Full Run Success!

Rave has recently put on her big girl pants and successfully run a full flyball course! Now that we have some speed its time to really tweek her box into something brilliant! She gave me new information about exactly what she need from to to continue to have further success! Its very fun to watch her progress because you can see her thinking and putting it all together! Go Rave!

Now her box isn't close to perfect but its getting there! Step by Step! Both of my dogs have had no problems driving to the box to get the ball, its always the drive back that we need the work on. It's very funny, with Rave its the complete opposite! Go figure! She wasn't sure it was a good idea to work away from me... double steping jumps and thinking about turning around... What a difference 2 weeks makes! She single stepped every jump and successfully brought her ball back.... AND!.... dropped the ball for the tug! Go Rave!

Now that she can handle running by herself time to add a dog in the other lane! Cross your 9fingers things continue to go as smoothly as they have this far!

Happy Training!

Lyndsy and Rave

HUGE SUCCESS!!!!!!!

This will be short and sweet!!!! Rave has HUGE success today! We did one jump to the box and back over all four jumps with mildly good drive, but better yet, with her ball, and even more fun, she drove to the tug!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is her video!!! i'm very proud of the little nugget!

Happy Training!

Lyndsy and Rave

It's the distance that will kill you!

Chalk one up in the win column for Rave!! Everytime we work I micromanage and seem to find something else that needs work. This time I give Rave total credit!

After the last blog we've been working really hard on getting the ball off the box. Once you do so many hit-its its hard to start to add the ball, when they learn muscle memory on the box they get into a groove and its hard to tweak that groove. We've lately had HUGE success with adding the ball and bringing it back to me, and dropping it for the tug!!!! Thank god she loves the ball!!!! Because she didn't love the tug, i've never taken that out of the picture. She loves the ball so much that a tug with balls on it is golden!

Now that I am holding the golden tug in one hand and there is a stationary ball in the box, its hard for me to get her to leave me to go to the box. If I have someone call her on the box, she would way rather visit them than do her job! Tough place we are in. BUT! Today, success! Someone called her to the box, she did a turn, got the ball and came back to the tug over a jump. Total success! Now the "easy" part back chaining jumps. I will try to take a lot of video at practice on Sunday so i can post her many successes!

Every practice we have I try to push her more and more. At the last practice we worked on her driving on the flat. We also call this puppy drag racing. She made really really good choices when it was her turn. For some reason she did much better in the left lane, so in the future we will work 3/4 the time in the right lane. She would drive like hell to me 90% of the time, and the other 10% of the time she would go into the other lane and give that dog hell and out running them. But we will work through that, day by day!

Stay tuned for up coming video!
Happy Training!

Lyndsy and Rave

If at first you don't succeed try, try again!

First I need to start by saying, I need to blog more! I do understand that! There is just not enough hours in the day!! Anyway..... I will try to blog more in the future!

The past few sessions Rave and I haven't been seeing eye to eye on our training. The hardest part about training is breaking down the language barrier. After doing this you should have no problem having all kinds of success, but getting past that could take a while. Some dogs you can figure out quicker than others.... Some not so much. After exhausting my tool box full of training tools I was not only tired but VERY discouraged! Going into a training session discouraged is no way to start training. But with all the work we were putting in there just wasn't enough progress in my mind. But finally today! progression!!!!!

In the past Rave would do 2 really good hit its on the box and then we would change her picture by moving jump boards or adding the ball and she would totally shut down. It just blew her mind every time. I couldn't understand why, but once she would fail she would run into her crate and just look at me. I couldn't even pry her out. Talk about discouraging. Not only did I have a dog that didn't want to work with me, but a dog that had lost all trust in me. So to build confidence and trust in me we worked on some tricks. I also listened to the brilliant words of my full of wisdom mother, she said, I think you just need to sit down and have a talk with her, one on one. Hmmmmm she is a dog you know?! Well, okay. Must have worked! Today not only was she totally driving to and from the box, but she failed twice and worked through it both times. The other thing we have run into is the leaving me to go to the box. She also powered through that tonight as well. I could send her from about 10 feet to do hit its off the box. Time to add the ball! I will start by velcroing it so she gets the idea of not only where her mouth needs to be, but where her feet need to be in order to keep her turn snappy and consistent. Good thing she likes a ball! and she drops the ball for the tug! Even better!!!!

