Saturday December 30th 2006 - team practice (TTH)

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

Last week's practice cancelled due to inclement weather, Lucy seemed even happier to be at flyball today. She did a passing exercise with Tashtego and Milo, using two double-wide jumps and she did just great although no actual passing yet. Then, we did some line-up racing with Sammy and our house league guest. Lucy ran last and it went really well: She was eager and happy to run and maintained a nice straight path on her return. I made sure to pick her up fairly close to the timer area, 2 or 3 meters back. It was a good practice to end the year on!

Saturday December 16th 2006 - team practice (TTH)

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

Started with some non-head-to-head, non-passing full runs and her path was nice and straight. Then did some full run "passing" with Sammy and she was fine being the passer but still went wide on her return as the passee even though Sammy was not released until after Lucy passed her.

Saturday December 9th 2006 - team practice (TTH)

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

Not much to report; did a bit of boxwork including runs with two jumps. Also did a two-jump "passing" exercise which went ok.

Sunday December 3rd 2006 - House League Tournament #2

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

Today Lucy told me early on that she needed to be given the opportunity for a confidence boost. She ran in three races and this is how it went:


- First race: Warm-up consisted solely of one or two recalls which went alright, but as soon as I lined her up for full a run as the last dog in the race line-up, her stress/anxiety/discomfort with the situation became immediately apparent. Right from her first run as I was holding her she was not focused on looking down her lane but rather had her head craned towards the door (classic avoidance behaviour!) so I released her close to the start line where the gates blocked her view of the door. None of her three runs of that first race were clean; she either fumbled the ball and made no attempt to try to pick it up again (very odd), or she didn't run all the way to the box but instead turned around early. I think one mistake I made during this first race was to ask for some tugging before giving her her treats from the tug since tugging is something we've only just started doing in practice. Upon seeing her level of stress I should have relaxed that criteria and rewarded her big-time just for doing the run.

- Second race: Since she had made it clear as ice that she was very uncomfortable with being asked to do full runs today, for her second race of the day I only had her do recalls, as the last dog in the line-up. The first two recalls she refused to take the last jump, instead veering around to the right. For the third one I placed myself directly facing her in front of the last jump and this time she took it. I mega-jackpotted her from her treat tug with very special treats every time to remind her of the big payoff associated with playing flyball.

- Third race: Again being the last dog in the line-up, this time I had her run to the loaded box from only one or two jumps back, running all the way back with her and mega-jackpotting every time. My sense is that she had become more comfortable than when we started the day.


Lessons learned: Looking back on the day, I am reminded of a practice we had last summer outside where I started her with full runs rather than easing her into them by starting from one or two jumps back (August 12th entry). I think recalls may not be the best type of warm-up for her in new, potentially stressful venues, so next time I will be sure to use her warm-up time to do some simple no-ball box turns as well as sending her from just one jump back to boost her confidence. Also, I have a feeling she will be more comfortable at the box once she gets to know our new boxloader. So, it was a more challenging day than the last house league, but it was a real lesson in the importance of reading my dog and understanding and appreciating her needs, and allowing myself to acknowledge different definitions of "success" in different situations. Today, Lucy and I were successful not because she did a gazillion clean full runs (in fact she did none), but because we worked together to improve her confidence level over the course of the day. I look forward to the next house league having gained a better insight into my dog.

Saturday December 2nd 2006 - team practice (TTH)

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

Today we did some one-lane racing with Sammy and Bonnie in preparation for tomorrow's house league, with Lucy running last. She is really going wide in the passing area both on her way to and from the box, even though I'm not asking her to do a running pass. Seeing as dogs have such wonderful memories when it comes to unpleasant experiences I suspect she may be anticipating a dog "attacking" her in the passing area even though she's only ever had one negative passing experience. I'm confident that given more time and practice with her team members she will learn that they can be trusted and will overcome this little blip.

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!