DIAVIK 150 Canadian Championship Dog Derby

OFFICIAL RULES

Please be advised that these rules may be updated prior to the race and will be distributed at race registration. Official Timekeeper, Race Judges and Race Marshall will be announced in the week leading up to Championship weekend.

SECTION 1 - ENTRY RULES
A. Eligibility
1. Contestants shall register in prescribed form prior to the start of the race.
2. The Canadian Championship Dog Derby Association may reject any entry for reasons related to past conduct.
3. Any person previously convicted of animal abuse or neglect shall not be eligible to participate in the race.
4. Dogs and driver registered at the time of departure on the first day are the only dogs and driver that may be used during the race.
5. Any driver, team, or dog that is disqualified during any heat of a race is not eligible to compete in the remainder of the race.
6. All dogs must be vaccinated against rabies, hepatitis, distemper, parvovirus, coronavirus, parainfluenza and bordatella. No dog shall be brought from a kennel where these or any other contagious diseases exist. Proof of vaccinations at least three weeks prior to the race must be submitted at the time of registration.
7. Any team or dog coming to the starting line which, in the opinion of the race veterinarians, is unfit or incapable of safely completing the trail shall be disqualified. Any dog becoming unfit after departure must be carried on the sled.
8. Dogs will be marked for identification by race officials prior to the start of the race using microchip technology. No dog is eligible to participate in the race until it has been so marked.
9. Prior to the start of the race, drivers will be provided with race bibs with numbers which must be displayed on the driver's person throughout the race. Bibs must be returned by the mushers to the Canadian Championship Dog Derby Association at the finish of the race or be issued a fine of $25.00 per bib not returned.
10. On the first day of the race a team shall consist of not less than five (5) dogs and not more than ten (10) dogs on the tow line. On succeeding days, no team may start with less than four (4) dogs or more than ten (10) dogs. No dogs are allowed in the basket at the start of a heat. The Chief Judge may reduce the size of a team if he feels it to be larger than the driver can handle properly, or to accommodate trail conditions.
11. Dogs harnessed on the tow line as per rule 10 above shall be chosen from a pool consisting of a maximum of twelve (12) dogs registered for participation in the race. Substitutions from the pool are permitted between heats, but no dog may be added to a team once a heat has started.

B. Medications
1. No dog participating in the Canadian Championship Dog Derby shall carr y in its body any substance foreign to the dog or any substance in a quantity unnaturally high, except as hereinafterprovided.
2. All dogs participating in the Canadian Championship Dog Derby shall be subject to collection of urine and/or blood samples for testing. Failure to provide such a sample upon request will result in disqualification of the team and driver.
3. A finding by the laboratory designated by the Canadian Championship Dog Derby Association, or its official veterinarians representing Great Slave Animal Hospital, that a foreign or unnaturally high level of a substance is present in the test sample shall be prima facie evidence that such substance was administered and carried in the body of the dog while participating in the race. Such a finding shall also be taken as prima facie evidence that the driver and his agents responsible for the care and/or custody of the dog(s) has/have been negligent in the handling or care of the dog(s).
4. The following substances may be administered for therapeutic purposes: antibiotics (except procaine penicillin), anti-diarrhoeal agents (except those combination drugs containing anti- inflammatory agents), parasiticides, non-steroidal topical ointments. The therapeutic use of any medication within 72 hours prior to the start of the race must be declared by the driver/owner.
5. The Chief Judge of the Canadian Championship Dog Derby reserves the right to require a post-mortem examination, and to conduct such other investigative procedures as are deemed necessary, if a dog dies while participating in the Canadian Championship Dog Derby. In such a case, samples will be taken and sent to the designated laboratory for testing.
6. Fifty percent of all applicable prize money shall be withheld by the Canadian Championship Dog Derby Association pending receipt of drug testing results. The fact that purse money has been distributed prior to the issuance of a laboratory report shall not be deemed a finding that no foreign substance has been administered, in violation of these rules, to the dog or dogs of the team driven by the person earning such prize money.
7. A finding by the designated laboratory of a foreign or unnatural level of a substance in a dog or dogs from a particular team will result in disqualification from the race and forfeiture of prize money won. The driver will be prohibited from entering subsequent Canadian Championship Dog Derby competitions until all forfeited prize money is r eturned, and in any event will be prohibited from entering the race for a minimum period of two years from the date of notification of testing results.

