Items for Auction - Silent Bids Welcomed

The Cabaret Night is almost here. The Team have been practicing hard to make sure everyone attending enjoys themselves. Not only have they a superb raffle with many quality prizes, the Team are holding an Auction during the interval. If you want to bid for any of these items, we will be taking "Silent Bids" so no one misses out. (Details to follow on Friday)

Items for your bids are as follows :

Rhythmic Paws DVD plus a one hour training session with Attila Szkukalek. Attila is an animal behaviourist and trainer; canine freestyle tutor and winner of both national and international competitions. The highest bidder of this item will be able to prepare their dog using the DVD for their one hour private lesson with Attila. You will be expected to travel to Attila's premises in Norwich at your own expense for the lesson.

Genuine Henry Heath Black Top Hat. Kindly donated to Team GB by Carol Mortimer this unique item is very slightly crumpled at the back but otherwise in excellent condition. Would enhance any "white tie and tails" routine and fits a lady's head very comfortably. Circa 1920's. There is a reserve price on this item.

A Marshall & Snelgrove Hat Box. The above Top Hat fits snuggly into this hat box and bought separately would protect any hat needed for your routine. Circa 1940.

A One Hour Private Training Session with Kath Hardman. Kath was the Winner of the Crufts Freestyle competition and International Freestyle competition at Crufts in 2008. The highest bidder of this item will be expected to travel to Derbyshire (close to Junction 28 M1) at their own expense for the lesson.

A Limited Edition Black Nationwide "England Three Lions Crest" Embossed Briefcase. Nationwide are the Main Sponsors of the England Football Team and this briefcase has been produced as a memento. Very handsome briefcase with two large front pockets; three large compartments and two large zipped compartments which would securely protect any valuable paperwork and files. Additional pockets for pens and business cards. Comes with a comfortable shoulder strap. AND Falcon Notebook Case. Securely protects your laptop whilst in transit size 15". Black and grey.

John Deere Sit N Scoot Child's Tractor - Fabulous toy from aged 1 upwards! Makes engine noise, encouraging voices and is a very well made tractor for a young enthusiast. Brrrrrm Brrrrrm ...............

One Portrait by Ian Turner - to be painted from a photograph. Ian paints beautiful pictures of your favourite pet. Post and Packing and framing to be paid for by the buyer on completion of the portrait.

Two Canvases - (to be auctioned separately) photographs of your dog transferred to a canvas.

A Hand Made Quilt - donated by Annie Clayton who has taken over a year to make this lovely quilt. It is a hand crafted pink and white patchwork quilt (made for Single Bed) which is potentially worth up to £200!

Watch this space to find out how you can forward a "Silent Bid" if unable to attend.

The World Championship HTM Judges

There are three judges at both the HTM and Freestyle Team Competitions.



1 Head Judge - Karen Sykes England



2 Judge - Marleen Van Hees Belgium



3 Judge - Carina Enevoldsen - Denmark



Team GB hope they enjoy their time officiating at the event.

Cabaret Night

You can still buy tickets for the Cabaret Night. £10 Adult £3 Children
Available from all team members. (Prices increase on the night £15/£5.) Send cheque and SAE to "HTM TEAM GB" , PO Box 7680, Alfreton, DE55 9BX

There will be a quality Raffle and a very special Auction.

Auction Items include Top Hat - circa 1920's, Marshall & Snellgrove Hat Box, Painted Portrait of your dog, an HTM lesson from Attila, a hand made quilt, an HTM Lesson with Kath Hardman, Briefcase with Lap Top cover, 2 canvas photos of your own dog to be auctioned separately.

A great night - not to be missed.

Hope to see you there!

Visitors to the Blog

Thanks for visiting our Team Blog

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.

Jenny and Tom at the Auditions for Toto

Jenny and Tom took a break from rehearsing for the World Championships and joined hundreds of other dogs and handlers in the auditions for Toto.

They did really well.

Read more about it HERE.

And the Results are in - Photo Competition take two!

