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Jeannette Shelley, captain of
the Aces High Flyball Team.
“It was absolutely amazing!”
Jeannette said of her Kent-based team
winning the Crufts 2019 l yball i nal. “It was
really good to be able to enjoy the celebration
and the amount of attention l yball got. We
were elated.”
The team is family too. “We’re all partners,
sisters, daughters, and nieces! ”That winning
team comprises Jeannette, her partner Andy
Worrall, her stepdaughter Maria Worrall, and
Emily Powell.
In fact, even the dogs are related!
Jeannette’s dog Hustle and Andy’s dog Shoots
are sibling Whippets. Maria’s Heist and Emily’s
Nova are Whippet, Border Collie-crosses, bred
by Jeannette.
Mention must also go to Anthony Williams,
the team’s crucial box loader. “He loads the
box for our dogs; he knows them intimately,
which way they turn, which balls they have,
all that kind of thing. On the day, we also had
Sian Lees and Tye Shelley on the line.
“Flyball’s a relay race of a team of four dogs
who need to go over four hurdles, collect
a ball from a l yball box, and return over the
hurdles,” explained Jeannette.
Collectively and individually, the Aces Highall the time. He wasn’t just all right; he
enjoyed it!”
Amanda certainly enjoyed it, when
she found out who was judging the
i nal. “That was a big surprise! It was
Michael Ball, the singer. He’s my hero,
so I thought they were joking when
they said it was him. I go to see him
all the time in concert, so it was all
a bit surreal.”
Percy is a mix of sporting and
herding breeds — part Podenco
Canario, Treeing Walker Coonhound,
Chihuahua, collie, and Pointer.
“The cross-breeds and rescues are
just as important to me as any of my
dogs. If they don’t win, they don’t win;
they’re pets i rst and foremost. My
rescue before loved it, he was a proper
attention seeker so he loved going
to the shows. As Percy became more
coni dent, I thought he would too, and
he did.
“Every dog deserves a chance, no
matter where he’s come from.”“He wagged his
tail all the time. He
enjoyed it.”
● For more information, and to order
your tickets, visit http://www.crufts.org.ukCrufts merchandise
sells out fast, so check it
out as early as you can!TOP TIP!J tt idogs are among the fastest in the world.
The team currently holds the British Flyball
Association record of 14.77 seconds for all
four dogs completing their run.
To put that in perspective, Jeannette said:
“The average time for our dogs is about
3.5 seconds for each dog.” This really is
a fast-and-furious, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it
type of sport!
When asked what her overriding memory
of the day was, Jeannette laughed: “Just
the nerves!” she said. Then added: “And
standing in the arena for the i nal, feeling
really anxious, and hearing my sister — who
was up with our support crew — calling out
support. That allowed me to focus and keep
the team focused as well.
“What a lot of people wouldn’t realise is
that in the early stages of the competition
we were actually running just below 16
seconds. However, in the later stages,
the dogs just ramped it straight up, and
suddenly started banging out low 15
second times. That really is an indication
of their absolute enjoyment of the sport,
because the faster the competition got,
the faster our dogs got in response to it.
That’s not down to anything we changed,
or any additional coaxing that we gave,
it was purely a decision the dogs made
themselves, to give that little bit more every
time we went through to the next stage.”
Many l yball dogs become incredibly
excited in anticipation of a race, but
Jeannette said: “Our dogs are actually quite
calm. Whippets are all about conserving
energy; they don’t bark. They just wait
patiently — and as soon as we let them go,
it turns into a dif erent game!
“To win such a prestigious event i lled
us with pride for the dogs, and we loved
showing them of to the public. It really is
a team thing and together we were able to
nail it!”Only dogs who have qualii ed
for Crufts can attend the show.TOP TIP!On the winner’s podium.The Aces High
team celebrate.Images: BeatMedia and the Kennel Club.22-25 YD Crufts Mar20 CS(SW)ok.indd 27 23/01/2020 12:37