WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FRANCE 2011

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The World Championships

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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 PARIS

Today we received news that there will be an HTM Championship at the World Show to be held in Paris, France 7th - 10th July 2011.

Applications for HTM Team GB 2011 should be made as soon as possible.

Anyone with a pedigreee dog on the Breed Register, working in Intermediate or Advanced, that has a current Pet Passport or is willing to Pet Passport their dog starting by THIS SATURDAY (11th December), and would like to be considered for the team please contact Debbie Deuchar at the Kennel Club for an application form urgently.

Please email Debbie Deuchar debbie.deuchar@thekennelclub.org.uk

More from the Ferry

The Team met a very interesting lady on the ferry - Inge Mitchell from Denmark who gave some of the team a very good lesson on how Great Britain helped Denmark during the war.
Inge lives in London now but was on her way to Denmark to visit relatives.

It was great to have someone else take the photos!!!

And David got in the picture too! Thanks for passing these photos on Inge - they are appreciated.

The "exercise" area for the dogs!! No wonder it took some persuasion for them to "go" on deck - especially later in the journey with nothing but the North Sea on either side!!

The Final Competition Day

SUNDAY - the day of the Individual HTM and Freestyle World Championship Finals Carol Dodson and Clifton had drawn to be first into the ring where they performed a superb routine to Escala Compilation..

Clifton showing his beautiful Paw Work. They competed well scoring a cumulative total from Friday and Sunday of 54.73 and finished the individual competition in 5th Place.

Kath Hardman and Amber had drawn to run 10th. They performed yet another superb routne to the music No More Tears (Enough is Enough) but would their performance be enough to keep their first place reached in the Team event on Friday? Amber was well focussed on Kath and Kath knew they needed to perform as well or better than Friday to keep the lead. Happily they did just that and finished with a total score of 57.40, winning the First Ever Individual World HTM Championship Title.

Following straight on from the HTM Competition was the Individual Competion where Michelle Dodson was the representative of the Great Britain Team.Tamar looked so happy performing - he seemed to be smiling in parts - maybe he knew this was to be his last competition as Tamar was to be retired directly on his return home. They finished in 7th position with a grand total score of 53.00. Well Done Tamar - and of course Michelle!

The three judges with champagne at the ready, congratulated all the finalists as they were welcomed into the HTM Arena.

Individual HTM World Championship

1st Kath Hardman with Stillmoor Lady In Red W Ch HTM 2010, HTM A Ex, FS I Ex 57.40
2nd Anja Christiansen with Faehunden's Queeny Las 57.10

3rd Vanda Gregorova with All That Brandy Gentle Mate 56.20

A very happy partnership with trophy, rosette and certificates.

Individual World Freestyle Championship

1st Thierry Thomas with Ubac - 57.47
2nd Vanda Gregorova with All That Brandy Gentle Mate - 57.00
3rd Alena Smolikova with Dapper Dame Black Chervers - 56.80

The presentation in the Main Arena - one dog press reported that there were 19,354 dogs entered at this world Dog Show and the only time the National Anthem of Great Britain was played was when Kath Hardman and Amber received their winners' bouquet in the Main Ring.

The proud GB Team Members receiving their bouquets in the Main Ring

The HTM Team World Championships - won by Denmark 81.14

2nd Place Great Britain 78.47 - 3rd Place The Czech Republic 73.03

The two Individual World Champions gather again for one more photo call!Celebrations over, the vet was the team's next port of call. The dogs had to be checked for fitness to travel home, given tick/flea treatment and wormed - then their passports signed and stamped - in all the right places!!! A small marquee had been erected close by to the HTM Hall just for this purpose. There would be a lot of dogs travelling home the next day.

The vet and assistant completing the necessary paperwork to get their pets home. Luckily the Team had been told that they could provide both their own wormers and Flea/tick treatment - so this saved more money - but they still had to pay for a consultation for each dog.

The final morning in Denmark - Jack the very Lucky Team Mascot sits in pride of place with the Team's Trophy.

The Freestyle Team Day

Friday was the Competition Day for all the Freestyle Teams.

Running first in the Team GB Freestyle was Penny Draper and Secret (Delark Gavotte) a Belgian Shepherd.

After a tentative start both Penny and Secret performed some great moves to "The Man In The Iron Mask"

And they finished on 15.50 points.

The second team member for Team GB was Jenny Deakin with Tom (Shepwood Morning Sunrise) a Border Collie.

A fast paced routine to "A Pencil Full Of Lead" they covered the entire ring with a confident routine.

And it's a "High Five" from Tom as they finished with 25.53 placing them 11th - just missing the Individual Competition on Sunday.

And the final member of Team GB Freestyle was Michelle Dodson with Tamar(Kamarda Doctor Foster)

This was a lovely routine which matched both Michelle's and Tamar's style of work.

They completed the round in superb fashion scoring 26.57 and secured themselves a place in the Individual FS Championship Competition to be held Sunday.

