Scout wins 3 Gold Medals at the IFCS World Cup

Very many congratulations to Wendy Clay, Racingredd Agility, with her dog, Scout, who managed to win 4 classes and 3 Gold Medals at the recent IFCS World cup in Belgium.

Scout is fed on Command Performance 30 and Original Herbie Rings.

Really well done to you both from all at CSJ. 

Let's hope the season continues to be as successful...

Here's Wendy's own account of her weekend...

The UKA Great Britain Team trip to IFCS World Cup.

Whey hey.......At last Wednesday the 7th of May has finally arrived! Myself,Scout and my groom Chris Baldwin pack our luggage into my van and set off at 6.30am to the meet the rest of the team at junction 8 on the M20.
We arrived at the services with plenty of time to give Scout a walk and get a cup of coffee before putting Dawn's dogs in my van,there was only a small amount of swearing from Scout !! Sheila and Dawn get settled in the back and we're off again.We arrive at Dover with time to spare and get in line to be loaded onto the ferry.I'm sure like most people who have never travelled their dogs abroad before I was wondering how Scout would cope with the journey,well I shouldn't have worried about it at all.We all had "Live animal" stickers on the van windscreens so we were one of the first vehicles to be loaded which meant that we were the first off the other side.When we got back to the van Scout,Minky,Freeway and Chelsea were all happily snoozing,apparently they are all good sailors!!

Chris had agreed to drive on the "wrong side of the road" leg of the trip,so once the kids (Dawn and Sheila) were settled in the back we set off again in our 5 van convoy.Chris Cole was leading as he had the Sat Nav and despite my mistrust of anything computerised I have to admit it made the journey very easy,in no time at all we arrived at our hotel in Kortrijk.Wow and what a lovely hotel it was,sauna,gym,tanning room AND a swimming pool !!! 

Once we had all checked in and given the dogs a walk we went off as a group to find somewhere to eat.The town had several places and luckily we picked a great restaurant the first night which then became our local for the rest of the trip.

Greg,Laura,Tace and Shaun had already been out to take a look at the venue in Ingelmunster,to time how long the journey would take so we wouldn't have to rush in the morning.
After a lay in on Thursday morning we set off to the venue.We had an allocated time for the vet check and training.All our dogs were passed fit by the IFCS appointed vet which included a measuring session for all heights of the dogs with a sliding rule.The training session went very well with all the dogs working very happily on the equipment,including the frame tyre.

Friday morning we set up camp in the air conditioned building provided for us and went to walk the Power and Speed course which was to be our first class.There would be no medals awarded for this class but that didn't stop that super fit athlete of a man :o) Mr Dave Alderson winning the class with his BC Spice.The rest of us didn't fair so well but we were all pleased with our dogs who had worked well in the very different atmosphere.
The next course to walk was the All round Individual Agility.This class had 4 parts,Agility,Jumping,Gamblers and Snooker.Medals would be awarded for the overall winner also for the individual winner of each class.
The course was nice but had several traps.Gregs team talk was that we should try not to get eliminated as this would carry points through to the next round.Unfortunately Scout and Trigger were to quick for me and Mark and managed to bounce stride away from us over the wrong jump,they obviously weren't listening to team orders! 

Dawn and Chelsea had a good run finishing in 4th place and with her other dog Minky,finishing with a Sliver.Super Dave won his height category to take his first Gold and finished 4th with his little Poodle Libby.This left both Dawn and Dave in a great position for the rest of the All round competition.

By this point in time I was beginning to feel very down hearted with my performance.Greg was being really nice,telling me how well Scout was working,how good his contacts were and how I could still go for an individual Gold.Trouble is I'm just not used to Greg being nice he normally takes the micky when I go wrong !! 
The final class to be walked for the day was the Biathlon Jumping.As the name suggests this was a two part competition one Agility round one Jumping.We walked the course which had a tunnel trap at the 3rd obstacle,two pull through's and another tunnel trap half way around AND another three from home.Oh joy I really hoped this wasn't going to be another E,Greg would soon be making me swim the channel home.
Dave really was on form not happy with two wins already he went on to get Gold with both Spice and Libby.
I fetched Scout from his crate and walked to the ring to meet Tace for his pre run massage.I was almost the last person to run and everyone was hot and tired (the temperature was between 24 - 27 centigrade all weekend) Shaun asked me how I was doing and I said fine Thanks,so he said well that's good now get in that ring and win a Gold !!! Tace looked horrified and told him not to bully me but I said its fine its what I need and that's exactly what I did Hahaha nothing like a good nagging to get yourself in gear.

