The NATBs are pleased to welcome some wonderful new members to the club.

Hannah Giles is Emma and Roys daughter who is being dragged into the sport, not kicking and screaming (!!) but with much excitment. Hannah is the owner of Oki a northern inuit who is a bundle of madness! Hannah enjoys canicross and bikejor with Oki and is looking forward to the events and the training runs with everyone.

Mary Forster is one of Hannahs good friends and trains with Hannah and Emma regularly with her dog Aggi. 

Elenaour Tarrant is Cliff's daughter and is being coerced into the sport to help Cliff and Sally exercise their dogs! She is a wonderful new member who we are pleased to have on board.

Another new member is Danielle White she 2 sibes a mal and a cross. Danielle enjoys scoots her lovely dogs and is looking to join us fun and cake! 

Finally Matt West is a long term dog sports participant and has over the years gained an great reputation in the sports world with his Staffords. Matt takes part with his dogs in athletics, bikejor, canicross (when he has too!) and is training his lurcher in the gun sports techniques. He is a valued new member, as well as being nutty enough to get in!

​We look forward to you all representing the NATBs with fun at events and training together with much laughter! Welcome to the mad house!! :)

Name: Gary Oke & Lucy Teal
Member since: 2015
No of Dogs: 13
Dog(s) name(s), sex, age(s) and breed(s): Geeze Emma, I thought you said these questions were easy!! :D
Loki, Male, Husky, 6
Tia, Female, Husky, 8
Kaala, Female, Husky, 5
Honey, Female, Husky, 5
Dylan, Male, Husky x Heinz variety, 5
Ludo, Male, Husky, 3
Rocky, Male, Husky x Bassett Hound, 6
Khaleesi, Female, Husky, 3
Pixie, Female, Husky, 2.5
Vixen, Female, Husky, 2.5
Finn, Male, Husky/Mal/GSD, 19months
Roxi, Female, Husky, 4
Sasha, Female, Husky, 19months
(phew!!)

Occupation: Gary ; Self Employed running a Doggy Daycare Centre. Writer, producer and performer for a horror entertainment company.
Lucy ; Dog Walker and K9 Hydrotherapist, Writer, producer and performer for the same horror entertainment company

Lives in: Glossop

Dog sports participated in:
Gary ; Canicross, Scooter, Rig
Lucy ; Canicross, Bikejor, Rig

Question 1: How did you start in the sport?
Gary ; After getting Loki in 2011 I soon realised that a normal trot round the block would never be enough for him and an off lead roam in the hills was out of the question so after researching found canicross was the way forward and it grew from there. I remember a friend of mine at the time joking that before I knew it I would end up with 6 Huskies, a van and a rig. I told them not to be silly, I would never have more than 2 dogs.....I now have 13 Huskies, 3 vans and endless equipment.
Lucy ; I BLAME GARY (*Emma note – I am laughing a lot!!)

Question 2: Which was the first dog/dogs you raced?
Gary ; My first proper race was with Loki at the 10k Thunder Run at Catton Hall in 2013
Lucy ; Honey at 10k Thunder Run at Catton Hall

Question 3: How did you come to own your dog(s)?
Gary ; I got my Rottie Juno from Manchester Dogs Home in 2010 and noticed there were 10 Huskies there. Having known a Husky owner/breeder previously I knew they were a specialist breed and thought it was strange there were so many in a generic rescue. So when I got home I did my research, found out they were a breed in crisis so decided when she was settled that Juno's companion would be a Husky. I then got involved in Husky rescue and am a rubbish Fosterer (in a good way). Lucy and I then started racing multiple categories and found we were quickly running out of options for dogs to run so the pack grew :) We changed our jobs to fit 100% round them so we could accommodate more rescues dogs.
Lucy ; I TOTALLY BLAME GARY  (**Emma note: hahahahaha)

Question 4: Interesting fact about your dogs -
Some early members of our pack had behaviour issues or had no interest from people to be rehomed. Some were 'aggressive', 'feral', 'escape artists', 'unhandlable', 'destructive'...etc..etc. I'm not saying we haven't had our issues with them but we've found that working them in dog sports and as a team really has helped overcome their issues. Our core pack truly does amaze us.

Question 5: Interesting fact about yourself -
Gary ; I've worked with Duncan Bannatyne on a TV Show
Lucy ; I used to be a Butlin’s Redcoat and was an Olympic Torch Bearer in 2012

Question 6: Biggest achievement in a race
Gary ; Had a disastrous day one in a race (going the wrong way and being over taken by an ex foser dog I trained) to then doing so well in day two I actually managed to place.
Lucy ; When Pixie and Vixen came in they were extremely scatty. They had been put in a kennel for the last 6 months of their lives and only thrown scraps of food and had no human contact. The Fosters before us did amazing work but they were still very flighty when they came to us. They couldn't walk on a lead and collar and we had to keep leads on them in the garden to catch them when they went out for a wee. Last year I ran them in their first ever race, in Novice canicross category and they were absolutely amazing. Would have placed if I'd have not chosen to run 'not for competition' ;)   
    
Question 7: Dogs favourite treats - Natural Chicken Strips (I'd get the name of them but if I opened the cupboard right now there would be a riot).

