Kavik

I'm pretty sure I checked carefully before purchasing whether it would be OK. Here is an Australian site with sheepskin tugs http://agilityclick.com/category8_1.htm

I've brought in sheepskin stuff from them no problem :)

You can buy those flat collars which have the dog's name and your phone number embroidered on them - might be an idea if you are really worried she might high tail it. Don't worry even if she does run off - has happened to me many times

No, the collar cannot have any tags on it.

I would suggest training sessions when you are home to tire him out so that he is happy to relax when you are working :) This can be obedience exercises, or tricks, or a wide range of things, but certainly some self control work would be beneficial in your case. Also, if he has a lot of drive, finding a way to give that drive some outlet would help. Tug is generally the preferred play method for this - it can help with giving an outlet, also if you teach it correctly it can help with self control and be used as a reward for training exercises. Training sessions should be short and fun - less than 5 mins!

It seems that there was no incentive for anyone to create an ANKC affiliated flyball club or hold comps - so nobody did, and everything stayed under AFA.

OK so Flyball sounds expensive to start up. But so is agility? All that equipment is expensive, and timing gates etc? And it sounds as if people actively chose not to do ANKC even if it started at an ANKC club? Maybe the ANKC entries could be individual and you state the team or something? (like strategic pairs) to get the levy for each dog entered.

RIP Sabre

I also happen to like that there are alternate registries for agility. It means that when starting out, if you are as nervous as I was, you can start out in a smaller, less formal organisation to get the hang of doing competitions and get nerves under control before entering larger more formal events.

Because if it ain't broke, don't fix it. A lot of the clubs are ANKC state body affiliated (for example, sutherland is affiliated with dogs NSW) but because flyball is no longer recognised, they can't hold an ANKC sanctioned flyball comp. They were never able to in the first place because of the way it was set up - was that a problem? No, because the AFA was there and as I said, it was working. I think a lot of people are forgetting that the ANKC allowed the affiliation of the AFA in the first place. If they wanted to control the organisation of flyball, they didn't have to allow that affiliation. For them to allow it, have nothing change in terms of the insurance and then blame that insurance for ending the affiliation makes no sense. It took 3 years of fighting for the AFA to become affiliated - surely that was enough time for the ANKC to see any potential problems? And if not, then that's a massive problem in itself. The agreement has been in place for years too. The great thing about flyball though is that we're already organised and if it took us 3 years to fight for affiliation, we will happily spend another 3 fighting for our sport to become re-recognised. Our sport is very different in that it requires a lot of post-event organisation. We don't get a certificate at the end of the day with the number of points our dogs received - it takes a lot of organisation to get the points sorted out. At our last comp, we ran 58 races.... 58 races, each with 8 dogs running. It's a lot of work to organise who got what. What other sport requires teams like that? Most dog sports are individual events, with the exception of agility's strategic pairs. But that's what makes our sport so great. Have you ever been to the royal and watched people watching the showring, obedience or agility? They might get into it a little bit. Now go to the flyball ring and watch people get revved up over dogs they don't even know. It doesn't even compare. The sad thing is that it would be a great branding exercise for the state's controlling body to put a logo somewhere on the field while so many people watch but they haven't done it - and now, they can't. They might not have a publicity team, but simple things like that to make people more brand aware might sway someone into looking them up and seeing what they do. Since Sutherland is affiliated with DogsNSW, why were they not able to set up a comp under ANKC? How was the way it was set up a problem?

And no, while we probably don't "need" it, we certainly want it. A lot of people won't even consider trying a sport unless it will earn their dog a title. The AFA has seen a lot of growth since it's ANKC affiliation and it hasn't been one sided - many flyballers have become members of their state's controlling body for the sole purpose of having their dog's titles awarded. That's a lot of people who no longer have any reason to give their money to those controlling bodies, who already have dropping membership numbers. Look at the number of people who do AADA agility compared to ANKC. It's the same general idea - most dogs would be able to run at both kinds of agility because a lot of the exercises have already been taught. I've never seen an AADA comp as big as the ANKC ones I've seen. Now make that an entirely new thing you have to teach... without ANKC recognition, the numbers of people who will bother with flyball will drop. Actually, I have heard that in one state (QLD?) ADAA agility has MUCH bigger numbers than ANKC agility. It seems to differ from state to state.

If there is so much enthusiasm within the flyball community, why then did nobody start a club that was ANKC state body affiliated, and hold comps at their club? It sounds like the reason is that it is easier to go with the flow of the already established AFA following.

Does the ANKC actively promote any other sport? Genuinely curious. My understanding is that the ANKC was started for pedigree record keeping and conformation showing.

They are an organisation before anything else - they want things to fall under their framework.

I think from reading everything that this would be the best course of action. I agree with HW that since AFA has been prominent, people have not seen the reason to get things up and running properly within the ANKC framework.

Labrador? Not protective, but big, active, square head, good for sports (would be about the same as a Rotty for agility IMO), you could get a black one, would almost look like a Rotty :laugh:

I think there is one type we can get from dogs?

Looking forward to seeing them grow :)

There is no "truth" in dog training.

Sure, I agree that the traditional guard breeds work due to their reputation and obvious trainability in that work :) but both Rotty and GSD are unsuitable for the OP. Dobe too active as well, if the Boxer is too active. In the OP's case I would probably go for a Bullmastiff or similar - imposing looking dogs, I certainly wouldn't take the chance of messing with one :laugh: .

I don't think the OP is actually looking for a guard dog that would actually bite someone :) Simply a large dog that would be a deterrent due to size/appearance/maybe bark. Most dark coloured large dogs would work for this. The OP also said they don't want a Rotty and if they don't want to do a lot of exercise and don't want too much hair, then a GSD is also out.

Could you fence off a small amount of the yard with secure fencing for her so she can have a little wander and run around? She wouldn't fit through chain link?

Updating mine: We have gotten GD and JDX title and one JDO and one JDM pass. Tugging is improving, not reliable out of yard yet though Contacts - work in progress He has only run out of the ring once (of course it was at the Nationals ) So doing well!

I also think a vet visit is a good idea. You could try putting her on a leash to prevent her from running off when you are encouraging her to go to the toilet in your toilet spot. Is your eventual long term goal to have her toileting on paper inside the house?

IMO the only thing that makes it difficult, is that if you decide you want to handle one way and the club teaches another. Not because they won't let you do it - simply saying you are using another handling system should be enough, I don't know any club that would have a problem with that, but that it is more difficult for them to help you as they may not know the other handling method well enough to help when you get stuck using a manouvre that is different to the system they use. I use GD handling guidelines, partly because it is what the clubs predominantly teach and also because there are lots of independent resources available (though I notice there are Linda Mecklenberg DVDs out now too). Certainly I should get the whole range of the GD handling DVDs as there is a lot I still don't know very well :laugh: