SoFreshSoClean

Kind of. They limit all breeds in the final round. So there's a standard course and a JWW course and they are time plus faults. So they add up all the scores. The Championship round is a Time 2 Beat course with a dogwalk. It is also ran time plus faults. Then this happens: 7 A maximum of 10 dogs from each jump height will be selected for the Championship round. 8. In each jump height, the top 3 qualifying dogs, regardless of breed, will be chosen for the Championship round. After that, additional dogs will be chosen by individual breed. One of each breed from the remainder of the qualifying dogs in each jump height will be chosen until the limit is reached. One qualifying Canine Partner will be included in the breeds selected to make up the 10 dogs chosen in each jump height. 9. If there are not enough individual breeds to make up the 10 dogs in each jump height, the next dog with the lowest combined score will be included regardless of breed. This means that more than one dog of any breed may be chosen. That is why you'll see one or two of each fast "typical" agility breeds and then there will be a malamute or something totally random. Then they sqush all the jump heights together to crown a Super Champion.

I do flyball. It's our primary sport and where our best dog sport friends are. We also do agility, mostly USDAA. Heck, in September our roster of 6 flyball dogs will include 2 active agility dogs and 2 retired agility dogs. I love my team. We have a lot of fun together in and out of the lanes and we share in the successes and "failures" of every heat/race. I remember a couple of years ago, a dog that the team had worked so long and hard on debuted in a team race. Afterwards, we were all walking out our dogs, and everyone was tearing up and hugging that we did it. It had taken a village and we have all worked together. I also love the funny shared memories. We were just laughing about the time a friend's dog regripped on his tug, nabbed my wife's pants with the tug (she was handling him as a favor) and then pulled down her pants in the lanes. There she was trying to not fall over, get her pants up and still remain focused on the dog. Some of the things that I find most people don't give flyball enough credit for are: Focus. 8 off-leash dogs with handlers and a whistle and toys and balls. And we teach them to drive through/past all that to their handler and get their toy. Heck, sometimes we have 2 rings so times that by two. We often have non-flyball folks come out for a few weeks just to proof distraction work. The Box Turn. Yes, some teams do not do enough prep work. (I think you'll find that in any sport) but the box turn has evolved in the past few years in a way that has trickled down to the majority of teams. It takes months. I equate it to my youngest also learning her running dog walk. we do foundation games, we video tape, we make sure she is fast, focused and safe. We proof and practice and take it on the road. It's no longer the smash and grab of yesterday. Injuries. Also something people seem to think is more dangerous than agility. And I see no more or less injuries in flyball. We do regular body work and strength work on all 3 of ours. My 9 year old lab mix is still perfectly sound and his chiro says that he typically only needs minor adjustments. When new folks show up, we talk about leaning out their dog, stretching, conditioning and strength training. I do tend to say "this is not the sport for you" when people come to us with a dog that is poorly put together or a brac. Because it's running, lots of running. Practice commitment. Yes, we practice weekly. And dogs who are in training often have homework. Our practices are about 2 hours unless we're all hanging out and chatting too much. Dogs get 2-3 "rounds" and we work no more than 5-10 minutes at a time, including stopping to talk over something or reset something. This is comparable to our agility classes. Unlike agility, other team members are out helping when it is not their dog's turn. We need box loaders, ball shaggers, someone to manage the exercise we're working on, other dogs, etc. It's boring and repetitive. Yes - the course is the same. Yes, some teams run the same line-ups. Sometimes you know the dogs in the other lane. Occasionally, you know those other dogs' times and quirks. But for us, it's fun to try to win. To see if we can go fast, tighten up our passes, push the start and eek out .002 lower time. It's fun to know we're going up against ABC team and their 3rd dog is super fast so we need to push it on dogs 1 and 2 to get a lead for dog three. To strategize and move forward 2 inches because your last pass was a 3 foot pass and you want to go for a 1 foot pass. And to have the other team doing the exact same thing. Around here, when we finish a race, folks will say to the other team things like "nice racing" "great racing you" "great debut on your start dog" "congrats on the title/ new best time" All those dogs are nuts. Just like in agility - it really depends on the dog and the handler. My friend has one of the fastest dogs in the sport - he also has rally titles. I know people who put their dogs in a down stay and fix a jump or tie their shoe. My lab barks. I'm ok with that. Our other dog mostly chatters his teeth. It's all good. But yes, for the most part no one clamps down on barking.

Thanks for the welcome, Amy. My sweetie is out at SuperZoo this week but I know getting in touch with you is on her to-do list for next week. It sounds like this could be a fun time for all of us and introduce some folks to Paco Collars! Sadly, we don't have an RV (now that's on my bucket list) and staying in a tent with a Malinois is not an adventure I'd like to repeat! But looks like there are a handful of rental cabins that accept dogs. Alchemist - something like this: http://www.pacocollars.com/product/over-the-shoulder-rover-holder/ or the Lazy Lasso could be right up your alley. And they'll do totally custom work out of their shop in Berkeley. So if you want something very specific - they can make it. Everything is made by hand in Berkeley and the latigo leather comes from Hide House in Napa.

