Lexi plays at flyball

More video :)

Thanks again for the suggestions everyone. Lexi seems to be doing well. We still haven't worked on her actually triggering the box (though she didn't seem to worry at the noise AT ALL tonight), and her turn still isn't really a turn, but she's getting better :biggrin2: She's consistently hitting the box whereas before she was less enthused.

First we just did some restrained recalls in the lane next to the 3 dogs who were actually going to the box and getting the ball. I thought Lexi would be worried, but she could have cared less. So I started sending her to get the ball. She was a little concerned at first, especially when one dog came over into her lane, but she got over it quickly.

Lastly, we added her into the end of the "rotation" (after the 3 other dogs), though we didn't do any passes, and didn't make her trigger the box (the ball is just sitting on the box). She did great! The first time she had to check out the box loader-- though the loader did admit to saying her name, maybe that distracted her? The second time she dropped the ball, and the third time she did awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X74Hliw3k0M


(And in case you're curious, in the video the bi-black sheltie is very experienced, the bi-blue sheltie is semi-experienced, and the keeshound just did her first competition last month)
 
She did excellent. It is hard to tell in video but the rest of them seemed to be pounding the box rather than turning also.

Amazing progress so far :yes:
 
Oh and when Lexi recovered from being outside the jumps and got back inline that is excellent. Sca is terrible once he decides there is a short cut :o
 
SheepOfBlue said:
She did excellent. It is hard to tell in video but the rest of them seemed to be pounding the box rather than turning also.

Amazing progress so far :yes:
Click to expand...

Yes, I think you're right. Only the bi-black seems to have a real box turn. I think that the bi-blue only plays at flyball for fun, and like I said, the keeshound has only been to one competition.

SheepOfBlue said:
Oh and when Lexi recovered from being outside the jumps and got back inline that is excellent. Sca is terrible once he decides there is a short cut :o
Click to expand...

That definitely comes from agility! If I'm not careful, she'll just run ahead and do the jumps before I'm ready because that's "her job"!

Katherine said:
I think that Lexi's work is remarkable for only having done this for a month, Ashley !
Click to expand...

Thank you! We are certainly enjoying the learning process!
 
Wow, Lexi is doing fantastic, this is the first video I've been able to watch of her. You have done an excellent job.

Definately keep going with the box turns. I've pulled Tully from flyball until she fixes her box turns - she is too fast to be slamming the box like that. And as the physio said - small dogs, like shelties, are often very fine boned and are doing more damage to their joints hitting the box compared to bigger dogs because of the relative speed they hit it at compared to their size. Yet trainers are usually only worried about getting good turns on the big dogs.
 
Lexi is doing really well!!

I find it irresponsible of the other owners to run their dogs with such poor (well, nonexistant) turns. They are asking for injuries. All of those dogs are small enough to have beautiful turns with four paws ON the box.

This is what I meant by use a cone:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100455188645151
It is really effective. We video taped Duncan's turn and he is doing great. The only thing he does wrong right now is hit the box too low, so he double-taps his front feet. That just means that he is a little slower and we can shave off time if we fix it (we're going to use one of those jumps with only one upright like they have in the other lane).

Oh, and our rule in flyball is "No one yells at the boxloader." They can do no wrong. It is a tough job. Plus, our practices are loud (dogs barking, people yelling, boxloader calling your dog's name) to better prepare for competitions.
 
Lovely said:
I find it irresponsible of the other owners to run their dogs with such poor (well, nonexistant) turns. They are asking for injuries. All of those dogs are small enough to have beautiful turns with four paws ON the box.

This is what I meant by use a cone:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100455188645151
It is really effective.
Click to expand...

I couldn't get the video to work. :(

I am going to keep working on Lexi's turns, but I'm not really sure how to do it. I tried a couple weeks ago to put a jump or a box in front of the box to make her jump over it and onto the box, but she wouldn't do it.
 
Depending on the dog we either put a cone in front or take a jump and remove one side (so it is an L). Interestingly this is still done in practice with some of the experienced dogs if they backslide.

Then there is the one that I keep expecting to highside over the top of the box :eek2:

Oh and our box loaders vary on whether they talk to the dog. "Some" will stop and say hi if they do :o But I agree it is a tougher job than it appears and everyone needs to be able to laugh at mistakes.
 
corbinam said:
I couldn't get the video to work. :(

I am going to keep working on Lexi's turns, but I'm not really sure how to do it. I tried a couple weeks ago to put a jump or a box in front of the box to make her jump over it and onto the box, but she wouldn't do it.
Click to expand...

I shared it with you on Facebook.

At first, you may have to lure her over the jump away from the box or ramp. Get her practicing hopping over and back in one motion.

Look at the video (you just click the picture) under Hup-Again on this site: http://bcsportdogs.com/Turns.html You can generalize to the box once she has the motion down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top