Heelwork To Music/Canine Freestyle KC Registered Competition

Rugby Dog Training Club (9th) Coventry

21st February 2004

RESULTS with show reports courtesy of Dave Ray

Class 1 Starters Heelwork to Music

1st Yvonne Robson with Glarus Classical Design -American Cocker 22.37

2nd Carole Dodson with Kamarda Doctor Foster - Border Collie 21.60

3rd Jane Holden with Ludgate Happy Times - Border Collie 18.90

4th Jenny Weekes with Waggerland Blaze -Border Collie 18.70

5th Julie Collingwood with Kushti Collingwood Coppins - Dalmation 18.63

6th Colleen Mowbray with Lebeau Firestarter - Tervueren 18.30

The first class was Starters Heelwork to Music and Jackie de Jong was in the unfortunate position of going first with her Rhodesian Ridgeback/Border Collie cross but at least she got the event going with a vengeance with her music to a Jive Bunny compilation ‘That’s What I Like’. Julie Collingwood was also in this class with her Dalmatian and you may remember them from the Faking It programme but the eventual winner was Yvonne Robson with her American Cocker dancing a routine to Olivia Newton John’s ‘You’re the One That I Want’. Yvonne really does a superb job of training her American Cockers and as usual she was dressed immaculately. Carole Dodson who ran last in the class came second with her Border Collie performing to ‘Will You Be There’ by Michael Jackson and in third place was one of Rugby’s own members Jane Holden with her Border Collie doing a rendition of ‘Singing in the Rain’ by Gene Kelly. Unfortunately just prior to the show she slipped over and broke her wrist so she had to do her routine without the trademark umbrella but I think everyone was full of admiration for the way in which she carried on and performed her routine anyway. (Written by DAVE RAY)

Class 2 Starters Freestyle

1st Hannah Mitchell with Shanandi Hit 'n' Run - Miniature Poodle 23.10

2nd Paula Tyerman with Serekunda Posh Spice - Standard Poodle 22.47

3rd Carol Plumbly with Kissmyrz Im Hoochiecoochie - Dane/Bull Terrier 22.30

4th Laura Reynolds with Too Fast to Trot - Crossbreed 22.27

5th Lorraine Peace with Wistow Midnight Magic - WSD 21.07

6th William Anderson with Willvons Special - English Springer 20.97

The second class was Starters Freestyle and it looked like this was the Poodle class because the winner was Hannah Mitchell with her Miniature Poodle performing to ‘Music’ by John Miles and in second place was Paula Tyerman performing with her Standard Poodle to ‘Get Happy’ by Zoe Birkett. In third place was Carol Plumbly with a very unlikely looking character which was a Great Dane/Bull Terrier cross who performed to ‘Scooby Doo’. (Written by Dave Ray)

Class 3 Novice Heelwork to Music

1st Gina Pink with Our Magic Combination -WSD 23.83

2nd Barry Bray with Bramble Sweet Soul Lady - Bearded Collie 23.67

3rd Jill Davis with Stillmoor Russet Mist at Glidersway - BC 23.20

4th Diane Dickens with Black Satin Beauty - Crossbreed 22.80

5th June Britten with Meanphe Moonlight Mischief - BC 22.50

6th Angela Bragg with Joronic Tuesday - WSD 22.40

Gina Pink was the winner of Novice Heelwork to Music with her Working Sheepdog performing to ‘War of the Worlds’ by Jeff Wayne. Gina has been competing for quite some time and although she has always done a good routine, this was something more and was superb. Everything went right and it was a well-deserved win. Second place was Barry Bray who we will see performing in the Special Events Ring at Crufts. He handles a Bearded Collie and when I say that he performs to music which suits him, if you see him at Crufts then you will know what I mean. Barry was wearing a fawn suit and performed to a compilation of ‘On the Street Where you Live’ and ‘Let’s Face the Music and Dance’ by Nat King Cole and only came second by 0.15 of a point! Jill Davis took a worthy third place performing with her Border Collie to ‘Man in the Middle’ by the Bee Gees. (Written by DAVE RAY)

Class 4 Novice Freestyle

1st Lynda Edmondson with Gimme a Buzz OW - BC 24.70

2nd Carol Wallace with Tilda the Terrible -Jack Russell 24.00

3rd David Moxon with Belgarath Trianons Dream - BC 23.60

4th Jackie Clarke with Cafcoll Brite Dreams - BC 22.47

5th Lynn Crook with Rune Magic - WSD 21.83

6th Emma Newsome with Katherinia Tazmin - Golden Retriever 20.93

In Novice Freestyle, first place was taken by Lynda Edmondson. Lynda is a very accomplished handler who is also one of the chief instructors at the new MyPetStop in Manchester. She was right up-to-date with a very buzzy routine to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ by the Hollywood Studio Symphony and looked a bit of a pirate herself! In second place was Carol Wallace with her endearing little Jack Russell Tilda the Terrible who performed to ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ from Mary Poppins and was she dressed for the part - in fact, I half expected her to float out of the ring instead of walking! Third place was taken by David Moxon, another handler who appeared on the Faking It programme and he performed to the James Bond theme ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ complete with 007 gun. (Written by DAVE RAY)

