(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Seems to be working - Walter brought the regular ball all the way! Didn't do a lot though because it was warm and the mosquitoes were coming out.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Tuesday May 22nd 2007 - home practice
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
I have a gut feeling (or perhaps a desperate hope? :-) that I may finally have found the trick for getting Walter to bring the regular ball! The idea popped into my head this weekend at the Trenton tournament watching a dog whose tug sends her too far over the top so she's rewarded by playing tug with the ball. Well, Walter loves to play fetch with tennis balls, and he enjoys tugging, so I put two and two together and decided to try putting away the treat ball; instead, his reward for taking the ball is we will play tug with it. So yesterday and again earlier today I grabbed some gloves and we played tug with a tennis ball away from the flyball equipment. Like any game of tug he enjoyed it; the hard part is figuring out how best for me to get a grip on the ball without getting my fingers dented by his teeth! This evening I put the normal ball in the unsprung hole and he was bringing the ball all the way to me, and he seemed to be having a lot more fun! The first few "turns" he cheated but then I backed him up all the way to the kitchen and he was doing the turn again, though still pausing mid-way. Can't wait for team practice to work on this some more.
I have a gut feeling (or perhaps a desperate hope? :-) that I may finally have found the trick for getting Walter to bring the regular ball! The idea popped into my head this weekend at the Trenton tournament watching a dog whose tug sends her too far over the top so she's rewarded by playing tug with the ball. Well, Walter loves to play fetch with tennis balls, and he enjoys tugging, so I put two and two together and decided to try putting away the treat ball; instead, his reward for taking the ball is we will play tug with it. So yesterday and again earlier today I grabbed some gloves and we played tug with a tennis ball away from the flyball equipment. Like any game of tug he enjoyed it; the hard part is figuring out how best for me to get a grip on the ball without getting my fingers dented by his teeth! This evening I put the normal ball in the unsprung hole and he was bringing the ball all the way to me, and he seemed to be having a lot more fun! The first few "turns" he cheated but then I backed him up all the way to the kitchen and he was doing the turn again, though still pausing mid-way. Can't wait for team practice to work on this some more.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Thursday May 17th 2007 - supplementary outdoor team practice
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Walter did well with bringing a low-value-treat ball to me.
Walter did well with bringing a low-value-treat ball to me.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Wednesday May 16th 2007 - home practice
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Walter has been doing his pause-turns for a regular ball at home this week, bringing the ball almost all the way to me.
Walter has been doing his pause-turns for a regular ball at home this week, bringing the ball almost all the way to me.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Saturday May 5th 2007 - Team practice
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Started with recalls past 4 or 5 dogs lined up, no problems. For today's boxwork session we alternated between treat ball and no ball, about 7 or 8 turns in total. The turn was fine with no ball but he was hesitating mid-turn when the ball was there the way he did last week. Darn these dogs with good memory! but once he realizes we're not trying to trick him I think his flowing turn will come back.
Started with recalls past 4 or 5 dogs lined up, no problems. For today's boxwork session we alternated between treat ball and no ball, about 7 or 8 turns in total. The turn was fine with no ball but he was hesitating mid-turn when the ball was there the way he did last week. Darn these dogs with good memory! but once he realizes we're not trying to trick him I think his flowing turn will come back.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Saturday April 28th 2007 - Team practice
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
It became clear today that Walter is really, really taking his time to sniff the ball before deciding if he'll pick it up or not. (treat ball = pick it up and carry it; regular ball = maybe pick it up, maybe not, and if he does he'll only hold it for a second before spitting it out) He puts his hands on the box, pauses to sniff the ball before he picks it up, then hops his feet onto the box to finish the turn. Seeing as this alternating between treat ball and regular ball isn't having the desired effect, we're going to only use the treat ball for several sessions. Only when he's got that part down will we gradually and slowly introduce a regular ball.
It became clear today that Walter is really, really taking his time to sniff the ball before deciding if he'll pick it up or not. (treat ball = pick it up and carry it; regular ball = maybe pick it up, maybe not, and if he does he'll only hold it for a second before spitting it out) He puts his hands on the box, pauses to sniff the ball before he picks it up, then hops his feet onto the box to finish the turn. Seeing as this alternating between treat ball and regular ball isn't having the desired effect, we're going to only use the treat ball for several sessions. Only when he's got that part down will we gradually and slowly introduce a regular ball.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Saturday April 21st 2007 - U-Fli (Carp Curling Hall)
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Walter kept us company at Lucy's U-Fli tournament today, which was the first time both dogs were crated (as opposed to staying in the car) at an event and it actually went quite well. To prevent a day-long barkfest their tarps were placed so as to block their views of each other, and both dogs were quite quiet. Also, he settled nicely when brought inside the building a few times.
Walter kept us company at Lucy's U-Fli tournament today, which was the first time both dogs were crated (as opposed to staying in the car) at an event and it actually went quite well. To prevent a day-long barkfest their tarps were placed so as to block their views of each other, and both dogs were quite quiet. Also, he settled nicely when brought inside the building a few times.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Thursday April 18th 2007 - home practice
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Have had the box at home this week. Haven't had to use the treat ball at all; he's bringing a normal ball back from the ledge consistently. The problem is without much room to get up any speed, he often cheats the turn.
Have had the box at home this week. Haven't had to use the treat ball at all; he's bringing a normal ball back from the ledge consistently. The problem is without much room to get up any speed, he often cheats the turn.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Saturday April 14th 2007 - Team practice
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
Some more work with the treat ball and one jump. To prevent him from dropping the treat ball like a kong to make the treats fall out, I put one big piece of treat inside instead of a bunch of small ones and wouldn't give him a treat from my bait bag until the ball was in my hand so he'd still associate the ball with a treat as much as possible. A few times we snuck in a normal ball and he picked it up every time, but he dropped it sooner than he would drop the treat ball. Next practice, we'll put the treat ball in the unsprung hole.
Some more work with the treat ball and one jump. To prevent him from dropping the treat ball like a kong to make the treats fall out, I put one big piece of treat inside instead of a bunch of small ones and wouldn't give him a treat from my bait bag until the ball was in my hand so he'd still associate the ball with a treat as much as possible. A few times we snuck in a normal ball and he picked it up every time, but he dropped it sooner than he would drop the treat ball. Next practice, we'll put the treat ball in the unsprung hole.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Saturday March 31st 2007 - Team practice
(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)
For various reasons Walter hasn't had a flyball practice in a month but he had a pretty good practice today in that when he went to fetch the treat ball from the ledge from behind one jump, he had good drive forward and didn't need me to run with him, which may just be a first. On his second set however his drive was fading, and sneaking in a regular ball didn't exactly fool him. Recalls running past Zara in the lineup area went fine.
For various reasons Walter hasn't had a flyball practice in a month but he had a pretty good practice today in that when he went to fetch the treat ball from the ledge from behind one jump, he had good drive forward and didn't need me to run with him, which may just be a first. On his second set however his drive was fading, and sneaking in a regular ball didn't exactly fool him. Recalls running past Zara in the lineup area went fine.
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