Box turns

[Caro]

This is interesting - its a compilation video of box turns from the fastest flyball team in the world in slow motion. Looking at the way they are turning though, and how they hit the box, it looks a bit too physical. Most twist their necks to catch the ball and although they are doing a swimmers turn they still slam their front legs into the box.

Wonder what sort of sporting longevity these dogs have and how often they get injuries. When I went to the animal physio last she was saying flyball dogs tend to have longer sporting careers than agility dogs because there isnt as much unnatural twisting involved (we have a lot of dogs competing over 10yrs old), but I'm not sure turning at this speed is natural.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQs3XgwZ6ic

 

[Strider]

There's a couple dogs on our team that are 10+ years old. I think you are looking at the extreme end of the spectrum here. It's pretty amazing to watch them. Some of them are doing partial turns. THe one that planted his face into the box was hilariuos!

as a box loader, I'm amazed at the amount of force these dogs are hitting the box with. I'm a big guy, almost 300lbs, and these dogs weighing less than 50lbs are hitting hard enough to move the box..