How To Train Your Dog For Flyball: Part 2 TUG TIME

Alright everyone! So your dog can catch the ball about 80%-90% of the time. Which is fantastic. The next step will be a little tricky to explain and teach, but it's a very important piece in the training of Flyball. So let's see if we can get through this with the least amount of confusion.

Now that your dog can catch the ball, you would think its time to move onto the jumps. Nope. Not yet. The next step is to train your dog to come running back to you at full force without wondering off and here's how we do this.

It takes two people, you and your helper. Your helper is going to take your dog and stand holding him back (like the picture above) right behind the start line. Now you should be standing about 1/2 way the run track holding a tug, Frisbee, treat, or ball, etc. or whatever else your dog may like. Your dog should be facing away from the jumps and box and looking straight at you.

Now that you guys are in position, you call your dog's name and take off running full force, holding the reward in your left hand and down at the dogs level while you running at a slight angle to the right. DO NOT LOOK BACK AT YOUR DOG! That last part is very important. When you look back, you slow down which in turn can make your dog slow down or you could trip.Below is a picture of how this should work.

See how the person is running away from the dog while calling his name and holding the reward down. Do not stop running till your dog reaches you. Once he does, reward him a lot. Let him know how happy you are and get him hyped up to go again and again and again. I was able to run Rascal 13 times with only a 5 minute break between half of those. That's how excited he needs to be. You need to pump him up a lot and then charge!

After this, if he continues to do everything right, move him back a foot at a time till he's behind the first jump (your jump should be set at the lowest height for now). Then you train him like you have been without the jumps and slowly keep moving him back. Some dogs grasp this concept really fast and others take longer. Take your time and train him right. It's worth not having to go back and retrain. Old habits are extremely hard to break.

Here's another picture. If you have more questions then please comment below. I will be glad to answer any questions. Have a great day everyone!!!

P.S. The dog should not be carrying the ball back over the jumps at this time. The only time you need a ball is when working on ball work or as a reward.

NEXT:  How To Train Your Dog For Flyball: Part 3 BOX WORK

Goodbye My Dearest One :(

There will be no more Countdown To Christmas, or any more training posts, or anything really. My baby boy was hit and killed by a car tonight. I'm in pieces over this. He has been my life for three years now and I'm not sure what I will do without him. I'm trying to keep it together, but it's not working. He was the one I hugged when I cried and no there is no Rascal to hug. This is the most heartbroken thing ever for me and I'm pretty sure that this will never heal. No dog or animal will ever be able to replace Rebels Red Rascal. He is the best, was the best, and will forever be the best dog in the whole world. There will never be another one like him. The Aussie breed has lost a great dog this evening. Rascal stood for everything Aussie. And he is sorely missed by everyone. I will miss the way he attacked the wheelbarrows, the way he was obsessed with squeaky toys, the way he tryed to break the door down to get outside when he saw the treat bag, the way he danced around when you said "flyball" or "Mille Mae". I even miss the gas problems he was having. Rascal will forever be in my heart always and for ever more. I love you, Squeaky!!!!

The Fantastic 4

Well, now that it has finally cooled off some, we have been able to get back to training the dogs for flyball. We have had two meetings so far and in that time, we have worked on box turns, fallen jumps, and have picked our team/group name. As you guys probably know, we were once called Puppy Play Group and then Canines For Christ, but since we have decided to just do flyball, we needed a name that would reflect on what we were as a flyball team. So after a discussion, thinking of names, and drawing from a hat, we picked "The Fantastic 4".

Now that I'm leading things up, I'm hoping things will get done and hopefully Rascal and Millie Mae will be ready to compete at the Raleigh tournament in January with the Fayetteville Freedom Flyers.

We also have the four dogs that we need in order to have a full team. We have Rascal, Millie Mae, Amber, and Peppe, but it will be sometime next year before Amber and Peppe are ready to compete and we sill need two more dogs as back ups.

Hopefully, sometime soon, we will have business cards, fliers, a website, and money to buy a new box and a set of new jumps. So, right now things are running smoothly.

I should have pirctures and info next week to post, so you will be able to meet everyone on the team. I will also be posting training videos and starting up the "How to Train Your Dog for Flyball" post series again.

I hope you guys enjoy hearing about our adventures on the track. Please let me know how your training is going and give me any kind of feedback on my post or blog. We would love to hear from you all.

Have a great day!

Paw Jam

May 2, I volunteered at the annual Paw Jam. Paw Jam is where different Rescue Groups, Humane Societies, Training Facilities, and Dog Bakeries come to raise money for Rescue Groups. So I volunteered from 10 to 1 o'clock and then I walked Rascal around. But first things first.

My sister, bookwormans, and I left home with Rascal at 9:30 a.m. and arrived at 10 a.m. We walked around for about 45 minutes because my shift started at 11 a.m. Rascal was calm, but sort of hesitant. Rascal got a new tennis ball and squeaky toy from Petsmart. Rascal made friends with a deaf Great Dane puppy named Einstein.

At 11 o'clock I went to the park entrance where I was to sell tickets to get in. My sister watched Rascal while I worked the entrance. I saw so many different breeds of dogs that I can hardly remember them all. I met up with Snoopy, a Dalmatian mix (I walked Snoopy when he was at the Humane Society for a 4-H volunteer day).

Rascal meets Snoopy.

Me and Snoopy.

After my shift my sister and I grabbed some lunch and walked around some more. I bought a Paw Jam T-shirt and at 2:30 p.m. we left for home. I had alot of fun and I know that I will be doing it again next year. Rascal had fun and I had fun. And I think those are two very good reasons to go next year. Don't you?

Here's Rascal and me with Reese and Roo.