Obedience Spotlight

Another year over for our show. We were shocked when we arrived to find that the owners had ploughed up half the camping field but we managed to squeeze the campers in somewhere. We survived constant rain on Friday setting up, a very windy day on Saturday but at least it was dry. Then fortunately we had good weather on Sunday which is always helpful for clearing up.

A huge thanks to all those who helped to set up on Friday namely Ian Appleton, Les Tolliday, Julia Tuck, Jan Witham, Sue Stevens, Lynn Brown, Julie Jones, Chrissie Gordan and colin Sutton. They then helped throughout the weekend.
Thanks to our caravan parkers John and Kath Westell, Shaun and Myra McCarthy and Sue Starr a great team.
On Saturday Jan Witham and Julia Tuck for getting the scoreboards out early. Julie Jones for taking the flasks around. Nicola Smith for being my second in command in the marquee. What would I do without you? Julie Enright for guarding the gate and meeting everyone who arrived over the weekend. Sue Stevens and Lynn Brown for doing anything that we asked. Jim Cook, Steve Parmiter, Shaun McCarthy and John Westall for helping out with the day parking.

Three of our team Judged June Fillingham, Kim Ford and Chrissie Gorden, thank you.
Also thanks to Tracy Cook and Jan Witham for stewarding on Saturday plus helping out on Sunday and Sandra Barnes for stewarding on Sunday. Thanks to all our Decoy stewards which was most of our team and to Julie Phillips and Colin Sutton for helping out with flasks and clearing up. Well done to John Westall, Shaun McCarthy, Jim Cook and Sue Stevens and Lynn Brown who took down most of the rings.

Thanks to all our judges and stewards for giving up their day. A big thank you to the judges who stepped up when I carelessly managed to lose several judges before the show and 1 on Saturday morning. I hope you all enjoyed your day.

Thanks Sandra Cobbold for being our Chief Steward and answering all the queries.

Congratulations to our ticket winners ( Hope you liked the Sweets )
Saturday: Julie Rowlands and Ob Ch Sarkam Douthinktheysaurus and Kathy : Russell and Ob Ch Ruskath Klassified Image.
Sunday Lorna Hilton and Ob Ch Zanyway Great Expectations and Frances Tye and Ob Ch Raital Rumour. Good luck to you at Crufts.
Congratulations to the winners of all the other classes. Well done to all.

Thanks to all our competitors for supporting our show , we hope to see you all again next year. Good luck for the coming season, we’ll see you around the shows

Julie Appleton Show Secretary.

Well that is the show done and dusted, we had atrocious weather over the weekend, Sunday was lovely and today when we left glorious, typical.

Without Kay Allen we could not have run this show thanks Kay, to Kelly Lewis Val Fisher breakfast fletcher and Kay Hibbin you were amazing.

Thanks must go out to the judges and stewards who gave up their day so people could compete with their dogs. To the score stewards thank you.

We put the rings up Thursday thank god we did, thanks to John Clark for coming down Thursday and to Janice Clark for letting us borrow him. Thanks also to Edd Hanson and Mick camper sorter, Keith, Val (Chief Steward) and to anyone else who I have forgotten I’m sure I have sorry. Absolutely knackered now. I do just need to say one this we still had to pick up after peoples dogs this is not on.

We are hoping to run a show next October we can’t if people dont volunteer to judge or steward. The food is amazing Tom did us proud.

Thank you everyone-Sharron Emma and Hilary

Birmingham and District German Shepherd Association Championship Shows

20th and 21st September 2025

The first weekend of the Walsall shows has flown by!

Congratulations to all of our winners, especially those who will be off to Crufts.

It wouldn’t be a secretaries report without a huge number of thank you’s to give out, but this weekend has definitely been one which demonstrates what the obedience community is all about.

I am not even going to try and name everyone who helped us this weekend – there were just too many.

But please do know that we are so grateful for your support to make this weekend happen.

This year was our first year of taking on both weekends of shows, as well as the organisation of the camping during the week.

We knew it was a mammoth task and that we had a lot to live up to, taking over from Kathy, who has been a huge support in us keeping these shows going.

It wouldn’t be a dog show without some hiccups. Thank you to everyone who brought a chair to their ring and thankfully the council won their game of hide and seek with the chairs, before judging started on Saturday.

Finding a replacement ticket judge was a little more tricky, but super grateful to Peter Height for stepping in to judge on Sunday. Thank you Pete.

Wishing Steve Barnes a speedy recovery

I said I wasn’t going to name names but there are a couple of people who I need to give special thanks to.

