In comments I have seen it mentioned several times about team philosophies and goals and the importance of choosing a team that fits with your philosophy and goals in playing flyball. In most of these conversations only two philosophies are mentioned; you play for speed/setting records/taking first place or you play for points. I would like to make the argument that that is not a complete list.
There are a few additional philosophies and sometimes differing opinions on these can be the things that cause dissatisfaction, split teams or cause tension between teams at tournaments. Your team may be made up of a few of these philosophies to varying degrees. No one is superior to another… you choose according to what is a good fit for you.
Dance with the dogs you came with. You may play for speed, or you may play for points, but you play with the dogs currently in your homes. As you become more interested in the sport you may add dogs to your home, but everyone plays as long as they are able and want to, and your homes are the dog’s “forever” home. The dogs you add may be rescues or they may be bred for flyball (though this is less likely) but no dog is ever rehomed to make room for a dog with more potential. Your team races anywhere from Division 1 on down and you’re okay with racing in lower divisions.
It’s about talent and going for the Gold. You want to be the best in your region, heck best in the country, and that requires enormous commitment; commitment in breeding, commitment in training, commitment in financial resources to travel to compete. Your goal is to be the elite and the best of the best. Your team is interested in training and racing the “Olympic Athletes” of the sport and well, not every dog can meet that standard….Not every handler can either. You share your successful training techniques with others with the hopes of improving the sport across the board. You may even share your well trained dogs with other flyball enthusiasts desperate for a dog to play with, but without the training skills to prepare one. You take competing very seriously and the rewards are in seeing all that hard work pay off with faster times, pushing the envelope and achieving what you’ve never achieved before.
There is a flyball tournament going on at our party. Your team spends about as much energy planning Saturday night’s dinner as they do training the dogs; fun people, fun dogs, fun times. There is enough stress and intensity in living life, the last thing you want is stress in your leisure activities. You want your dogs to perform the sport well enough, but no one gets on anyone else’s case for a 10-foot pass… you’re playing for fabric ribbons or squeaky toys for heaven’s sake. The dogs have fun… everyone is having fun.
We just wanna complete. You are all new at this and gosh, who knew there was so much to it. Everyone is learning… dogs and people… you just want to get out there and complete a clean race with no errors… points and placements are not your concern right now, successful racing is. If your dogs earn points or you place well at the tournament, that’s icing on the cake.
There’s Varsity and there’s JV. You put your very best dogs out on your Varsity team…it’s something that has to be earned after all. It may not be a division 1 team, but they are solid and the best you’ve got. Dogs that sometimes flake are not as fast, and new dogs run JV. Everyone is working for a spot on Varsity. It requires that everyone is very realistic about their dog’s skills and their own skill as a handler. Sometimes it’s just as hard to take now as it was in high school, but hey it’s more like the real world.
Connie
2 comments ↓
I love the labels you’ve given. I would definitely classify my team’s philosophy as the following:
Dance with dog you came with just so long as he/she completes.
We aim for completion (and we aren’t even that new to the sport). We figure that as long as our goal is completion, the rest, the speed and points, will come along. And, we don’t turn down any dog. If the owners want to learn, play, and/or compete, we will train their dog. No matter breed, speed, or age.
Not everyone plays for the fastest speed record or points. Some of us play because we enjoy seeing our pet run and bark and have a blast!
I agree that the play for points vs play to win catagorization of team philosophies is too limited. There are a lot of people that just want to have fun. I often don’t know if we won a heat and usually have no clue how we place. For some people, it’s about having a hyper dog and trying to keep it entertained.
Some people I know train their dogs when they know the dog may never master the complete course and certainly never complete, but the experience being around the other dogs and people at practice and the very act of training is good for the dog.
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