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Simon, Bandit & Amber

& then there was Blue


Amber and Bandit playing on the beach in San Francisco with the Golden Gate Bridge behind

All three of us are relatively new to both Dundee and Dog Agility. We moved to Dundee in late 2000 and started doing Agility early in 2001. Prior to this we lived in Leeds for two years after living in the San Francisco Bay Area for six years. Both Amber and Bandit are "rescue dogs" we came across both dogs through our association with TVAR (Tri-Valley Animal Rescue) and the East County Animal Shelter. We got both dogs from the Shelter when they were approximately five to seven months old, Amber first and then Bandit a few months later. Both dogs had to go through six months quarantine when we moved back to the UK, a process that is thankfully becoming less common now due to the Pets Passport Scheme.


Amber reflecting on life




Amber is eleven years old and is a true "Heinz 57" mix. Amber is an independent dog and is very strong willed. Thus although she has been doing agility training for over a year she is still not really competing because she usually finds something "more interesting" to do during each circuit.









Bandit not barking for once Bandit is 10 and a half years old and is an Australian Cattle Dog cross (ACD). Although common in the States, ACDs are a rare breed in the UK, there being only a couple of hundred in the country. As far as we know there are only four other ACDs involved in Agility in the UK. For more information about ACDs click here.

Bandit started agility training in early 2001 when he was about three and a half, and is a good example that you can teach an old dog new tricks. 2002 was a very good year for us, Bandit "won out" of both Elementary and Starter Levels in May. Since then Bandit has been competing at Novice Level or Grade 5 as it is now called. Bandit is hampered by one main factor, he is my first agility dog and we are learning how to do the whole process together. Despite me holding him back he has been a great Agility dog. Bandit has two Novice jumping wins but unfortunately despite getting numerous top five places he has never been able to get the Novice Agility win he needed to move up to the next level. In 2002 Bandit won the Burgess Scottish Starter Dog League and was the Best Scottish Dog in the National Burgess ABC League (a league exclusively for dogs that are not Border Collies, the breed that dominates this sport). Finally in 2002, Bandit was selected as a reserve for the 2003 D.A.A.T.C. Crufts Agility Team which qualified by winning the heat held at the Easington September 2002 show. In 2003 Bandit was 6th in the Annual Woodside Scottish Starter of the Year competition. He also qualified for the Annual Pedigree ABC Finals at the Newton Heath Show. The picture below was taken during that Show. In the six years we have competed, Bandit qualified for these finals four times. Unfortunately we never qualified/progressed to the Olympia Final but that was more due to my nervousness than his mistakes.
Although in 2008 we are still doing agility it now more for fun and exercise rather than competition.

Sadly Bandit had to be "put to sleep" on Thursday October 2nd 2008 due to the rapid progression of a tumour on his head. Just three weeks before this he had won two rosettes at the Aberdeen Canine Dog Show and hiked two Munros while on a walking holdiay in the Scottish Highlands. Below is a video of Bandit taken shortly after we had started competing seriously back in 2002.
He was a great dog.



Bandit doing his favourite pastime