BFA to follow NAFA? 5"Below Height Dogs

I am so excited to see that the BFA is sending out postal votes to see if members are happy and willing to change the current ruling to fall in with the rule change NAFA made earlier in the summer regarding the height that smallest dog in the team runs at. Currently it’s 4″ below the withers, but NAFA changed it to 5″ below after an overwhelming 94% vote for the motion. As NAFA is the largest and foremost flyball association in the world, other countries normally try to keep abreast of their decisions and follow suit accordingly (if it sits well with their members) so that flyball is kept to a general world standard. (Very unlike agility!)

If this goes ahead my lovely little Kim would run 12″ and Mollie would run 13″, (and Bailey would run 11″). It sounds ridiculous to argue that 1 inch can make a difference, but I know that when Kim or Mollie have run with smaller height dogs, they’ve both stayed fresher and less prone to aches and stiffness on the evening or following day. It’s that little bit less effort that means they can run for longer and with less stress to joints and legs.

If this rule does go ahead, it would mean a huge difference for our older girls. We’ve currently been cutting back on the number of runs per day that they both do unless they’re running with height dogs. Mollie really feels it after running at 14″ all day, and although Kim doesn’t struggle, she almost always runs as our 13″ height dog and it is naturally a lot harder for her to be running that kind of height when other, taller dogs are running it too.

The only dog this won’t affect is Dylan, because he loves 14″ jumps and hates anything below 12″, but I’m sure he won’t complain too much.

It will also mean that teams in this country will be running faster times. No advantages or disadvantages in my opinion, because the change will affect every team, not just one or two. Yes, our team will be running at 12″ instead of 13″, but your team might be running at 11″ instead of 12″, or 13″ instead of 14″. The only teams who don’t directly benefit are the teams who have no smaller dogs, but in that case, there’s no change — and if your dogs are that tall, like Dylan, they’re probably better jumping 14″ anyway.

Also lovely for the sub-20 teams, but I’m mainly thinking about the slower teams that run around 23/24 seconds. There are some incredibly consistent dogs running on those teams who have been competing for years, running around 5.5s, but they just miss out on the sub-22s cut off for 25pts per team run. Should one of their dogs become a height dog from this vote, they’ll be running that little bit faster and will get their rewards by earning those awards that they really deserve. Yes, there is an argument that dogs don’t care about points and awards (I know mine don’t!) but it still means an awful lot to get those certificates.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, if you’re a BFA member, send back your postal vote and vote! (Even if you vote no, please vote anyway, although I think you should all be voting yes-yes-yes please!)