As you will have seen, we ran our 2nd Photo Competition at the Westglen Heelwork to Music Show last weekend. Our thanks goes to everyone who had a go and also to those who simply could not choose and gave donations or brought some of Jenny's delicioius doggie treats instead! Also thank you to the Westglen Team for letting us fundraise at their show.

And the Winner was......after a tie breaker.......GARETH EDWARDS - Well done to Gareth who won a pink MP3 player - lucky man!

So if you are still itching to find out who was 'tickled pink' and who was 'green with envy' the answers are as follows:

Photo 1 - Gina Pink

Photo 2 - Kath Hardman













Photo 3 - Michelle Dodson















Photo 4 - Carole Dodson













Photo 5 - Jenny Deakin













Photo 6 - Penny Draper














So did you get them all right? Leave us a comment and let us know!

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.

Gina's Pet Passport Journey

Many people didn’t apply for the Team GB in Denmark either because their dogs were not pedigrees (i.e. registered on the Kennel Clubs breed register) or they didn’t want to go through the Pet Passport scheme which involves having your dog inoculated with the rabies jab. I, too, had the same reservations and here is my diary of events through Bailey’s process. Added to my concerns was the fact that the Kennel Club were not selecting HTM Team GB until early December 2009. However in order for Bailey to have a positive blood test at least six months before leaving for Denmark meant he needed to start the procedure by mid November at the very latest. Here are snippets of my diary of this event

23 October 2009
Following the Kennel Clubs press release for the HTM World Championships in Denmark in June 2010, I considered entering Bailey for the competition. Bailey is currently the only German Spitz in the United Kingdom to be working Advanced Heelwork To Music and, in accordance with the World Championship rules and regulations, he is also registered on the Kennel Clubs breed register as opposed to the activities register which most of my other dogs are registered on.

But Bailey was not pet passport registered and so I rang my Vet for more details. I was in luck as three vets in our surgery are certified vets with DEFRA, which means they are qualified to give the rabies jabs and register the passports. We made an appointment for Tuesday morning.

I emailed Debbie Deuchar, at the Kennel Club, to advise her I would like Bailey & I to be considered for Team GB HTM.

26 October 2009
I did my internet research and downloaded everything I could on the Pet Passport scheme; I then made my list of questions for my vet regarding the scheme that I needed clarification on.

27 October 2009
At our veterinary appointment I first discussed the scheme and what it entailed. I am not keen to give my dogs unnecessary vaccinations and the rabies jab did hold many questions for me. My vet, Philip du Plessi (as pictured here with Bailey) was brilliant; he patiently went through the whole procedure with me before I decided to proceed. Your vet has to adopt a strict procedure as set out by DEFRA. Firstly, Philip gave Bailey a full health check and gave him a clean bill of health, which every dog owner likes to hear. All of my dogs are micro-chipped but we needed to next check Bailey’s micro-chip was active and note where it is location – Bailey’s is still between his shoulder blades. So far, so good! Philip is not permitted to give Bailey his rabies jab until the micro-chip is either given or/and located. Bailey’s microchip is unique to him and is used on his Pet Passport. Next we discussed Bailey’s annual vaccinations as they were due this month. Philip advised me that we would give him the rabies jab today; his annual vaccinations in two weeks and take his rabies blood test two weeks after that as he did not like to give all the vaccinations at once and if the rabies vaccination failed we still had time to re-vaccinate him. So that is what we did. The rabies jab was given; Bailey had half a tub of the dog treats from Philip as way of compensation for his time and I paid £38 for the visit and the rabies jab.

I kept Bailey as quiet as you can keep a German Spitz that day and he showed no signs of side-effects from the rabies jab such as swelling around the jab area.

The day after Bailey had a great run.

9 November 2009
Today Bailey had his annual boosters. Philip was pleased he had been fine after his rabies jab. Appointment made for 23 November 2009 for Baileys blood test.

