(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Hallelujah! Progress! I have the box at home this week so I took advantage. By the end of today's short practice session, Walter was not only picking up the treat ball from the unsprung hole but also maintaining the swimmer's turn! Really revving him up, running with him, and cueing "hit it" were key for maintaining the turn.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Saturday January 6th 2007 - Team practice
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Boy, this dead ball retrieve thing at TTH just doesn't seem to be happening! May try going back to the treat ball instead. Did some runs where I run with him to the box and back, then did the same thing as the last to run in a lineup of our house league guest, then Sammy, then Walter.
Boy, this dead ball retrieve thing at TTH just doesn't seem to be happening! May try going back to the treat ball instead. Did some runs where I run with him to the box and back, then did the same thing as the last to run in a lineup of our house league guest, then Sammy, then Walter.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Monday January 1st 2007 - Goals for 2007
(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!!
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!!
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.
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