About Wagg
Sponsorships
Wagg has a history of providing sponsorship and/or support to worthy causes. It is important to us, as a family owned business, that we give something back to all our customers and supporters. We do this through both long term sponsorship of individual dogs or teams, and in the form of prizes to a wide range of dog shows and events all around the UK.
Long Term support is provided to:
The Trossachs Search and Rescue Team
Since June 2000 we have been sponsoring 8 dogs from the Trossachs Search and Rescue Team by providing food for their dogs on a monthly basis, coat badges for dogs and handlers, Polo Shirts and Fleeces for handlers, as well as banners and leaflets for use at promotional events they attend.
The Team regularly assists in searches for missing people in remote rural areas as well as in buildings. Their “rescue” stories are many and varied!
They have formed close links with Strathclyde, Central Scotland and Highlands & Islands Fire and Rescue Services to help locate casualties or missing persons in fire damaged buildings, collapsed buildings, landslides or flooding, and with the Scottish Ambulance Service as part of the first responder scheme. The picture shows a demonstration event.
More information and photos can be found on their website www.trossachssar.btck.co.uk
Fire Investigation Search Dogs
We sponsor a team of Fire Investigation Search Dogs, trained by Clive Gregory. The dogs and handlers are trained to very high specifications and are used in arson investigations in fire damaged buildings. The picture shows a firedog during investigation training.
There are now specialist Fire Dogs located in all parts of the UK and many are individually sponsored by Wagg including Saxon who is based in Hampshire.
See website: www.cpgregory.co.uk for more information and photos.
Dave Myers
Well since my last update all three of us have been very busy with dog things. Obviously Christmas has just passed and we all had a great time together Flugga and Selkie particularly enjoyed Christmas day with the highlight of ripping open their presents.
Flugga’s favourite was a squeaky green frog which surprisingly it took time, over a week, before he managed to surgically remove the squeaky thing!
Selkie in true Labrador style preferred the meat filled bone.
However, we all have to work sometimes and this is also true for the dogs as well. Both dogs have been busy assisting in detecting flammable liquids in the fire debris at fire scenes.
There have been some notable successes recently but as some of the cases are still proceeding through the court system it is not possible to provided details here. Having said that, the success of a dog working at a fire scene is not just in detecting flammable liquids, it can also be a great help when they do not find any substances that they are trained to detect as, although this is not a guarantee that none are present, it can assist in eliminating the use of an accelerant.
Training has also taken up some of the dog’s time as it is vitally important for them to maintain their operational competence. To the dogs, training is not work, its play. It has to be enjoyable for them as this ensures that they are always keen to work, for the dogs it’s just a big game of hide and seek with a rewards of retrieving their toy once they have found it. The dog’s continuation training is carried out in both real and simulated fire scenes and this is as varied as possible and through consistently providing the dogs with different environments, when it comes a real scene they are used to things being different and are able to cope with whatever challenges they face.
Thanks to the support of Wagg Foods, both Flugga and Selkie are kept fit and healthy through their diet of Wagg food which is very important in ensuring they are capable of doing their job. Many people often comment on how fit and healthy they look and on how good their coat looks (including my vet!).
Katie Mitchell
Sponsorship has been given to Katie Mitchell who competes in agility with her dogs Rocky and Todd. Katie competed with Rocky in the finals at Olympia in December and last year was selected for the team to represent Great Britain in the European Open held in Germany where they won Bronze. She teaches agility in her spare time whilst studying at university.
Rydanlue Gundogs
Wagg provides sponsorship to Steve and Liz Russell who are passionate about their dogs and compete in field trials with their Springer Spaniels, along with their son Luke and his dog Jet. Steve's dog Rydanlue Finesse qualified for the 2010 English Springer Spaniel Championships for the 3rd year running.
See website: www.rydanlue.co.uk
Dream Team Flyball
Michelle White from Dream Team Flyball receives sponsorship for her two dogs, Flash and Breeze. Flyball is a fast growing sport in the UK for teams of dogs and is essentially a relay race to retrieve a ball over a series of hurdles. Michelle’s dogs, both competed in the team at Crufts this year and were won their final. Flash received the Ice Blue Moon award recently for gaining 20,000 points, a rare achievement for a dog of just 4 years of age. The photo shows the full team after their win.
Oakhaven Stud
Stephen and Jill from Oakhaven Stud, breed and exhibit Dutch rabbits which are fed on our Wagg Optimum Premium Rabbit food. They currently have around 70 rabbits consisting of black, blues and torts. Steve says “The rabbits have done so well on Wagg”. The picture is one of their latest wins.
The English Mongrels
The English Mongrels are a family entertainment group who travel around the country performing their show. Wagg supply food and Wagg Training Treats for the dogs. Pablo, Penny and Cleo are all rescue dogs and owner/trainer James English describes them as extremely fit. They are fed on Wagg Worker and showcase tricks that other dogs don't do, such as firing canons and rescuing their favourite Wagg food from a locked safe! Watch out for them over the summer months at a show near you. The picture shows Pablo, Penny and Cleo with their favourite food.
Paripassu Huskies
Sam Campling and her family own a pack of 10 dogs including 7 Siberian Huskies which they work, race and show at events all over the UK. Many are rescue dogs and Sam finds that they thrive on Wagg Worker and love the range of Wagg dog treats. They travel around the country promoting and educating people about the breed, and also train and compete on a national and international level during the winter at rallies all over the country. Sam is now also fostering dogs until they can be re-homed.
Bethan and Kean, the younger members of the family have recently begun competing with sleds, and have a range of wins between them. The picture shows Bethan mid race.
Gun Dogs Direct
Glen Goldthorpe has been training gundogs since he was 16, starting out with a young Labrador dog picking up at a local shoot and learning the tricks of the trade. After being introduced to trialling Spaniels he became hooked and never looked back.
He uses around 6000 acres of land to shoot and train his dogs on, and has a small kennel. He has won a number of trial awards over years and now as we come into 2011, he has a number of young dogs that are bursting with potential.
See website: www.gundogsdirect.co.uk for more information.
Hardest to re-home dogs
Dogs Today magazine runs a monthly feature encouraging adoption of hard to re-home dogs. We provide a 'Welcome to your new home' gift of 3 x 15kg bags of our Complete Original Dog food for each dog adopted.
One of the latest recipients of this was a delighted Finn who is settling in well to his new home.
See website: www.dogstodaymagazine.co.uk
We also provide sponsorship in the form of prizes to a wide range of dog shows and events all around the UK. We have provided hundreds of prizes for “The dog with the WAGGiest Tail!” If you are organizing a dog show this year and would like help with some prizes, please write to us, or email us. Make sure you include all the details of the show including the date and venue, what classes are being held, and if you are raising money for a club or charity. Our budget is limited but we do try to help as many events as we can.