick Tustain	Wandsworth Parks Police	Ike	Malinois	5
Kenny Davidson	Protek UK9	Miki	Malinois	3
Neil Lambert	Bedfordshire Police	Milo	GSD	2
David Clarke	Wandsworth Parks Police	Asko	GSD	1.5
Tim Smart	Bedfordshire Police	Simmo	GSD	2       WITHDRAWN
Dave Powell	SSI Ltd	Blitz	Malinois	4
John Davidson	Protek UK9	Dennis	Malinois	3
Mark Adams	Heath Working Dogs	Tyson	GSD	4

 

 

The Scoreboard looked like this at the end of the day:

Competitor	Obedience	Agility	Protection	Total Score
Victor Bragga	71	108	98	277
Damian O Donnell	88	111	112	311
Peter Zemek	51	99	121	241
Peter Branch	83	150	143	376 – 1st
Ron Stanley	85	133	111	329
Scott Boardman	84	148	142	374 – 2nd
Jim Szmidt	91	129	139	359
James Hughes	76	53	75	204
Craig Baker	82	99	108	289
Mick Tustain	96	139	133	368 – 4th
Kenny Davidson	87	111	61	259
Neil Lambert	69	76	57	202
David Clarke	88	146	136	370 – 3rd
Tim Smart	Withdrawn	Withdrawn	Withdrawn	Withdrawn
Dave Powell	84	95	110	289
John Davidson	94	122	142	358
Mark Adams	61	139	92	292

There were some spectacular pictures taken during the day, here are a selection:

 

OBEDIENCE

Agility

 

Protection Work

 

I would like to say a heart felt thankyou to all my straff in my various companies for all their help in the organisation and preparation for the event, not least my trainers at A1 K9 who worked tirelessly helping to prepare the facilities here for at least two weeks prior to the competition. Also my many friends and business associates who kindly sponsored banners and signboards to raise extra cash for Macmillans and many who also helped on the day and helped in the preparation.

I would also like to thank the competitors without whom there would be no competition and those who drove or flew many miles to spectate and support the day.

A big thankyou to the judges, stewards and decoys who all worked incredibly hard on the day to make it a good day out for competitors and spectators alike.

Last but not least to Macmillans who do a great job in helping those who could really do with help when facing Cancer and to their volunteers who did such a sterling job on organising car parking refreshments and the barbecue on the day.

I am looking forward to the next A1K9 UK Challenge in 2008 - hopefully we can make it even better next year.

 

Charles Wall MBIPDT NTIPDU

Managing Director A1 k9