Once I have more help I'm going to have someone hold her 15 or so feet from the box and I am going to call her to the box as soon as she lifts off to commit I'm going to yell her name and run away! This should build her confidence going into the box and help her drive to me off the box! The more hit its I do without the ball the harder it will be to add the ball, so I do try to keep these to a minimum and as soon as she is totally comfortable with her picture of the box we start to phase in the ball more and more each session.

The other thing we've been playing with is her speed over jumps. Thank you to my friend Colleen from X flyball for the brilliant ideas to get her driving and powering better over jumps. Who would have thought if you take out the first jump from the box the baby dogs can gather more speed to power over jumps, who would have thought?! DUH?!?!!? By taking out this jump it gives the babies 25 feet instead of 15. By doing this it can take the bunny hopping over jumps and turn it into streamline power jumping. Thanks again Colleen!

I will edit video and post it soon!

Happy Training!
Lyndsy and Rave

We all have our snags....

In training we all go through some rough patches. Our recent rough patch is Rave wants to submissive pee every time we go to work.... So in her most recent videos she is wearing her big girl pants, but she looks awesome!! so i had to share!!!! she loves her denim britches...

Happy training....

Let the wall work begin!

I love wall work! It's probably my favorite part of training. So many things go into doing it "right". There are so many methods out there to follow, or maybe you want to make up your own. In my experience wall work is always a work in progress. I am always learning new things to look for and ways to change props to get exactly what I want. The biggest help in training the wall right is the tool of video.... VIDEO EVERYTHING! Something that you thought looked pretty good, might be a wide turn, or a double hit that you didn't catch with your eye. Key things to look for in my wall work method, head position, make sure your reward is low to keep the dog driving down off the box, make sure the dog isn't launching into the wall from 5 feet, and where they land in the middle of the lane.

To start your wall work I take a 24X24 piece of plywood and cover it in tuff spun matting. Lay it flat on the ground with 2 jump boards in front of it. By this time you have already determined which way your dog will turn. Stand on that side of the board and lure the dog over the jump boards on the target board in the shape of a horse shoe. This is something i will call over and backs. Once your puppy is snappy doing this, start to raise the slant board against the wall. This could be a slow process. Little by little you will notice things you will have to change.

For instance with Rave, I've started to notice instead of her pushing off the wall, she is using the board as a crutch to pivot to push off..... I will go back to a lower board with her for a little bit and not try to rush the process.

By teaching the wall work method I believe it will help your dog transfer the quick on/off method of the wall to the box with very little issue. By making sure there head is in the correct position you will be able to velcro a ball to the wall to simulate the dog getting it off the box. Some dogs get this quicker than others as with anything. Don't rush your dog! Make sure you love exactly what you have before making it harder for your dog.

Make sure your VOLUME is off!!! Otherwise you get to hear my obnoxious training voice :)

Here is a video of Ninja at the end progress, well adding the ball at least....

I'm sure there are things i've forgotten that i will make sure i add the next blog! Stay tuned!! Happy Training!!!

Lynds and Rave

It's about damn time!

I know, I know! It's been a long time since I've blogged about the monsters progress! Well here goes nothing!

Lately we have been working on a new training method for me. We've been learning the touch stick method. Thanks to our friend Colleen from X flyball for help with this new method.

Step one of this method getting the dog to touch the end of the stick with their nose, this can be done by clicking or shaping the puppy. To start, when the puppy goes to touch the bottom of the stick you mark and treat it. Too start you can use food and slowly progress to using the tug as the sole reward. Once they learn to touch the stick, it is the beginning of there fabulous box turn.

Rave's first session of touch stick was funny! It was almost like the stick was alive, anytime she would step foot in the room and i touched the stick she would bark and run away! Silly girl! By the end of the session I was holding the stick and she was driving to it! It's all about baby steps! We will be working slowly on this. No need to rush perfection :) Each time i get out the touch stick I want her to play even more than the last time! So we are doing very short exciting sessions. I am trying to video a good session of this so i can post it. Once i find one that shows each step i will post it!

