Some Ruff Competition’s

SharkFEBst 2008

 

February 6, 2008                                                                                                Volume 2008, Number 1   

 

 

In This Issue

                                                          

·    Open Class

·    Toonie Books

·    Crating

·    Location

·    Dining

·    Dog Exercise Areas

·    Judges

·    Fred Theiss Photography

·    Junior Handlers

·    Raffle & Vendors

·    Accommodations

·    Emergency Services

·    Format

·    Time Sheets

·    Schedule – coming soon

·    Ties

·    Note about Veterans

·    Bakers etc.

SharkFEBst 2008 Vendors. . .  click on their name to be directed to their websites

Pawsitive Spirit

Crash Test Toys

Two Friends Bait Shoppe

Reflections in Wood & Pine

Jem’s Pet Signs

Pawsazz

Paws-itively Raw

DogSport Magazine

Doggie Duffle

Contact Us

Welcome

 

The 11th Annual SharkFEBst Almost Valentine’s Day Tournament happens in just a few days! 

 

We invite you to enjoy the festivities.  Lots of racing, lots of vendors, lots of great food available at our “Sharks and Hearts Cafe”, lots of music provided by DJ Dave Burton (he takes requests!) and if the Weather Network is on the mark, a little bit of snow!  Heck, it just wouldn’t be a SharkFEBst without it now would it?

 

NEW this year is the addition of the NAFA Open Class.  We have 16 Open teams entered and while we understand that some of those handlers may be running on other teams, we ask that you make every effort to have a ‘spare handler’ available for your dog to help keep us all racing on schedule.  You may want to read Chris Van Wert’s article on “Tips, Tricks to Succeed in the Open Class”  Remember to find a box-loader!

 

There are still spots available for dogs on some of the Open teams entered …email Emily if you have an athlete in waiting. 

 

The NAFA Open rule provides dogs can be listed in one additional class but there is No double listing between Open and Veterans!

                                                         

Back by popular demand, we will set up a table for the “Toonie” Book Exchange”.  Bring out your gently used paperbacks, hard covers or books on tape.  Funds generated from the books will be donated to the Pet Trust Fund at the University of Guelph on all of our behalf and any books left over will be donated to a local school book drive. 

 

And now to the usual facts:

 

Crating Setup – PLEASE NOTE:  NO Crating Earlier than 7:00 p.m. Friday February 8th, 2008.  If by some chance you do happen to show up earlier we’re going to put you to work taping down the mats!  Crating spaces will be assigned and there will be enough for all 73 teams inside the building.  Upon arrival check for your Club Name inside the duct taped squares on the floor!  Areas are marked off to protect the 3 foot aisle ways.

 

For those of you who like to crate outdoors the weekend weather report can be found at:  Enviroment Canada.  Please no indoor ex-pens unless they are housing multiple dogs.

 

Tournament Location:      Richmond Green Sports Centre, 1300 Elgin Mills Road East, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4S 1M5 (905) 737-1236.  Take the exit directly from the 404 onto Elgin Mills Road and go west! 

 

Please remember that the arena is a non-smoking facility, so be considerate of the cleanup crew and put your cigarette butts in the containers provided outside.   Richmond Green does not permit alcoholic beverages on site. 

 

Close by:  There is a Tim Hortons at the Esso station less than 5 minutes away at the corner of Elgin Mills and Leslie St.    There is also a Costco at the same corner.

 

On-site Dining:  The “Sharks and Hearts Cafe” will be open and providing scrumptious meals throughout the day including their renowned breakfast sandwich.  Mom has been busy chopping and dicing all the ingredients for her ‘secret recipe’ so it’ll be just right for all you hungry handlers.

 

Dog Exercise Area:  There will be a designated “poop zone” to the east of the main entrance to the building.  Please confine your athlete’s calls to nature to this area as we would like to preserve the beauty of the snow. Baggies will be available if you don’t have your own and there will be trash cans conveniently located. 

 

There is a leash law in effect in Richmond Hill and surrounding areas.  Please keep your dogs "On lead and under control".  Also we ask that you remember to Stoop and Scoop.  We will have plenty of bags available for your dog.

 

Judges:  Our Judges are Mr. Brian Kauk (supervising), Ms. Stephanie Doerr (supervising), Mr. Glenn Hamilton and Mr. Toby Emo. 

 

We invite the Boxloaders to once again take a seat in the box judge’s chair immediately following their race and judge the next one.  Volunteers for Line judging are greatly appreciated and will be offered a nice warm seat. 

 

At the end of the SharkFEBst, we have some snazzy awards to show our appreciation for one Box judge and one Line judge who have done their time!

 

Fred Theiss Photography:  Fred Theiss will be available to capture the action at the 2008 SharkFEBst.  Fred’s photos from past events both Flyball and Agility, can be viewed at http://www.pbase.com/yozee

 

Junior Handlers: The 2008 version of the Junior Handler pins are available for presentation at the SharkFEBst, please let us know if you have a Junior who is eligible.

