Owner: The Flyball Blog URL:http://www.flyballblog.com Join Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:43:37 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A blog devoted to the dog sport of Flyball. Site statistics:Click here
What is My Job? 2007-09-25 18:00:33 I know for the most part this does not apply to may of the people that play flyball, but even I have been a little guilty of this with a foster dog I have. I am talking about giving our dogs a job.
The History of Chance
Someone on our regional flyball list posted a message that a Border collie was in dire need of rescue and was due to be euthanized. The shelter was located in Georgia and I live in Alabama so I called someone that I knew in Georgia that does rescue. They said that there was no way that they could get there in time and that I was actually closer to the shelter. Since I really didn’t know what else to do, I decided to leave work and go pick up the dog. I really didn’t have room for another dog but I thought that I could foster one Border collie until a home could be found.
(more…)
Laser Luring 2007-09-24 20:22:16 My wife and I were in PetSmart over the weekend and she saw this laser pointer at the checkout counter and wanted to buy it. I said, “What do you want with that?” and she said, “To play with the dogs.”
We have a Labrador retriever, two Jack Russell Terriers, and five Border Collies and I knew that at least one of our Jack Russell’s would “chase the dot” because he loves Lure Coursing.
(more…)
Read more:Laser
Conditioning the Canine Athlete 2007-09-23 12:28:57 Since I am not an expert, or even a novice for that matter, in this field, I sought out someone that could write just a couple articles on this subject. Well, I came up empty handed. For example, I emailed:
Auburn Veterinary College - No response
Christine Zink DVM, PhD - She is the author of the book, Peak Performance, Coaching the CanineAthlete
, and the only one to respond. She said that she was away on business right now but would get back with me when she returned. I waited a month and emailed her again with no reply.
Robert L. Gillette, DVM - I met this doctor at Auburn University, where he teaches. We had our Lab there when she was being checked out for hip dysplasia and I spoke to Dr. Gillette at some length about flyball. He has a website called Sportvet.com. He never responded.
Carol Helfer, DVM - I got her name from Christine Davis of Inside Flyball. Christine told me that she had done some writing for her for an article on Inside Flyball. She never responded.
(m
Team Dynamics 2007-09-21 18:33:51 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. – Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NRSV)
(more…)
Read more:Dynamics
How do you run an all green team? 2007-09-18 08:34:49 I know from experience that it is very hard starting new teams in areas where no other teams exist. Being from a flyball growth area like Alabama, I have seen my share of all green teams. As I have mentioned before on other posts, when I started in flyball there was only one team within 250 miles of my home. It is quite a bit better now, but back in 1999, we had to travel for help and training. Having an all green team has many drawbacks, for one, just trying to put together four dogs that can complete the course can be a problem.
(more…)
Training in the Ring 2007-09-12 22:12:03
You Make the Call
I am sure that most people that play flyball have heard the phase “Training
in the Ring.” If you have not heard of it, you should know that “Training in the ring” is prohibited by NAFA and you should read the follow paragraphs taken from the NAFA Rulebook: (more…)
Passing 2007-09-11 18:00:53
Photo by Willie Moore, wmConsulting.
Passing is so very critical to winning heats and having good times. Consistently good passing and clean runs win races and tournaments. I have seen faster teams lose to a slower team because of good consistent passing and clean runs. So how do you achieve consistent passing?
(more…)
Breaking-up is Hard to Do 2007-09-10 22:24:29 I received a question from someone asking about the best way to handle spits and breakups. My first thought on this was if you find out let me know, for it seems that no matter how amicable a split or breakup is it is still a very hard thing to get over.
I have written other post about team philosophy, When Philosophies Collide, and Picking the Right Team, but how do you handle it when it is time to call it quits. I am sorry to say that I have been through a few breakups and it has always been hard. This is why some people say, “The best and worse thing about flyball is that it’s a team sport.” A team becomes a family of sorts and it is always hard when there are problems but as they say, “you can’t pick your family,” but however you look at it, fortunately or unfortunately, you can pick your teammates.
(more…)
Read more:Breaking
Innovative Box Design 2007-09-09 14:35:52 In my last couple of posts and comments, I have been somewhat critical of the NAFA board and the rules committee and I would like to step back for a minute and reevaluate my stance on the box issue. In the heat of discussion sometimes, we can lose some of our perspective by letting one vision cloud our judgment.
In all fairness to the people on the board and rules committee, I think they deserve the benefit of a second look into their position. I think that many people, myself included, looking at the box in my post, Technically Legal, for the first time thought “My god, how can this be legal?” I know that I did.
(more…)
Read more:Innovative
Open Class and Performance Teams 2007-09-08 11:06:12 I am so glad that the NAFA delegates voted to allow the NAFA board to “…explore the pick-up team concept further.” The voting results show that 773 (71.2%) delegate votes were in favor of the board developing rules for pick-up teams, while 291 (26.8%) where not in favor of the proposal.
