GoldenCollie Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 Meg is enrolled in Flyball. She is only 15 weeks old, so she is of course, still to young! However, I take her along to visit the class every couple of weeks to get used to the sounds, other dogs and people etc. The trainers say she can start at 5 months old if i wish. Starting off with small jumps and learning to catch the tennis ball etc. I am just wondering, do you think this is to young? I don't want her to get injured or damage her joints or hips. But the trainers said that the majority of the dogs at their flyball classes started at 5/6 months old. Whats your views on this? And if your dog does flyball, what age did he or she begin at? Would really appreciate some advice. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheRuffMuttGang Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 I just had a massively long, very detailed reply to this written when I pressed some wrong button on my keyboard and the whole window closed! I will have to get back to this later...sorry!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Nichols Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 I think you can start a puppy early on some of the flyball skills. We taught a flyball foundation class for puppies and older dogs who needed work to develop their drive. We did lots of tugging & ball drive work. We set up lanes with jumps & without jumps and practiced drag racing next to each other. For younger puppies, I had them go through the lane without jumps. I probably wouldn't be actually jumping a puppy as young as yours very much or at all, but there are tons of flyball type exercises you can do with your pup until he is old enough. Spring Loaded has two video/DVDs out that have some great ideas to do with puppies and dogs new to flyball. They are pretty reasonably priced and are available at www.blendedplanet.com Good luck! Dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 Debbie, you coming back to this? I'd like to hear your answer, please. Alex has started a little flyball. He's 7 months old. I don't let him do the jumps (other than walk over them), but what about box work? He's not hitting it hard, by any means. We're just trying to learn the movement of the turn. (does that make sense?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheRuffMuttGang Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 Oooh, I hope I didn't sound like I thought Dana's response wasn't a good one! I just wanted to hear from you *also* Debbie. No offense at all to Dana. So, if he can do low jumps, I assume there's nothing wrong with box work. Cool. Yes, I'm definitely tugging with Alex. Lilly is only food motivated, and I won't make that same mistake with Alex! Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 I also see nothing wrong with starting at 5/6 months of age. I usually start my dogs at 5/6 months. I only work them for a couple minutes a couple times a week until they are about 8 months old. I spend more time on boxwork than on jumps since I prefer a really nice boxturn. I start with a board and then move to a box as soon as a the dog has a turn. I usually place the board against a box to help with the transition. Once the board lies flat against the box, I take the board away. This is usually a pretty quick transition. Once they have a turn on the box I either place the ball on the ledge or use velcro. I keep all props in for months and months so they can never do it wrong. Once they are keeping a reliable turn and getting the ball off the ledge/velcro I will then work on triggering the box with the ball in the whole. I will usually go back and forth for a couple weeks unless it is obvious bobbling is not an issue. All my dogs pretty much know the full course by 8-9 months of age even though they may only get about 15-30 minutes total of work a week. I do box training at home and jumps at practice (always with gating for a green dog). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheRuffMuttGang Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 We work jumps early on and begin boxwork around 7-9mos old, depending on when the dog is ready. Kim's method is a pretty good one for training boxwork. Really work on getting the dog on and off of the box quick! Not only do you want a 4-footed turn, but you want a FAST turn. Here is a video of my 3.8s dog, Mojo (near lane). In the 2nd little set of runs he is running 2nd and is being run by a teammate. He was preparing for Nationals and I wasn't going to be able to go (he broke a toenail and he didn't get to go anyway). http://video.tinypic.com/player.php?v=42sv9e8 As far as those props in front of the box go--we use them for the entire career of the dog. You never want to allow your dog to get lazy. As long as they always practice what is right, they'll perform what is right when you go to a tournament. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Nichols Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Debbie, Do you run with Texas Heat? I just love them! They've come up for our tournaments in Colorado several times. I almost felt like they adopted me when I went down to their Spring Loaded seminar in Dallas a few years ago and we've been friends ever since. : ) Dana P.S. I'm a "she" : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheRuffMuttGang Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Yes, I run with Texas Heat. I didn't come up to CO last summer (no vacation time) though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
border_collie_crazy Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 depends on the club, Misty started training at 7 1/2 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyn T Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Team Springloaded (World record holders) has GREAT videos for training drive and desire. They start puppies at 8 weeks building drive. Go to their website www.springloaded-flyball.com and on the left column is the link for the training videos. Ignore the fact the videos are short... there is a lot of information in each one. View over and over to get the most outof them. If you ever have a chance to go to one of their clinics, go... Angie and Lee are great. Just be careful you know what you are getting into.... the dogs can easily become flyball maniacs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Debbie is correct. You can start puppy training skills as soon as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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