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Our main concern is the well being of the dogs. Safety is
foremost. No
handler should be asked or allowed (at the team
captain's discretion) to run
a
dog at practice or a tournament that is lame, sick, too young,
etc. Positive
training
techniques should be used at all times, and only mild negative
reinforcement will be tolerated.
Second, we should have fun. Being competitive is fun;
but we should always
remember
that we participate in flyball in order to spend quality time with
our
dogs, our teammates
and other team members and to learn about both general and
flyball-specific
training techniques.
We should not let inter- or intra-team
rivalries get in the
way of these objectives. We
should show good
sportsmanship at all times, including helping
other, new, short-handed and
tournament-host teams whenever possible. From the NAFA rulebook:
"Cooperation
and
good sportsmanship should not be recognized in passive observance,
but as a
way of life in
training and competition. Participants shall at all times be
courteous and friendly. At
no time should they show displeasure with a dog, a
judge, exhibitor,
NAFA representative,
sponsor, host or spectator in or out of
the ring. Never conduct
yourself in a manner that
would bring discredit to
Flyball. As a participant, whether
it be exhibitor, trainer, judge,
host club,
or NAFA representative, you typify Flyball."
Finally, we want
to be as competitive at tournaments as our dogs' and handlers'
abilities allow. Sometimes
this will mean running the "best" (combination of
fastest
and most reliable) dogs/handlers
either exclusively or on the highest
division team. Sometimes
this will mean splitting up
the best dogs/handlers
among two or more teams in different divisions
and/or classes. Consideration
will also be given to getting experience and points for new dogs/handlers,
and
making sure
as many handlers as possible get to participate. The lineup(s)
will
be determined
by the team captain(s) as soon as it is known who will
be participating. Once at the
tournament, the team captain is in charge. The team captain
is encouraged to
solicit input
from other team members, time permitting, but his or her
decisions
are final and should be
followed cheerfully and respectfully.
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