Thank you to our chief steward Brian Lucock, who made sure all our i’s were dotted, t’s crossed and any hiccups were dealt with appropriately. Thanks Brian, you’re a star.

And last but definitely not least, a huge thank you to Sheilagh Hyde who ensured that the admin wasn’t too chaotic, when Tracey was unfortunately admitted to hospital on Saturday night due to complications with her epilepsy. Fingers crossed she’s back home soon!

Hope everyone who is staying for the week has a lovely time.

**Just a note that the cricket pitch to the left of the show field is private and not part of the venue. Please do not walk your dogs on the pitch**

We look forward to doing it all over again next weekend!

Bea and Tracey

Now my feet have just touched the ground after my final ticket judging appointment on Saturday for BDGSD, I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind comments and for signing the card. So sorry that I kept so many of you hanging around until nearly 7.00pm. I wanted to do my girl ticket round from Crufts one more time and although we cut it down, with 54 entries it was still a long round. My team as always have been simply the best, Paul, Steph and Bev, I can’t thank you enough for the past 15 years of being honoured to work with you. Actually my first ticket was for BDGSD in 2010 and I was ably assisted by my friends Nigel Slater and dear Sue with lovely Janie M on the table The West Brom maffia lol so it was so lovely to have a visit to the show from Nigel on Sunday. My thanks also go to our dear friend Keith Wall who helped setting up on Friday ,thanks Keith. Also to Lyn Tozer for caring for my precious ones all day.

Congratulations to my winner Suzie (Suzy Tooley) a very worthy new Obedience Champion

Lastly a huge thank you to all the competitors who have entered under me over the years, I’ve had a ball watching the very best talent in the country but I have to give every task I take on 100% and if I can’t do that then it’s time to hand over the clipboard to those who can. Good luck to you all and watch out, Munchie Jackson is on his way up. X

Firstly, I’d like to thank all of the judges, stewards and scribes that gave up their precious time, allowing us to run the show. The weather turned very wet on Sunday, so extra thanks for battling through and to those who helped us to pack-up. Thank you to our chief steward, Tony Lewis for his time, help and support. A big thank you to “Team Lichfield”; who worked extremely hard to make the event run smoothly and successfully. With extra thanks to the 2 lads who worked tirelessly guiding competitors and campers to the correct parking locations and helped with set-up and breakdown.

The on-site caterers supplied judges’ breakfast sandwiches and superb lunches and opened for competitors also.

Congratulations to Gillian Winyard and Pierre Norfolk who won tickets at the show – wishing you the best of luck at Crufts next year.

Thank you to all the competitors who kept the venue clean and tidy, disposing of rubbish as requested and leaving the venue on time.

Wishing you all success for the remainder of 2025 and look forward to seeing you in 2026.

Carol Hartland

WELSH DRAGON DOG CLUB – OPEN OBEDIENCE SHOW 7TH SEPTEMBER 2025

Well we did it again. Everything was a bit easier this time, but we all still learnt lots.

We had a great team of dragons behind us yet again. I realise now, how much you need people to help out, the show would not go ahead otherwise. Even the smallest job, takes the pressure off. We are lucky having our dog school, who all came to help or see a dog show for the first time. My competition class were extremely helpful on the Saturday and Sunday. They even managed some rosettes and a Dragon! I’m so proud of them all.

The day started dry but dull, with rain forecast we kept hoping but to no avail, it rained, it rained a bit more, then it poured down. It’s amazing how we carry on even when it looks impossible; especially the judges. Some people even looked happy! But that’s the thing with this hobby of ours, we carry on regardless and hope for the best.

We’ve had some lovely feedback, which I really appreciate. The canteen was a big hit again, we are so lucky to have them on-board. I tried having stalls this year but the weather was too much for them, I do hope you bought something, they might come back next year! Yet again CSJ were extremely generous with their products, enabling everyone in the line up to have a freebie.

Vikki collected £115 on her stall for the Team Wales, and £60 was made from the training ring and the drinks kiosk for Almost Home dog rescue. Thanks everyone for your generosity.

We have 2 dates for next year – Sunday 24th May and 6th September. Hope to see you then.

Pat Werner

Show report from Wakefield Championship Obedience Show 23/24/08/25

We would like to thank everyone who made the show the huge success it was.

Huge thanks to all the judges & stewards who very kindly offered to join us this year, to our Chief Steward Graham Armstrong who goes above & beyond, he does an excellent job for us, & also to Rachael, his wife, who also gets stuck in to help us out.