C. Equipment
1. All equipment is subject to the approval of race officials. Mandatory gear may include promotional materials provided by the Canadian Championship Dog Derby Association. Promotional materials MUST be carried by all mushers during all three heats and returned to the Canadian Championship Dog Derby Association after the race.
2. Drivers, teams and equipment shall be available for inspection at the starting line, by the judges, thirty minutes before the designated time of departure each day and ten minutes after the finish at the request of the judges.
3. Drivers, teams and equipment arriving late may be held from starting, at the judges' discretion, pending inspection and, if necessary, marking.
4. All sleds must be capable of carrying a driver and a minimum of 2 injured dogs. In addition, there must be an adequate braking system, brush bow, and a snow hook or snub-line no longer than the length of the runners. Also, sleds must be equipped so that incapacitated dogs are covered and their feet cannot protrude from the bottom of the basket.
5. All dogs must be properly harnessed in the team with neck lines, with the exception of the lead dog (or dogs) which must be harnessed in the team but may run with or without neck lines. No muzzles or chain collars, or collars hooked as full choke collars, are to be used.
6. Rule (5) insofar as neck lines apply, does not apply to a dog (or dogs) harnessed in the single tandem mode.
7. A snub-line shall only be used for hitching purposes or to secure a dog team in the event of an emergency. The use of a snub-line for any other purpose, particularly as a whip or in any manner which in the opinion of the judges constitutes abuse of a dog, is prohibited.
8. Whips, sticks, spare harnesses, jinglers or other noisemakers, or anything which, in the opinion of the judges, may be used to abu se a dog, are prohibited.

SECTION II - START AND FINISH RULES

A. Starting Position
1. The starting positions (chutes) for the first and subsequent heats of the race shall be as determined by random draw prior to the start of the race.
2. The owner, driver or designated proxy of each team shall draw his or her own starting position. In their absence, the starting position shall be drawn by the Chief Judge or his/her designee.
3. The order of the draw shall not be changed, either by addition or substitution, except as authorized by the Chief Judge. Late entries shall be added in order of receipt.

B. Starting the Race
1. All heats of the Canadian Championship Dog Derby will be started by the MASS START procedure.
2. Teams and drivers shall present themselves at the starting line designated by race officials and shall not depart from the starting li ne until the official signal to start a heat has been given.
3. In the event of a team starting before the starting signal, that team should stop and allow all other teams to pass it before proceeding. Failure to do so will result in the assessment of a time penalty of not less than five (5) minutes.
4. Trail times for all teams shall begin as of the official signal for the start of the race.

C. Assistance in Starting Chutes
1. Handlers are permitted to assist in a start. Outside assistance will be allowed only when teams are unmanageable to the end of the chutes. Assistance may consist of stopping the team and, when this is done, the help must be restricted to holding the sled except when race officials have been designated to provide assistance.
Outside assistance will be allowed in situations where a team is fighting, a team is attacked by other dogs, or a driver is attacked, but only to the extent of untangling a team or protecting a driver.

D. Finish
1. The finish point of the race shall be as determined by race officials.
2. The driver and all dogs must finish the heat either in the team or on the sled.
3. A team shall have finished the heat when the first dog on the team crosses the finish line.

E. Equal Times
1. Teams with equal times for a daily heat or for the entire race shall share the higher finishing position.
2. The purse for the tied place and the next lower place(s) shall be combined and divided equally among those teams tied for that place.

SECTION III - TRAIL RULES

A. Following the Trail
1. The course will be laid out with suitable markers and groomed to a standard set by the judges. The team and driver must run the entire course as marked.
2. In the event a team leaves the trail, the driver shall return the team to the point at which it left the trail unless otherwise directed by a race official.

B. Driving a Team
1. A driver may ride, pedal or run as and when he wishes.
2. A driver shall not interfere with a competing team.
3. All dogs starting a heat must complete the entire course, either hitched in the team or carried on the sled. A dog becoming incapacitated in one heat need not be carried in the sled during ensuing heats.
4. Dogs' feet may be protected with moccasins or boots.
5. No sled shall carry a passenger or passengers except as provided for in the following section.