 

Raffle and Vendors:  The always interesting SharkFEBst Raffle will be drawn on Sunday afternoon.   Time to stock up on treats, charms, coats, collars, and more!  This year we are pleased to welcome back Crash Test Toys, Two Friends Bait Shoppe, Jem’s Pet Signs and Lisa Starr of Paws-itively Raw Charms etc. and Dogsport.

 

Joining us for the first time are Pawsazz, Doggie Duffle and Pawsitive Spirit Canine Massage.  Debra will be set up in one of the locker rooms and is available to do warm up and cool down massages for your dogs after 10:00 on Saturday.

  

We also have special raffle items donated by Deb & Pete from Reflections in Pine & Oak and Chiropractic Assessment and Adjustment Gift Certificates!

 

Accommodations:  The hotel of choice, the Comfort Inn in Markham, is listed on our website someruffcomp.com while others can be found at www.canadianhotelguide.com   Check out www.yorktourism.com for dining suggestions.  Please remember to be considerate of future dog event participants and pick up what your dog leaves behind. 

 

Emergency Services:

Veterinary Services: 

Canyon Hill Animal Hospital 11000 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill, ON  L4C 3E4  905-737-4506. 

Veterinary Emergency Clinic of York Region,  1210 Journeys End Circle, Newmarket, ON L3Y 8Z6                905-953-5351

 

Hospital: (We thought that we had better include this for our Human participants) York Central Hospital, 10 Trench Street, Richmond Hill, ON L4C 4Z3  905-883-1212 – 10 minutes from the show site.

 

 

Please note:   NAFA Rules of Racing 6.A Reporting for Racing “If a team is more than 3 minutes late from the conclusion of the designated warm-up period, the Head Judge will declare a forfeit of that race unless an excused ring conflict exists.  Any ring conflicts must be reported to the Head Judge or the Head Table prior to the race in question.”

 

To keep things on track we will be moving to 1 minute warm-ups after a given period of time.  We’ll the race number on Saturday and Sunday morning.

 

Format:  Teams have been divided into Divisions based on seed times provided by you. These divisions have been approved by the Region 2 NAFA Regional Director.  Our seeding chart can be found at www.someruffcomp.com

 

NAFA Time Sheets:  If you haven’t already done so please send Emily your line-ups no later than 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 6th and she will gladly prepare your time sheets.  The completed version for each team will be available at the table near the crating area between Ring 1 and Ring 2.  Please ensure that all information is complete and correct and valid CRN’s are listed.  Sheets must be handed in prior to the start of your division’s racing.  Time sheets will not be altered after the start of competition.   

 

Scheduling and Warm-up Times:  Our racing is based on approximately 16 races per hour (that’s right, it’s the one schedule two ring formats).  It is each team's responsibility to be ready and waiting in the holding area one race prior to their race so that racing can stay on schedule.  

 

We are waiting for approval on our schedule and will forward it to you ASAP.  We apologize to those clubs with multiple entries at the SharkFEBst in the event that you find that your teams are racing in close proximity to each other.

*NAFA is now mandating that the sequence of races as published in the rulebook be used as a starting point for the schedule. They are requesting a deviation from the required order in no more than one or two instances per division. They believe that by eliminating many of the deviations that they will insure that teams throughout NAFA are treated fairly and constantly.*

This unpublished requirement has caused several days of delay in scheduling which we regret.  In the numerous revisions that we have done this is what happens: move one team out of the published order to give them more ‘time off’ and you impact a number of other teams. . . it’s a house of cards really.   So in order to comply with this directive from NAFA we have limited our number of deviations having to go with no more than a 3 race break in some instances. 


Sorry folks . . . even the programs that we are using to help us schedule couldn't give you more time off.  Thank you for your understanding.

 

Please check the Race Counters located near the raffle table for the current race.  Listen closely; we will also be announcing the race number, teams racing and the ring they will be in prior to your race over the PA system. 

 

Ties:  Ties for seeding in any final and final placements will be broken according to the following:  1) Head to Head Results, 2) Fastest time Head to Head, 3) Fastest time in the Division.

Veterans:  There are 7 teams entered in the Veterans Division.  Some of those teams still have a spot or 2 available for an oldster who wants to play.  Please let us know if you have an available dog and we’ll ‘hook you up’. 

 

AAC National Team:  Sarah and the chefs have been busy baking all kinds of delicious treats for us Handlers.  Please stop by and help support the efforts of the AAC National Team to get to Belgium for the IFCS World Championships.

 

 

 

Event Schedule & Awards:

                                                                       

Measuring

7:15 a.m. Saturday morning         

The dog’s CRN must be presented and recorded at time of measuring.

 

Racing Begins

8:00 a.m.  Saturday 

8:00 a.m.  Sunday 

 

NAFA and SharkFEBst Awards

At the conclusion of racing on Sunday. 

 

 

From all of us on Some Ruff Competition: Good Luck and Good Racing!

 

Updates can be found someruffcomp.com