TDAA on Facebook!

I’m pleased to announce that the Teacup Dogs Agility Association now owns a Facebook page! This is a project that has been under development for some time. The purpose of the Facebook page is to provide fans of the TDAA with a sociable community forum (network) to post brags, pictures and news of special interest.

TDAA’s Facebook page will not replace our Yahoo groups, you needn’t be a TDAA member to join, and no one will be connected without setting up a personal Facebook account and requesting to join us on Facebook.

TDAA’s Facebook page is intended to replace the Newsletter for sharing information of broad interest. We’ll have no size limitations; no extreme labor requirements; no printed matter; no postage; and no more submission deadlines.

If you want to celebrate and share your dog’s most recent and magnificent accomplishment (a TACh for example) or stellar video, just post picture or link to video and brag on Facebook.

If you want to remind exhibitors about an upcoming event, or if you want to share group pics from your trials, just post on TDAA’s Facebook page!

To become a fan of TDAA on Facebook follow this link: http://facebook.com/TeacupDogsAgility

I look forward to seeing your contributions to our Facebook community forum!

Regards,

Bud Houston

 

Announcing High in Trial Prize for 2011 Petit Prix

The 2011 HIT prize will be a 64 GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi

For the first time in the history of the TDAA a High In Trial (HIT) prize shall be awarded to the top scoring dog at the Petit Prix.

The HIT calculation will be based upon placement within the field scoring; points are accorded to the dog against the over-all field for the purpose of seeding into the Semi-Final rounds and the Championship round. These points will be used establish which dog scored highest against the field.

The background scoring shall use a 40-point table to ensure that top performing dogs are equitably recognized. The placement-within-the-field ranking shall be used for tie-breaking determination throughout the tournament.

There will be only one High In Trial dog. When comparing jump heights an appropriate handicap will be accorded to the lower jump heights. Dogs running with a jump height exemption shall be scored against dogs of the measured height and not the exemption height.

The 2011 HIT prize will be a 64 GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi

Petit Prix 2012 and Beyond

Beginning in 2012 we will conduct the TDAA Petit Prix at three geographically separate sites. For planning purposes the United States is separated into three distinct regions: West, Central, and East. In alternate years we will look for sites located:

• 2012 ~ North-east; South-central and; North west
• 2013 ~ South-east; North-central and; Southwest

This schedule will position the Petit Prix within reasonable traveling distance for fans of the TDAA if not every year, at least every other year.

The Competition Model

Each Petit Prix Regional event will determine regional champions. National championships, at each jump height, will be conferred based on background points earned through the regional competitions.

This is a dramatically different approach to determine national champions. It is possible that the overall champion of a height division at the regional Petit Prix might not win the national championship. For example, a dog might place fourth in the final round at the regional Petit Prix; however, because that dog has the greatest accumulation of background points in that competition ~ should he also have the highest accumulation of points compared to dogs in any other regional Petit Prix, then that dog would win the Championship.

The three regional Petit Prix events will be held on separate weekends.

The Business Model

In 2011 the TDAA established a new business model for the Petit Prix. The host club owns the competition, and therefore earns all of the profits from the event. Consequently the host club also bears the expense for the event.

The TDAA will be mostly unobtrusive in the conduct of the Petit Prix from an organizational point-of-view. We will have some very basic requirements as to site selection, schedule of events, and placement awards.

Solicitation

We are seeking host clubs for the three 2012 Petit Prix regional events. To reiterate the regional schedule: In the East we are looking for a host club in the north; In the central states we are looking for a host club in the south; In the West we are looking for a host club in the north.

Contact the TDAA (MarshaHouston@hughes.net) if your club wants to host the TDAA Petit Prix in your region.

Discussion

Some will argue that the Petit Prix will lose the feeling of a “national” event. The model for the TDAA Petit Prix has historically been as for other agility organizations in which we reserve a single date and propose a single site to attract the best competitors among us for a competition that distinguishes our national champions.

Unfortunately the single site-model does not draw competitors evenly from across the country. Entry to the Petit Prix has been no more than 20% traveling any substantial distance, and the other 80% being comprised more from local competitors. The difficulty, without question, is the economy. It is terribly expensive to travel.

In order to make the Petit Prix accessible and less expensive to attend we intend to move to a dramatically different national championship format.

Divesting Assets

The TDAA effective January 1, 2011 is (was) no longer a 501c(7) not-for-profit organization. We operate under Topdog Agility Players, an Ohio-based LLC.

We have some unfinished business. Approximately $90,000 in assets must be divested to other not-for-profit entities. We would like to find out from our membership to what charitable organizations you would like to see this money donated.

The TDAA will make some donations at the behest of former members of the Board. We will make charitable contributions in the names of these people who’ve given countless hours of work to make the TDAA a viable concern. We urge former Board members to contact us with your dates of service. Charitable contributions will be made in your names based on length of service to the TDAA and to the charitable organization of your choice.

The TDAA also has certain physical assets which will be donated to charitable organizations within reasonable driving/shipping distance from our home office in Waterford, Ohio.

For our members, please send your suggestions for charitable contribution directly to: MarshaHouston@hughes.net. We will not review public discussion lists to make our decisions.

When we have a specific plan for divesting assets we will publish that plan to our membership.