Race rules

Hello all,
This question is for someone on the commitee,Can anyone tell the members why after so many years of racing we now have to have a 12month old dog to have it run in open classes.When for many year it has only had to be 9months old what has happened to need a change of rules?I as well as many on the commitee I'm sure have run 9month olds in their open class,can we as members have a reason please.By the way I still think you(commitee)are doing a good job ,had a look through the new version of the different policies.
Wayne

Hi Wayne,

The National Council has been busy addressing and reviewing many of the policies recently [including the ASSA race rules] and among them the age of competing dogs, and has altered this race clause based on several considerations;

- The Association wishes to more closely align with the arrangements and rulings of the sport internationally through the IFSS, and where appropriate consideration of the rules is not greatly affected by our geographic requirements [eg:temperature rulings], form a parrallel with the sport across all regions in the Sthn and Nthn hemisphere. Essentially that we are operating on the same page as the rest of the world.

- The physiological changes in the canine during this period are significant. In the majority of cases the dog is considered to be structurally and skeletally fully developed by 12 months of age, but not always at 9 months of age. This may put undue strain on a dog that could impact on its longer term racing abilities.

- The psychological stresses a dog faces in this sport can be immense, and allowing a 9 month old dog to compete in novice and touring type classes provides for the opportunity to ease a developing dog into the rigours of the sport in a category that will give it the experience of racing, whilst not placing it in a position where it feels uncomfortable in an open class in a fully competitive environment with other race hardened team dogs.

- By providing for these opportunities for a dogs full development and potential, the Association feels it is honouring its commitment to those sections of the ASSA Code of Ethics and the ASSA Aims and Objectives, which includes the best health and welfare of the dog, and presenting the sport in a responsible manner to the wider community.

Of course there will always be debate on such topics amongst the fraternity, and those who disagree with such decisions, but the Association is trying to bring about thoughtful, careful change in the sport, that reflect the dogs and the sports best interests and to help educate and give guidance to those entering the sport. Naturally there will be a number of teams who integrate their younger dogs into the larger team in the training environment sooner rather than later, but that is based on their own level of experience and understanding of their dogs capabilities. I hope this answers your question ok. Good to see members reading the policies. Regards to the Schusski team.

Rob

If the stress on a 9month old is so great that it can only run in novice on its own then can someone with medical experience show me some info on the stress levels produced running in the two different class's .I would have thought that running a dog in a larger team would be less stressful?
I just think that a little consoltation with th members on this change would have been a good thing ,did the commitee ask any mushers their thoughts on this especially those who where planning to run their 10month old on open class's, now under this rule at ASSA sanctioned races they will have to run in novice?
If this decision was to bring us in line with international rules then to save any confusion with which rules we are using why dont we just run under IFFS rules?
Was this change pusded by IFFS?
Wayne (not team schusski I'am speaking as a single member)

Any chance of an answer pls?

Wayne

I just spent the last hour drafting a response to you - hit send and it went sailing off to hell knows where but not where i wanted it. So now you get the short version.

Thanks for your interest in the race rules and Rob thank you for responding earlier. Your response was a good one.

- Medical evidence will be bloody hard to get but I will try through various sources
- Dogs may not be stressed by team situations but they may be by longer distance on dirt and by over exuberant mushers.
- Consultation is always welcomed and our meetings are always open to the wider community
- Voting was done by the mushers who are the elected representatives of all states
- I'm sorry i cant keep everyone happy all the time but this decision was made with the best interst of the dogs at heart.
- We converged the old rules - medium breeds can run at 9 months large breeds can run at 12 months(how do we differentiate now)
- ASSA deemed that not all IFSS rules are appropriate for Australian conditions and IFSS are advisory for us
- IFSS did not make demands for us to change any rules they merely suggest guidelines for our use.

Sorry this wasn't fluffy but i'm sure you don't need it.

Please call me to discuss if you like.

Andrew
President - ASSA

Hi Andrew,
I understand the commitee is there to make decisions for the members,I just thought that seeing how a lot of mushers run young dogs in their teams that once the comitee made the changes to the rules ,the general members would have been told to check any updates on rules ,the only reason I picked this up is I regularly have a look at the rules .Anyhow like I said before I'm not having a shot at the commitee.
Wayne

Hi mate all good,

BTW Kathy posted a piece under Memberships 2011 about the rule changes, have a squizz when you get a chance.

See you and the girls soon

Gershy

Hi Andrew/Wayne,

I did address my original reply to you Wayne as you will see at the top of my previous post. I hope Andrew clarified the items I left out, as I too had a problem with my full reply dissappearing into the ether and had to hastily script another reply which probably left out some info. This is not the first time this has occurred to me [I wrote a lengthy and time consuming reply to the anti-doping rules last year which also vanished] so do we have a problem with responses floating away or is there a character limit on the replies being sent? Perhaps the forum moderator can check and advise...?

Regards
Rob

I think it's just a hazzard of the medium we are using.
If writing a long response, i do recommend copying before hitting send (and even pasting it into another program to ensure you don't lose it).

And of course - we only lose the long, well thought out, never to be repeated quite as well responses!

Hi Wayne, Andrew & Rob,

Interesting topic this one. One thing we all agree on is the health and well being of the dogs (if anyone diasgrees with that point, well quite frankly they chouldnt have any involvement).

Now to my point. A couple of years back I was conversing with an Aussie vet based in the US who was doing some veterinary research on the physiological effects of long distance endurance racing on dogs, and the energy stores upon which they call. When I last conversed with her, at the beginning of last year, she and her team were about to release their report. She had been working very closely with the mushers and race vets at the Iditarod over numerous years collecting her data. I will see if I can get back in contact, and if available, post any results that may have come to light. Unfortunately my "interest" in this waned somewhat last year with Mels pregnancy and health issues (all resolved) that reared their ugly head at the time. So, I'll see what I can find. It may (or may not) answer some of those more technical questions you ask Wayne.

Regards to all.

Justin Celentane
Snowpaw Alaskan Malamutes
St Andrews Vic 3761