23 November 2009
Today was a morning visit as Philip likes to post blood tests off in the morning instead of taking blood at night and keeping it overnight. I was advised that the blood is taken from the vein in the neck as the blood flows better from his part of the dogs’ body. Bailey was as good as gold and sat patiently whilst Philip shaved his coat from this area and attempted to take the blood sample. Unfortunately Bailey did not want to give us any blood and Philip had trouble accessing the vein. In the end he took the blood sample from his leg and Bailey once again claimed his compensation of half a pot of the vets’ dog treats! The bill this time was £71.96. Total so far £109.96.

27 November 2009
At Guildford’s HTM show today Jenny Deakin told me she had entered her dog Tom for Team GB HTM so I asked how Tom was progressing with his Pet Passport. Jenny said it was going well but she had shopped around as her Vet had wanted to charge £250. Another Vet close to her was charging £150 so she took Tom to them; I don’t blame her.

7 December 2009
Today I received good news. Philip telephoned me to say Bailey’s blood tests have come back showing he has passed and the rabies vaccination has taken effect. I can collect his Pet Passport when I was ready. When I arrived at the Vets I checked through the Passport to make sure all of his details had been entered correctly. They hadn’t. Bailey’s date of birth was listed as 1 November 2003 instead of 27 October 2003. Philip apologised and a new Passport was issued that night with the correct details on; after all I didn’t want to find myself abroad with a dog and having trouble getting him back into the UK. The bill this time was £23 for the Pet Passport, making a total of £132.96.

23 December 2009
More good news – today I received a letter from the Kennel Club confirming Bailey and I have been selected for Team GB HTM 2010. Looking forward to meeting the rest of the Team. Denmark here we come.

Bailey’s rabies jab lasts for two years so had he not been successful this time around I could still put him forward for Team GB HTM 2011.

Anyone considering putting their dog/s forward for Team GB 2011 should contact their Vet for further details on the Pet Passport Scheme.

Useful websites: http://www.dogsaway.co.uk/
www.saferpets.co.uk/all-about-pet-passport-scheme.html
http://www.defra.gov.uk/

Photo Competition Take Two! - Sixth and Final Day

So this is the last one and not an easy one at that. Whoever said we were gonna make this easy?

So you think you know who is who? or maybe you are split between two options? Why not place an entry for both - the more the merrier. Lets hope the sun shines and we see you all at Westglen. Don't forget to pop over- we would love to see you.

For those who cannot make it - we will of course give you the answers next week. Hope you can wait till then!

Picture 6

Photo Competition Take Two! - Day Five

Just when you thought you had this down - even I get stuck on this one and I took the photo's. We are itching to see how many people can get this right!

Picture 5

Want to know more about this competition? Find out more HERE

Photo Competition Take Two! - Day Four

Well there are certainly no shades of grey in this bunch! - take a look at our next picture...

Picture 4

We are publishing 6 pictures on the blog this week - each one being a distorted photo of one of our HTM Team GB members. We will be at Westglen Heelwork to Music show this weekend, where we are holding a competition to let you guess who is who. See if you can win the top prize!

Photo Competition Take Two! - Day Three

So how are you getting on with our photo competition sneak preview? Well, let's see what you make of this one......

Picture 3

Want to know more about this competition and how you can enter? Find out here

Photo Competition Take Two! - Day Two

Each day in the run up to the Westglen Heelwork to Music show next weekend we are publishing a distorted photo of one of our HTM GB Team members so that you can have a sneak preview. At the show we will be running a competition for people to guess who is who, so please do come over and have a go (or a couple!). Below is picture number 2.

Picture 2

Did you miss Picture ONE? see it here

Photo Competition Take Two! - Day One

Back by popular demand, HTM team GB have prepared another of their fun photo competitions - and boy did we have fun preparing this one!

Between now and our trip to Westglen Heelwork to Music show next weekend, we will be posting 6 pictures. Each picture will be a distorted photograph of a member of the team.

Your job? to guess who is who and then enter the photo competition at the show next weekend to see if you can win the top prize - a fabulous MP3 Player. So start looking now but no entries until Westglen Show.

It costs just £1 per go and Entry Forms will be available at Westglen Show. Thanks to Westglen for allowing us to try and raise the funds needed for the Team GB to get to and from Denmark in June.

