East Anglian Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club

Some of the competitors The East Anglian Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club held a KC licensed agility show - the first ever of its kind, limited to the SBT breed only - at the Sacrewell Farm & Country Centre, Peterborough on Saturday 9^th October.

Fortunately the weather was kind, if a bit chilly later in the afternoon, but for competitors and spectators alike it was a bright and dry day. With an entry of over twenty Staffords, the four classes, consisting of agility, helter skelter, jumping and power/speed class were judged by Janet and Alan Humphreys.

Crossguns Thong Song Entrants came from far and wide with the winner of two of the classes having travelled from Morecambe in the North West and others having come from as far afield as Kent, Wiltshire and Wales! Spectators had also travelled from great distances, as far as Leeds and even Scotland but went home thrilled with the sight of these canine bullets 'doing their thing'.

Mariz Royal Guardsman The dogs were superb, showing their true Stafford nature in playing the clown and acting for the audience, where a special mention must be made of 'Charles of Stibbington' (Charlie) who stole the audience hearts with his antics and Meg (Boadicea Herself) who at twelve years old showed that age is no deterrent to a Stafford enjoying agility!

Araidh Sweetest Taboo The serious agility competitors showed the breed's intelligence and athleticism to its utmost, covering the courses with precision and speed. At the end of a very exciting day everyone went home fired with enthusiasm. Alongside the groundbreaking agility show the Club also ran a KC assessment session with Christina Chapman; all participants passed and then enjoyed the sights of the day.

Thanks must go to the very willing extra pairs of hands that made the day run so well as well as to the devotees who travelled to ensure that this piece of history took place.

It may have been the first Stafford agility show - hopefully it won't be the last!

The course includes all the equipment, including contact equipment, eg. dog walk, 'A' frame and see-saw. The course should be negotiate in a set time, with faults incurred for dogs that do not touch the contacts (marked in different colours on the equipment).

This course is similar to a jumping course (i.e. without any contact equipment) but is designed usually in ever increasing or decreasing circles.

This course has approximately 20 pieces of equipment e.g jumps, weaves, tyre and both types of tunnel, but excludes any contact equipment. The course negotiated in a set time and the fastest clear round wins.

This is a course of two halves! The power section which is first, contains all the contact equipment, a long jump, spread jump and weaves. IF the competitor completes this section without any faults, the handler and dog then progresses to the speed section which is a jumping course. The fastest dog clear in this section is the winner.