So they show up with their beloved dog who is “just ball crazy”.  If you have had a chance to communicate with them prior then they have a crate and a dog toy, hopefully some water and a leash.  The dog is probably 5 Lbs overweight and both are totally overwhelmed with all the barking dogs and what appears to them to be chaos.So how to start????

I encourage every member of my team to take some time to greet the new person, meet their dog and attempt to make the person feel comfortable.  People who are comfortable are more open to learning.

As we don’t have “beginners classes” we work their dog into our regular practice.  We give the prospective member the opportunity to come to three practices for free to get a feel for the sport, get a feel for the team and for us to get a feel for them. From this we can see if the dog has potential and if the people have the self-discipline to show up three weeks in a row.  After three weeks and all is going well we ask them to join as an associate member… which has dues attached.

The first few practice we will introduce the dog to the jumps, work on prey drive and teach how to teach conditioning training.  I tell the prospect that most of what they will be doing in the beginning will be in their homework.  I try to identify the dog’s strong points and set the person up to feel proud of their dog, but know what they need to work on.

I have found that dog owners need as much reinforcement as their dogs do and in the beginning you are really doing human training… training the human to train their dog.

A few things I’ve learned over the years…  After they’ve attended a few practices give the prospect a copy of your bylaws or some other information on what your expectations are.  (They may be intimidated to touch the equipment… unless you’ve told them that setting up/ tearing down equipment is expected of every teammate.)  If you’ve told them your expectations and they are still sitting on their camp chair while everyone else works around them and/or they have an excuse every time there is money due you will be in a position to recommend they find a different team with whom to play flyball. Everyone knowing what is expected of them leads to a more harmonious team.

I try to get an associate member to attend a tournament in the area.  They get a feel for what they are working for and what all is involved in the sport.  There is always so much to do at a tournament and they can find themselves a contributing member of the team.  With new folks you must always be VERY specific on what you want done in order to set them up for success.  You can’t say “set the jump heights”.  You must say “add one of those one inch boards lying on the ground next to the jumps to the top of the jump board on each jump and do it fast!”.  For those of us with years of experience it’s hard to remember how basic you must be.

We let the associate member know what our criteria are for becoming full members and every full member has a say in whether an associate member is accepted.  I find this gets associate members in to the habit of contributing to the team and reduces the propensity for personality conflicts.

When that new teammate finally gets into the ring for the first time and lets their dog go and the dog races the course successfully it is a moment they never forget.  I always say that the first title is the hardest title to earn.  It is reason for an entire team to celebrate.

Connie

As previously mentioned in this blog the greatest thing and the worst thing about flyball is that it is a team sport. There is no playing flyball unless you have a team. On occasion you can trip through a tournament with a few borrowed handlers and a boxloader, but really to function you need a minimum of five humans and four dogs.The perfect teammate would be:

• Someone with one or more high energy, high drive dogs.
• A bit of an adrenaline junkie, that “gets” the thrill of the sport
• A “team player”. Contributes to the work of setting up, practice and other team chores.
• Is realistic about their dog’s abilities and that there are times that their dog might not race because the faster dog on the team must race in their place for the team to win.
• Has the financial means to play the sport and pays his/her bills on time.
• Has the ability to commit an entire weekend to participate in a tournament.
• Has the ability and self discipline to attend practice weekly
• Has the ability to listen, learn and understand the role the handler plays in safe flyball racing.
• Loves their dogs immensely and want to spend wonderful, fun quality time with them.

With all the thousands of dog owners in America it is amazing such a small percentage play this game. There have to be more folks out there… just how to find them.

So what works, what doesn’t.

Demos

This is great for educating the public that the sport exists, but I have yet to recruit a solid teammate from a demo. Usually the “gestation” stage for someone to go from seeing a demo to joining a team is so long as to not be able to make the connection.

TV Coverage

Again, good for educating the public on the sport, but the TV watcher’s usual reaction is “hmm.. that’s cool” and that’s the end of it.

Print Articles

A bit better than TV as far as bringing out the interested.. especially when the article lists contact info or practice times

Referrals from Vets or Obedience trainers

This has worked for us and brought in great dogs. Folks are usually having a conversation with their Vet or Obedience trainer about their dog’s boundless energy and need for an outlet which leads to the suggestion to try flyball.

