JACKYSIAN Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 Right so I have the following : 1 Mad hairy lunatic fool of a dog who loves balls, loves running, has reasonable obedience and is a happy dog friendly soul. I've tried him on a agility course...absolute disaster! He wasn't interested in anything except me!! Didn't jump (although at home he happily jumps over 5 foot gates to get to me!!!), managed going in and out the poles but only by following me, but did the sit and stay pretty well! Also when I ran and jumped he just attached himself to my sleeve!!!! How would I go about, firstly at home testing if he would be any good at flyball (don't want to go to the effort of taking him somewhere only to be embarrassed in front of the very well behaved doggies!!!) :P . If he looks like he might enjoy it, what would you suggest to try next? Jacky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 Well, the main criteria is that he'll fetch a tennis ball. He doesn't have to do a present or anything, just bring it somewhere near you The fact he is interested in you will play to your advantage to begin with (if the PODS - Anglesey team) train like us. To start off with, we do what we call runbacks, where you leave the dog with someone and then recall over the jumps (starting with one jump and progressing to all 4). You run away from them and then when you get out of the flyball lane, the dog holder lets go and you call them and roll a ball along the ground. If Sid is anything like Eddie though, he'll just completely ignore the ball and bounce all over you. It may be an idea to practice restrained recalls with someone else whilst out on a walk - someone else holds him and gets him all excited and you run away from him and throw the ball this gets him focussed on you and the ball and will speed up his return (which is the bit that needs speeding up most as on the way out, they have the ball to motivate them). The next step is to actually go and try him out with a team who has all the equipment - your nearest one is the PODS, who train where I was staying over the New Year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACKYSIAN Posted January 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 To be honest if he just needs to be able to come back to me then that's not an issue! I'm sorry to say Sidney is well and truly and mummy's boy! He is the one that on walks is always checking I'm there and while in the fields he is playing with his mates....but ever now and then will run (and jump)at me just to make sure I remember who he is!!!!!!!!!! Do you think the Anglesey people would mind if I rang them up for a chat? I have a feeling he would ignore the jumps though and just get back to me asap!!! But I suppose that's something that comes with training? From what you've said he sounds like he'd do okay at it...just have to get over the fact he just loves other dogs so much he has to greet every single one he meets (usually by laying on the floor in front of them and licking their faces!!!!) Thanks alot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Hi Jacky! Of course they wouldn't mind!! I'll PM you their number If there is netting along the side of the run he should be fine and go over the jumps If he is a mummy's boy then he should be quite fast as he'll want to do the run as fast as possible and get back to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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