(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
My goals for Walter's 2007 flyball year are for him to do independent full runs as part of a line-up. Once he realizes that he's supposed to pick up the ball and bring it, then the rest will fall into place... Come on Wally, we've got all year, you can do it!!
Monday, January 1, 2007
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Saturday December 30th 2006 - team practice (TTH)
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Did some more dead ball retrieving stuff in the fenced off runback area. Although he picked the ball up a few times, he really wasn't into it today. I'll try bringing more enticing treats next time, and I think that with flyball being his first activity of the day he simply has too much energy/edge to concentrate on something so boring as picking up a dead ball. I'll try sometime soon to exercise him before practice to see if that makes a difference. Also, he did a few no-ball box turns being sent from about 20 feet back.
Did some more dead ball retrieving stuff in the fenced off runback area. Although he picked the ball up a few times, he really wasn't into it today. I'll try bringing more enticing treats next time, and I think that with flyball being his first activity of the day he simply has too much energy/edge to concentrate on something so boring as picking up a dead ball. I'll try sometime soon to exercise him before practice to see if that makes a difference. Also, he did a few no-ball box turns being sent from about 20 feet back.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Saturday December 16th 2006 - team practice (TTH)
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Tried some dead ball retrieves but once again he had no interest (although he'll do it at the local field), so out came the clicker which was much more successful. Seems we'll have to work up to it by spending some time clicking dead ball stuff at practice. No rush, I'm sure we'll get to the end product sooner or later!
Tried some dead ball retrieves but once again he had no interest (although he'll do it at the local field), so out came the clicker which was much more successful. Seems we'll have to work up to it by spending some time clicking dead ball stuff at practice. No rush, I'm sure we'll get to the end product sooner or later!
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Saturday December 9th 2006 - team practice (TTH)
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Not much to report. Did some recalls and no-ball boxwork.
Not much to report. Did some recalls and no-ball boxwork.
Sunday, December 3, 2006
Sunday December 3rd 2006 - Walter's first house league
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Today was Walter's first house league event! Since he doesn't yet do full runs, he did some recalls instead:
- First race: Did one recall only, in the warmup. No problems although I realized as I looked back at him that I had run all the way to the back of the run area, forcing him to run on his own through an area with a lot of activity on both sides of him. He looked somewhat nervous doing so (and I felt like such a goof for inadvertently asking him to do that) but he came straight to me and did some good tugging. Thank goodness he is such a good dog and forgives me for making mistakes!
- Second race: Walter ran recalls as the last dog in the line-up. I ran only a short distance past the timers and he did just great, preferring to tug than to get treats.
I was very happy with his performance and am inspired to continue working on his dead-ball retrieve!
Today was Walter's first house league event! Since he doesn't yet do full runs, he did some recalls instead:
- First race: Did one recall only, in the warmup. No problems although I realized as I looked back at him that I had run all the way to the back of the run area, forcing him to run on his own through an area with a lot of activity on both sides of him. He looked somewhat nervous doing so (and I felt like such a goof for inadvertently asking him to do that) but he came straight to me and did some good tugging. Thank goodness he is such a good dog and forgives me for making mistakes!
- Second race: Walter ran recalls as the last dog in the line-up. I ran only a short distance past the timers and he did just great, preferring to tug than to get treats.
I was very happy with his performance and am inspired to continue working on his dead-ball retrieve!
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Saturday December 2nd - home practice
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
I haven't been doing much dead-ball retrieve stuff with Walter too much lately so I got a practice in today. He now goes to the dead ball and brings it 3 or 4 steps towards me, in my living room. I'll try it outside somewhere soon.
I haven't been doing much dead-ball retrieve stuff with Walter too much lately so I got a practice in today. He now goes to the dead ball and brings it 3 or 4 steps towards me, in my living room. I'll try it outside somewhere soon.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Saturday November 18th 2006 - team practice (TTH)
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Did some recalls and no-ball boxwork. Rewarded with tug only, no treats, which was fine with him.
Did some recalls and no-ball boxwork. Rewarded with tug only, no treats, which was fine with him.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Sunday November 12th 2006 - private lesson with Theresa Rector
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Did some recalls, no problem with that and he did some marvelous tugging, both before and after using treats for boxwork! His turns were sloppy so we didn't bring in the ball. Instead, Theresa gave me a terrific lesson on shaping him with the clicker to retrieve a dead ball. I've never been shown how to shape before, but I've read a bit about it and had started to shape to teach targetting, and I can see now how excellent it is for teaching a dog to think. Practiced some more dead ball stuff afterwards at home and I will make this a priority for at-home training for the next while. At home I used a regular tennis ball (not the magical treat one) and by the end of today's sessions he would go to the ball (unprompted) and start to open his mouth.