Word of mouth

At dog parks, at work, in social gatherings. This has brought great people with trainable if not outstanding dogs. Sometimes “great people” is more important to a positive flyball experience than “outstanding dogs”. Of course “great people” and “outstanding dogs” is the jackpot.

Beginner Classes

Many teams have great luck with this… others have burnt out their trainer with so many students that come and then give up when they realize dog training takes hard work.

Website

A good website is the final step to bring someone to your team. Up to date information, action photos, photos of fun times and most important a reliable contact link that you respond to when they email you. Folks that have heard of the sport start searching for a team in their area. Make sure you are listed on all the search links with your proper website and contact info

Have you found any other methods that have brought you success?

Connie

Amazing skateboarding Jack Russell named JoJo does it all, jumps, spins, and rails like a pro!

Well the New Year is upon us and I am sure we are all looking forward to a great year of racing in 08.

In reflecting back over the previous year I happened upon the recently posted minutes from the last BOD meeting in Omaha along with the Attachment A Financial Report for Oct1 – Nov 28 2007. Mighty fine readin if you ask me. It brings some questions to mind that I have been unable to put answers to (yes and maybe I should be putting these questions to the bod but thought I would share them with the flyball public to see their feelings on it). For those that would like to follow along please see Attachment A - Profit & Loss for the November 30, 2007 Board Meeting in Omaha, NE.

In looking at the figures for Cynosports for 07 we see that they recorded expenditures of $17,619.19 (not counting the $1040.00 listed in the meeting minutes as not being included for a total of $18,659.19) and income of $9400.00. This would give us a loss of -$9259.19.

In looking back at the 06 Cynosports (sorry you will have to go back to previous minutes to see this) we see that they recorded expenditures of $11,906.29 and income of $5442.66. This would give us a loss of -$6463.63. Total loss between both years is -$15,722.82. Wow this is a lot of money spent in these two years.

To put this into better perspective that would add up to 786.141 team fees ($20) to NAFA® for tournaments. I can understand where this is considered a good marketing audience but to what audience or who and how are they able to track benefits of this event? It was stated in the minutes that the goal of Cynosports is not to make money. But, as an owner of a club that sends a substantial amount of tournament fees to NAFA both from our club entering tournaments to us hosting tournament, what is the benefit of Cynosports to me/us in the flyball community? I could see a better benefit for all of us would be for our money to go to the purchase of more lights and maintenance of existing ones. How many years can we continue to hold this event at such a loss? Do any of the clubs that are hosting tournaments at this time continue to hold them at a loss year after year? I know that we wouldn’t if we were going in the hole each year. Maybe there are better ways of marketing flyball that should be looked into.

Well I have stated my quarters worth. You can either agree with me or disagree. I have only stated the facts of what is being published. I look forward to hearing other people opinions on this. Maybe there is another side that I am not seeing.

Happy racing in 08.

Judy

What has happened to Larry? I guess you can say that I have shifted my focus to other endeavors. Flyball has been such a large part of my life over the last 7, going on 8 years, and it is long past time that it takes a back seat. I will still occasionally participate because my wife and I have joined another team but it will be nothing like it has in the past.

I was really hoping that I could find other contributors to take up some of the burden of the blog. After all, I look at this forum as your voice, the flyball community’s voice. It’s your voice in an otherwise closed society of owners and board members. The problem is that most people are afraid of retribution or ridicule by teammates and others in this very small community, and they want to remain anonymous.

There are still many issues that can be discussed. NAFA still continues to waste tons of money on their so-called promotion of flyball in the southwest. If you have looked at the profit & loss statement recently posted on the NAFA website, you will see that it’s been another costly year for the Cynosports boondoggle. In the government, we call these little excursions boondoggles, i.e. an activity or project that is unnecessary and wasteful of time or money. However, I digress. My point is that there are many things out there worthy of thought provoking discussion if someone wanted to take up the cause.

I will leave the blog up and running and may post something from time to time but it will be nothing like it was. It does cost me money to run the blog because decent hosting is not always cheap so every now and than it would be good if you would click on some of the links to the left side of the screen. Every click is worth a few cents and it adds up.

I want to thank everyone who has read and has participated in this forum, and I bid you all good fortune and happy racing.

Larry