Audrey,
I have been thinking long and hard on what transpired at practice last night, as well as what has transpired with you and Zeke in the (nearly?) year that you two have been training with us. Your email below also had me thinking. Please remember that what I write about below refers directly to my observations of you and Zeke at flyball. I have no idea how Zeke acts in other areas of his life and so cannot comment on that.
I will not get into the specifics about what transpired last night as I did not directly witness anything...and I have already heard several different interpretations of what occured. Only know that I truly regret that your feelings were hurt last night. This sport is supposed to be fun. No one wishes any potential harm to come to any of their pets.
Having said that....I will be very frank with you about what I see with respect to you and Zeke. Speaking as a trainer, a team captain, a flyball competitor and as a pet owner, I will do my very best to clearly explain to you the situation as I see it.
I personnally don't feel Zeke is "aggressive" (and I believe that the majority of our experienced dog people would agree with me here)...if we felt Zeke was aggressive he would not still be training with us. I do strongly believe that Zeke is extremely rude. His behavior towards other dogs is highly unacceptable....he repeatedly 'tracks' dogs on the mats, many times targeting one specific dog, and proceeds to approach this target straight on (most times running), makes very direct eye contact, and often times he makes body contact, all the while his posture is very upright, ears forward. This could certainly be perceived as aggressive behavior by the dog being violated. And to make matters worse, Zeke doesn't respond properly to the reaction he gets from most of the 'targetted' dogs (a growl or bark from the targeted dog seems to interest him more).
You consistently dismiss Zeke's behavior as "really playfull", however, I have yet to see any dog that Zeke has approached like this look like he/she wants to start playing. Play begins most times between dogs (especially those that don't know each other) by a side-on, sometimes cautious approach by both dogs (feeling out each other so to speak), most times eye contact is very indirect....perhaps the dogs are 'looking' at the other dog's side, then some sniffing, tail wagging and probably a play bow or two and finally fun should they both agree. As you can plainly see this is not how Zeke is approaching dogs at flyball.
In the world of flyball....personal space for each dog on the mats is not to be violated. Crossing (whatever the intention), especially if contact is made, is grounds for a write-up and dismissal from the tourney. If a dog is written up by a judge several times, he/she is exused from racing with NAFA period. If Zeke were to cross (like he has repeatedly at practice) in a tourney setting he would be written up and excused from racing for the duration of the tourney.
Zeke is not the only dog that has crossed at our practices. Many green dogs go through this learning process. Most times what gets a dog into trouble with crossing is a high prey/chase drive....really a 'knee-jerk' reaction by the dog to a fast moving object. This is a well established instinct in dogs (and what I am currently dealing with with my BC). However, just because a dog is born with an intinct to 'chase' down fast moving objects, doesn't mean he/she can't (shouldn't) be trained as to what is acceptable to chase and what is not. That is where we come in, as owners/trainers.
And quite frankly, that is where Zeke is having problems. I get the distinct impression that you expect some of our club members to train Zeke. You often make mention that you are not a trainer. But you own a dog(s). That automatically makes you a trainer. How did Zeke learn to go 'potty' outside? Or sit, settle in the car on drives, pose for a beautiful picture, etc.? I could go on but hopefully you get the idea. You have trained Zeke to fit into your life. You may not have worked with as many dogs as some of us have , however, you know Zeke the best. I firmly believe we, as owners, always know our dogs best. And as long as you, as his owner/trainer, do not acknowledge that Zeke has a behavior problem (that he is being socially rude to other dogs....not being playful), he will not get the training to help him overcome it.
Because you don't acknowledge how 'rude' and inappropriate Zeke's behavior is (at flyball)....you do not act quickly and purposefully when Zeke crosses on another dog at practice and that is very frustrating for the owner of the other dog involved. I'll give you an example....Eileen is having a similar problem with Pawn. Pawn is crossing sometimes...targeting a dog for an unknown reason to us. As soon as Pawn acts like she will cross (or crosses), Eileen immediately reacts and Pawn is put away (on time-out so to speak). Eileen fully recognizes that Pawn's behavior puts Pawn and any other dogs on the floor at risk, she reacts quickly and so everyone on the floor feels more at ease.
When I read your email below, I immediately thought of an article I had read a few years ago. I found it this morning...it is called "He just wants to say "Hi"!" and I urge you to take a few moments to read it thoroughly.
http://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html Although it focuses more on how to socialize dogs to be more tolerable of rude dogs...I think that reading it could bring home some of the comments I have made.
This email has become way to long-winded...but I wanted to be as clear and detailed as possible. I hope I have not offended you in any way, and I hope you get something out of reading this. As far as Zeke's participation in flyball, I have mixed feelings. I like Zeke and certainly want the best for him...he should be given the opportunity to have a job/past-time that both you and he enjoys. But I wonder if maybe there isn't something out there that might suit you and Zeke better than flyball. Something that is more one-on-one like agility or disc dog (frisbee).
I welcome any any comments/questions you might have after reading this,
