28/08/2026
“If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same” - Rudyard Kipling.
To say the 2026 Nationals was a rollercoaster ride would be an understatement. An impeccably planned and executed event that saw great victory and dramatic defeats. The drama was palpable. While some of the results weren’t what we had hoped for, the competition was exactly what we needed.
Some of the Kaizen K9 teams’ highlights included:
Heidi and Lucy – BH success. Lucy performed extremely well and Heidi handled her nerves well.
Guy and Caeser – BH success. Caeser went well and happily controlled himself during the traffic test. But they weren’t done there…
Megan and Jaeger – BH success. Megan has only been training with us for a short period and competes in several other disciplines. However, her and her happy GSD got the job done regardless. Welcome aboard Megan!
Cathy and Diva – BH success. A sure candidate for most improved. Cathy held her nerve as did Diva. Well done Cathy!
Brianna and Ben – BH success. Ben is a lot of dog, and the pass is a credit to Brianna for her hard work. Brianna also competes in several other disciplines with Ben. Hopefully she continues with her IGP journey.
Kaizen K9’s very own Liz and Slav – BH success. Liz only asked us to give this a crack a couple of months ago. She brought the exercises together quickly in what was a professional performance. Great job Liz!
Shelda and Mazikeen – IBGH1 with 88 and first place! A polished performance and Mazzie’s highest obedience score to date. Mazzi was also awarded highest scoring GSD.
Shelda and Mazikeen – CW1 with 70. Only just got there, but she bought her own cocktails that night!
Shelda and Hunter – IBGH1 with 82. Because for Shelda, this sport isn’t hard enough with one dog she ups the ante and competes with two; soon to be three. But Hunter, beaten by his little “sister”, the shame… Not to be outdone, Hunter also won highest scoring Rotty.
Cathy and Bowser – IBGH1 with 80 and equal 3rd place. Another huge improvement for Cathy and Bowser. They are improving quickly!
Minni and Koda - IBGH1 with 80 and equal 3rd place. A nice performance from Minni and her pointer.
Emma and Kyiv – OB1 with 80. A huge improvement for this team here. Emma had new hair, a new body, and a new sense of determination! Together they got the job done! Well done Emma!
Emma and Kyiv – CW1 with 72. The score doesn’t do this performance justice. From scaring judges to discovering blinds to hindering helpers, Kyiv gave us something we will all remember. Also awarded helpers choice!
Patrick and Django – OB1 with 85. An excellent performance from this team!
Patrick and Django – CW1 with 71. This little dog dreams big! And Patrick has a never give up attitude. Together they achieved something that was seemingly impossible two years ago! Congratulations is an understatement.
Jacqui and Halo – OB1 with 85 points. A professional run out from a professional trainer! Great work Jacqui!
Kaizen K9’s very own, Anita with Lola – WD1 with: B = 85 and C = 80; total 165 points and high in trial WD1. A stunning performance from a great team. This little dog has a huge heart, and Anita continues to do remarkable things with her! Seeing her efforts during the escape was inspiring to say the least.
Malcolm and Ivy – WD1 with: B = 85 and C = 75; total 160 points. The obedience was beautiful and the character work an impressive performance from such a diminutive dog. Great work guys!
Kal and Molly with 85 in their character work. While they couldn’t quite get the WD1 title their character work was their best performance to date. Well done!
Kaizen K9’s very own DooyHun with Toast – IBGH3 with 93 points. A polished performance from a great team. DooHyun continues to do amazing things with this dog! HIT obedience. HIT IBGH3. IBGH national champion. Highest scoring, “Other Breed”.
DooHyun and Toast – TR1 with 74 points. A great score considering the difficulty of the fields and his track.
Guy and Caeser – IGP1 with: A = 74, B = 74, C = 90; total 238 points. A workman like performance. They got out there and got the job done. However, considering this was on the back of a BH the day before and Caeser is Guys first sport dog makes this all the more impressive. Big things to come we believe.
Jo and Rocky – 86 in obedience. While Jo is understandably upset at not achieving her IGP1 with Rocky this was a very good obedience workout and one the team should be very proud of!
Heidi and Delta – 80 in obedience and 80 in the character work. Another team that was disappointed to have missed out on their title. However, they can be very proud of these scores and performances. In addition, Heidi won the Best Handler award. All this at just 17?! Look out dog world...
Annette and Karen – 86 in obedience. This teams best obedience performance to date! Well done!
Samantha and Frag – 89 in obedience and 85 in the character work. The obedience run out was beautiful. Were it not for a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes it was shaping up to be an excellent score. But all I’ve spoken to agree, the workout was great to watch.
Another long list of achievements for Kaizen K9 trained dogs. Commiserations to those who we couldn’t help reaching their goals. Rest assured we are already planning the next attempt! However, congratulations to all those who competed and to those awards and title winners.
I would like to say a huge thanks to the Ironside committee for organising an inspiring event. The effort you all put in was outstanding and the work relentless. Special thanks to Richard for his excellent work with governance, planning, and the mentoring he has provided since coming on board. A huge thankyou also to Emily for her herculean efforts since joining as Secretary. It has been like a second job for her but she has led from the front.
Lastly, I would like to thank my beautiful bride, partner, soul mate and best friend Samantha Geurts. Her leadership, tireless work ethic, attention to detail, and adaptability made this event the huge success it was. She was relentless in her pursuit of excellence. She sacrificed her training time, her family time, and every spare minute to ensure we could all enjoy this year’s national event. The largest, most professionally planned and executed national IGP event in Australian history. Thank you so much Samantha!
Photo is Frag in 2025 as the 2026 photos are yet to be released.
