Veka is supporting its supply chain director, Shane Gray, and his wife, production planner, Yvonne, by sponsoring their British and European record-breaking flyball team, ‘WOW Wonderdogs’.
Flyball is a fast-paced dog sport that sees the animals race over hurdles, to reach a spring-loaded box which releases a tennis ball that must be brought back to the start. Teams of four dogs race against each other in a relay format and the first team to have all dogs cross the finish line, without error, wins the heat.
Shane and Yvonne’s son and daughter-in-law established the family based team in 2009 after developing an interest in the sport and beginning to train. The couple were thrilled to recently break the current European record with an incredibly fast time of 15.74 seconds.
Shane explained: “Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?! Our team has been getting better and better over the years and we are delighted to have become the British and European record holders.
“There have been a few ‘firsts’ for Wonderdogs this year: in August, we ran in the first British race that ended with both teams finishing with sub-16 second times. We were the first European team to run sub-16 seconds indoors and Yvonne and the guys set the new British and European record by running 15.74 seconds. This is the first time that the record has been set by a team running indoors.
“2014 saw Veka begin to sponsor the team and this was a big turning point for us in terms of being able to get the best equipment and fund more indoor training. You can see the benefits of all this in our average best times and it’s culminated – this year – in us coming second at the British Championships and then setting the new British and European record.
“Yvonne and I are very proud of everyone in the team, both human and canine, and we’re grateful for the support that The Veka UK Group has been kind enough to offer.”
The Veka UK Group’s sales and marketing director, Colin Torley, commented: “The Veka UK Group is well accustomed to winning awards and leading by example, but this is the first time the brand has been associated with an achievement like this! ”