While I completely support the addition of these two concepts, I have some problems with the way they are being implemented during this trial period. I am sure the rules committee tried to do the right thing when creating these rules but in my opinion they have old NAFA ideas and they are stuck in this mindset.
(more…)
Read more:Performance
Chat with the Candidates 2007-09-28 09:03:29 If you are unaware, NAFA has scheduled three Board of Director candidate chats. The chat sessions will be moderated and a transcript posted on the NAFA website after the chat. Each of the three scheduled chat sessions will start at 7pm Central Standard Time and will last about 3 hours. The scheduled dates are:
Thursday, October 11th
Wednesday, October 24th
Wednesday, November 7th
(more…)
Read more:Candidates
The Art of Judging 2007-10-10 07:52:44 I think that judging is really an art form and a good judge can turn any tournament into a pleasant experience. With the better judges, it’s almost like their movements are choreographed and they have a rhythm and the tournament flows smoothly. On the other hand, there are the judges that stutter step throughout the entire tournament and never get into a rhythm, and this can make for a long tournament.
(more…)
Read more:Judging
Open Class Pros and Cons 2007-10-18 08:15:19 Chris Van Wert has written an excellent post on the Pros and Cons of NAFA’s new Open Class. I think that even though some people have some problems with this new class, and Chris does a good job in bring them to light, in the long run it will be good for NAFA and good for the sport.
Chris also makes some other points, which are worth quoting here…
It’s possible that “Open Class” will actually help clubs to stay together. That the reasons for leaving a team will be less important if you can enter a tournament and run on another club without having to leave your club to do so. It will also give us the opportunity to become flyball ambassadors if we can enter tournaments on long distance trips. We would be able to meet and get to know flyball enthusiasts in places far removed from our home regions. Let’s give the Open Class a fair chance to win your approval. Flyball is changing — NAFA is changing — we are only afraid of change because of the &ldqu
SnapDragon 2007-10-17 22:56:38 I would like everyone to meet a very special dog, who goes by the name SnapDragon. She has a multitude of titles behind her name, CD, CDX, NAP, NIP, NA, NAJ, ONYX, TF-III, and NAFA Region 14 MVP, and I have a feeling there are even more. These were taken from her website here. There is more than meets the eye about this very busy Border Collie.
(more…)
Ellen DeGeneres vs. Mutts and Moms 2007-10-17 08:12:52 Have you read this story about Ellen
DeGeneres and her once dog Iggy? It seems that Ellen received a dog from the Mutts and Moms dog rescue agency and gave the dog to her hairdresser when it didn’t get along with her cats.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres’ doggy drama intensified Tuesday when the agency that took the talk show host’s adopted dog back said they were keeping it.
The dog adopted by DeGeneres and later given to her hairstylist’s family in violation of an animal rescue agency’s rules will not be going back to the family, a spokesman said, amid threats of violence against the agency.
DeGeneres made a tearful plea on her talk show that aired Tuesday for the owners of Mutts and Moms to give Iggy, a Brussels Griffon mix terrier, back to her hairstylist’s family.
The dog was removed from the hairstylist’s home Sunday. The owners of Mutts and Moms claimed that DeGeneres violated the adoption agreement by not informing them that she was g
A National Tragedy 2007-10-15 10:27:45 Each year over 4 million dogs are euthanized in shelters across the country. For a nation of dog lovers, this is a very sad statement. It is not that shelter workers want to do this but with so many dogs, there is little else to do. There are many rescue organizations helping and I will highlight two of them here.
DogsInDanger - DogsInDanger is an Internet-based national shelter outreach program dedicated to helping shelters save the millions of dogs that they are forced to euthanize. Dogs are listed with a photo and a profile similar to what you’ve seen, and perhaps had posted, on other pet adoption sites. The big difference with DogsInDanger is that this site is only for urgent shelter dogs. The date each dog is scheduled to be euthanized is displayed along with the dogs’ pictures and names. They also list the reason (medical, breed, age, behavior, or space) why euthanasia is scheduled. See their website at http://DogsInDanger.com.
(more…)
Read more:National
, Tragedy
Open and Regular Classes 2007-10-22 16:02:37 You make the call
This issue has been batted back and forth now ever since the announcement of the Open Class and Performance team was introduced this year.
The issue is whether Open Class teams should compete in the same division as Regular Class teams. The way the rules were written, Open Class teams can only compete against other Open Class teams and Veterans Class teams.
