Kids R Us

Welcome to Just Juniors, a page exclusively for, by and about young agility handlers. We hope it will become a cross between News Round, Blue Peter and Dr Who. Only kidding about Dr. Who.

Birmingham Agility Final

 Congratulations to everyone who qualified in the YKC Birmingham Finals at the City of Birmingham Dog Show, Stoneleigh Showground on Saturday 30 August. They will be invited to take part in the YKC Agility Dog of the Year Semi-Finals in the YKC ring at Crufts on Thursday, 5 March 2009. The first place from the Semi-Final at Crufts 2009 will go through to the grand final at the end of the day in the Main Arena.

The overall winner was Ashleigh Butler with Oliver Rigby coming in as the runner up. An extra well done to the two of them.

If a member has qualified more than one dog, they will receive a letter from the office asking them to choose which dog they wish to run in the final, and the qualifying place will go to the next placed dog in that group.

The YKC would like to thank Charlie Wyatt who judged the event, Dave Ray and the members of his ring party, the City of Birmingham Dog Show for kindly hosting the competition and their generous gift to the winner, and all members and parents for attending the event.

Young Handlers Return from National Training Camp

Joanna Nosalik and I turned up at YKC National Training at Brooksby College, Melton Mowbray (26 July – 1 August 2008) not quite knowing what to expect. In previous years, due to large size of the training groups, we had not managed much more than straight lines of jumps and single pieces of equipment with the Beginners Agility Group. How wrong we were!

With groups of no more than four children each, the speed at which the training progressed was phenomenal! Within two days, we had children and dogs doing all equipment confidently and smoothly, so much so that Jo and I started to run out of ideas of what we could do at such an early stage! We were expecting at the most to be doing simple sequences of four or five obstacles, but by the Wednesday afternoon we were doing double pull throughs, snakes and front crosses! Normally this would take at least a few weeks of training.

This rapid development was highlighted well in the end of week competition when, as hoped, the children we had been training performed exceptionally well, making Jo and myself extremely proud and pleased with our week of hard work. All the children did fantastically well, showing patience and understanding of their dogs, and listening intently throughout the entire week, even when it 80 degrees plus and both the children and their dogs would rather have been elsewhere! All in all, the week went fantastically well, and we can't wait to do the same again next year!

Richard Chubb

YKC Agility DOTY Heat Cancelled Due to Bad Weather

City of Birmingham Question & Answer

Hi

Perhaps you could help me as I'm very confused! On your just Juniors page (below) it says that at the City of Birmingham Show there will be Crufts Qualifiers for the YKC Agility Dog of The Year. Do you know how I can enter this event as, on the shows web site, it suggests that you have to qualify to enter this class despite the fact that at all the other shows you can just enter on the schedule.

Kirsty Moyes

Hi Kirsty and all other YKC members -

The Birmingham Agility Final is effectively a chance for members to take part in agility classes all over the country. As well as being a competition in its own right, it is also chance for members who do not live near any of the other heats to try and qualify for Agility Dog of the Year.

Members can take part in agility classes held at Kennel Club licensed events and gain a YKC agility certificate and badge. Please be aware that members are only permitted to apply for one certificate per year with each dog. Applications sent into the office for dogs that have already received a certificate cannot be processed.  The certificate will usually be issued within one calendar month of application

The Birmingham Agility Final is held for all members who achieve a certificate during 1 July 2007 – 31 May 2008.

Members who apply for a certificate before the closing date will be invited to take part at the City of Birmingham Championships Show on 30 August 2008. The first and second placed members from each sub-division at The Birmingham Aglity Final will also automatically qualify for the Agility Dog of the Year competition at Crufts 2009.

Only one dog per handler may compete at Crufts. If a handler has qualified more than one dog, they will have to choose which dog to run. The next placed dog in that class would then be offered the place.

All the YKC Agility Dog of the Year Rules and Qualification Procedures can be found on the YKC website or on page 9 of the YKC Information Guide.

Lucy Smith

Young Kennel Club Crufts Qualifiers

To qualify for the YKC Agility Dog of the Year at Crufts 2009, members must be placed first or second in the following YKC Agility heats or at the Birmingham Agility Final. All certificate holders will be invited to try and qualify at the Birmingham Agility Finals held at the City of Birmingham Canine Association show at Stoneleigh.

The first placed team from each qualifier below will qualify for Crufts 2009. In the event of only one team entering a heat, that team will run in the heat and provided no more than two dogs are eliminated, they will qualify.

Commentary Course for YKC Members

The Young Kennel Club (YKC) is to hold a commentary course at the Kennel Club’s headquarters in London on 22 February 2008. The course will be lead by Nick Brooks-Ward and Frank Kane. Both are Kennel Club members and commentators, both in the ring and on TV. The day aims to teach YKC members the skills involved in being a commentator and will give them a practical chance to put what they have learnt into action.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary said 'The course provides our young members with the chance to gain those skills which are so crucial to being a commentator. We are lucky enough to have two very experienced members leading them and passing on their expertise. I hope all attending have a great day and get a lot of valuable knowledge and enjoyment from it.'

The course is open to all YKC members aged 16 years and above. All that is asked is that members are confident, outgoing and willing to learn. 

To apply, please ring Lucy Smith on tel. 020 7518 1030 or go to www.ykc.org.uk. The closing date for applications is 8 January 2008.

Hello from Down Under

Hi, my name is Kate Wood and I'm from Perth, Australia. I'm 14 years old and I do dog agility with my Poodle X Maltese. I read the article about Ant Clark being European Champion. I was really proud to see young people getting into agility because in Australia I'm the youngest who full time competes.

In 2005 I entered the Australians National Compaction at the age of 12 and I won Novice Agility with my dog. I have now got my Masters Jumping title and nearly my Agility. Reading that article made me more confident that I'm not the only young person competing.

I would love to get in touch with other junior handlers in the UK. My email address is kmw2004@bigpond.com

Scottish Juniors Training Day Announced

The first Scottish Junior Dog Club event of the year will be an Agility Training day with Laura Innes and Carol-Anne Duthie in February 2008.  This event is open to all Scottish Junior Dog Club Members and those wishing to join.

If you would like to become a member then please download a Membership Form and return it to us.

For more information about the Scottish Juniors Club, go to http://www.sjdc.co.uk/

Careers with Dogs Day

The Young Kennel Club (YKC) is offering all members aged between 14-24 years of age the chance to attend a Careers with Dogs Day on Monday, 18 February 2008. The event will take place at its central London office, and aims to give YKC members the opportunity to attend talks and speak with professionals in a variety of canine fields, including veterinary, photography, grooming and animal behaviourism.

The day has been specifically designed to tie in with the school half term, ensuring that as many members as possible can attend. The careers day will be hosted by Lucy Smith, YKC Manager and will be held in the Kennel Club boardroom. Speakers will come from a variety of backgrounds and will aim to educate YKC members on all dog related jobs.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: 'The YKC members are the future of the world of dogs. They give up so much of their time to help out at events and put so much energy into dogs. We want to make sure they have all the knowledge available to them to help ensure their future in dog related activity.'

If you would like to attend the day please contact the YKC Office or download the following application form and return the form to the YKC Office.

Application Form

For more information about the Young Kennel Club visit www.ykc.org.uk

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