- Get a large cone, or make something that
represents the same type of obstacle. We use a cone that is about 2
feet tall at first. Teach the dog to go around the cone, on the flat
and in the open. You can lure with food, a tug, a toy, whatever.
When the dog rounds the cone, throw the item BEHIND you so the dog learns to
DRIVE around the cone. Example...if you are teaching the dog to go
around the cone clockwise, face the box with the lure. Use your LEFT
HAND, extended from your body as if you were giving an agility direction,
with the lure, and get the dog to go around the cone. Then slowly fade
the lure further and further away. Use your LEFT FOOT to step toward
the box, and then pivot around to face away from the box when you throw the
lure. Of course this would all be opposite if the dog turns
counter-clockwise. When you can send the dog around the cone from
about 5 feet away, you are ready for the next step. Sometimes this
step will take two 5-minute sessions, other times it can take a few days.
Using clicker when the dog drives around the cone is good too, but I have
had more success with my dogs just luring and throwing.
- Now you can move the cone into a corner,
someplace with good footing like a carpeted hallway etc. Leave just
enough room for the dog to get around the cone, and keep practising until
you see the dog doing a real tight turn around the cone. A few days to
a week will get a physical memory going.
- Next you would get the box and two
"walls" of some sort. Gates or plywood panels work well.
Set it up so that the "walls" angle off right next to the box,
creating a sort of chute so the dog cannot do a wide turn. Even people
standing there will work, broad jump boards, whatever...we even used those
three-fold chaise lounges, which worked perfectly. We set them up on
their sides, beside the box. Whatever you've got that will block the
dog from going wide. Then place the cone in front of the box with just
enough room for the dog to get around it without touching the box.
Practice, practice, practice. IGNORE any attempts for the dog to
trigger the box, if they already know how. Just reinforce going around
the cone. Make sure it stays tight around the cone.
- After the dog is doing #4 really well, you
gradually start inching the cone back toward the box. HUGE PRAISE for
getting a foot or two on the box...usually it's their back feet at first.
Inch the cone back until it is touching the box, and in almost no time, you
will see the dog starting to bank off the box with all four feet. DO
THIS FOR A LONG TIME BEFORE PROCEEDING TO THE NEXT STEP. Make sure the
dog is banking off the box the same way, every time, many times (like for a
week or more, twice a day, every day, in short training sessions).
- Next get a jump and place it right against the
box, with the cone in front of the jump. Send your dog just as you
always have. Be close enough so that the dog can see the jump has been
installed. Initially everything will go to hell. With some dogs,
you can start with an 8-inch jump, but with others you may need to use a
very low (2-3 inches) jump to start. Keep doing the "around the
cone" routine until you see that the dog has developed the habit of
jumping onto the box and coming around the cone. If you are teaching
large dogs, at this point you may need to move to a smaller cone/obstacle so
that they can physically do this. You may find that the dogs don't
recognize the smaller cone as the same thing, and you may need to go back to
some "go around the cone on the flat" exercises. Doesn't
take too long, usually a few reps and they get it.
- After the dog is doing #6 well, and has done
many reps in exactly the same way, you can start putting a ball on the ledge
of the box and asking for them to get it with the turn. Don't expect a
huge retrieve; if they grab it, then drop it, that's ok at first.
You just want them to be able to do the turn + be able to not fumble the
ball during it. After they are doing that well, start loading the box.
Expect bobbles and weird turns, just reinforce the good stuff and pretty
soon the physical memory that you have helped to build will kick in.
- After you get the dog retrieving the ball well
around the cone, reliably and with the same body movements every time, you
can remove the cone. Initially the dog will act funny and the
turn/ball retrieve may fall apart. Go back to luring the dog into the
proper motions, without the cone present, and no ball. Some dogs will
strongly associate the cone with the turn, and will need lots of help at
this stage to understand that they can do the same motion without the cone
present.
- Now, you have a roughly shaped good flyball
turn. It's wider than it should be, and probably the dog pauses
slightly on the box, allowing the lever to trigger while grabbing the ball.
The next set of exercises is designed to remove the pause and get the dog
"snapping" off the box.
_______________________________________________________________________________
*the exercises listed below can be used with a dog
that already has a pretty good turn but is slow on the box. If your dog
is getting 2-3 feet on the box already, you can do this right away. You
need THREE PEOPLE to work your dog in the exercise below.
- Place a jump in front of the box. With a
dog that has had a bad turn before, use an 8 inch jump. If the dog has
a reasonable turn already, use a lower height. The jump needs to be
placed according to the dog...bigger dogs need to have the jump about
6"-1' away, smaller dogs less. You want them to be forced to jump
it, not run up to the box and trigger it with two feet on the lever and back
feet behind the jump. If the jump is too close, many dogs will choose
to do this.
- One person is loading box. One person is
the dog's owner/handler. Another person needs to be there to restrain
and release the dog.
- Below you will see the "setup"
illustrated. Please be kind and don't laugh too hard at my limited
understanding of Paint Shop Pro! There should be a boxloader
behind that box...I just couldn't deal with drawing another blue
person. From right to left is the restrainer/helper, the dog (ha!) and
the owner/handler of said "dog." Then there's a jump (red)
and of course the box.
-
Now...here's the fun part.
The handler is standing beside the box, getting ready to take
off. The restrainer is a key role, as the handler will take
their cue of when to take off VERBALLY from the restrainer. The
restrainer will say, "On your mark, get set, GO." The
handler takes of at full speed, yelling the dog's name, without a backward
glance on "get set." This is VERY IMPORTANT. The
handler will take off PRIOR to the dog being released toward the box.
The dog will be released on "go." The boxloader's job
is to watch the dog's actions and let the handler know if the dog has gone
to the box or has turned and raced back toward the handler. If the dog
does not go to the box, simply ignore and go back, start over. You
want the dog to go to the box, get the ball or at least attempt to, and turn
and take off toward his rapidly disappearing handler. All of this
should be done ON THE FLAT. The boxloader should watch to see if
the dog is, indeed, rabidly snapping off the box. Don't proceed
until the dog is snapping quickly off the box to catch the handler.
***Before proceeding to the next
step, you should have already trained your dog to reliably do restrained recalls
over jumps, away from the box.
-
Next, the restrainer should
release the dog from behind the first jump, and then move the heck out of
the way so that hopefully the dog can get into the lane of jumps and race
back over them. You can start with one or two jumps, or all four
depending on how your dog is doing on getting into the lane. Proceed
back until the restrainer is releasing the dog from behind the last
jump. The handler should adjust their positioning so that they
can beat the dog back over the jumps, and this depends on the dog and
handler.
***please note...this method is something we have
figured out on our own, with help and advice from several people currently doing
flyball. THANK YOU to those who took the time to let us pick their brains
at tournaments. I am not saying this is "the way" to do it, or even
the "best way" to do it. It has worked for me and my compadres.
If you know of something different that might make this easier, please
write
me!
***another note...jumping the four hurdles is
totally different and you can work on those skills/restrained recalls over jumps
while teaching the turn. Don't try putting the boxwork and the jumping
together until both are perfect.
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