I also own three small aussies. (North American Shephersd/ Miniature Australian Shepherds).
I agree, it could be the box. It could be that she has such a GREAT swimmer’s turn that evenly distributes her total body weight among all four of her feet while in contact with the triggering mechanism that there is not enough “pressure” to trigger it.

What to do?

You may have to make the trigger more “sensitive”. I don’t know what kind of box you have but, nearly all of them can be adjusted. It may involve changing a few parts such as the spring strength or a smaller cocking mechanism. Flyball boxes are notorious for each of their “unique” designs and it’s hard to find any uniformity among them. BUT, the parts can usually be found at a hardware store.

Are you a “tinkerer” or know somebody who does? Do you know who designed and built your flyball box? Box makers are usually very helpful when it comes to changing designs to accomodate a specific triggering problem.

How far does the pedal have to travel before it triggers the releasing mechanism? We have a “loaded” pedal and so it only needs to travel about 1/4 of an inch before the firing mechanism fires.
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Look at the holes as well. Some teams like deep holes. My team likes a smaller hole with at least two thirds of the ball sticking out. That “design” may give your boxloader some headaches but, the dogs love it because the hammer only needs a very light “tap” to catapault the ball out of the hole. Easy on the dog who may have a light touch.

These are just a few ideas. Start asking questions at tournaments and you’ll learn a lot and maybe get someone to start tinkering with your box if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself.

I’m for animal welfare. I want animals to be treated humanely. However, I’m opposed to animal rights as they seek to prohibit the use of all animals by humans. No more bacon, steak, companion dogs, police dogs, seeing eye dogs, hunting dogs, horses, etc.

Animal rights groups are considered animal terrorists in some guises. Such as ALF. ALF is the disguise that animal rights people use to hide their true affiliation with a more main stream groups according to some sources. They are listed as domestic terrorists by the FBI.

Mandatory Spay Neuter laws and restrictive breeding bills are not dissimilar to Breed Specific Legislation. They are based on emotion and misinformation rather than facts. They abridge our rights of animal ownership and unfairly victimize the majority that are innocent under the guise of fixing a problem.

Freedom belongs to those that have the guts to fight for it.

Exactly my point.

By saying breeders are solely responsible for all pet over population is pointing a finger at responsible breeders as well as the fellow down the road that lets his bitch in heat run free and get bred by every stray dog in the county. True he’s a breeder by default but he has nothing to do with me or with most show breeders. If his dog is running loose why aren’t the leash laws being enforced? Most areas have leash laws.

Pure bred animals typically have safety nets through breed specific rescue groups. They are often adopted more quickly. Just look at the dogs out of the puppy mill in NC where animal control is being overwhelmed with calls to adopt them. USDA currently monitors commercial dog breeders. If they were doing their job would there be bad puppy mills? There are laws why aren’t they being enforced? If current laws aren’t enforced what is the purpose of new laws?

In 30 years I’ve never had a dog get loose and run the road. I’ve never failed to take back a dog that needed to come back. Any dog I bred has the right to come home during its lifetime.

Before there were animal shelters in this area I would take side-of-the-road dogs home and rehabilitate them and re-home them out of my own pocket. I currently do breed specific re-homing. I helped organize and continue to run a dog club providing outlets for others to play with their dogs which helps prevent failure of the dog in the home. I provide a hot line to help others figure out how to manage dogs getting out of control.

Many serious breeders raise money and pay for research to develop genetic markers for genetic disease. My own club funded ataxia research and a marker has been developed recently for this disorder. AKC funds much research. Driving a stake through the hearts of breeders will lose much of value that can’t be readily replaced. They are the best source of good quality animals.

I used to raise money for rescue groups but NO MORE. My reward for that effort is that many rescue groups are turning on breeders and regurgitating all the crap from HSUS, Best Friends, SPCA etc. Welfare groups have been hijacked by animal prohibitionists. The chant is mandatory spay neuter and regulations on all breeders. All you have to do is go to their web sites. Surf around a bit and read their philosophy. Best Friends has a piece on their web site about Speciesism. Meaning that all animals have equal value - a dog = fish = chicken = man = animal rights or rather animal prohibition.

You can’t legislate responsibility. If you could no one would ever steal, or use drugs, or murder, or beat their wives. The only people affected by new draconian laws will be the responsible law abiding people. Me. I will be affected.

I read contracts for a living. Laws are written with an intent just like contracts. But I know that sometimes what you meant - exactly - is not what you said - exactly - in terms of affect. That’s why they have amendments. If you hamstring breeders for a few years their animals lose their fertility as they fight for their rights. We have enough laws to do the job. Why aren’t they being enforced?

Mandatory Spay Neuter will eliminate dogs. Period. Already dogs in some Northern states are so reduced in numbers that they have to import them from shelters in the South (and make money doing it) to meet the demand. It would make dogs so expensive that poor people wouldn’t be able to have them. Dogs transported to other states currently sell for a minimum of $300.00 - mostly mixes.

All dogs were originally bred for a function. The Border Collie was bred to be a herding dog. By breeding for a function that desire is hard wired. With mandatory spay neuter there will never be another breed developed because those dogs would be forcibly altered. Carolina Dogs & Catahoula Leopard dogs would never have been developed in recent times. Squirrel dog fiests, lurchers etc would become illegal to own.

