DARL Finals 2024
The Dog Agility Rescue League (DARL) is a league for dogs competing in agility that have either been rescued or rehomed. As well as having leagues depending on the grade of your dog, they also have fun leagues including different charity leagues and a re-homer league as well as a Junior league for younger competitors.
Every year dogs placed to 5th in each league are rewarded with rosettes and trophies. Lorraine Matthews sent us this write up on the annual finals which are held every year purely for members.
With us being a national league, each year we try and move around the country for our show. This year our finals were hosted by High Peak at their KC show on the 18th May. There was a great turnout of members, and it was an amazing showcase of the successes that rescued/rehomed dogs can achieve.
The classes consisted of an Agility run and a Jumping run with the scores then being combined to have an overall winner at each grade and height. Therefore, any dog entering had three chances to win rosettes and trophies from just two runs.
The venue this year was spacious, and our ring was set up not too far away from the main rings, meaning we had lots of support from those competing in the main show. Even the weather was gorgeous. We couldn't have asked for a better day, and everyone massively enjoyed themselves. A huge thank you to judge Alan Jackson, who has been involved with many rescue dogs over the years and kindly gave up his day to judge for us. Also, a big thank you to all the helpers on the day. We couldn't have done it without you!
This year our finals were sponsored by Skinners and every finalist was given a Skinners goody bag along with every overall winner having a larger goody bag. We also had some fabulous donations - the best we've ever had. As well as having a general raffle / tombola, we had a free raffle specifically for the finalists so that everyone also went home with an extra special prize.
Each year our members vote for their rescue charity which is how the league charities are chosen.
This year the chosen rescues were:-
- Many Tears
- Morgan's Rescue
- Border Collie Trust
- Dog's Trust
- RSPCA
Our general raffle and tombola at the finals raised a massive £990.75 which will be split and donated to the above charities.
At DARL we just love to celebrate rescue dogs in every possible way, so this year there was an additional prize at the finals for Most Improved Rescue.
Each finalist as asked to write a little bit about their dog and its history.
The entries were judged by Sarah Baines who said, 'Thank you for asking to me judge these amazing dogs to decide on the most improved. It has been exceptionally hard to pick just one. I decidedly wanted to pick one that hasn't just improved in agility - because most have - but also in their behaviour such as confidence.
'All of these dogs are amazing because agility is incredible for any dog (not just rescues) to do because it requires a special relationship between a dog and its owner, but it is even more so where a dog has had to overcome fears and challenges to just get to that trust to decide that the relationship is worth it to do more. Not all rescue dogs do.
The dog I chose was Moo Moo Marabella, owned by Sarah Murray, because her write up encapsulated so much improvement in Mia despite only being Grade 1.
It was never just about the improvement in agility, and I have no doubt that she will continue to improve in that, too.' Sarah and Mira were also the
overall winners of Small Grade 1 at the finals and her story can be found here
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