Before we leave Dave has the honour of being the first of us onto the rostrum for the medal presentation.All the teams gather around for the ceremony,the Japanese and Russian Federation in nice straight neat rows,the Canadians and Americans in a noisy whooping gaggle,the Netherlands laid back talking ten to the dozen etc,etc and us Brits standing in the shade waiting for our special version of God save the Queen to begin !! Dave steps up swathed in the Union Jack huge grin on his face (no doubt thinking about finding a tobacco shop on the way back to the hotel) Big drum roll..........here we go..........a look of shock on the other competitors faces as Brain May screeches into life with his unique version of the National Anthem.Boy did it sound great over the sound system,I'll leave you all to have a listen on Youtube to judge for yourselves but it seemed popular with the crowds.

So at the end of day one at 7pm we had a win in Power & Speed,3 wins in the Biathlon jumping,1 Gold in Individual Agility and 1 Silver,fantastic start to the championships.Off to the pub to celebrate me thinks :o)

Saturday morning arrives bright,clear and VERY hot,hot,hot !!! There is less breeze than yesterday so Pete and Greg remind us to make sure we and our dogs all drink lots of water.

Our first course arrives on paper so we have a look whilst its being set out.Greg goes through the previous days results,8 of the team are in good positions for the all around competition.

As I had blown out on my Agility I just had to go for individual medals.

I've really grown to enjoy the Gamblers runs since joining UKA.My large dog Tishi is just not fast enough to compete in the KC Gamblers classes and we don't have them in smalls so I didn't enter them until I joined UKA.
In the IFCS Gamble or Joker classes the Gamble must be completed behind a line from a distance.This particular gamble class also had another optional distance gamble during the course which earned extra points.This was a send away through a tunnel onto a jump,turn right into the weaves and over a jump all from behind a line halfway along the tunnel.The course time for Scout was 35 seconds with 16 seconds to complete the gamble.I told Shaun,the Games king :o) where I planned to go,including twice around the extra gamble.Shaun agreed it looked a good course with me getting to the gamble line in 36 seconds.Now in the UK you would time your round to finish just before the course time but with IFCS rules you will be eliminated for loitering waiting for the whistle to blow,so as Scout is head strong and I can not always guarantee his turns I thought it would be safer to estimate over the time.

Right,off we go,wait for 2 jumps,tyre then into the send away,easy for Scouty boy its turning I struggle with,send away perfect,back around it again,loves send aways my boy,turn left over a jump,up the A frame,jump,jump,A frame,jump,pull hard left onto the seesaw the whistle should blow NOW,yep great there it is,off the seesaw over the gamble line into another send away down a tunnel onto the jump OMG Scout stops before the jump but he LOVES send aways !!! OK stay calm,step forward push him on,good he's over it,remember to take a step back so I can step forward again if he turns in (thanks Angela) back into the tunnel sharp turn left and over the finish.Did he get in the time with that hesitation tho ??? Yes he did AND we've won the Individual gamblers Gold.

No time to get over excited tho because the Biathlon Agility is ready for walking.Now I never think its very good when I really like a course because I worry that I won't concentrate properly but I really loved this course.The start was tight turns and Scout started growling at me as I pulled him tight around the wings,scary have to keep hold of the little treasure or he'll be off if he's this up for it!! His contacts were solid and I almost relaxed as we got to the long jump 2 jumps from home,bad move he almost took over and was heading for the back of the last jump.I heard the crowd gasp.......then breath out again,obviously my Scout screech worked better than the day before because he turned and hopped over the jump round the wing over the last jump.Yeah clear round.Gregs face was so funny,I think he may have aged 10 years watching me run Scout and I'm not even going to mention what happened to Tace I'll let her tell you about that :o) Two more dogs ran both going clear but nothing could catch Scouts time so the Gold Biathlon medal was ours.
The course was obviously a favourite with some of the others in the team with Gold for Dave and Spice and Dawn and Minky.Poor Dawn we told her Minky had got the Silver because the original results were wrong so her bottom lip was starting to quiver at the medal presentation when she wasn't called up for it.She almost fell over when we shoved her forward to get the Gold.

Mark and Trigger finished with a Bronze with a run which I think should've been filmed for a "how it should be done" example of handler and dog as one,it was breath taking.

Karen Buglar and Ace finished in 8th place with her fantastic little Sheltie who is 10 years old,what a great achievement.

