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Swimmers turns for flyball


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Hi, seeking advice to get a good "natural" swimmers turn for my 14 month old BC he sometimes gets up on the box but i dont want him just slamming his front legs on the box. which he seems to revert to :rolleyes:

at practice he seems to be getting it but goes wide so loses time there too

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I have often wondered if it would be possible to train the dog to hit the board, run past it as the ball is released, do a quick turn, and catch the ball on the way back. This utilises the time that the ball is in the air and would save the time it takes to turn after the ball has been caught.

Thoughts anyone?

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Others more experienced in training this will chime in, but philologus, ideally you want the dog to actually be banking on the box with all fours. The dog will capture the ball as its coming out of the hole. If it's done right the ball has little or no "air time" to burn! :D

 

Kim (2Devils) has some cool pictures of training her young JRT mix to do this. There's also lots of other sites that have pictures illustrating this technique and how to train it but I just happen to like Kim's little dog. :rolleyes: :cool:

 

I apologize for not having any help but all my dogs have either been hopeless box slammers (or tappers, in Ben's case) or have natural turns. Zhi's biggest problem is that at 7 pounds she has trouble triggering the box, even with all fours up! :D

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I train it with a jump in front of the box, the distance between the jump and the box depends on the dog, but if you use your tug(or whatever motivator you use) and have the dog follow it around, if the jump is the right distance from the box the dog has no choice but to do a swimmers turn. Happy still needs the jump in front of the box during warm ups before a race to remind her to put all 4 feet on the box. Misth as been trained this way since she was a puppy and she turns on a dime.

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If you look you will see some pics I have taken of Riot doing a swimmers turn.

 

http://photobucket.com/albums/v213/2devils/Riot/

 

I have taught him on a board that I place against the wall at different angles and I then can place the same board against the box and change the angle until it is flat against the box. I find it is easier to use a board than a shoot since many dogs have a hard time with the adjustment from shoot to box...

 

I lure the dog onto the board (with a jump is front at all times) and I throw the reward for Riot it is a ball the opposite way so he snaps off the box. For many dogs the reward can be food which is ok but I prefer tugs and second a ball. I have the dog working in front of me at all times, never letting the dog go behind me... If the dog turns left then I stand on the left - lure the dog with a U shaped motion in front of my body. With the board you can even let the board rest on the ground then place against a wall...

 

Does this make sense? I showed this to Rebecca so she can let you know if I am missing anything. I just came from flyball practice and my brain is tired

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Thanks Kim!

 

A picture is worth a thousand words! I have been trying to figure out how close the jump is supposed to be. Far enough away so that they actually hit the ground after the jump then take a step onto the board? Or close enough so that they jump the jump onto the board then jump it again to get off the board to chase the toy?

 

Olivia

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Depending on the size of the dog - I have the jump about a foot away from the jump... sometimes it will depend on the dog and if they like to "cheat"

 

When I start to add the ball which happens pretty quickly for me, I will alternate between the ball and no ball until the dog is consistantly doing a turn with the ball.

 

All the boxwork should be done within a couple feet of the box. Once the dog can do a turn with the ball, I will add the first jump from the box, then 2, etc...

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we have been trying the jump before hand, also a pole in front of the box so he has to turn around it, works fine until he is doing the full run, i might wait until after Nationals now i dont want to stuff up anything now and we only haev a month to go so will work on it over winter

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You may just be going to fast... go back to one jump, box (with jump in front) and increase jumps from there. If he looses his turn, go back to teh last jump he had with a turn and stay there awhile longer.

 

I find it easier to have a person in front of the box instead of a pole, cone etc... The person leans in with the knee to push the dog a little wider and then has to be quick about stepping back out...

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we only have a certain amount of time i can get a trainer for, as everyone is madly practicing for the next two comps, then he is back into team training where he reverts' good pics on that site SadieSasha i will see if i can get hubby to make me a box and jump to practice at home.

 

 

Love the pic of the borderjack i dream of a turn like that!!!

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