Scientists are still finding new uses for talented dogs as alerts for low blood sugar in their owners, or onset of seizures. Mandatory spay neuter eliminates all dogs from the gene pools except those that meet some arbitrary changeable registration rules. It in effect clear cuts the rain forest.

Under msn and proposed anti breeder laws, owners must relinquish the right to privacy and allow a representative of government (HSUS has volunteered to do this for free FYI) show up unannounced and go through anything they like in the home, personal papers, or in the kennel. They can decide they don’t like something and take all the animals. The costs of keeping an animal intact are excessive and subject to increase. Many would cease having dogs to continue to enjoy their constitutional rights against illegal search and seizure. Because someone somewhere let their dog run loose I should give up my right against illegal search and seizure and pay extortionist fees?

Two things are happening here: One HSUS and their ilk have gotten on board the money train. Look at the salaries they are paying their people. They give out jobs to politicians and others (incentives) and let them lead the good life. It is a business. The animal prohibitionists collect millions on disasters, sad doggie faces and hype. Often it is spin pure and simple. It serves the purpose of keeping baby in shoes and pushing an agenda of radical animal prohibitionists. It no longer is about welfare, it’s about money and a radical agenda. They feel burning down a building, threatening others, destroying others furs or way of life, even killing their animals is acceptable behavior. We’re not talking about responsible people capable of empathy or even following the law. They really don’t care about the animals or about other humans. They care about themselves and controlling others.

The desire to control the actions of another is a symptom of dysfunction. It is typical among adult children of dysfunctional families. We can’t control anything in this world but we can control our animals. Many people that gravitate to animals have this issue. This gives the illusion of control and makes the person feel safer. It is a coping mechanism that is no longer useful.

Control of self is the only control any of us really have. It is impossible to control other people, places, or things. That way leads to madness.

Freedom is more than having the right to keep your dogs in crates and go to flyball tournaments if you like. Freedom is also about letting others have rights as well. When we diminish the rights of another it can rebound on ourselves.

Animal Prohibitionists can have control of my dogs, my home, my family when they get control of my gun by prizing it out of my cold dead hand. I am committed, I and millions across this nation with me, against allowing our animals (dogs, horses, cows etc) to be abolished by agendas not fully understood by the masses.

As a person who has volunteered at shelters and a person who has acquired their animals from shelters, more like 50% appear purebred. Of course, since they are being dumped, they don’t come with papers, which badly skews the statistics. Honestly, though, even when breeders dump their dogs directly, they are often marked as “mixes.”

Dogs don’t spontaniously materialize. Every dog at that shelter was bred by someone. To say they come from irresponsible owners not breeders is irrational. They were produced by irresponsible breeders who sold them to irresponsible owners. We need to find a way to get those various irresponsible parties to act in a responsible manner. If you have an idea on how to accomplish that, speak up! But don’t try to squash all the responsible dog breeders and flyballers the same box with the people who are creating and perpetuating this dog overpopulation problem. You will end up succeeding and creating the situation you describe.

Animal rights activists - who I now call Animal prohibitionists - have been very clever. They have created words like, “Puppy Mill”, “Backyard Breeder” etc. These are words designed to divide and conquer.- They are designed to change our culture. Animal Prohibitionists are not burdened with ethics or the need to be logical or truthful, therefore they produce sad pictures and spin which is designed to grab the heat strings of caring individuals who send them money and become their foot soldiers. The few at the top - the puppet masters - don’t care about animals or humans. They care about money and power. They are cult leaders handing out kool-ade. They feel that no one should be allowed to have any animal at all from any source so they are using legislation to remove the sources one by one. They feel you shouldn’t use your animals for flyball or seeing eye dogs or police dogs, or any other use.

“We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding. One generation and out. We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding.” Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP of Humane Society of the US.

Go here and read some of their quotes: http://www.mydogmychoice.com/animalrights.html

90% of dogs at shelters are not pure bred dogs. Shelter dogs are the product of irresponsible owners. We have laws against cruelty. We have leash laws, vaccination laws, etc. If those laws are not being properly enforced then why would new laws be enforced?

The only people affected by new laws will be the responsible owner. The irresponsible will always be irresponsible. However, the laws are not about the irresponsible. They are designed to destroy the all breeders with onerous laws that will eliminate selective breeding of dogs “One generation and out”. Large producers can afford to absorb the cost - small hobby breeders can not.

Not all large breeders are bad breeders. I’ve seen pictures of places with good facilities - state of the art. They hire individuals to come and socialize the pups. They have a resident staff vet. They have clean cages, full time help to clean the animals. Saying that all breeders should be eliminated is like saying that some people are unkind to their dogs therefore no one should be allowed to have a dog. It is a slippery slope when you abridge the rights of others as often your own rights are diminished. Divide and conquer. Today they come for them tomorrow they come for you.

Did you realize that HSUS has asked Obama for police powers and a new department of animal welfare on his cabinet? Did you realize that people are being victimized all over the US and their animals illegally seized by animal prohibitionists in the guise of animal control or animal welfare agents? 20/20 did a segment on some of those individuals. I’ve been reading about many others so victimized. Think I’m exaggerating? Watch it yourself:

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyjfHjxGxm0

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWP_wXfkO78&feature=related