Crufts Flyball

[SpencerT]

Supprised that, on the comformation side, KC/Crufts made the necessary stand against some of the more out of control breed clubs, stopping what the vets term unhealthy dogs from going through (careful here, the dogs owner and the breed club involved will obviously annoyed about not going through). This, of course, is with an aim of getting the breed club to take the initiative and getting them to realise if their judge chooses a less than healthy dog it won't be able to compete at a group level. Good on them for that! But when it actually happened a lot out there thought it was unfair...

With regards to this new breed rule, is what they are really trying to do is open up flyball? Maybe going a 100% multibreed would have been a step too far, with only 2 BFA Multibreed teams going sub 17 in the past 2 years - but it does show that decent competition is possible. Would't like to think of this as a 'handicap stakes' as inferred further up this board.

IMHO, If they are moving in the right direction, now isn't the right time to call for boycotts. Let's not get confussed and think that this is either BFA multibreed or open, but a vehicle for our sport... we have enough time the rest of the year to be obsessive about the sport, rules, lights being out of line, measuring lanes, etc.

Next year, people at home watching may think 'hey, this isn't just about collies' and then we will see growth in other breeds, and might find other quick breed dogs (and hopefully not too many BC owners will get upset). More importantly, it could also make people think about what they can do with their dog and think about their health and fitness.

Think that this year we had more % coverage than previous years on the summary shows - which is an improvement... More4 will realise that the poor commentary is something that will have to be improved if it gets as much air time next year. Could be that training and a bit more exposure to the sport is the issue, and you can teach an old dog new tricks

[bessamour]

I take my hat off to the KC this year for pulling BOBs from the Group judging because dogs had health issues.
The only people I've heard complain bitterly are the people who show/breed dogs, but there are a lot of breeders and exhibitors who are very pleased that at long last the KC is doing something.
Some judges are to blame for putting up the dogs for BOB. A lot of breeders are kennel blind because it has been the norm for lame and unhealthy dogs to be placed at shows, even at Crufts.
Dogs that have been blatantly lame have won BOB and competed in the group. A Crufts Best in Show tried to bite the judge, so obviously temperament wasn't an issue!!
But that's just my own personal opinion.

We've got some cracking breeders who show their dogs and do flyball, agility etc. The dogs have good conformation and excellent temperaments.
Crufts flyball is watched by millions of viewers on TV and on the Internet, with also a full house in the audience at Crufts, so why not show the sport as it really is, which would attract more people to try out the sport. That could only be a good thing ....... for the dogs.

[BCBrie]

If the point is to open flyball up to people showing different breeds, then why not add in a proper demo with a load of different breeds? I mean, other things get full demos. At demos, things are usually set up before. Why not have the person talking, explain the set up as it is being done as well? Teams can get together with different breeds (i have seen quite a lot of breeds in flyball. Would hope that the leonberger and the dane would do it just to show it literally is any breed with some exceptions which would be explained as well) and make up maybe 2 or 4 teams with varying breeds from tiny to absolutely massive. Pop in a collie and say this is what you see here at crufts flyball and then add maybe a staffy saying these are the two you see a lot of at bfa flyball (explain what bfa is). show warming up, box turning etc. I think if something like that was done say, on the thursday, people that watch it on tv/internet would get a better idea of what the dogs are actually doing and some of the training involved in the racing they are so excited about as opposed to watching 4 dogs run down and fetch a ball.
just a thought lol. a long winded one, but a thought lol

[SpencerT]

Demo's - not a bad idea. Both inside and outside crufts (local fete's always looking for things to put on).

Guess the points I was making all related to 'they are moving in the right direction to make it a better demonstration'. Should crufts flyball and bfa flyball ever be the same? Different argument. Know that committee has changed the rules to make a few more events fit and you could get the British Record at the EFC this year (but it would be a shame that if they measured the jumps in inches they were to find it was a European Record but not a British record, bit bizarre that).

Rules are in place now, it is what it is, I am only a bit concerned about the 'active member of the team'. Hopefully it won't mean giving a breed dog 'a bit of a go' and the rest of the time running collie's.