(more…)
Read more:Classes
Say It Ain’t So 2007-10-21 21:21:02 Sorry, I must have been asleep at the helm, it finally sunk in, or I just woke up. I was driving home from my daughter’s house and listening to loud Hard Rock on my XM radio, I know, I know, I’m 53 and that stuff rots your brain and gives you hearing loss, and it hit me. Did I read somewhere that one single BOD member prevented the Open Class from being run with the other divisions like in U-FLI? I did, and I must have glanced right over it. Here is a quote from a comment I received on my post, Open Class Pros and Cons, which were all Cons by the way:
My understanding (from a BOD member) is that basically a single BOD member prevented the Open Class from being more open based on the opinion that NAFA should not be too much like U-FLI.
This sucks with a capital S. I am just a little upset by this, can you tell? Is this in the best interest of Flyball? I don’t think so not in any way, shape, or form. I would like to know why, how can this be, is this true? If
Activism 2007-10-26 11:20:57 I was going to take some time off to rejuvenate and get my thoughts together. Well, I slept since then. I’ve been asked privately, “What’s ‘your’ agenda? “ My answer is to; vigorously and sometimes aggressively expose stupidity. This is my blog I can do with it what I want and you can choose to read it or not. I know people are looking at it but most of the time I can’t tell what they are thinking.
I have also read the candidate chat transcripts and I think these chats are a waste of time. Sure, it lets people see where the candidates stand on the issues but the people running are no different than the people already on the board, so what difference does it make?
Analogy
(more…)
Read more:Activism
Pride and My Status 2007-10-25 14:36:02 Pride is an admission of weakness;
it secretly fears all competition and dreads all rivals.
Author: Fulton J. Sheen
I must say that Fulton J Sheen, in the quote above, sums it up very succinctly. Pride is our recognition of our own self worth and in some instances is a good thing. It is good to have pride in something that we feel very connected to like pride in our work, our organization, and ourselves. On the other hand, pride can be detrimental when our attitude becomes one of superiority that manifest itself in arrogance and boasting.
In striving to maintain a brand or uniqueness, some may be hindering future success. If you have been following my last few posts, you have a good idea what I am referencing. I am not going to dwell on this any longer, for I get the feeling that very few in the flyball community care about this. Besides, the people that most need to hear the message are silent.
(more…)
Read more:Pride
, Status
Passion, Politics, and Secrecy 2007-10-30 13:40:06 If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.
Benjamin Franklin
Flyball is a game of much passion whether it’s playing in the ring or discussing it as evidenced from recent comments on this forum. There are many people that have strong opinions and a personal attachment to this sport. Others, outside of North America are most likely looking at this and trying figure out why there is so much discussion on these seemingly trivial subjects. However, they can likely look forward to these same topics in the future as flyball evolves in their countries, for the competitive nature of the sport lends itself to such passion. Whether you lurk or comment on this forum you have opinions.
Many of you who are new to the sport and new to dog related activities, are probably scratching your heads and saying, “I just want to play with my dog.” Please try to understand the addition of new organizations, rule changes, and/or the lack of rule changes affect the way you play with your dog.
(more Read more:Passion
Regional Representatives 2007-10-28 13:54:22 Isn’t it time that our NAFA regions have a voice and play a larger role when implementing rule changes? Everyone that participates and attends NAFA tournament is a stockholder in the organization and deserves a voice. NAFA did a good job by allowing the delegates to vote on certain rule changes, a basic yes or no vote, but then acted on their own to draft and implement the new rules.
It is my opinion, and recent events bear this out, that there are certain members on the rules committee that have an agenda contrary to the best interest of the NAFA flyball community. Nevertheless, something needs to be done to limit this in the future and allowing regional representatives a more active role in regards to rule changes that affect the community is one solution.
(more…)
Read more:Representatives
Dogs Stayed By Owner's Body For Three Weeks 2007-11-04 08:27:33 I thought this was such a touching story that I had to post the entire article from Itchmo.
News for cats and dogs - Dogs Stayed By Owner
’s Body For ThreeWeeks
Pippin and Merry are extremely loyal and dedicated dogs. These two golden retrievers guarded over their owner's body for at least three weeks after he died.
Gary Lorenz disappeared from his Colorado home in September, and his body was just found last week surrounded by Pippin and Merry.
(more…)
Read more:Three Weeks
Hosting a U-FLI Tournament 2007-11-02 17:26:59 Larry has graciously invited me to write a blog entry describing my experiences in hosting a U-FLI tournament and compare them to the experience of hosting a NAFA tournament. It is my hope that by pointing out some of the problems my team experienced in hosting a U-FLI tournament, they can be addressed and corrected by U-FLI.
My team had hosted our first NAFA tournament back in 2003. While we had been to plenty of tournaments and had put on a couple of fun matches, we were a little nervous about hosting our first tournament. However, our fun matches had gone well due to lots of planning and organization. So, we put the same skills to work and took the plunge into our first tournament. While it was not without stress, it was nothing that we could not handle. We kept things running smoothly, and based on the feedback we got from the teams who attended, everyone had a good time. The paperwork and fees were straightforward and we had no issues with seeding or scheduling.
