MARY WEBSITE UPDATE MARCH 2014
As March comes to an end, Mary has just completed a two day Obedience Training Seminar at Carole and Michelle
Dodson’s home & training centre, Forest Oak Farm near Lydney, Gloucestershire and what a fabulous place it is!
Not only what they have now in the huge, carpeted training hall, the two letting cabins, the event field and the
camping area but also what it’s going to be when it’s finished. Mary had a great weekend so thank you to Michelle
and Carole for their hospitality and looking at the comments on Facebook, all the handlers on it were pleased with
the result for themselves.
18
Prior to that, of course, it was Crufts and once more this proved to be a great event for Mary and myself. I was
commentating as usual and worked with a great team in the arena and we have never seen as many seats full in the
arena as we have this year. And it is a fact that there is no other showcase for dogs anywhere in the world or has
ever been anything like it, which was also reflected in the gate numbers which once again proved to be the biggest
for any show ever held at the NEC at 160,000.
8 &9
Mary also had a successful Crufts personally culminating of course in a superb Best in Show routine in the Main Ring
which went out live on the Channel 4 Crufts television programme as well as on YouTube. Mary asked Richard to
join her again this year as they work really well together and obviously Richard is very talented in his own right. It’s
always difficult for her to come up with something different and in this particular showcase it needs to be something
different and what I would call a little eloquent. They decided at an early stage that they wanted to use Scottish
music and Mary realised she had just the track on a Cd at home. As few minor edits were made and that was the
major job of the music sorted !!. The original intention was for them both to use dogs BUT Richard suggested that
perhaps they could do it with just one dog, that dog being Levi of course and no doubt readers of this will have seen
it already or, if not, it is available on YouTube. Anyway, it was just brilliant and probably has received more
comments than any other routine Mary has performed. Certainly on YouTube within a few days it had over 30,000
hits which again is a record in the speed that it happened.
10, 11, 14
There are also a couple of other good YouTube videos available – the television company did a behind the scenes clip
with Mary and Richard talking to camera and Peter Purves interviewed Mary in the Obedience ring.
The other two highlights were firstly in the International Obedience Competition where Mary’s England team took
second place and once more Mary won the individual event. And as readers may be aware, Mary was presented
with the award with Levi for winning the most points in Dog classes at Obedience Shows for wins and placings in
2013. There was also an award for the Best Opposite Sex for Bitch classes and that was also won by Mary with Foxy.
12, 13, 15
In the Obedience Championships where Mary had qualified for both Dog and Bitch, Mary was really pleased with
how the dogs worked – well up to their usual standard – BUT they were effectively marked out of the competition
places due to a premature drop in the Sendaway exercise. She wasn’t too despondent as the same fate befell a
majority of the other competitors.
Anyway, it was a great Crufts overall and once more we thoroughly enjoyed it.
11
Prior to this, Mary had an Evening in the Lake District. When I took the booking, I thought “well, it’s just off the M6”
but what I should have done, of course, is check it which I didn’t. And it wasn’t until the day before departure that I
realised the Evening Mary was performing was in a hotel on the seafront at St Bees which entailed driving up to
Penrith then a good hour’s journey cross country, making around five hours to be precise. And that weekend, the
weather decided to turn into a gale. It was a lovely function room at the hotel, we had a meal before we started and
where we were served the biggest meal on the biggest plates we’ve ever seen and I have never left so much food as
I simply couldn’t eat it all and neither could Mary. I know I’ve said before that “it was a great evening” but this
really WAS a great evening with Mary on top form, a superb audience so it was definitely enjoyed by everyone. We
were parked jut behind the hotel and as we were in the motor home, I was thinking of just stopping over and driving
back in the morning but I said to a guy who was local about the fact that the gale might drop for the morning and he
advised me that this wasn’t a gale, it was just a wind and the forecast in the morning was a gale. AS the wind at that
point was rocking the camper, we drove straight home and returned at around 4:00 am although this didn’t worry
Mary and Jan too much as they slept most of the way back!
16
During the week before this, Mary had a gig at the Caravan Show and yes, this may seem bizarre but they have a
display arena tucked away in one of the halls at the NEC with an annually changing theme and this year it was Dogs.
Well, I should say that it was annually changing, as you know dogs are always popular, the result being the arena
became a star attraction so this will definitely be repeated next year. Mary took a number of spots per day
demonstrating with Levi and a couple of the other dogs which went down really well and lots of people we knew
from the dog training and agility world were there, doing their own demonstrations as well.
6, 7
At the end of January, we were both part of a television programme called Superstar Dogs.
20
This all started with a meeting I had at the Kennel Club and because I had been involved with the media before, I was
invited along to talk to the producers about this proposed programme which, hopefully, I added a positive input.
There had been talk about me being involved in a small way and there had been talk of using one of Mary’s dogs as a
‘Stig’ dog and John Leslie, I know had been booked for the agility or as it was called the Dogstacle part of the show.
In early January, they contacted us if I would bereferee and mary would indeed handle the Stig dog which would be
Levi. And so we were booked. Mary was to be there for some of the time and I would be there for the whole time
which would be eight days at the new studios in Manchester where The Voice is recorded. There is a hotel attached
to the studio but I asked if I could take the motor home, which they agreed to. Quite bizarre really a brand new
television studio in the centre of Manchester and there’s Dave Ray parked behind it in his camper!
21 , 22
It would be truthful to say that I hadn’t a clue what the referee’s position entailed until I walked in on the Sunday
morning and I then found out that I had to sit on a high chair and I would also be judging the agility as well as
refereeing everything else that went on. Did I enjoy it – you bet I did – Was it hard work – you bet it was! I was on
the studio by 9 am each morning and the earliest we finished was 10:15 pm and the latest 11:45 pm !! It was a great
programme and I really rated it but several parts of it stick in my mind. Firstly, how brilliant Levi was at being the
Stig dog and how absolutely amazed the crew were at what he would do and how he would wait then react to the
instructions given him. And of course Mary is used to working with media people so blended in well.
23, 24, 25
Secondly, what a great presenter John Barrowman was and I don’t only mean in front of the camera, I also mean
when the camera was off. His friendliness with everyone including the audience who he was entertaining between
filming was just brilliant.
Thirdly, how caring the production company crew were. All the handlers had their own dedicated helper who would
like after them the whole time they were in the studio and everything possible was done to ensure they were at
ease, understood what was happening then was ready for it.
And finally the competitors. These were not the sperstars of the dog world just ordinary people with pet dogs who
had maybe had some show experience at the lower end and were really great to work with and had a whale of a
time or, as some of them put it, just a tremendous experience.
So, whether or not we’re involved again, I hope they do another series of this programme next year.
In between things Mary fitted in a publicity photo shoot at Ben Fogles house, well we met there and used the park
opposite to be precise, the photo’s were for the London Pet show publicity, he is a real nice genuine guy, Mary also
did a spot on QVC for Suzanne who is the MD of Pet Munchies, she is really nice and Mary loves the treats or I should
say the dogs do ! she asked Mary as she is a regular user of them.
2,3,4,5,17
Mary started the year with a weekend for Kathy Russell in Warrington at the same place we used before, being
Grappenhall community Centre which was a great venue and a great place to park the motor home for the weekend
and Mary really enjoyed the company whilst doing her training.
30
I did treat Mary to a new bathroom !!!
1
Is Rooney the most spoilt dog in the world
19
A few oldies when Mary Ray was little younger !!!!!
26,27,28,29