EO 2018 - Agility Team GB
The Agility Team GB handlers have written a lot of interesting posts on social media about this years European Open they attended in Austria. I wanted to share my thoughts about this fantastic competition set in a beautiful venue with many of the top agility handlers from across the world.
Team GB slightly missed our target of winning two medals. However, we won a silver medal in the team relay and Hayley Telling & Teal won the medium agility class and finished overall top medium dog over the qualifying rounds. Making this one of the most successful EO's we've attended in the last five years.
The championships were attended by 37 countries and over 850 dogs. Making this one of the top international competitions in Europe and one which continues to grow.
The complexity and skills required to complete the courses increases each year too. These courses are rightly challenging and yet fast and flowing for the dogs and entertaining to watch.
So overall how did Agility Team GB perform against the other 36 countries? Very well in my view. Qualifying for the finals and winning medals is an incredible achievement for any team. When you consider some of the additional hurdles our handlers endure it makes our results even more fantastic. I'll write about these additional hurdles in my next blog.
A couple of things that really stood out for me at this year championships:
Team GB slightly missed our target of winning two medals. However, we won a silver medal in the team relay and Hayley Telling & Teal won the medium agility class and finished overall top medium dog over the qualifying rounds. Making this one of the most successful EO's we've attended in the last five years.
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| Medium individual agility winners |
The complexity and skills required to complete the courses increases each year too. These courses are rightly challenging and yet fast and flowing for the dogs and entertaining to watch.
So overall how did Agility Team GB perform against the other 36 countries? Very well in my view. Qualifying for the finals and winning medals is an incredible achievement for any team. When you consider some of the additional hurdles our handlers endure it makes our results even more fantastic. I'll write about these additional hurdles in my next blog.
A couple of things that really stood out for me at this year championships:
- Our team captains did a fantastic job building their teams.
- The overall bond between team members has been the strongest I've worked with.
- We continue to improve our preparations, being more targeted and specific.
- We weren't phased by the challenging courses. Handlers ran them them confidently.
Finally, it was great to have one of our main sponsors at the EO supporting us. As a team we rely so much on the generosity of our sponsors and to have Streamz attending, supporting us and getting involved with the sport was very welcoming.
You can find out more about Agility Team GB at the KC web site or come and have a chat with me at the KC International Festival on 9 - 12 August.
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| Team relay final - Silver medal winners. |
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