Tuesday January 16th 2007 - home practice

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

I have the box at home this week so I took advantage. Did some turns with the box unsprung to remind her to really put her mouth over the ball. Also, took the jump away and for the first time ever she did the turn while getting the ball with no jump. The first two were great, but after that she realized that it was just as easy to only put her hands on the box.

Saturday January 13th 2007 - Team practice

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

Started with the no-passing passing exercise over two double-wide jumps with Abby (finally back from her maternity leave, yay!), which went well. Then we did some head-to-head against our house league guest, which went well too. Also, for the first time we put two slats in the jumps. Lucy didn't cross over, but one time at the box she turned way wide and missed the first two jumps coming back. Note, today it was only quasi head-to-head since the second dog was released only after the first dog was returning from the box.

Sunday January 7th 2007 - House league #3

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

Lucy and I had a great day today! Here's the short version:
- Left Walter at home so that Lucy would have my undivided attention
- A familiar teammate boxloaded for every race
- Lucy was last in the line-up for every race, running after Sammy
- Rewarded mostly with extra-special treats that she will only ever get at house league or flyball tournaments
- She was just fine at starting back past the end of the gates
- She never once looked at the doors or stuttered on her way to or from the box, and I never got the feeling that she didn't want to be there
- She got in some running passes with Sammy but I didn't push it since her confidence is just coming back
- In the final race of the day, someone timed one of her heats and she ran in 5.83 seconds. I'm not sure if that included the pass or not but I assume it didn't. Not too bad though, given it was the end of the day!
- Out of 5 races, Lucy ran two entire races totally clean!

And here's the detailed version:

Race #1 (Left lane with small door) Warm-up: 2 turns with ball and no jumps + 1 turn with ball and two jumps then run all the way back
- Heats #1 and 2: Whereas for the first heats of the last house league Lucy was craning towards the door instead of up the lane, this time she was focused ahead, but she dropped the ball halfway back. I praised and treated her heartily anyway.
- Heat #3: Clean!
-Heat #4: She dropped the ball early again. I rewarded, but with her less-special treats.

Race #2 (Right lane with huge door) Warm-up: 1 turn with no jumps (can't remember if ball) + 1 turn with ball and two jumps then run all the way back
- Heat #1: She fumbled the ball and didn't pick it up. I rewarded anyway.
- Heat #2: Clean!
- Heats #3 and 4: Can't quite remember but I think she dropped the ball for one and did it cleanly for the other.

Race #3 (Left lane) Warm-up: none due to time shortage
- All heats: Clean! Yay!!

Race #4 (Right lane) Warm-up: two turns, no ball, no jumps
- All heats: Clean! And no fumbles either! Yay!!

Race #5 (Left lane) Warm-up: two turns, no ball, no jumps
-Heat #1: She fumbled the ball and didn't pick it up. This time I didn't reward and instead said "where's the ball" in an upbeat voice.
-Heat #2: 100% clean!
-Heat #3: 100% clean!
-Heat #4: She fumbled the ball, but this time she took the time to find it and pick it up again and brought it all the way back. Yay!

I'm so happy that Lucy's confidence is on the rebound! It will still be some time before she can again confidently pass a dog while she's returning from the box, but what she accomplished today was a huge success and certainly our best house league so far.

Saturday January 6th 2007 - Team practice

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

Started with the passing exercise over two doublewide jumps. First we tried it with Milo and let the dogs go at the same time. Milo did great but Lucy went around the second jump as soon as she saw Milo coming towards her, even though he was going straight to his human. We did it twice more but this time not releasing Milo until after Lucy was at the second jump, and she handled that fine. Then after a warm-up of a few box turns with ball, we did lineup racing with our house league guest and Sammy. It went quite well as it did last week. However, by far the most exciting thing about today's practice was that Milo can now do the swimmer's turn! He had been practicing all week at home on stairs with a cone and this transferred like magic to the box.

Monday January 1st 2007 - Goals for 2007

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

My goals for Lucy's 2007 flyball year are for her to regain her straight return pass, prove herself in head-to-head racing with strange dogs, do more tugging with her treat tug, and race if a possible opportunity materializes. Mostly I just want to keep having fun with her and watch/help our flyball team continue to develop!

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.