Happy Training!

In the process of creating a monster!

So in order to build Miss Rave's tug drive i have started to create a monster! By playing fun tug games with her i have really got her to come out of her tugless shell....

One game she has come to LOVE! is the push away game. I think she may love it a little to much. Here is how to play the game:

To start the game I put a pair of winter and sit on the floor. If I'm playing with a new and easily distracted puppy i will put them on leash and tuck it under my leg so they can't leave me. Starting with a new puppy i just use my glove as the tug, quickly after they enjoy the glove i start to work in the tug as the best thing. To get the puppy engaged, i start by slapping my hand on the floor a few times moving it from side to side. When the puppy starts to go after my hand i will push them back to make them drive to my hand that's moving. This becomes very fun for both of us. When they catch my hand i will hit there sides and make a hissing noise. Once they understand to chase the glove that is when I add the tug. When the puppy is a little bigger i will push the puppy away and then take off running the opposite way and have them run after me for the tug. I think this helps the puppy understand the game of the recall and the importance of tug work.

Doing this with Rave has been a little more challenging, she is older and understands the game, but doesn't want to really play, also has a pretty good bite to have her going after my hand. So we've modified the game a little, this is where the monster part comes in. I started the game sitting on the couch with her at my feet. By pushing her away and slapping her sides she has become really into the game. So now when i push her back she starts to lunge back at me, showing a good amount of drive.... this works really well but now she things the game is to lunge at my face. I haven't found a way to work the tug into this yet. hmmmm i learn something new every day! I will keep you posted on her progress with that, maybe a video of her playing the game.

Here are her recalls from practice this past weekend! ENJOY!

Okay off to work.... I will finish posting videos when i get home.

Rave's second official practice!

Rave had a very successful second practice! I have decided to use a "tug-it" with her... featured on clean run.... http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1669&ParentPage=hot .... used to get dogs that aren't crazy about tugging, wild about the tug... mission accomplished! in the mesh bag we used braunschweiger to get her tugging... it makes me want to heave but what ever works! Everytime it slips out of her mouth and brushes my leg I get the willies..... SICK! Like I said before, i'm not a food person... but i will try anything once! To make it less likely for the bag to graze my leg, i tied it to her favorite tug from home! I was very proud of the way she was driving! Here are a few videos of her doing baby recalls!

Lyndsy and Rave

Didn't think you had OCD?

I've been to several flyball seminars and at every one of them I learn something new... The common factor in all of them has been... VIDEO everything! Because something that you think looks good, you go back and there is something you want to change....

I always knew that I had a few obsessive tendencies.... Nothing comes close to the OCD moments I go through like when I'm training a box turn! Let me paint the picture for you! Since starting Ninja's box training in Feb 08' I have over 500 video clips, and 350 wall work clips saved up! Sound like a lot? yah its about 50 hours worth of just Ninja's box turn! Worst part is.... I'm always critiquing it! Making lists of what worked and what didn't work....

A few new things I've learned..... Counting frames... it has actually become a new obsession! Thanks to Colleen of X Flyball in Las Vegas! If you open up your videos in quicktime..... it is very easy to count frames... each click of the right arrow button is a frame... Why does this matter? A extremely quick box turn is 7-8 frames... the average box turn is 9-12 and anything above that is just slow..... SUCKS! out of the 100 box turns i watched Ninja's fastest turn was a 9.

.. his average was a 11.

.... slowest 14!!!!! BOO!!!

So instead of counting sheep when i can't sleep.... i boot up the good old laptop and start to count frames!! You thought counting box turn frames was bad! Ya well.... you have no idea! now its time to count frames in a full run! For every frame is .0333....

So this is 117 frames.... 117X.0333= 3.891

And that is just Ninja's videos! I've trained a few other turns..... and yes I continue to watch there videos as well! it must be a sickness!!! So for all of you keeping track... Rave's box training will be well documented, and extremely over analyzed! After watching all of Ninja's videos and all of the different set ups.... one piece of advice! Don't over analyze :)

We've had a break through!!!!

After playing countless numbers of tug games we've had a break through!!!!! Rave picked up the tug on her own tonight and carried it around the house!!!!! Who would have thought such a little thing like that would make my night but holy hell, i was pumped!!!! Poor Ninja... She wants to tug on everything that he puts in his mouth... which is fine until its not very big... hes taken a few good bites for the team!

