Entries from March 2008 ↓

You have a devoted owner who wants to do whatever they can to help their dog find a job. You know this owner is pretty good about managing their dog’s aggression per others that know the owner.

Flyball has rules about aggression. Putting an aggressive dog on lanes could be a liability to the club, owner of the dog and to the dog. A dog like this could start or participate in fight. A dog like this could freak out for no apparent reason.

Do you give this owner and dog a chance? Do you speak it over with the club and see what they want to do and are willing?

Do you just find a polite way to tell the owner that flyball is not a sport for them at this time?

Aggression is not something to be taken lightly.

Kim

First, let me say thank you to Larry for giving me access to post topics. I will start off by a less controversial topic as this is my first ever blog entry as the topic starter. Down the road I promise to think of something that will get the juices flowing. Shoot, even this topic could get heated depending on how strongly people feel only dogs that can run full time without issues and without fear of the dog shutting down.

So I would like to hear more about how everyone tries to help their dog(s) overcome fears so they can participate in flyball. This is a topic dear to my heart since I have a border collie that has many fears.

And if you feel you have exhausted your options and your dog is still not comfortable when do you finally say enough is enough and retire them? How long do you work on trying to make flyball fun for them? What if the dog shows some promise and is seemingly starting to enjoy the sport at times, do you continue working with said dog?

Basically, what have you done to try and help a dog overcome their fears and when do you finally just give up and allow the dog to be a loving pet only?

Kim

Every now and then, someone comes up with a good suggestion only to have it ignored or shot down without a thought. Lori Whitney, Rapids Intens-A-Flyrs flyball team had a good suggestion about changes to the NAFA point system but it doesn’t look like the NAFA Board of Directors even gave it a thought, and if they did, it’s not reflected in the minutes. You can read the minutes of the February 9, 2008 Las Vegas, NV Board Meeting here and Lori’s suggestion here.

Point System

In case you need a refresher, here is the point structure of both NAFA and U-FLI:

NAFA (Section 8.1 of the NAFA Rules)

Each time a team races in a NAFA® sanctioned Flyball tournament with a recorded time under 24 seconds, each dog racing in that heat will receive 25 points toward a Flyball title; under 28 seconds each dog racing in that heat will receive 5 points; under 32 seconds each dog racing in that heat will receive 1 point; provided that a NAFA® judge is present and at least four teams compete. Each of the four teams must actually compete. All four teams may be from the same club provided each team registered with NAFA® was given an equal opportunity to enter, but chose not to.

U-FLI (Section 7.1 of the U-FLI Rules)

Dogs will receive points toward individual U-FLI titles based on the team’s time. Each dog listed as participating in a heat will be awarded points. No points will be awarded for heats in which a team received a forfeit, no finish, interference, fouling, or break out. Teams that receive an estimated time will be awarded U-FLI points.

Teams times	Points earned
19.999 seconds and under	30 points per heat
20 seconds up to 24.999 seconds	25 points per heat
25 seconds up to 29.999 seconds	15 points per heat
30 seconds up to 35.000 seconds	10 points per heat

Each of the dogs on a winning team in a heat will receive an additional 5 bonus points for that heat. If the team is racing against an Exhibition or Pickup Team, then no bonus points will be available.

Basic Suggestion

The point to Lori’s suggestion is that not every dog runs a 4-second heat and some teams never run under 24 seconds and are unable to achieve some of the basic titles. So, she suggests changes to the point system to allow dogs to be awarded 5 points for under 32 seconds, 10 points for under 28 seconds, and 25 points for under 24 seconds.

Recognition

I’ve said this before but it falls on deaf ears. Slower teams and slower dogs are not recognized by NAFA and this is just one more example of it. U-FLI does a much better job of recognizing slower teams and dogs. The U-FLI championship system and their point system are stark examples of this.

Dogs on these slower teams deserve titles even though they are not speed demons. These dogs work just as hard, if not harder, than dogs making 4-second runs. These slower teams and dogs are the heart and soul of what make’s flyball a sport for all dogs but they are least recognized in NAFA.

Larry