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 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!

9 Days to go!

Just 9 days before HTM Team GB leave for the competition in Denmark.

Preparations are going really well - the team members live quite some distance away from each other (except Carole and Michelle Dodson) so practice is not being carried out on a team basis.

The Team Members are all very involved with the sport of HTM and Freestyle and are already competing hard as there is a big competition in Great Britain once or twice a month at the moment with around 200 entries per competition. Because of this, the Team's dogs are in constant training which is good as this means they do not need to intensify training for the World Championships.

Kath Hardman and Amber have competed at 3 competitions in the past 8 days so their training and practicing is continuing gradually with lots of play and reward and lots of "time out" too. They have been making sure over the past two months that their training is kept very motivated.

Photo courtesy of Allan Brown - Official Photographer for the World HTM & FS Championships

Kath and Amber on BBC Radio Derby

Kath Hardman and her Border Collie Amber from Team GB have been interviewed about the World Championships for Radio Derby.Click here to listen to the interview! They are on from 40:00 to 52:30.

Kath and Jenny at Westglen HTM Show

Just a month after DFS Crufts 2010 - the first DFS Crufts HTM Competitions, holding Crufts Qualifiers for the Semi Final for DFS Crufts 2001 was held today. Amber and Kath were placed First

And Tom (Shepwood Morning Sunrise) with Jenny were placed second - so those teams are through to the Semi Finals to be held in January 2011 by Rugby DTC - one of the main sponsers of Team GB.

Kath and Amber Make The News!

The local Derbyshire newspaper (Derby Telegraph) contacted Kath a couple of weeks ago - asking if anything interesting was happening in the "World of Dogs". After Kath had updated the reporter on Top Lodge Dancing Dogs' successes at DFS Crufts, Kath was then able to give them the news that her dog Amber had been selected for HTM Team GB for the World Competition being held in Denmark in June 2010. She also told them that another of the Top Lodge Dancing Dog Team had been invited to be Head Judge at this prestigious event.

You can read the article which was printed on 7th April 2010 here.

Kath Hardman at DFS Crufts 2010

Kath had a very busy Crufts 2010 - starting with the Freestyle Final on Thursday. Kath had two dogs in the final so had quick costume changes between the two routines.

All photographs on this page Courtesy of Allan Brown

Her first dog in the ring was Spice (Winner of the Crufts Freestyle and International Final in 2008) Props can get in the way!! But the skipping rope behaved and so did Spice finishing in 5th Place with their routine to Mr Blue Sky by the Electric Light Orchestra.

Her next dog in the ring was drawn last in the class and it was just too warm in the waiting area, but Amber did very well and they completed a graceful freestyle routine to Dean Martin's Sway finishing in 7th place.

On Friday it was time for competing in the Heelwork To Music Final and again Kath had managed to qualify two dogs for this competition. First to work was Kath and Tipp, her rescue Working Sheepdog. They danced to (I) CanCan (You) by Vanessa Mae - a very fast piece of music which suits Tipp and Kath. They finished the competition in 9th place.

And finishing in 2nd Place was Amber - the dog Kath will be competing with in the World Championships. Amber worked enthusiatically for Kath and they were honoured to repeat the performance under the spotlights at the end of the afternoon's entertainment.

Meanwhile - Kath and her friends from the Top Lodge Dancing Dog Team found time to entertain at the Joint Aid For Dogs stand.And also for an hour, Karen and Kath both entertained on the Samsung Stand on Saturday.

And finally, Kath finished her Crufts with a demonstration on the Flexi Lead Stand along with Karen from Top Lodge Dancing Dogs.

A busy, successful and thoroughly enjoyable four days at Crufts 2010.

Kath Hardman with Stillmoor Lady In Red HTM A Ex, FS I Ex (Amber)

Kath Hardman and her dogs have been successfully competing in Heelwork To Music since 1999, travelling throughout the British Isles and within Europe. She is a Member of the Kennel Club, the Kennel Club Heelwork To Music Working Party and the Kennel Club Judges' Working Party and she is also a Heelwork To Music Kennel Club Accredited Trainer (Judges).Kath was honoured to be invited by the Kennel Club to judge the HTM and Freestyle Competitions at Crufts in 2006. In 2008, with her Crossbreed "Spice", she won both the Crufts Freestyle Final and went on to represent England in the Crufts International Freestyle Final which she is delighted to have won, beating the ten other countries competing.

Photo Courtesy of Allan Brown

Currently, Kath has three “Dancing Dogs”, (Tipp, Spice and Amber) all successfully competing in both divisions (Heelwork To Music and Freestyle) at the Advanced level. She has judged, demonstrated and trained the sport of Heelwork To Music throughout the UK and also in Denmark, Belgium, Holland, Eire, The Czech Republic, Switzerland and soon to be training in Finland and Australia. She has also travelled to Japan, Israel and USA to promote the sport further.

Together with her talented pets, Kath has performed on stage at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, at Pet Expo and twice at the Northern Ireland International Horse Show. She has featured in many live TV appearances: BBC ‘Blue Peter’, ITV ‘This Morning’, ‘Brilliant Creatures’, ‘The Feelgood Factor’, ‘Animal Road Show’ & ‘Good Morning’, Channel 4 “Its Me Or The Dog”, "The Big Breakfast" & ‘The Richard and Judy Show’ and many local TV and radio stations.

Kath and her dogs are proud to be members of The Top Lodge Dancing Dog Team – a group of three Advanced Handlers who travel the country demonstrating the sport of Heelwork To Music and Freestyle. She is also a founder member and Show Secretary of Canine Freestyle GB, a nationwide Heelwork To Music Kennel Club Registered Club who produce two highly successful and popular Heelwork To Music Competitions per year.

Photo Courtesy of Allan Brown

The dog she will be competing with at the Inaugural FCI 2010 Heelwork To Music & Freestyle World Championships is Stillmoor Lady In Red HTM A Ex, FS I Ex, pet name Amber. Amber is a 4 year old Red and White Border Collie and is maturing into a beautiful dog. She is the youngest dog to have ever competed in the Crufts Finals when she was under two years of age. Amber has been competing at Crufts for the last consecutive 3 years and has recently qualified for the DFS Crufts Finals for both HTM and Freestyle to be held in March 2010. She is developing into the perfect dancing partner for Kath. Amber loves her training and the rewards that go with it especially, her tuggy and the ‘Chuck It’.

Kath is honoured to have been selected with Amber to represent Great Britain and will be competing enthusiastically for the GB Freestyle Team. Amber is also the named reserve dog for the Heelwork To Music Team.