Hope you have a much fun guessing as we did taking the pics.
So without further a do please find below the first of our distorted pictures -

Picture 1

Fundraising at West of England Show

As part of their fundraising efforts Team GB ran a fun event on Saturday 27^th March, at the West of England Border Collie Club Breed and Obedience Show, Bristol. The ‘Fun Run’, organised by Michelle and Carole Dodson, involved obedience weaves between poles and a fun retrieve over agility jumps.

Despite rain threatening all morning, once the course was set up the sun broke through and shone all day. The Fun Run proved popular for competitors from both the obedience and breed classes. Even the locals passing through the park on their dog walks had a go!

The rounds were timed and there was a prize for the fastest, most accurate dog. Well done to Steph and Loki on winning the first place trophy, completing the course in just over 16 seconds – wow!

Our thanks goes to West of England Border Collie Club who have been so supportive, not just letting us run this event but donating further funds and money raised in the show raffle.

Carole and Michelle on Stroud FM!

Carole and Michelle Dodson were delighted to be invited onto their local radio station - Stroud FM - last night, to plug HTM team GB and talk about their respective successes at Crufts.

Hanna, the presenter, had never heard of Heelwork to Music before, so she was intrigued. They were asked questions about how the sport had developed, how they had got involved and what it entailed. Even down to if the dogs could do it at the same time! The answer was yes but trying to do a whole routine with three dogs at the same time could prove very entertaining J

Thanks to Hanna for being so welcoming and inviting us back to promote any upcoming fundraising opportunities and to let them know how we all get on.

Penny and Kath at BSDA of GB Show at Tomlinson's

The BSDA of GB have kindly agreed to be a Main Sponsor of HTM Team GB which will help the team make their way to the World Championships in DenmarkPenny made the trip to Leicester to put on a Demonstration of HTM and Freestyle with both her Belgian Shepherds Tally and Secret in thanks for their help. Kath Hardman also made an appearance to help out.

Judging of all four breeds of Belgian Shepherds took place inside the Main Hall at Tomlinsons with Obedience taking part outside in the paddoock.

Spice and Amber waited patiently to help with the entertainment.

The spectators gathered during the judging to watch their Lunch Time entertainment

Kath explained a little of the sport of HTM to the spectators and then Penny took to the floor to show them her HTM routine with Tally to "The Grassland Theme".

Then it was Spice's turn to dance with Kath - they chose to have fun with their "If I Only Had A Brain" routine.
Spice loves this routine - it includes all her favourite moves.

Then it was Secret's turn to show them "The Man In An Iron Mask"

Secret is very motivated for work and this routine will soon be ready for the World Show.

The trophy's were on show for the Breed Show Winners

The BIS was won by the Lakenois - we all admired the graceful gait of this fabulous dog.

Thank you from the entire HTM Team GB - to all at the Belgian Shepherd Dog Association of Great Britain. Your support is appreciated so much.

Gina Pink at DFS Crufts 2010

Gina enters the Main Arena at DFS Crufts 2010Photograph Courtesy of Allan Brown

Gina is always very busy in the lead up to the Heelwork to Music Finals at Crufts as she is the Crufts Co-ordinator for Competitors, Stewards and Judges .Photograph courtesy of Allan Brown

But at Crufts 2010, she handed over the co-ordinators responsibilities to Carole Dodson as Gina had been honoured to accept the Kennel Club invitation to be the Head Judge for all three days Competition plus the YKC HTM Competition held in Hall 3.Photograph courtesy of Allan Brown

The three days competitions - Freestyle on Thursday, Heelwork to Music on Friday and the massive International Freestyle Class on Saturday meant she had judged 33 of the very best routines along with fellow judges Ann DeRizzio and Heather Smith.When not judging, Gina found time to help with the demonstrations of Heelwork To Music in Hall 3 in the Dog Activities Arena with Bailey, the dog she is teaming with at the World Chamipionships. Bailey looking very much at home on the green carpet - great practice for him to work in front of the very large numbers of spectators attracted to the Arena.