Saturday November 25th 2006 - team practice (TTH)

(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)

Today for the first time ever, Lucy and Sammy did head-to-head full run racing with no gates, and both dogs did great! The dogs turn in opposite directions so for the first few runs we set them up so that they were turning away from each other. We started with them running from just one jump back and quickly progressed to full runs. Then we had them swap lanes so that they'd be turning towards each other. Each dog remained in their correct lane, but both of them were like "What the!?" when doing their turns facing each other since never before had they seen another dog in the other lane with no gate separating them. Since we were short on handlers today there was no boxloader to urge them on to their proper boxes (which were set up against the wall) so we were really glad that the dogs did so well.

Saturday November 18th 2006 - team practice (TTH)

(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)

Did some recalls and no-ball boxwork. Today was the first ever flyball practice in which I didn't give her a single treat, instead rewarding with her new ball tug which I found out recently that she enjoys tugging. Although she tugged with some enthusiasm, I got the sense that she thought something was missing...

Wednesday November 15th 2006 - tug shaping sessions at home

(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)

A few days ago I started shaping sessions with Lucy to get her to fall in love with our fleece tug. I put the tug on the floor, shut my mouth and don't give any cues and she's now at the point where I can be a couple of metres away from it and she'll enthusiastically go and pick it up and tonight she's starting to bring it to me. This is the first real shaping exercise Lucy has done and I'm brand new to it too. It's a really fun process, watching the dog learn how to think for herself and figure out on her own what gets rewarded. I got a new tug tonight and used it, and she had no problem transferring her behaviour to this new one.

Saturday November 11th 2006 - flyball seminar with Theresa Rector

(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)

It was a long day chock full of flyball training tips! Lucy had a really tough time with the sprung box today, fumbling the ball because she wasn't getting her head where it needed to be. Something to work on with Lucy to increase her push off the box is sending her from close up to the loaded box and throwing a treat or toy out for her as she's doing the turn. I learned tons more but my brain is fried so I'll just stop here.

Sunday November 5th 2006 - House League Tournament #1

(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)

Today was Lucy's (and my) first ever (unofficial) flyball tournament! It was a totally casual atmosphere, props and training allowed and gates separating the lanes, and nobody kept track of who won/lost races, so it was very low-stress (for us humans at least). Our team today consisted of Lucy, Sammy, and a guest, and we didn't bother double-running to fill up the fourth spot. The venue was warm so to keep temperatures down doors were open on both sides, including one gigantic garage-size door. I was concerned that Lucy might decide that it would be more interesting to go and explore outside than play flyball (I had even seen deer a few hundred meters away when we arrived), but except for her giving one good hard look at the door as she was returning on a run towards the middle of the event, my concerns were for naught. With 6 races each with 4 heats (or is that 6 heats with 4 races? I'm not sure of the terminology), she ran a total of 24 runs which really tired her out. The most runs she had ever run in a day before is probably about a dozen at most. By the middle of it I was releasing her right up close to the start line and picking her up close to it as well so that she wouldn't have to run so far. She ran as first and last dog and did fine with both positions, provided Sammy was the one she passed. (She got intimidated by the other dog after a passing incident on her return from the box on one of her first runs.) I noticed by the end of the day Lucy's return path veered quite far to her right after clearing the pretend timers, giving the next dog (Sammy, who she's used to and comfortable with passing) a lot of clearance. I will keep an eye on this at our next practice and see if her path needs to be straightened out. The strangest thing she did all day was towards 3/4 of the way through the day: she was the first dog to run, she dropped the ball after the second jump, then completely stopped right between the pretend timers, blocking poor Sammy's way. (But she moved out of the way when I called her.) Oh yeah, and a few of the earlier times when I sent her from further back, she would run part way to the box, then get confused as to where she was supposed to go, then when she saw the boxloader urging her to the box she picked up her speed and finished the run. In summary, Lucy gave a very respectable performance today: She was fine with strangers as boxloaders (many thanks to the other teams for helping out!), and the majority of her runs were clean with the exception of a handful where she either fumbled the ball and didn't pick it up, or dropped the ball too soon, or missed a jump due to turning too wide. I will work on building up her stamina over the winter, and I will be buying a food-stuffable tug thing which I think Lucy will really enjoy. And now, I'm off to give her the best massage she's ever had!