Lexi's worrying patterns; flyball version

We've had a tough couple weeks the last two times we went to flyball.

Basically Lexi's turns at home are great.  I took her to class and even without the ball, and without the trigger, she just doesn't want to put 4 feet on the box.  I'd get 2, or 3 (with the third way down at the bottom).  I don't think she put 4 on a SINGLE time.  I had her out there with treats and she just wasn't doing it.  She was revved up and excited, I tried running with her, sending her, etc...nothing doing.

So, I decided to work on something else.  I started with triggering the box myself and throwing treats out.  Lexi did not appear worried about the noise at all, and was very excited about the sound since it would immediately lead to treats.  So, I started having her trigger the box and I would throw a ball--awesome, no trouble (she was just pushing with two feet, but I figured that was okay since I was just working the noise/feel).  Then I had her actually triggering the box to get the ball.  She did it about 3-5 times, was excited, up, happy, etc...and then all of a sudden, she wanted nothing to do with it.  She went from triggering the box and fetching the ball to refusing to put any feet on the box at all.

We took a long break, then I went back just a few more times and had her trigger the box for a cookie, and we called it a night.

This reminds me of what she did with the teeter.  No issues that we could see, but one day she would just refuse it.  We must have retrained it 3 times.  Looks like a similar pattern with the box.

Lexi's flyballs turns

Have been working Lexi's turns this week.  They aren't half bad!  I hope she's able to make them translate to the box with a ball.



The hardest part for her I think is going to be the noise of the box.  She tried it last week, took the ball off three times when it triggered, and the third time she decided it was scary and didn't even want to put one foot on it.  So I put her back on it without triggering it until she was jumping on it again, and then just triggered it and threw food at Lexi so she wouldn't be worried about it.

Awesome night!

I am going to preface this by saying that I had just typed up an entire post and it got deleted.

But anyways, we had an awesome night last night.  Bentley got his contacts.  I couldn't believe it!  This was his first time on the equipment since his surgery, and he was awesome!  I know they aren't perfect, and we have a long way to go, but I am so proud.  We've been waiting on this moment for two years!



And secondly, Lexi was invited to play at flyball with some other club members last night.  We had a blast!

I warmed her up by just practicing turns (no ball).  They were okay.  I think we got two feet about 75% of the time, and some ugly variation of four feet the other 25%.  At least she didn't seem scared, she didn't hesitate, and hit the box confidently in some fashion every time.

Then the three other people there lined up and worked in one lane, and we worked Lexi in the lane next to them to see how she would do.  We started just by doing restrained recalls.  I thought she would be worried, but she ran back and forth to my husband and me with no issues at all.  I eventually started sending her to get the ball and she only got worried when one dog came into her lane.

Lastly, we put her into the end of the "rotation" (after the other three dogs).  She didn't do any passes, and she didn't trigger the box (we just set the ball on it).  But she did great!  The first time she had to check out the box loaded (though the box loader did admit to saying her name, so maybe that distracted her?), the second time she dropped the ball, but the third time she was awesome!

Flyball introduction to the moving box

Tonight was another good night.  I made sure to warm Lexi up first by just doing some up close stuff.  We moved back slowly.  She did great!

All night she never dropped the ball once.  The only issue she had was that if I didn't put the ball she had just brought back into the bucket or in my pocket, she wanted to go get that one rather than the one on the box.

I also made sure to not run with her, but to rev her up (she already knows the get excited command since I use the same one at agility...it gets her spinning and crazy...I say "reeeeeeeeeeeeady!?!?!") and send her.

We did introduce her to a real box.  That was interesting.  She didn't really like it much even though we didn't actually load the ball (just set it on there).  She didn't seem to worry about it or anything, just only wanted to put 2 feet on instead of the 4.  So, I put the ball away and just worked with shaping a turn (just like I did at the beginning with cookies).   If she put 2 on and turned, small cookie, then I upped the criteria and after just a few tries she was putting 4 feet on again.  The turns weren't beautiful, but I was glad she figured it out so quickly, but they were fast and hard (not hesitant or worried) and we ended on that note.


Oh, and tomorrow Lexi turns 2 so we brought cookies to agility class.  Our instructor said, "I keep forgetting how young she is.  She's still a baby!  You guys have tons of time to keep working with her.  She's doing great for a 2 year old."  I'm reminded how young she is all the time...but it's easy to forget because of how often we work with her.

Flyball fun

Last night after agility class we had our 15 minute flyball class.  I think we're going to try to work in some private lessons next session since they scheduled the only flyball class at the same time as the agility class both dogs are in. 

We did do our first full run to the box (it's just a hit it board, still no moving/noisy box), but I was still proud. 

We even worked some passing, though in its simplest form.  We started with passing recalls, but no real passing, just recalls in quick succession.  Lexi had no issue with that, but she didn't want to go get the ball with any other dogs around (hence why in the video she gets really distracted.  Prior to the video camera coming out she was the only dog out and was doing great).

More flyball practice

We went to agility the other night, and followed it up with some flyball.  Lexi did fairly well once she knew what to do.  We weren't getting any turns on the box, really (just jumping up and getting the ball), and she would only do it from about 2 jumps back, but I'm still proud of her.  I think it was difficult for her because she didn't realize that the ball would be there (at home, she sees me put the ball on the box before I send her).

So today we practiced her getting the ball from farther away, and with my husband reloading the box.

Flyball?

I like to joke that if we had started as a puppy, Lexi would have been better at flyball.  She has drive, she loves to go fast, and it doesn't require nearly as much focus (or deceleration!)  I'm certainly not saying flyball is easy, but it seems to play more to Lexi's strengths.

Anyways, a friend of ours is a flyball instructor and let us borrow a hit board for fun.  I don't think we'll ever seriously compete or anything, but I think Lexi would enjoy it, and it gives us something to practice in the house when it's raining!

Here's a video of her first couple tries on the hit board.