Читать книгу Bushell's Best Bits - Everything You Needed To Know About The World's Craziest Sports - Mike Bushell - Страница 12

There aren’t many sports in which an 89-year-old can beat a 16-year-old, but dog agility is one. Mary only got into sport at 80, but nine years later in a field near Farnham she was giving us all a lesson, beating teenagers and myself in a warm up for the UK championship to be held in Eastbourne. It was then on to the world championships in Norway. Think show-jumping, but it’s your dog going around the obstacles, chasing a clear round, and although Mary wasn’t riding her dog, she was instrumental in the outcome.

‘Stay, go, weave!’ she bellowed as her border collie raced up and down steep narrow ramps, before leaping a two-foot pole. Then it was through a long tunnel, over some hurdles, and then faster than the eye could follow, it darted through a series of poles. ‘Go on, weave, weave!’ Mary shrieked as she followed the route around the course, waving her arms, dipping her shoulders, pointing her fingers, whistling and nodding her head.

It’s not just the dogs that get the exercise and Mary’s team got a clear round. You get penalties for fences you don’t clear, and for any refusals.

‘I get nervous, yes very nervous, but wow when I go, I love it, I love it’, Mary said, roaring with laughter. This sport has obviously taken years off her, because she could have passed for 60. The 16-year-old lad who’d been out-thought and out-fought was equally enthusiastic. ‘It’s an unusual sport, but it keeps me fit. There’s a lot of running around and I like showing off our skills to my friends and family in the garden.’

I had taken my faithful old mutt Basil along, who at 12 had lost most of his agility. He was part Labrador, part Lurcher and could have got acting work as a calf. But he was reasonably fit in the autumn years of his life, and would do anything for food. His black tail wagged furiously as we went around the course, his eyes were bright and his silky coat gleamed in the sun, but it was me who was eight feet up in the air at the top of the ramp, and I ended up crawling through the tunnel, jumping the hurdles and climbing through the hoops. I thought that by showing him he might follow, but my hand signals, shoulder shimmies and voice commands were all wrong, and his sole contribution was to go for a wee. I had almost got a clear round, but of course it didn’t count.

My theory that Basil’s age had cost him his agility didn’t carry weight for long either, because the following February he managed to get my daughter Sophie’s birthday cake off the back of a kitchen unit during the night. It was way out of reach of his paws, and either he had help from a cat or he did still possess that old showjumping magic.

In truth it can take months to build up the voice commands and body signals that enable you to get your dog around the course, and many go at first just for the social side, greeting each other like long-lost friends and having picnics after the competitions. Now that was something Basil excelled at.

Dog agility started in 1978 when a committee member at the Crufts dog show was challenged with entertaining the audience between the regular competitions. He got together with a vet and they decided to show off the dogs’ natural agility and speed. By 1979, some dog clubs then started offering training and a year later the Kennel Club recognised it as a sport. Now there are competitions all over the world.

As breeds go, Basil would have been a natural in his heyday, with his Labrador and Lurcher genes, but there were all sorts there, from Jack Russells to Corgis and an Otter Hound. There are different rounds for different sizes, and all I can say is, may the course be with you.

For more information its www.ukagility.com and http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/agility