Three years Read more:Hosting
, Tournament
Team Splits 2007-11-01 15:25:31 "Team splits are the bastard child in the closet of Flyball.” I received this quote from someone wanting additional information on how people deal with this situation.
I've talked about this issue before in my post, Breaking-up is Hard to Do. I asked the question," So how do you handle it?" and my answer was, "You do the best you can" I know that is pretty lame advice because any team split is traumatic. It's rejection at its very core, I'm right you're wrong, friends against friends, and philosophy against philosophy. Is there anything to make the trauma easier to manage? It's bad enough dealing with a breakup while it's in the process but what about afterward.
Breakup Postmortem
(more…)
Read more:Splits
Ultimate Dog Championships 2007-11-09 08:49:02 Flyball will be on Animal Planet on November 18, 2007 at 10:00 am. Flyball will be part of the Ultimate
Dog Championships
and the Flyball portion of the Championships will be from Las Vegas, Nevada. You can see the Animal Planet website for additional details. Planed activities for the championships and dates are as follows…
Disc Dog Extreme Games - November 11, 10:00 am
Flyball Las Vegas - November 18, 10:00 am
Disc Dogs Southern Nationals - December 2, 10:00 am
Lure Coursing - December 9, 10:00 am
Agility Specials and Veterans - December 16, 10:00 am
Please pass this information on to your friends and family. As discussed in my previous post Showcasing Flyball, we need to get the word out to everyone we know. Let’s elevate Flyball as the best dog sport there is and this nationally televised event is the perfect opportunity.
Larry
Showcasing Flyball 2007-11-06 12:01:29 I must say that U-FLI is really patting themselves on the back right now and I suppose it is a well-deserved pat on the back. After all, over $6000 was raised for a worthy cause.
St. Jude’s Showcase of Dogs ‘07
Fetchin’ Frenzi brings U-FLI to the “St. Jude Showcase of Dogs” in Memphis for the first time and raised over $6000 for the St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital founded by the legendary Mr. Danny Thomas.
By reading this first sentence you would swear that this is the first time flyball was held at the Showcase. However, what it means is, this is the first time U-FLI has been involved, for up until now this has been a traditionally NAFA event.
(more…)
Read more:Showcasing
Flyball, a Team Sport 2007-11-13 23:52:53 Another championship season has come and gone and is now in the history books. Unfortunately, I’ve missed both the NAFA and U-FLI championships but from reading about both events, it sounds like everyone had a great time. It seems like I will be reading more about the events that I miss than having firsthand accounts of the ones I’ve attended, for I don’t really have a team right now. I mean I own a team but there are just three of us.
I’m sure that I’ve written about this before somewhere, I think it may have been, “Flyball, a four letter word?”
The three of us have always traveled to teams outside our area about 100 miles away, and it’s not as if we haven’t tried to start a team in our area over the last 7 years because we have, numerous times. Two of us are burned out from trying, and I am one of the two burnouts. Not only are we tired of trying, we are tired of traveling the 100 miles to play which is one of the reasons why the
Retirement 2007-11-15 11:24:12 The question is when is it time to retire your canine athlete? I guess the short answer is when they tell you it's time.
Telling your friend that it's time to retire is never easy. My wife's Labrador retriever, Paige had to retire early from her Flyball career because of an eye injury from hitting the box too hard.
Paige
Meet our Paiger Black Dog. Paige was born sometime in June of 1997 and she is the sole reason both my wife and I got so involved in Flyball. Paige has always been kind of a wacky dog and sometimes we call her "Crazy Paiger" However, she is a jewel to have around and can bring a smile to your face just to look at her. Paige was trained in Obedience, Agility, and Flyball but really only enjoyed flyball. She played with a passion unmatched by many and truly loved the game.
Paige started her Flyball career on April 1, 2000 in Charlotte, NC and earned her FMX title on August 17, 2003. She was voted Most Valuable Player of Region 14 for 2004.
(more&helli
Giving Thanks 2007-11-21 07:57:15 We all have much to be thankful for even if your life isn’t where you think it should be right now. We are all free to travel, to pursue our dreams, and express our thoughts without fear. No matter what side of the war you are on or what political position you take, be thankful for the men and women serving our great country. Give thanks to them and their families for their unquestionable devotions, service, and sacrifice.
I want to thank you all for taking the time to read, comment, and support this forum whether you agree or disagree with my ramblings.
From my family to yours, I wish you all a safe and Happy Thanks
giving!
Larry
Read more:Giving
Recommend Site To A Friend