Class 5 Intermediate Heelwork to Music

1st Heatherbelle Smithurst with Dame Alanna B - WSD 26.07

2nd Lesley Neville with Highlander Red Robbie Cdex, Udex, Wdex, Tdex Bearded Collie 23.23

3rd Ann De Rizzio with Stillmoor Touch of Spice - BC 22.93

Class 5 was Intermediate Heelwork to Music, the winner of which was Heatherbelle Smithurst who performed a stunning routine to ‘Zorba’s Dance’ - very polished and very accurate with some good moves. In second place was Lesley Neville who is perhaps better known for her success in Working Trials. She performed with her Bearded Collie to ‘BlackDonald and Grandfather Mountain’ and the only thing missing was the sporran! In third place was Ann Derizzio. Ann is very active in the North West promoting Heelwork to Music and runs her own web site and forum for it. Today, she was handling her Border Collie to ‘You’re Not Sick, You’re Just in Love’ (Written by DAVE RAY)

Class 6. Intermediate Freestyle

1st Claudine Darlington with Coalway Just Jamie - BC 25.70

2nd Linda Topliss with Dark Warlord - Rottweiler 25.23

3rd Hetty van Hassel with Detania Rood Gyp - BC 25.13

4th Linda Topliss with Josarem Heartbeat - WSD 24.70

5th Michelle Mellor with Highfield Ziggy Zag - BC 24.50

6th Louise Reynolds with Cockburn Fin - BC 23.57

Class 6 was Intermediate Freestyle and the very popular winner was Claudine Darlington. Claudine has been competing for quite a while now and this was another handler for who just everything seemed to go right on the day. This time she harked back to the 1950s and 60s to a routine to ‘Ain’t Misbehaving’ by Russ Conway and Fats Waller. In second place was Linda Topliss, another old hand at HTM with a routine to ‘In the Dark of the Night’ and in third place was Hetty van Hassel who performed to ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’, perhaps not quite so impressive for me as I had already seen this routine last year.(Written by DAVE RAY)

Class 7 Advanced Heelwork to Music

1st Kath Hardman with Copper Coin of Retcoll - WSD 27.97

2nd Karen Sykes with Iatka Spring Spangle - WSD 25.63

3rd Margaret Jessop with Jessamar Bobby Dazzler - Golden Retriever 24.23

4th Ann De Rizzio with Genabacab Made for Life - WSD 22.93

The penultimate class was Advanced Heelwork to Music, the worthy winner of which was Kath Hardman with her Working Sheepdog Copper Coin of Retcoll. Not as young as she was, but still very agile - and that’s the dog not Kath! This was a brand new routine to ‘Mazurka from Coppélia’ by the London Symphony Orchestra with Kath in a very smart outfit. In second place was Karen Sykes who did the same routine as performed at the show last year and also on Faking It, being ‘Call of the Mountain King/Polovtsian Dances’ complete with Viking horns. Having seen the routine twice before I have to say this was the most polished version I had witnessed. In third place was Margaret Jessop with her stunning Golden Retriever Jessamar Bobby Dazzler who performed to ‘Any Dream Will Do’ from the hit musical Joseph (Written by DAVE RAY)
Class 8 Advanced Freestyle

1st = Richard Curtis with Ayesharn Blue Jazz - BC 29.23

1st = Tina Humphrey with Bluecrofft My Blue Heaven - WSD 29.23

3rd Lesley Neville with Highlander Red Robbie Cdex, Udex, Wdex, Tdex Bearded Collie 27.03

4th Karen Sykes with After Lady Karen's Prozac - WSD 26.63

5th = Karen Sykes with Iatka Spring Spangle - WSD 26.47

5th = Michelle Mellor with Topori Sticky Moments - WSD 26.47

Then came the final class of Advanced Freestyle. In first place was Richard Curtis with his new routine, this time to ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson and as usual with Richard it was very animated with full war paint and his main prop of a coffin. Of course, by the time you read this you may have seen him perform the routine again at Crufts - it certainly was very punchy and accomplished. But now we had a bit of a turn-up for the book as we had a joint winner who was Tina Humphrey with her Working Sheepdog Bluecroft my Blue Heaven performing to ‘Me and My Shadow’ by Michael Ball and Antonio Banderas. As usual with Tina, this was a very slick routine with a lot of back leg work from the dog and slightly reminiscent of some of her previous routines. And they were both worthy of first place on the day. Runner up position went to Lesley Neville with her Border Collie Highlander Red Robbie as they performed to ‘The Deadwood Stage’ by Doris Day. (Written by DAVE RAY)

GO TO "ARTICLES" FOR A MORE IN DEPTH REPORT ON COVENTRY 2004 AND FAKING IT!!! Written by DAVE RAY - with thanks for permission to put on our Website.