Lucy and her husband Rob have three dogs, Two
Beagles, Spider (Dialynne Bedazzled) and Teasel (Dialynne Making Wave), and a
Border Collie called Skiffle (Harriot Skiffle King). Lucy had always wanted a
dog of her own so the first thing she did after marrying Rob was to get a dog.
Spider was the 'fruit' of that decision, and Lucy began her route to dog
training, when it quickly became apparent how much Spider needed something to
focus his brain on other than finding ways to be naughty! Through a fabulous
club she learnt not only how to train her own dog but how to train other people
to train theirs. Several courses and examinations later and Lucy became a fully
fledged trainer and examiner for the Kennel Club Good Citizens Dog scheme
bronze to gold.
Lucy
first started her Heelwork to Music career with Spider in 2006. Lack of
experience and nerves meant their first competition ended with Spider running
out of the ring and Lucy in floods of tears! She pulled herself together and they
gradually over time they got better. Spider finished his career in Intermediate
(after he had to retire due to arthritis of the spine). He had gained several
first places and top placings over his working years as well as two television
appearances on Animal Planet's Top Dog and BBC's Over the Rainbow. He is still
at home thoroughly enjoying his retirement.
Teasel came along two years after Spider.
Teasel is her husband's dog which Lucy 'stole' when her husband worked a
contract in Germany
so didn't have enough time to continue her training in the brief spells he had
at home. Teasel benefited from Lucy's experience of competing with Spider and began her career well after winning her very first competition. There was a
brief blip when they reached intermediate level when Lucy tried to put
everything onto a vocal command. Once Lucy realised that poor Teasel really
couldn't hear her when the music was playing loudly in the ring and put
everything to a body cue instead, they came on leaps and bounds!
Teasel
has the distinct honour of currently being the only Scent Hound to have
qualified for the Crufts Freestyle Final, and 2014 was her third year on the
trot. Competing with her is always a little tense for Lucy as if something
worries Teasel she has a tendency to freeze.
However after several years competing she has
become more and more confident. This year at Crufts, when she saw the boom
camera move, she froze but recovered much quicker than in previous years and
put in her happiest performance to date.
Skiffle has been an amazing worker from day
one. Always on the go, he never sleeps during the day, in case he misses out on
something exciting! As a pup he ended up housebound and on steroids until he
was 4 months old, as the result of an allergic reaction. As a result he lacked
the early socialisation and he was an extremely nervous young dog and who had
to be introduced and acclimatised to every new sound or place. His extreme
phobias of horses and plastic carrier bags took a little more work (he's great
with both now) but in general most of his fears could quickly be overcome by a
game of ball! Now he is generally a confident happy boy (who sometimes lacks
social graces). He occasionally has little blips in confidence but a clicker and
ball are still generally the solution to most things. He is extremely trusting
of people and loves a cuddle (they will get bored long before he will!).
Skiffle has had an amazing Heelwork to
Music career and has been placed in every competition he has been in up until
now. He is in Advanced level in both Heelwork and Freestyle. Last year was his
first time at Crufts in the Heelwork to Music Final when he surprised Lucy by
not worrying at all about the cameras and screens, instead he absolutely loved
the big audience. They both thoroughly enjoyed dancing the 'Nightmare Before
Christmas' routine. This year he again qualified and again danced his socks
off! Lucy and Skiffle are this year trying out Freestyle again. He finds
Freestyle very exciting so this has just been recently reintroduced as he is
now mature enough (at four years old) to be able to cope with it without turning
into a barking, swirling looney!
Lucy was very excited to have made the team with both
Skiffle (Heelwork to Music and reserve Freestyle) and Teasel (Freestyle)! She
hopes to be able to share the joy she gets from dancing with her dog with the
rest of Europe! As an
added bonus this year's OEC is in Germany which means Lucy and her husband will be taking
a minor detour en route to give Rob a chance to show Lucy where he worked for a
while.
Please note that the Kennel Club is not supporting this team in anyway by selection or in any other way. However the Kennel Club of Great Britain has given permission to Louth and District Dog Club to enter a team for Great Britain.