After Rave picked up the tug and followed me around the house for a bit, i dared to pick it up.... and she continued to hang on!! What a good girl! even gave me a good growl or two! I pretty much immediately let go... The one thing to know, when trying to get a dog to tug... always let them win the game.. if you always played a game you couldn't win would you want to continue playing? So i tried it again, after she won she got to run around the house carrying the tug and as soon as she ran by me i grabbed it, and she let go... DAMN! Time to break out the good ol' Ninja boy... As soon as he hit that tug she wanted nothing more than to tug with him... Go figure! But because we had success with her tugging with me i figured this would be a good time to get her tug with him. While they were tugging, i spent the time whacking them on there sides and clapping and hissing like a snake to get ninja more into it and to get her used to some rough tugging... at first she was a little sensitive about me slapping her sides, but she quickly picked it up! I would also put my hand in the middle of them on the tug so it appeared as though she was only tugging with me... the second i thought she was going to let go i would drop the tug and Ninja would get her going again... like i said... its the baby steps in life! Second thing when tugging! Keep the baby wanting more! Rip the tug out of there mouth and put it away... somewhere they can't have it anymore... short sessions are key!

Next blog i will go into detail some tug games we play!!!!

Keep you posted...

Lyndsy and Rave!

to tug.... or not to tug!!!

I love a dog that tugs! I don't care if you tug on a piece of rope, or if you tug on my sweatshirt sleeve... I have to have a dog that tugs.... I can't handle bringing stinky... icky... cookies everywhere I go. There is nothing worse to me than going out to dinner after a long day of flyball, and not only are you sweaty and gross, but the pockets of your pants are soaked in grease stains because you had to haul around your cheese sticks so your dog would get a reward... This is not to harp on the people that like food as a reward, its just not for me. I am not one to run backwards shaking a bag of cookies at my dog running back to me yelling.... cookies, cookies, cookies! Give me a crusty, stinky, slimy tug to put around my neck any day.

My puppies start out tugging the day I get them! We play tug games all day long, until they love the tug as much as I do. In my mind, every dog should tug. Why wouldn't you like to tug, go ahead and put this crusty piece of fleece in your mouth, bite down, and growl! Sounds like fun to me! In my mind the tug is like an extension of my arm. I always know where my dog is, I am always having interaction with my dog and its a piece of transportation.... who needs a leash, when your dog tugs! And is tugging such a bad thing? too much tugging? No, never! Well, maybe... How about when you can't get the tug out of your dogs mouth and everyone is waiting on you.... screaming, yelling, trying to pry there jaws open or holding them upside down, nothing helps. There has to be a fine line I guess. So what happens when your dog doesn't want to tug?

Rave and I spent the week house sitting for 4 wild poodles. This made Rave CRAZY!!!! She loved all the other dogs... plenty of herding opportunities... also plenty of time to blow me off... so naughty! She has now decided that its only fun to tug with the other dogs, not me. WHAT?!? No Ma'am! So now what... square one?! Do I let her continue to tug with the other dogs? At least she's tugging, right? Hmmmmm... I decided to just put up all the tugging toys, now she would rather lick my face than tug on anything I show her... go figure!

So starting my puppy tugging at 6 months... We busted out the old winter gloves... Here goes nothing!!

Off for another tugging session!!! Keep you posted!

Lynds and Rave

Here goes nothing!

Welcome all!

I have decided to create this blog to help keep track of Rave's flyball training. Rave is a 6 month old black and white border collie from Hillcrest Border Collies, in Oregon. She came to me on April 23 and will be staying with me until she is fully trained in flyball. I really enjoy the training aspect of flyball so I can't wait to get down to business.



By keeping up with this blog it will keep me training daily and help me to keep track of things that worked for her and things that didn't. I'm hoping to post a lot of video and pictures of her progression. I invite feedback and suggestions of things that worked for you and your dog.


Every other week I am planning on teaching her a new trick. So get your thinking caps on because i'm sure I will need help coming up with some after the first few weeks.....

Keep you posted!!!!!!