Unless you have ever run a show you cannot actually appreciate how much work goes into it, the preparation beforehand, the organisation, the stress involved, the endless lists required, the ordering, the running around, it’s a mammoth task, but, it is so worth the end result when we get the comments/feedback we get every year. Are we up to the challenge to do it all again next year?? If we are we will need JUDGES & STEWARDS PLEASE!!! Without them, there is no show.

We must also thank Sue Osbourne & her lovely team of ladies, & Martin of course, who work so hard before & on the show days to provide the beautiful buffet lunch for the judges, stewards, officials & helpers, they receive so many welcome compliments, it really is a lovely spread.

To club members, Karen Shires & Dave Craven who make sure we get all the equipment we need from the club premises to the show ground.

To the Wakefield Dog Club members who turn up on the day to help out.

To the small but very able team of people who very kindly come to help us with the preparation & setting up of the show including Pierre who helps with the day parkers.

To Bev Smith who attended the show from the Midlands for the very 1st time to scoreboard one of the Tkt classes but ended up doing whatever job we asked her to do.

To my young friend Torey Bramhall, who literally comes with her Grandparents just to

assist me, I must drive her mad with my constant mumblings about we have to do

Finally, my biggest thanks must go to my daughter, Emma, I absolutely wouldn’t be able to run this show without her help & expertise

Congratulations & Good Luck at Crufts 2026 to our Ticket winners, Shirley Clowes, Louise Williams, Julie Rowlands & Lynn Hillary, to the YKC Members who were successful enough to also qualify & to the KCGC Spec Pre-Beg qualifiers

Hopefully we will get to do it all again next year

Debra & Emma Lavender

CHESVALE DTC Open Obedience Show

Sunday 24th August 2025

I must start by thanking the Chesvale membership for their support and hard work setting up on Saturday and working all day Sunday to make our show such a success. It was great that Dave Williams stepped in to help loading up on Saturday, setting up and putting it all away again, a huge relief for the old guard commanded by Jim Nokes! Too many helpers to name individually but you know who you are and Chesvale is lucky to have you all. Special thanks to Clare Williams for all the work as show secretary before, during and after the show, we couldn’t run it without you.

Thanks to our super judges and their stewards who gave their time freely, with many competitors giving thanks for their efforts and for the help, advice and the time they gave to everyone who came into their ring. Our entries were 21 in Pre-beginner, 40 in Beginner, 95 in Novice split over 2 parts. Our novice entries were down probably due to a number of double weekend shows over the bank holiday, however, we are determined to keep this small show going as there are so few one day shows now in this area.

The weather was perfect although a little hot at times but with the welcome cloud cover making it good for dogs and handlers. As usual our ladies that do lunch produced a feast for the judges and helpers at lunchtime and an amazing cake display at teatime. One thing Chesvale is renowned for is our catering and no-one goes home hungry!

Gail, Lynne, Julia, Julie, Jo, Sharon and Sally are the wonderful team that put on such a wonderful spread every year.

Also, thanks to Debs catering for looking after our breakfast needs and competitor catering. We were fortunate to have Charlotte Speller join us for the day to give people the opportunity to discuss physio work for their dogs.

The training ring was manned by Laura Wiley who worked tirelessly throughout the day with Sheila Rodger keeping tabs on the running order and taking the money. Thank you for all your hard work, I know you must have been exhausted by the end of the day and you took an amazing £167.00. The tombola took £128.50 this means we have a total of £295.50 to be donated to Bowel Cancer Research.

Photos have been posted on Chesvale’s facebook page and also on the ObedienceUK facebook page, thank you to Julie Green for being our official photographer. The atmosphere at the show was fantastic, relaxed, friendly with a huge carpark allowing plenty of room and options for where you wanted to set up camp and a large exercise area. We were touched by the number of wonderful remarks and thanks given to us on the day and in some posts on Facebook, it is always great to hear that you have done a good job.

Final thanks go to all the competitors who came to the show, it was lovely to see so many old faces and many new ones. We look forward to welcoming you at our 2026 shows on Sunday 3rd May and Sunday 30thAugust 2026.

Carol Spencer

Show Manager and proud Chairman

NWKent DTC Championship & Open Shows 26 & 27 July

What a good weekend it turned out to be, good dog working weather other than the downpour just before the last two classes were finished but fortunately it cleared pretty quickly.

I would like to thank the club team, too many (although in truth not that many), for being such an amazing bunch – team work at it best, jobs were done without being asked, set up and taking down went like clockwork. It is pleasing that a good few were rewarded with some success in the ring, you deserved it! Thank you to Jan & John Green who came over to help as soon as we arrived, we appreciated it very much and it earned you both an invite to our Saturday night cocktail hour!