Question 8: Favourite Song
Gary ; Iron Maiden, Number of the Beast
Lucy ; David Essex, Hold me Close

Question 9: Favourite Film
Gary ; Flatliners
Lucy ; Labyrinth

Question 10: Favourite cake
Gary ; Carrot Cake
Lucy ; Anything but Carrot Cake (YUCK!!)

**Emma note; and this is why we love our NATB members :)!!
 

One of the NATB members completed a very tough run earlier this month, Cliffy describes his day in his own words - we are super proud of our 2 and 4 legged members for completeing this "nutty" event!!!
 
Team Tea left home at 3am for the drive to Talybont on Usk in the Brecon Beacons.
Wanting to join the M4 at Reading finding the junction closed lead to a diversion through Reading !!! So the military precision timing was going to be off slightly...
 
The pups we're loving their new accommodation in the MB conversion cages and it seems to have had the added bonus of stoping Stanly from singing the entire journey.
 
Arriving in the dark we were directed to a local farm for parking which proved to be a great spot for the support vehicle where Sally and the other pups would wait & support from base camp.
 
Starting at 0800 the first 12 miles were evil .
 
We had a steady up hill for three miles before turning onto a narrow very muddy track strewn with stones and very steep!
We then came out onto the side of the first mountain and proceeded to climb up into the fog at the summit.
What goes up must come down as we descended to the valley floor , this was the routine for those first 12, with more stiles than I could count !!!!
On reaching checkpoint three we had a few miles of uphill again but on a stoney cart track.
Checkpoint four at the furthest point out and a steady return towards Talybont , thinking a steady downhill to the finish was in order, but no we took a turn and then climbed back up to the ridge for checkpoint five at 22.5 miles !
This was so hard and then a downhill in a rock infested stream bed where the focus was not to turn your ankle.
After an undulating run on the Taff Trail we finally reached the Brecon canal meaning the finish was nearby.
The hounds we still running well and we finished in 5.26 mins for a distance of 28.2 miles , Stanley was ready to go round again !!!
I finished 38th overall and 9th vet.
 
I can safely say this was the hardest, most extreme course I have completed to date!
 
Sally was tracking me on find my iPhone and panicked at one point cause the signal was appalling so she thought I had got lost or fallen down a hill.
 
Thankfully I literally appeared at the finish just as the signal came back.
 
Lovely to be greeted by the wife and NATB support club namely Izzy.

BSA New Forest
 
At the end of November Emma, Roy and Petra attended the BSA New Forest event. A firm favourite with the club it was a great weekend.
After arriving super early they were pleased to bag pole position for parking for the weekend, right at the top of the hill! This event was a nemesis for Petra, it being where last year she had a bad fall off her rig causing a back injury.
So her plan was to just complete the course and not go for any records.
Emma was racing Hannah’s boy Oki in Bikejor and the woos in the Freight class.
All set and with temps below zero the dogs were all bouncing! This course is 3.4 miles of safe wide fire tracks.
Emma went out first with Oki who ran like a dream, his first ever bikejor event and he loved it! The young man completed it in a very respectable time of 15 minutes.
Petra went next in the 4 dog rig, she successfully completed the course in 19 minutes, crossing the line with a look of relief and euphoria as her fears had been beaten!
Finally Emma took part in the 2 dog freight class, the woos trundled round in a respectable 25 minutes.
Day 2 saw cold temps again and super keen dogs, Oki flew off the line and was catching up the team in front of him when Emma realised she had picked up a puncture, absolutely gutted for him as he was going faster than the previous day having realised he could catch people up!
With just 0.9miles completed they had to return to the van. Oki was a tad confused so Emma decided to give him a run out in the Rec class at the end of all classes, this being a class where you can run any extra dogs you have with you, or younger/older dogs.
It’s a 2 mile course, to ensure Oki didn’t think it was normal to stop and turn home a run out in this class was needed and enjoyed! He loved it and showed he is going to be a great dog as he matures.
Petra again completed the course successfully on the Sunday, only running 3 of her dogs this day as her girl had misbehaved a tad the day before! More training to not focus on the wheel of the rig required!
The woos completed the course the second day slightly slower than the day before - no surprise there, day 2 is never their strong point - unfortunately they are typical Mals who think you are crazy to ask them to do the same thing 2 days in a row!
Roy was his normal Mushers Mucker helpful self, ensuring we had the extra hands where needed and supported us hugely.
A great event which was run like clockwork, huge thanks to Matt Eames and his team at the BSA.
 
Results
 
Bikejor
Emma Giles - 12th place
 
4 Dog Rig Open
Petra Broadbelt - 6th place
 
2 Dog Freight
Emma Giles - 4th place