Did some recalls, no problem with that and he did some marvelous tugging, both before and after using treats for boxwork! His turns were sloppy so we didn't bring in the ball. Instead, Theresa gave me a terrific lesson on shaping him with the clicker to retrieve a dead ball. I've never been shown how to shape before, but I've read a bit about it and had started to shape to teach targetting, and I can see now how excellent it is for teaching a dog to think. Practiced some more dead ball stuff afterwards at home and I will make this a priority for at-home training for the next while. At home I used a regular tennis ball (not the magical treat one) and by the end of today's sessions he would go to the ball (unprompted) and start to open his mouth.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Saturday October 21st 2006 - team practice (TTH)
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Began the day by putting the treat ball on the ground a metre or so in front of the box. Set him up in front of the first jump and released him and he ran all the way by himself over the four jumps, got the ball then ran back to me. The first couple of times he missed the first jump after getting the ball but corrected himself in time for the remaining three jumps, but on his third try he did all of the jumps: an independent full run, just without the box! ;-) Later on when everyone arrived we put the treat ball on the ledge and I now had to run with him more instead of sending him from all the way back (he seems to lose some of his forward impulsion when there are other people around but I'm sure this will change as he gains confidence in his task). Towards the end we tried putting a regular ball on the ledge and darn his nose, he could tell the difference so we will have to work on that. Due to various circumstances, Walter's next practice won't be until mid-November.
Began the day by putting the treat ball on the ground a metre or so in front of the box. Set him up in front of the first jump and released him and he ran all the way by himself over the four jumps, got the ball then ran back to me. The first couple of times he missed the first jump after getting the ball but corrected himself in time for the remaining three jumps, but on his third try he did all of the jumps: an independent full run, just without the box! ;-) Later on when everyone arrived we put the treat ball on the ledge and I now had to run with him more instead of sending him from all the way back (he seems to lose some of his forward impulsion when there are other people around but I'm sure this will change as he gains confidence in his task). Towards the end we tried putting a regular ball on the ledge and darn his nose, he could tell the difference so we will have to work on that. Due to various circumstances, Walter's next practice won't be until mid-November.
Saturday, October 7, 2006
Saturday October 7th 2006 - team practice (TTH)
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Great news: Walter is now consistently taking the magical treat ball from the ledge! Jenn suggested a brilliant idea a week ago, which is to cut a slit in a tennis ball and put treats inside, and practice having him get the ball and being fed the treats from the ball. So I've been doing that this week, and it has worked! He took the treat ball every single time today, never leaving it behind, including once when it fell off the ledge, always bringing it straight to me. The first time we put the ball on the ledge today he only put his hands on the box, so we did another warm-up turn without ball and he got all four on the box every subsequent time except one of the first attempts. We progressed to starting him from two jumps back, me following along beside him as far as the first jump, and starting from a few jumps back instead of right at the box seemed to make it easier for him. I videotaped today's session and from watching in slow-mo I can see that his earlier attempts were kind of unsure, footwork-wise, but by the end of the practice he was starting to look like a pro. He seemed to really enjoy today's practice, which was nice to see. At the next practice (which will be a couple of weeks from now) we'll start fading out the magic treat ball.
Great news: Walter is now consistently taking the magical treat ball from the ledge! Jenn suggested a brilliant idea a week ago, which is to cut a slit in a tennis ball and put treats inside, and practice having him get the ball and being fed the treats from the ball. So I've been doing that this week, and it has worked! He took the treat ball every single time today, never leaving it behind, including once when it fell off the ledge, always bringing it straight to me. The first time we put the ball on the ledge today he only put his hands on the box, so we did another warm-up turn without ball and he got all four on the box every subsequent time except one of the first attempts. We progressed to starting him from two jumps back, me following along beside him as far as the first jump, and starting from a few jumps back instead of right at the box seemed to make it easier for him. I videotaped today's session and from watching in slow-mo I can see that his earlier attempts were kind of unsure, footwork-wise, but by the end of the practice he was starting to look like a pro. He seemed to really enjoy today's practice, which was nice to see. At the next practice (which will be a couple of weeks from now) we'll start fading out the magic treat ball.
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