Our dogs

 

Kye was Toni's first ever agility dog - and a steep learning curve! He is the reason that SWAT even exists, as without him Toni would never have become so addicted to agility! Kye took Toni from Starters (grade 1) to Senior (grade 6) before he became epileptic and diagnosed with Hip dysplasia. He continued to compete until he was 9yrs old at G6, and then he has moved into anysize  - where he was as wild as ever! Kye always screamed his way round the course and did everything at full speed - not the easiest first agility dog!

Kye now enjoys his retirement, keeping the rest of the pack in order and being spoilt rotten (he is the only one allowed upstairs to sleep!)

He is most definitely Toni's dog of a life time.

 

Boo was a shock to the system - She was so slow compared to Kye! She was scared of all contacts and would crawl over them on her nails. Toni worked hard to increase her drive and confidence, and took her to G5. The turning point came when Dairin decided to run her - the perfect partnership was made :-) Boo got faster as Dairin could run - and they went to UKA champ and G7 including finals and semi's on the way. They have also been placed 3rd in a Champ final. A great acheivement as she is Dairins first agility dog. Boo also went to Crufts with a junior handler - Emily Colling, from LEADS.

Boo is heading into her last competitive agility season - we hope she will make the full year as she seems as fit and fast as ever - helped by the SMART clinic.

Dairin firmly believes that if he had been a more consistent handler Boo's achievements would have been even greater.......but he has loved his competitive years and will always have the closest of bonds with Boo...his perfect partner and, yes, best friend.

 

Raq - what can i say?!?!? - Probably our agility dog of a lifetime. He is simply an amazing dog to own and train. A lovely temperament, easy to live with but loves agility and is a natural. Training this dog is so much fun, he learns so quickly. Raq went from G3 - G6 in his 1st season despite being at G3 for 3 months due to the old system of moving up. He never left a show without a top 3 place. He then had a year out as Toni was pregnant - the following year he went to G7. He has also made it to some finals. Who knows what he would have achieved if he hadn't had time out and hadn't got a handler with baby brain!?!

Raq is one of those dogs that make people go 'wow!' at the side of the ring - we are so very lucky to have him. He has taught Toni lots about handling and training, including the importance of working from a distance!

He has sired one litter of pups and is due to site 2 more litters in the future. Toni can not wait to have a Raq puppy :-)

 

Doug...... Oh Douggie....... This little rescue boy  turned our world upside down. We got him as a rescue from a not nice start at 5months - a funny little white scruffy thing who was amazing with everyone. A really fab addition to the pack - although he was definitley trying to be the boss of the pack. After a course of steroids Doug became dog aggressive - despite all our attempts we did not solve this although we did manage it. But Toni couldn't cope with losing her lovely little pup - so in Aug 2011 she asked the vets to start tests - and the result was, he had a liver problem.

Living with Doug was hard work, he had  days of being very grumpy and attacking all the other dogs. He had made huge steps forward at shows no longer needing to be muzzled to walk around the rings.

Despite all of this Doug was a huge part of our family - and he enjoyed his agility training - because he got food! Doug  taught Toni lots about food rewards and how to still create drive. The 2011 summer agility season was his first full season and he went from G4 - G6. He also got to the pro plan finals, and was part of the SWAT medium team which got to the Team Dash final and came 2nd beating numerous large dog teams! He ended the season with his first win towards G7.

In Oct 2011 Doug began escalating and by Dec he was growling at Children. We made the awful decision to rehome him as we could not risk Lilys safety. Then in Jan 2012, Doug got worse, he growled at Lily and at Toni. His behaviuor got more erratic and we knew that we had to make the heartbreaking decision to keep everyone safe - including Doug. We miss him so much xx

 

The youngest member of our family, Maid has become Doug - and Lilys - best friend. She has a great work ethic, and a fabulous temperament.

She managed to run into a door frame at only 12 weeks old and we have been fighting the results of that injury ever since with the help of the SMART clinic. We finally feel she is not in pain or discomfort so her agility training has re- started in earnest! Toni hopes to compete with her in 2012 if everything goes according to plan.

Long term we hope to have a littter Maid x Raq, as they both have fab drive and lovely natures.