Snooker was next,I have to be honest and say that its not my favourite class because it involves thinking on your feet and worse of all numbers,I don't do numbers !! Well all I can say is I went wrong tried to correct it,saved it a bit,went wrong again then the wheels fell off Haha oh well more training required on that one.However Chris Cole and Cap,Dawn and Chelsea really mastered the course getting Silver and Bronze with their cleverly planned and executed precision runs.

The last run of the day was the Individual jumping.The course was very fast and at first glance looked easy.Several of the first handlers to run lost their dogs over the back of the long jump and more of them failed stop their dogs coming out of the tunnel at speed over the wrong jump.It was a very subtle course and I wonder if even the judge herself realised how tricky it would be.

As this was part of the all around class I knew I was going for my individual Gold again.The beginning was OK for me,2 jump recall into a pipe tunnel,a big sweep around the outside which I might have layered if it were not for the frame tyre which is still used in Europe.After this was a side by side tunnel trap which,if I did them,would've been a great place for a blind turn.I told Greg this to which he said........I'll close my eyes,I don't care if he breaks your legs getting there just make sure you crawl and put him in the right tunnel !! That's good the insults are still going strong.Anyway I got the right tunnel,the only real problem left now was stopping him jumping long after the long jump and getting e'd by going into the flat tunnel.I managed to get in front of him to put a steady command in before the long jump and scooped him hard left over the last two jumps.Fantastic Gold number three.

Dave had amazing runs with both Spice and Libby taking a Gold with each of them too.
Dawn had such consistant runs in the All around that she and Chelsea earned themselves a Bronze overall.Some achievement holding it together over 4 courses.

Saturday's classes were finished but as it was now past 8pm the medal ceremony was delayed until the next day.So off we went to the Hotel,a quick shower,feed and walk the dogs and off to buy Cherry beer in our restaurant to celebrate.

Sunday was team day but it was teams not as we know it! There were 3 members in the team with nominated reserves so handlers could be swapped depending on the course.The heights of the dogs in each team also had to be mixed.Scouts team was to be me,Dawn and Chelsea & Minky for the individual Agilty.I went first and managed to get around clear,phew what a relief.Dawn was next but Chelsea was having a mardy poodle moment (having been kept waiting) placed a manicured nail on the A frame to get an E.Minky had 5 faults.In the individual jumping things were reversed,Chelsea went clear and Scout mowed me down to get to the wall and got an E this time.Jane Powel replaced Minky and ran a lovely faultless round with Keeta.The last part of the team was a relay with the course split into thirds.I ran clear and passed the baton (which we held whilst running) to Angela Williams with Pi who had a pole down and 5 on the seesaw,Dawn then finished with a clear from Chelsea.So no medals for the team run.

That was it,the most amazingly proud weekend of my life over.The closing ceremony was as relaxed as the opening one with not too many speeches.We sat on the grass like typical Brit tourists with a Belgium beer in our hands and cheered for the final medal presentation with Brian raising the rafters for the last time.

In true Oscars style I would like to thank Greg,Laura and Shaun for their faith and support (and insults) Tace for both mine and Scouts massage.Thanks to Pete for agreeing to come with us,it was good to know you were there if we needed you and for translating the Flemish menu's.Thanks to Chris for driving and grooming.Also a huge thank you to everyone at my club Racingredd and anyone else who raised money to help with the teams expenses to send us to Belgium.

Most all thanks to my little star Scout.

Here is the final medal tally.

Individual Agility

Gold Dave Alderson and Spice 26"
Silver Dawn Weaver and Minky 22"

Individual Jumping

Gold Dave Alderson and Spice 26"
Gold Wendy Fairlamb and Scout 16"
Gold Dave Alderson and Libby 12"

Individual Snooker

Silver Chris Cole and Cap 26"
Bronze Dawn Weaver and Chelsea 16"

Individual Gamblers

Gold Wendy Fairlamb and Scout 16"

All Around (4 individual classes combined)

Bronze Dawn Weaver and Chelsea 16"

Biathlon

Gold Dave Alderson and Spice 26"
Gold Wendy Fairlamb and Scout 16"
Gold Dawn Weaver and Minky 22"
Bronze Mark Powell and Trigga 26"

Wendy Fairlamb 
www.racingreddagility.co.uk 
May 2008

Scout and Wendy Clay

(posted: Monday, May 19, 2008)

Do You Have a CSJ Related News Item?

If you have a CSJ related news item that you think we may want to publish then you can use our submission form(### link to go here ###). We will then review the item and publish it if it is suitable.