(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Having joined a brand new flyball team with Lucy, we have been borrowing the flyball box for the last week and a half. I was having tons of fun practicing on it with Lucy and decided to see if I could get Walter up on it. After a few days of gradually moving the eavestrough closer and closer to the box, he was getting one, then two, then all four paws on the box. He now consistently gets all four on the box and I can send him from 3 to 4 metres away. He'll do it for treats or for a ball, but the tug provides him the most motivation. And so Walter told me that he wanted to join the flyball team! He hasn't been to a team practice yet, but he's met most if not all of the other team members through team walks at a local park. (Note: I pushed my luck a couple of times and rested a ball on the box's ledge, but each time I did that Walter broke his form and only put his hands on the box to grab the ball and then run off, so I'll hold off on that until he's had more practice sans ball.)
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Monday, May 29, 2006
Monday May 29th 2006 - catch-up entry
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Walter's first foray into the world of flyball was in the winter of 2006 in a beginner's course. I had gone through a beginner flyball course with Lucy the previous fall, and I had practiced some of the homework with Walter at that time, so we had a bit of a headstart. I found that Walter got bored sooner than Lucy did since he doesn't share Lucy's tremendous treat motivation drive. But he quickly picked up on the over-and-back with the eavestrough setup (he turns counterclockwise), and recalls went fairly well although he didn't like me leaving him behind. Unfortunately he didn't get up on the box by the end of the course. I blame this on me not having anything decent to practice on at home -- the home setup I used for Lucy (carpet-covered plank leaning against a wall) was no good for Walter because it was too small, and I hadn't gotten around to constructing something better.
Walter's first foray into the world of flyball was in the winter of 2006 in a beginner's course. I had gone through a beginner flyball course with Lucy the previous fall, and I had practiced some of the homework with Walter at that time, so we had a bit of a headstart. I found that Walter got bored sooner than Lucy did since he doesn't share Lucy's tremendous treat motivation drive. But he quickly picked up on the over-and-back with the eavestrough setup (he turns counterclockwise), and recalls went fairly well although he didn't like me leaving him behind. Unfortunately he didn't get up on the box by the end of the course. I blame this on me not having anything decent to practice on at home -- the home setup I used for Lucy (carpet-covered plank leaning against a wall) was no good for Walter because it was too small, and I hadn't gotten around to constructing something better.
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