Sandra Cobbold as CS was, as ever, our rock even with a broken arm and needing volunteers to do any writing for her and helping remove a cardigan etc! What a trooper, but having heard a few versions of how it happened I’m not sure which one is true!

Thanks go to all the judges and stewards & scoreboarders, without you all accepting our invitation running our show would be really difficult.

We asked Laura Chysostomou to run the Charity Fun class – I think that for some, it was the most fun they had had in ages. A magnificent £205 was raised with the winner, Jane Pottle donating the winners prize to the fund. It was such a shame that the rain came down before you had cleared everything away but I guess a fitting end to a day at the beach!

I asked if anyone would spend some time running a training ring, only Kirsty Stuart stepped up for Saturday, she collected £40 which will be added to the Fun class funds and will be going to GSD Elite Rescue.

Congratulations to our two CC winners, Victoria Cook and Kia and Trish Jones and Cloud, wonderful winners and you can both now relax as you have your passport to Crufts.

My special thanks go to Beth Carrol, Show Manager, who was responsible for the judges gifts, a very special collection of a heck of a lot of bits and pieces that dogs just love to chew although I can’t look at some of them! They were very well received, you did a great job Beth, thank you.

Biggest thanks go to the team at Ashford Rugby Club, hospitality second to none, just an amazing group of people who all work voluntarily. They really make me wish that we had moved to this venue years ago, I am no longer ashamed of the catering! However, I will not miss being woken at 4 am by a flock of squawking seagulls followed by woo wooing wood pigeons!

Because there are a large number of campers that stay over the week before our show we decided that we should have some eyes and ears on the place to just ensure that all is well, Kathy & Rob Case and Russell Becque are our Camp Managers and do a wonderful job on our behalf, strictly speaking these few days are actually not within our terms of hire but we can at least do our best to ensure that the site is treated respectfully buy some find this really hard, maybe those that don’t check on their dogs and their bathroom habits should have a little wonder if they should let them off the lead, especially late at night? BTW there will be a no disposable bbq rule next year – too dangerous and the spoiled grass may never recover.

I’m sure that I have missed something but then I usually do!

Eileen Restell

Well thats it, West Suffolk DTS shows all over and done with for another year and, I have to say, I am somewhat relieved! Its been what one might call ‘difficult’ right through to being a ‘nightmare’ this year so for all to have actually taken place and be completed is somewhat of a relief! Firstly I must thank all my Nowton Ninja training group, Carol Tuberfield and Jacky Roddick who turned out to get the show all set up and worked hard all weekend in various capacities. Kate Williams is usually at the forefront of ring erection but sadly as a full time, underpaid and stretched teacher, was unable to accommodate this year – it seems education comes first Non the less, she made up for it over the weekend so huge thanks to you – also to Veronika Malá, thank you for your help yesterday (Sunday). Karen Russell did a fab job on refreshments as ever together with erection duties, thank you . I cant miss out our camping Queens, Helen Jermy and Gloria Fountain! Huge thanks to you both for sorting the pitches and seeing the few that turned up, into them. Also to our car parking team, Lisa Wignall & Kev, Mark Hemsworth, Steve Parmiter and David Mayes David.

Our shows wouldnt happen without our fabulous judges and stewards/chief stewards so thanks to all of you and your stewarding teams. Please bear in mind, if folk dont step forward to judge/steward, then there will be no shows to go to and eventually no Obedience Championships as there wont be any shows for them to qualify at! So think about it and maybe start giving back to the sport you take so much enjoyment from!

The weather was definitely not playing ball but could of been worse. Rain Saturday morning which cleared before lunch, however, made a come back for an absolute chuck down in the evening. Sunday was dry but. oh my, the wind! Unfortunately lots of folk didnt attend as must have been put off by the weather but to be fair, for Britain it really wasnt as bad as all that, unwelcome in June but….. Nevertheless, the competition was fierce so well done to all of our winners and those who were placed – I really must learn to go the right way

I have 2 unclaimed rosettes, one for Saturdays fun class, ring no 47 and one for Novice part 1, ring no 199 – sorry got no names as all my stuff is stowed!! If they are yours, please contact me. I also still have a couple of unclaimed rosettes from PP a few weeks back. I will take them to Yarmouth in early July. We had NO lost property, thats got to be a first! Final thanks to all competitors/visitors and for leaving the venue spotless, well almost, we found one stray poo bag discarded on the fenceline! Good work folks

Sarah Connell