While watching at last weekend’s tournament I noticed teams running their height dogs in the start position. I’m not talking about the 4 to sub 4 second Border Staffies. I’m talking about the 11 or 12 inch Rat Terrier or Jack Russell that has to take 2 or 3 steps between the jumps. I think it almost borders on abuse. By the end of the day on Sunday, anyone could see that these little guys are visibly spent.
I can see no good reason for running these little dogs in the start position. It seems obvious to me that all of the discussions we’ve been having about the U-FLI measuring method, NAFA and U-FLI jump heights and now NAFA talking about subtracting 5 vs. 4 all have the most impact on our height dogs. All of these issues are like a mantra for “Saving Our Height Dogs.” Yet all of this is for naught if people continue to run their little height dogs in the start position.
Wake up people; I don’t care how good at starting you are, your dog is running more than any other dog on the team.
Larry
8 comments ↓
I agree 100% - start dogs run maybe 50% more than other dogs on the team in a tournament. if you are a great starter, doesn’t matter - because the person in the lane beside you may not be. height dogs do so much work, I can’t imagine asking them them to do 50% more on top of jumping their height!
We’ve been starting a height dog for quite a while.
Most of this is because the dog isn’t able to go into
a pass, if we had a choice, we would. We’ve been
lucky enough to run three height dogs at a time
and to rotate two height dogs at start.
The U-Fli measurement system levels the playing field.
I’ve said it before. In U-Fli, it is very common that
the height dog is the fastest dog on the team.
The fair jump heights allows the smaller dogs to
compete on an even playing field with the big dogs.
I know what you mean about the Rat Terrier jumping
12 inches. That’s just unfair to that dog, and the
dog cannot compete with the bigger dogs.
NAFA’s proposal to lower jump heights by 1 inch
doesn’t even come close to addressing the situation.
If that Rat Terrier can now jump 11, is that going
to put it on a level playing field?
The Rat Terrier I saw was jumping 7 inch jumps. To me it doesn’t matter what organization you play in 6 or 7 inch jumps and such a small dog that needs to run between the jumps and you have one tired height dogs if it’s running start.
Welcome back Larry…
I have to agree with you 100%…height dog or not..the Start dog should be in the best shape of all the dogs on the team. Period. I know height dogs that can start all day..both days..but they are in GREAT shape…and I have seen dogs both large and small that fit your scenario perfectly. I am still overwhelmed with the persons that run their CLEARLY overweight dogs..and do reruns until the dogs tongues are dragging on the floor.
I understand what you’re saying, we have a JRT that can only run in the start position. We’ve tried training the handler to release in another position, but it is difficult for her to stay down low with her dog for too long a period. She (the handler) will be 70 this year and only started competing in flyball about 3 years ago, her first dog sport ever, and we’re just happy she is able to continue to play with our team. We also make every effort to always have more than 1 height dog on a team, since they have to take twice as many steps as the big dogs they split the races. At one of the seminars we attended in Perry we were told that sometimes you have to place the handler in the position that will be most beneficial to the handler, the canine companion, and the entire team, even if it is the start position, and we have found this combination to work well for our team. I only hope I’m still out there playing flyball at 70!
I could not agree with you more..you are doing what needs to be done, and you have a backup for the dog..to get a break. I think Larry was commenting on the height dogs that don’t have a backup. And I, on the out of shape start dogs..
I agree, and hope that I am playing flyball at 70!
In addition to alterating races with our little JRT (who is one of the ones I think you’re probably referring to), as Linda said, we also monitor her throught the day, including looking at her split times to see if she’s slowing down, checking the pads on her feet and making sure all our dogs are fully hydrated. We are very aware how much more running our start dogs do than the rest of the team. This particular little dog is in great physical shape. Fear not, we’re keeping a close watch on her and are looking out for her best interest, but I appreciate your concern.
Beth
Hi Beth,
Your team may have brought it to my attention but I’ve been to hundreds of tournaments throughout the country so I’ve seen this many times. As Jackie pointed out, I was really commenting on the height dogs that don’t have a backup. I’ve seen it were the height dog has had enough by Sunday and the larger dogs had to try to finish the tournament without their height dog.
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