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See you at practice!

Which Way Does My Dog Turn?

Dog Training: Box Turns (Introduction)

Before you introduce your dog to the box, you need to know which way your dog turns. Does this really matter? Yes, it really matters. In order to teach the "Swimmer's turn" on the Flyball box, it is crucial to know ahead of time which way your dog naturally turns since the swimmer's turn puts the dog at an angle on the box in the direction of his "turn".

More races are won or lost at the box than any other element in the race. A swimmer's turn not only saves "time" at the box but, decreases your dog's chances of injury at the box. A properly taught and properly executed box turn dissipates the energy built up by a dog's speed and inertia hitting the box. A "straight on" approach puts a lot of stress on a dog's front musculature, particularly the neck and shoulders. A lot of dogs also suffer "impact" injury to their face and mouth with a straight on approach. Once a dog learns this approach, it is nearly impossible to re-train proper technique so, our goal is to never allow your dog to hit the box the wrong way!

Some dogs always turn the same direction no matter what and its easy to determine if they are lefties or righties. Others are more "ambidextrous" and may require some experimentation to learn if there's a preference.

The test is simple. Use a room with lots of floor space. While holding your dog, get your dog's attention on a ball or some other toy. It should be something they like alot so they are not thinking about how they turn. Roll or toss it a few feet away and then let your dog get it. Observe which way they turn. If after several tries, your dog seems to turn both ways, keep a score. Try this over several days. Eventually, one side will win out over the other.

A more formal approach is the dead ball retrieve. You may use jumps or not depending on your dog's age and development. You do NOT need a box or a slantboard for this. You also don't want a lot of speed with this exercise. Your dog is simply picking up a ball off the floor.

Have your "box loader" at one end of a lane. You and your dog at the other end. Have the box loader draw your dog's attention to them by calling your dog's name and waving or bouncing the ball. Once your dog's attention is on the ball, let him go to retrieve it. The box loader should place on the floor a ball for the dog to retrieve. Since there is no "box" your dog has to slow down to pick up his ball. Once the ball is picked up, both you & your box loader need to note which way your dog turns. Although your dog is learning to retrieve balls, you must prepare for his next lesson as well as the one he is learning now.

When is your dog ready to learn the box? I usually think about introducing the box when my dog is doing dead ball retrieve consistently over jumps and a dog is working in the opposing lane.

See you at practice!

Dog Training: Runbacks

Dog Training: Runbacks

"Runbacks" are a link in the flyball chain that we can introduce without jumps or a ball. That makes it ideal as another puppy training technique that is virtually "no-impact" on soft, growing bones and yet, if done properly, encourages a dog to return to you at top speed.

Begin by identifying your dog's motivator. I like a tugging dog so find a tug that really turns your dog on. Some have squeakers in them. Some are hard and some are plush. Some even have a ball or kong or some other toy attached. Plush might be better for a puppy who might be teething and has tender gums.

Get a helper to hold your dog until you are ready. Before you walk away, make sure you have your dog's attention on you. Step only a few feet away and then call your dog and tease him with your motivator. He should be excited and run to get his tug. If not, look for reasons why. Is your dog distracted by something? Remove the distraction. Is your dog thirsty and looking for water? Provide him water but, not too much. Some dogs exhibit thirst when actually they are "stressed" possibly because they know you want something (a behavior) but they aren't sure what it is.

Repeat this exercise several times always looking for an excited and enthusiastic return to you. Whenever you get that, reward lavishly. Make this tons of fun for your dog. Remember to let him "win" the game of tug with you!

Introducing Jumps

Before introducing jumps, you should have a fast, enthusiastic and reliable recall on your dog. Your puppy should be developed enough to safely hop over a 6" obstacle. If all this is true, you are ready for introduction to jumps.

Remove all jumps from the lane except one. Your helper should be standing close enough to that jump with your dog that your dog has no other choice but to jump that jump in order to come to you. Everything else is the same as before.

You should practice at least a dozen or more times at this close an interval before attempting to start the dog any further away. You are attempting to teach the dog that jumping jumps is FUN and part of the game. Don't move back too soon or your dog may learn that it's ok to go around a jump occasionally. That is a huge "no no" and it's best to not allow the dog to err in the first place.