C. Assistance on the Trail
1. Rule III-B-5 notwithstanding, a driver may, without penalty, aid a registered dog team driver who has been injured or is otherwise distressed by carrying him on his sled.
2. Any driver, whether or not he is injured or otherwise distressed, who accepts aid or is aided as provided in the preceding rule may be disqualified from further participation in the race.
3. A d river disqualified under Rule III-C-2 above may receive any prizes won prior to his disqualification.
4. Dog drivers, owners or any other persons are forbidden from assisting a team by pacing or by clearing or levelling the trail during a heat unless expressly authorized by a race official.
5. Outside assistance may be used to hold a sled or to help untangle a team if it appears that a dog may suffer if the driver doesn't have help.

D. Loose Teams and Dogs
1. If a dog is loose, the team may stop at the next check-point where the driver may have a race official hold his sled while catching the loose dog. The race official may not assist in the catching of the dog.
2. In the event a team escapes from its driver, such team will be disqualified if another team is delayed or interfered with by the loose team. When there is no such interference by the loose team and the team continues the course, the team will not be disqualified if the driver can overtake his team on foot so that both team and driver cover the entire course without unauthorized outside assistance.
3. Authorized outside assistance is limited to stopping and holding a loose team.

E. Passing and Right of Way
1. Free passing is permitted only during the first 3.4 miles and final one mile of each daily heat. Otherwise, drivers must make way for a passing team by yielding to a demand from an overtaking driver for the right of way. Failure to make way for a passing team shall constitute grounds for disqualification from further participation in the race.
2. When passing in opposite directions on a single trail, the incoming team shall have the right of way. In the event of a driver disqualification, the racing team has the right of way over a team that is using the trail to return to the dog holding area.
3. In the event of a tangle between teams during passing, the overtaking team will have the right-of-way once the teams are untangled. In the event that an overtaking team becomes in ternally tangled, the overtaken team will not be required to stay behind the tangled team.

SECTION IV - CONDUCT
A. Responsibility and Sportsmanship
1. All drivers are responsible for the conduct of their dogs, their handlers and themselves either in the start or finish areas or on the trail.
2. Unsportsmanlike conduct in the start/finish areas and on the trail will be subject to review and possible disciplinary action by the Chief Judge. After being reviewed by a Judges Board, the driver could be fined, disqualified, or otherwise penalized depending on the degree of seriousness of the infraction.

B. Abuse of Dogs
1. Abuse of the dogs in any manner is prohibited, and any violation of this rule shall be grounds for disqualification. (See also Rules I-C-7 and 8.)

SECTION V - RULES VIOLATIONS

A. Reports by Race Officials
1. Race officials shall repo rt overt rule violations to the Chief Judge verbally, in person or by radio, immediately or directly following the heat in which the violation occurred.
2. The Chief Judge shall act, at his discretion, on any overt violations witnessed and reported by race officials.

B. Reports by Race Contestants
1. Any contestant wishing to protest any violation of the rules must do so immediately following the heat during which the violation occurred. This protest may be verbal, but must be followed by a written statement to the judges within one hour after the finish of the heat.

C. Protests and Hearings
1. Any driver implicated in a report of an alleged violation of the rules may request a hearing with the Chief Judge.
2. A request for such a hearing shall be granted.

D. Disciplinary Action
1. For any infraction of the rules, the judges may impose a warning, penalty, or disqualification from the remainder of the race.

SECTION VI - GENERAL
1. Rules and regulations are subject to change at the discretion of the judges. Starting time, point of completion and the number of laps to be run may be altered by the judges in the interest of safety.
2. The decisions of the judges are final.

SECTION VII - AMENDMENTS
JUDGES RULING # 2000-01
A. The Request: A request was made to the Chief Judge to make a ruling on the possibility of the use of ski poles by mushers in the Dog Derby.

B. Authority to make a decision:
(1) The Board of Directors has charged the Chief Judge to recommend changes to the Rules as needed.
(2) Under Rule VI-1 the Judges have the authority to change the rules in the interests of safety.

C. The Decision:

(1) At the present time Rules I-C-8 and III-B-2 are interpreted by the Judges to prohibit the use of ski poles as the risk of abuse of a dog or interference with another driver isconsidered too great in light of the fact that 50 miles of trail is too much for the Judges to have what is considered necessary to ensure safe use of such tools, that being visual contact with every team availing themselves of the use of poles.
(2) Any driver wishing the Chief Judge to re-consider this decision in advance of the 2000 Canadian Championship Dog Derby are to make a request in writing no later than June 1, 2001, such request to include all contact names and addresses of races presently allowing the use of ski poles so as to allow the Judges to make contact with those other races to ascertain the impact of the use of poles and to obtain and review copies of the rules covering such use.