Mary Ray
Encyclopedia
Mary Ray is a professional dog trainer located in the UK. She is generally accredited with creation of heelwork to music
in the United Kingdom.http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4369619,00.html
s and two Belgian Shepherds (Tervurens). She has won 59 Kennel Club
Obedience Challenge Certificates with five of her dogs and 38 Reserve Certificateshttp://www.the-kennel-club.org.uk/index.asp?newpage=crufts. Mary’s Belgian Shepherd, Roxy, was the first Belgian Shepherd in the UK to become an Obedience Champion and she also won the Bitch Obedience Championship at Crufts. Mary’s also very well known Border Collie
Red Hot Toddy was the winner of the Dog Obedience Championship at Crufts.
The other main British obedience competition culminating in a final was the Pro Dogs Obedience Stakes. A dog was only allowed to win this competition once in its lifetime and Mary won this on two occasions, once with Toddy and once with Roxy. This competition has now been renamed the Open ‘C’ Charity Competition.
At Crufts in 2004, Mary and Myndoc Simply Teena were winners of the Crufts Mini Agility Championships (Tina is owned by Mrs Shirley Turner but handled and trained by Mary).
on Best in Show Night, televised by the BBC
.
, (a BBC children’s TV programme), twice on Jim Davidson’s Generation Game, The Big Breakfast
on Channel 4
and three times on the leading morning programme, Richard and Judy. Mary's heelwork to music routine is featured, live from Crufts on BBC1 every year.
During 2003, Mary featured as the lead trainer in an episode of "Faking It". Rob Archer, the subject of the programme, spent almost three weeks living with Mary and husband, Dave at their home. When it was broadcasted in early 2004, it had the largest audience ratings for any Faking It
show to date.
Mary has been married to her husband, Dave for twenty-seven years. They live in Rugby
, UK. Their present family consists of eight dogs (no children): five Border Collies, a Lurcher and two Shetland Sheepdogs.http://www.maryray.co.uk
Heelwork to music
Heelwork to music is a dog sport similar to musical canine freestyle that is officially recognised by the Kennel Club. The sport has evolved since the early 1990s when obedience handler Mary Ray first demonstrated the sport at Crufts...
in the United Kingdom.http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4369619,00.html
Obedience
Mary has qualified nine dogs to work Championship ‘C’ Obedience; seven Border CollieBorder Collie
The Border Collie is a herding dog breed developed in the Anglo-Scottish border region for herding livestock, especially sheep. It is the most widespread of the collie breeds....
s and two Belgian Shepherds (Tervurens). She has won 59 Kennel Club
Kennel club
A kennel club is an organization for canine affairs that concerns itself with the breeding, showing and promotion of more than one breed of dog...
Obedience Challenge Certificates with five of her dogs and 38 Reserve Certificateshttp://www.the-kennel-club.org.uk/index.asp?newpage=crufts. Mary’s Belgian Shepherd, Roxy, was the first Belgian Shepherd in the UK to become an Obedience Champion and she also won the Bitch Obedience Championship at Crufts. Mary’s also very well known Border Collie
Border Collie
The Border Collie is a herding dog breed developed in the Anglo-Scottish border region for herding livestock, especially sheep. It is the most widespread of the collie breeds....
Red Hot Toddy was the winner of the Dog Obedience Championship at Crufts.
The other main British obedience competition culminating in a final was the Pro Dogs Obedience Stakes. A dog was only allowed to win this competition once in its lifetime and Mary won this on two occasions, once with Toddy and once with Roxy. This competition has now been renamed the Open ‘C’ Charity Competition.
Agility
Mary’s agility career started in 1980, just after the birth of agility in the UK. She has either won or been in the finals of every major sponsored British agility competition. This included winning the prestigious Pedigree Agility Stakes http://www.dogsworldwide.com/agility/13-00.htm with her Border Collie Pepperland Hot Chocolate. She holds the record for qualifying the most dogs on the most occasions for this prestigious final in the last twenty-four years. She has also been a member of the Rugby Dog Training Club agility team, which has competed at the Crufts Team Agility Finals on many occasions and a member of the winning team on two occasions, the last being 2004. Mary was also a member of the team that qualified for Crufts 2000. She has also been a member of the Rugby Dog Training Club Crufts Flyball Team, competing in the finals at the Crufts Dog Show.At Crufts in 2004, Mary and Myndoc Simply Teena were winners of the Crufts Mini Agility Championships (Tina is owned by Mrs Shirley Turner but handled and trained by Mary).
Heelwork to Music
Although there are conflicting stories about where Heelwork to Music started, because some groups of obedience enthusiasts trained with music playing in the late 1980s, the first person who actually put together a public performance of Heelwork to Music was Mary, at a demonstration event in 1990. She did this again in 1992 and thereafter has done it every year at Crufts. For the last eight years, Mary has given a demonstration in the Main Ring at CruftsCrufts
Crufts is an annual international Championship conformation show for dogs organised and hosted by the Kennel Club, currently held every March at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England. It is the largest annual dog show in the world, as declared by Guinness World Records, and lasts...
on Best in Show Night, televised by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
Television appearances
Mary has appeared on many television programmes including Blue PeterBlue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
, (a BBC children’s TV programme), twice on Jim Davidson’s Generation Game, The Big Breakfast
The Big Breakfast
The Big Breakfast was a British light entertainment television show shown on Channel 4 and S4C each weekday morning from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002 during which period 2,482 shows were produced. The Big Breakfast was produced by Planet 24, the production company co-owned by former...
on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and three times on the leading morning programme, Richard and Judy. Mary's heelwork to music routine is featured, live from Crufts on BBC1 every year.
During 2003, Mary featured as the lead trainer in an episode of "Faking It". Rob Archer, the subject of the programme, spent almost three weeks living with Mary and husband, Dave at their home. When it was broadcasted in early 2004, it had the largest audience ratings for any Faking It
Faking It
Faking It was a television programme originating on Channel 4 which has spawned various international remakes, including a US version which began in 2003 on the TLC network...
show to date.
Mary has been married to her husband, Dave for twenty-seven years. They live in Rugby
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
, UK. Their present family consists of eight dogs (no children): five Border Collies, a Lurcher and two Shetland Sheepdogs.http://www.maryray.co.uk