Thank you all for replying! It sounds like this could be not only a good vending situation but a fun adventure as well. My wife's business is used to vending but I usually hold down the homefront. This time we thought it could be fun for me to tag along. It also sounds like our agility teacher has qualified with one or two of her dogs so it would be fun to support her other sport. Plus all of her dogs wear and use collars and leashes from Paco - so it will be good to have the product out there on dogs at the event! My general idea is that herding folks are sensible dog people as well? We will have to bring three of our dogs. They are used to be dog events but none of them are fans of rude off-leash dogs (really, who is a fan of rude off leash dogs!?!). We will keep them all on leash. But I assume it's not all willy-nilly border collies gone wild ?

I guess this is a 2 pronged question from me. I'm interested in anyone's experience as a spectator at the National Sheep Dog Finals. What was it like? How many people were there? What was the general vibe? In addition to going, we're thinking about vending. My sweetie's company makes leather leashes, collars and slip leads. So folks that were there - did you buy stuff from the vendors? What kind of things have you seen in the past? What's popular? I'm really excited to have the opportunity to attend with only a 5 hour drive from our neck of the woods. But it's not something I've ever been to before - so anyone's advice, impressions, thoughts or feelings would be very appreciated!

Another idea is to take other kinds of classes with her. Rally, trick, nosework, etc. really anything that provides new situations and new dogs and new people I'd also look at some of the Fenzi Academy classes? http://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/29 http://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/84

We've had a carpet mill, a human treadmill and now a DogPacer. None of my dogs would use the carpet mill. Only about halve could use the human treadmill b/c it was too short and probably too loud. The majority of them enjoy the DogPacer. We're still working on the Malinois but he can be suspicious in general.

What are you feeding her? What kind of immune support are you offering? I used to foster a lot and we only did ivermectin if the demodex was generalized. Otherwise, we supported the dog's immune system and feed a food that was grain-free. We followed Dr. Pitcarin's recommendations I found this link really quickly as well. http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/holistic-healthcare-library/infectious-disease/61/natural-treatments-for-demodectic-mange-faq.aspx

It does sound like he is stressed and checking out and not having a good time. We recently did a couple of days with Loretta Mueller. She does seminars around the country. Loretta was able to help up find that happy place with one of our dogs AND develop relationship keys to help maintain his happy even on course where you can't touch your dog. http://www.fulltiltbc.com/

I saw a lot of similar things. Finn is very forward and rude at times. It's also a small space and Raine is fairly trapped in that she's have to move past him to leave the area. One of my males is a dumb, rude boy who does stuff like this sometimes when meeting other dogs (including the head over the shoulders stuff and escalating his behaviors when the other dog doesn't want to play). So he is not the first dog a new dog meets and I make sure it's in larger spaces so there's less pressure on the new dog.

I too would do the one-jump work and ground work. She probably doesn't really know how to jump as much as run over the flyball jumps. Basically, start over like she's a baby dog but understand she may progress quickly with certain skills. It may help to also separate the two sports with a different reward and different verbals if any of that is currently the same.

This one cracked me up! All of our rescues have oh-so-fancy registered names. Mostly b/c there is a space for them and I like funny pun-ish things. Like our pit bull who is always getting dirty: Delicate Flower's Beauty School Drop-Out. No one really sees it but it amuses me. Our terrier mix does agility and is registered as The Evil Peanut. When I got his first certificate I got a good laugh at his "formal" name printed in fancy type. I will say that as someone who is always looking at dogs and noting which ones I like - it is nice to see something like "Red Top's Bill" on the lists at agility trials and be able to make a mental note that I like that dog and it's from Red Top. I might not get a chance to talk to you (after all you are competing) and ask about your dog, you might not be a friendly person or I'm feeling shy/socially awkward. I do have some good Goggle skills but "Jim Smith and Fly" can only get me so far.

We are also joint flyball/agility family. Our Malinois jumps 26" at agility and in flyball we're usually over the 7-9" range. He doesn't drop bars and he doesn't nick flyball jumps. My opinion is that dogs that drop bars will drop bars no matter what other activities they do or don't do. 13 months is totally fin to start training. Just take it slow, don't do too much. We cross train regularly and also have the dogs see a Chiropractic/Massage person. Our puppy is 6 months old and she is currently doing a bunch of different kinds of recalls without jumps, she's learning to exchange the ball for a tug, and started doing targeting work in preparation for learning the box once she's older. She's also doing distraction work, and just having a good time playing with her person.

Reading the premium it sounds like the finals will not nessecarily be the fastest/cleanest in each height. It looks like only one dog of each breed is allowed in each jump height for the finals?

We started in flyball with the Malinois and he was darn close to competing when he formally started agility. He runs those 6-7-8 inch jumps in flyball like a pro. He's also lovely jumping at 24" for agility and really only drops bars due to handler error. He understands the difference. Venues, energy, who is with him, visuals, he has different rewards too. I don't know if we're naive or unaware but I never expected anything less from him. I'm not sure how to share photos on this forum but I'm happy to share photos of tournament set-ups and my dogs in the crating area.