Once it is clear that the dog knows to take the jump, introduce a second jump. Start as close to this second jump as you did when introducing the jump for the very first time. Take these steps s-l-o-w-l-y. By establishing early on that the jumps must be taken, you will have a dog that will choose to take the jumps during the excitement of running a race, even if he finds himself out of alignment with the jumps. This could make all the difference between winning or losing a heat, a race or even a placement.

Drag Racing

Double runbacks or "Drag Racing" as we sometimes call it is when two dogs are doing runbacks to their owners side by side in each lane. This is a good way to introduce the concept of another dog in the opposite lane. In the beginning, you will want to put up gating or some other barrier to prevent crossing over. If your dog seems to be ready to stay in his lane while racing another dog, take the gating down and station people in the middle as a precaution. Every dog is different and every dog will make a mistake at some point.

Should your dog be ahead or behind the other dog? That is a judgment call based on your experience with him. Pay close attention to the circumstances around your dog's mistake when he made it. If the dog was ahead of him, try to start them evenly or even start your dog ahead of the other dog. The reasoning is that some dogs that are clearly racing the other dog will "blow the jumps" in order to beat that dog. That's why you will allow him to beat that dog in a practice situation in order to stay on the jumps.

Some dogs will "crossover" when they are ahead in the race in order to cut off their opponent. In that circumstance, you will do the opposite. You will let the other dog get ahead before releasing the dog that likes to cross. Eventually, you will let them go closer together untill they can start together without a mistake.

Conclusion:

This is how you do runbacks and gradually work in taking jumps and racing other dogs. We will look at ways to troubleshoot dogs that seem to have issues with jumps and or crossing over later in this series. Until then,

See you at Practice!

Dog Training: Sit, Stay, Fetch!

Review: "Sit, Stay, Fetch!" by Daniel Stevens

This is a comprehensive course designed to teach you how to teach your dog anything. It also gives you effective and humane ways to stop unwanted behavior.

Training flyball gives specific goals and steps. Your training should work well beyond flyball. Sit, Stay, Fetch gives you techniques that work so well in a short time span, that your friends and family will be asking you, "How did you get your dog to do that?"

Sit, Stay, Fetch is now offering a completely FREE 6 day course that utilizes the techniques for super dog training.

I urge you to check out Sit, Stay, Fetch and take advantage of Daniel Stevens FREE offer!

See you at Practice!

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Dog Training: Stand for Measuring

Dog Training: Stand

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Many people stress out when it comes to standing your dog for measuring. There is no need because teaching the "stand" is easy to do. The results will be a dog that not only stands for measuring in flyball and agility but, should easily allow children to pet him or a veterinarian to examine him.

The "stand" is actually two commands. One is for stand itself. The other is the "stay" command. Stay will be used for sits and downs in formal Obedience but, has no counterpart in Flyball.

Slow is Fast so don't rush any of the steps. Begin by examining your dog all over his body. Be soothing, almost like a massage. Encourage your dog to stand on all four feet as you do this. You are building trust with your dog so, I repeat, slow is fast.

After several times of doing this, if your dog seems to stand solidly without moving as you examine him, try picking up his feet one at a time and place them back on the floor. The goal is to get your dog to allow you to re-position his feet without any movement at all on his part. While being measured under a wicket, you will likely have to re-position his feet so that your dog's weight is evenly distributed so being able to re-position his feet without fussing is crucial.

Assuming you have reached the point where you can give your dog the "stand" command and he is standing on all four feet and then you tell him "stay" and your dog knows he is to stop moving, now is the time to introduce the concept of a wicket. Lightly touch your dog on the shoulders for a moment, praise and treat. Gradually, build the time you have your hand on your dog's shoulder. Continue to touch his shoulders and move down his back towards his tail. Slow is fast. You will not be doing this all in one training session. Eventually, you will have a dog that will "Stand/Stay" for several minutes reliably.

Finally, have some family members examine him while doing "stand/stay". Eventually, you should have some strangers examine him as well.

Remember to keep it fun. Training sessions should be short in duration and, if possible, several times a day. I think every dog should be taught to do this, not just little dogs that are destined to become "height dogs".

See you at practice!