Team GB Freestyle - Michelle & Tamar, Jenny & Tom, Carole & Clifton (reserve) and Penny & Secret. The team finished the day in 5th place with a total score of 67.60.

1st Position went to The Czech Republic with 81.64, 2nd to Denmark with 77.60 , 3rd to Russia with 75.40

The HTM Team Day

Friday was the day for the opening ceremony and the Heelwork To Music Teams to compete for the World Championship Title. The trophies and rosettes already on display.
Team GB led into the ring by Gina Pink - Team Manager with Bailey, followed by Kath Hardman and Amber and Penny Draper with Secret ..........................

Followed by Carole Dodson and Clifton and Jenny Deakin with Tom.

............................. and Michelle Dodson with Tamar.

Team GB looked great in their uniforms - red jackets (Crazydogs)with the logos of their main Sponsors Rugby DTC, Belgian Shepherd Dog Association, Paws N Music Association and Canine Freestyle GB. Navy trousers, black shoes and white embroidered T Shirts. The dogs each wore a Union Jack Dog Coat! No mistaking the Team were representing Great Britain! The three judges - Karen Sykes, Head Judge - England, Marleen Van Hees - Belgium and Carina Enevoldsen - Denmark. Karen made all the competitors very welcome with her opening speech. The President of the FCI Obedience Commission Mr Johann Kurzbauer followed with an enthusiastic speech opening the Inaugral FCI World HTM Championships

Ready for action - the Heelwork To Music Team now had their work to do. The nerves began not only for the British HTM competitors but all of the Team as they realised that the competition that they had prepared long and hard for was actually starting; from training the dogs, choreographing routines, the massive task of the fundraising and finding sponsors – yes, it really had started!!!!

Gina Pink was the first British competitor; the HTM team had drawn a running order of 8th in the event. Gina and Bailey (Daraydala Piccolo) performed to a funky Black Eye Peas' number.

Their final score was 22.57 which left them just outside the top ten who would go through to the final on Sunday. Kath Hardman with Amber (Stillmoor Lady In Red HTM A Ex, FS I Ex) was second to compete for Great Britain performing to No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer.

Amber was on top form and they gave a lovely performance. They finished the day on the highest score of 28.60 which took them into the Individual Competition to be held Sunday. And the third team member, Carole Dodson with Clifton (Kinaway Dr. Watson) performing to an Escala Compilation. Clifton is a stunning dog to watch and he did not disappoint. Clifton’s breeder, Kathy, was in the audience and she was very proud too; thank you Kathy for your company and support throughout the whole competition. They scored 27.30 which took them into the final to be held Sunday.The Team made a discovery on the FCI HTM blog, that this was updated throughout the competition with the scores so they were finding out the judges scores prior them being announced at the end of the competition! Jenny and David were keeping tally on where the team was, which was rather exciting as HTM TEAM GB were delighted to be placed second with a score of 78.47. Denmark won the Team Competition with a score of 81.14 and The Czech Republic were placed third with a score of 73.03.

Carole and Clifton and Kath and Amber qualified through to the individual HTM finals which were held on the Sunday. This individual final would title the first World Champion in HTM.

The Team's benches covered in Good Luck Cards and the Blue and Silver Rosettes for the HTM Team's second place.

The Team thank everyone for their support and good luck wishes - looks like they worked!

The Practice Day - Thursday

The Team arrived at the venue for the 2010 World dog show early as Jenny had been invited to demo her reserve HTM routine in the main arena.

It was a short walk from the Car Park to the HTM/FS Arena but the Team were pleased they had taken their sturdy trolleys.The Team stuck together like glue for their first venture into the massive venue. Main Sponsor of the event was Eukanuba.Ted had a short break taking in the scene and the atmosphere! On getting there, the team began setting up camp in the HTM teams' area! Cages, cards, bunting and pictures all filled the HTM Team GB area, giving it some colour and throughout the 4 days received many compliments about it! One person saying we have heard about this decorating the area from Crufts!

The Main Arena - all ready for the show to begin..Jenny and Tom in the warm up area.Jenny’s demo went very well and being in the spotlight performing her routine was somewhat of a new thing! Tom did not bat an eyelid and was on true Tom form! The routine even had some coverage on a local Danish TV news programme who were explaining about the World Dog Show and the events taking place there. The team returned to the HTM Hall waiting for the allocated practice times in the HTM competition ring. Each team had a HTM and Freestyle time to practice in the ring. There was also a warm up ring just behind the competition ring which was very useful throughout the whole competition.
The team’s times were used effectively walking through their routines, floor plans and checking movements on the ring’s red carpet.

Whilst the HTM competitors were preparing for the start of the competition there were other events going on in the World Dog Show and some of the team saw the Obedience and Breed showing too. It was amazing to see some breeds that we do not have in this country, or maybe not very often!
Thursday night there was a prearranged Team dinner where some of the competitors had a a chance to dine together, getting to meet other Team members.