Weasel Puppy Seems To Be Getting It!

Well, Weasel seems to be getting it! She's done really well (for her) in practice last weekend, Wednesday, and then this weekend. Weasel is running down the lane to the box, getting the ball with a swimmers turn, and running back to me. She's doing very well at staying in her lane. Only a couple episodes of wiggle and lick the boxloader.

What has me really excited, though, is she is starting to compete with the dog in the other lane. Granted, it's currently manifesting by her clinging to the box, waiting for the other dog to get it's ball, then racing it back, but still! I was worried that she wouldn't get the thrill of the game. I'm glad that she's developing her competitive spirit. Though, it probably will be real annoying when she is the third dog on our team hanging out at the box waiting for the fourth dog from the opposing team. . .

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Saturday Practice

So, we finally got in a team practice yesterday. The dogs did surprisingly well, considering. My Weasel still has a bad case of puppy lick the boxloaderitis, and general ditziness, but she was able to focus on what she was doing when there was a dog in the other lane, whether that dog was ahead of or behind her. I'm still quite nervous. The eight team practices I was counting on before the next tournament have been reduced to three, if we're lucky.

She doesn't latch onto the tug at practice, though. It's very frustrating, because at home she loves it and comes crashing into it full bore. At team practice, she's completely blind to it. I tried a little bit with her when she wasn't in the lane at practice, and got some interest, but it was too distracting to the dog we were actually working to continue. I think I am just going to have to keep sneaking that in where I can. She was very intrigued with another dog's tug toy, though. The secret might be in rotating the tug toys so she thinks she's getting something new and novel.

One of my teammates likes to practice recalls by having the handler send the dog up the lane to this person, and then this person sends the dog back down the lane to this person. I didn't want Weasel to associate the person at the boxloader end of the lane with attention and praise, though. She already has problems in that area and so I insisted on having the person at the box end of the lane release her to run to me, then walking Weasel back up and handing her off to them and running back to the other end for a recall.

Spoiled One was a good boy. I think he was just so glad to be doing flyball that he was on his best behaviour. Also, we ran him last in the line up, rather than as the start dog, so he couldn't pull the inflato dog trick. Hopefully, after Wags in Arizona, we can work more on him as a start dog. I would really like to push him in that role. I believe, once we get the monster past his little passing issue, he could be a real asset that way.

Anyway, the dogs were very happy to be having team practice. I didn't get any pictures this time. Sorry.

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Boxloading

Boxloading - do you love it or hate it?

Some people think it's a boring, stupid job and they should just invent a self-loading box.

Some people find it very stressful. Everyone's always yelling at them and they can't seem to remember what hole or size of ball they should be loading.

Sometimes, if you're good at it or no one else is willing to step up, you spend your tournaments boxloading instead of running your dog (which sucks.)

Personally, I like boxloading. Maybe I'm easily entertained, but I like the challenge of getting the green dogs to pay attention to you rather than all the distracting things at a tournament. It's a good view to watch the match. It's fun to tease the dogs as they are getting ready to start - "rrrrrready? I have tennis balls - don't you want one? Are you going to come get it? Are you rrrrrrrrrreeady?" A lot of times I crack up the line judge. But it gets the dogs' attention.

Boxloading is an important part of the team. The dogs need to practice with the person who's going to be your team's boxloader. An unexpected stranger can spook many dogs. Also, if the dog is used to being teased when it's lined up at the start line, it may miss it's cue or respond differently when that routine changes. In the chaos of a tournament, a familiar voice draws the dog's attention and reminds it what it's there for. So, the person who box loads needs to practice the things they are going to do at the tournament. If they are going to encourage the dogs, do it in practice. If they are going to tease them at the start line, do it at practice. Don't consider boxloading a fill-in job.

And, if you are boxloading, don't stand there like a sack of potatoes. Tease the dogs. Try to get their attention. Call them down the lane. Cue them to hit the box. Remind them to jump on the return. Watch who faults and have the ball ready and be screaming the dog's name when it's time to rerun. It can avoid loosing several seconds while the handler tries to get a hold of the dog, pry a tug out of the dog's mouth, line it up, cue it up and release it, which can mean winning or loosing a heat. Also, you may be in the best position to see who it was who needed to rerun. If you have a voice left after the tournament, you're goldbricking.

Just my two cents' worth.

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