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MEET THE TEAM

THE FACES BEHIND K9FUN

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KIM GILLESPIE

TRAINER

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAVOURITE TREAT:

CHOCOLATE

FAVOURITE THING:

SPENDING TIME WITH FRIENDS, FAMILY AND MY DOGS 

MOUSE

CRUFTS FLYBALL CHAMPION

DOB 16/06/2015

KC REG THE MOUSE OF MY DREAMS

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FAVOURITE TREAT :

K9FUN BUFFALO EAR

FAVOURITE THING :

TENNIS BALL

KAMIKAZE

CHIEF TREAT TESTER

DOB 23/03/2018

KC REG DIVINE INTERVENTION

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FAVOURITE TREAT:

K9FUN BEEF SKIN

FAVOURITE THING:

SNOOZING IN THE CAVE BED

PENNY

RETIRED

01/01/2005 - 11/02/2021

KC REG LUCKY LADY PENELOPE

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FAVOURITE TREAT:

FISH PIE

FAVOURITE THING :

THE BEACH

GRAFFITI

TROUBLE MAKER

29/08/2022

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TBC

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FAVOURITE TREAT:

SQUEEZY CHEESE

FAVOURITE THING:

SITTING IN FRONT OF THE FIRE

In 2008 we rescued a dog from The Blue Cross at Thirsk. A lurcher who had been picked up as a stray, her name was Penny and she was about to change my life forever.

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I had wanted a dog for as long as I could remember and Penny did not disappoint. In the house she was an absolute dream to live with. Thought to be a Collie X Saluki she was extremely clever and an absolute sweetheart. However her unknown past haunted her and she remained extremely dog aggressive with a severe dislike of men too . In fact my dad worked away at the time and when he came home he had to win her trust back each time. 

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After a couple of years I found a flyball team willing to let us join them. Penny was a natural and she did 3 training sessions before the team asked us to join them at a local show. She raced in their starters team, open team and Multibreed team in one weekend , came home with three 1st places and we were hooked. That was the beginning of our dog sports journey. Soon after we joined a local agility club and were quickly training 2 evenings a week and competing at every opportunity across both sports. We have been very lucky to compete all over the UK and even in Europe. In February 2021 at the grand age of 16 Penny crossed rainbow bridge. She may not be here anymore but she's the reason i'm a full time dog trainer and many of my customers have become great friends.

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Now my dog family consists of Mouse, Kamikaze and Graffiti, all lurchers. Mouse is a flyball addict and can also compete in agility when she feels like it but she loves the buzz of racing more so flyball is her true passion. Kami is doing really well at her agility although we only managed to get to one competition last year. She has been making some good efforts in flyball after a scare in 2022 but is finding her stride again now. She still isn't showing us what she's really capable of speed-wise but i'm sure that will come once she gets confident in what she's doing. Baby Graffiti is just about to enter into the world of open racing once shes old enough but has done beautifully in her foundations racing clocking some awesome times on the clock . I have high hopes for her as a sports dog in the future though as daddy is a Crufts champion.

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In 2019 I had my first opportunity to compete at Crufts. Mouse and I joined team FOCUS where we had a fabulous week and after competing in probably the closest final ever we were thrilled to come in second place after some extremely tight racing. In 2020  we again got the opportunity to grace the green carpet and this time we managed the extra step winning and gaining the title of Crufts Flyball Champions 2020 (Click Here to Watch it.) We were very lucky to do this especially just a few days before Coronavirus caused a worldwide lockdown.  2022 saw us grace the green carpet for the 3rd time ( Crufts 2021 was cancelled ) it was a close final but we came in second to the brilliant roadrunners team. 2023 we gained 3rd place after a series of box faults with our equipment. We'll be back this year for our 5th time with a brand new flyball box and we're thirsty to regain our Crufts champion title ! 

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