Earlier this week I received a big manila envelope from the U-FLI flyball organization. I didn’t know what it could be, since we haven’t done flyball since last October. Well, low and behold, it was a certificate for Jet for being the fastest dog of his breed in 2011! I think this is a bit humorous because Jet is not the fastest Danish-Swedish Farmdog in U-FLI. But, the dogs have to run in singles to get a breed time. So,… Continue reading
Yeah, I’m going to be taking a break from flyball for a while. Until I retire. Which is one year, 7 months, and some odd days away. I feel bad for Chase, because flyball is his most favorite thing. And while I do enjoy it, I just can’t do as much as I’ve been doing lately. So flyball is the thing that’s going to go. I have 29 agility days planned with Jet in 2012. And he’s doing really well.… Continue reading
Well, it’s time for Jumps N Jackpots, the biggest Flyball Tournament around here for the year. Should be fun. Chase and Jet are both start dogs on their teams. I do love being start dog, even though I really don’t know why. Makes me feel important, I guess… LOL, even though other positions are just as important, if not more so. I wonder if there will be any pop displays at the tournament. Sometimes there are some limited vendors, which is nice, I like to shop for dog stuff.
This video is from practice last week. A team mate was running Chase, as we wanted to make sure the dogs had recent experience running beside another team.
The boys really do love it. Though it takes a lot of time for me to do flyball, so I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to continue with it next year. Especially since Jet is doing so well in agility, and I’ll probably be focusing on him and getting a MACH. That’s my life goal, get a MACH on a dog. Hopefully he’ll be the one!
Oh, and Levi is doing lots better, yay! He’s recovered from his latest fall and he’s walking fine, jumping off and on the bed. Hopefully he’s not going to die anytime soon.. dang I still worry. 
Last weekend Chase, Jet and myself went to Las Vegas for a flyball tournament. It was pretty fun, though busy and loud. And windy. And Saturday was too hot and Sunday was too cold.
Our teams did pretty well. Both teams placed in their divisions on Sunday. Only one team placed in their division on Saturday. But really I go because the dogs have fun, and to get points for titles. Not really for placements. 
Though I do like it when we do our best.
On Friday before the tournament, and Monday before we went home, I took the boys out to Lake Mead. Jet has never swam before, but he did this time! I was thrilled. Ignore my dumb yays on the video because I was just happy to see Jet swim.
Jet was cold after swimming, poor boy. I needed some hand dryers to warm him up. Maybe I should put a hair dryer in the van that can be powered by the van itself. Do they make such things? Hrm..
Anyway, Jet’s box turn was pretty good, I think. We barely had enough people to race dogs, box load, and shag balls, so I didn’t get any video. Bummer. I wish I did because I want to make sure Jet’s box turn is holding up good. From what I saw I think it was, but it’s hard to tell from way back in the lanes when Jet is up at the box.
Jet ran a singles of 4.6, which is good. I know he could run faster but I don’t train for speed. I train for accuracy and consistency in agility and that’s my primary goal. So I’m happy with how he is doing. Jet was start dog on his team, Chase was third dog. Chase is usually start dog so it was fun to have to pass him this time for a change. Even passing Chase had consistent 4.7 times. That’s what he usually gets starting too so that tells me that my passes were good and tight. I only early passed him I think 3 times the whole weekend so I was happy with my passing for the weekend too.
Next weekend is agility… I need to sleep for three days first, but I have to work instead!
Well we had a lot of fun! The flyball tournament went really well. Our handlers really need to work on tighter passes, or else we have to slow down our seed times, but that’s okay. The dogs had a great time most of all and that is what is most important.
Jet did awesome and I’m happy to say he had a really nice box turn. His rear end did hang once in a while but all and all he did great. The first day he got a bit over excited and crossed lanes to chase the other dog a couple of times, but he got the hang of it and the second day he was solid in his lane.
Here’s some video of the races. The first one is short, the second day is a bit longer.
Day One:
The second day has a few closeups of his box and I’m really pleased with how he’s doing. I did some slow motion of his box too.
Day Two:
I’m dead tired, as usual. And I need some blackhead removal since my skin has broken out from the hotel water. But all in all I’m doing okay, vertigo and all. LOL. I still am having some vertigo which sucks but I think it’s getting a bit better. I’m going to check out a doctor next week and see if he can help me out too.
So now it’s back to work. I’d rather be at home resting during the week, playing with the dogs during the weekends. Hopefully I can do that when I retire in a couple of years!
Well, tomorrow I leave for the flyball tournament. I’ve been having vertico for the last week, and accompanying nausea, and I’m not really feeling much better, so I hope I don’t just hate the whole weekend. I usually can push my discomfort to the back of my mind and body well enough to function, and possibly even enjoy myself, so I hope I can do that this weekend too. (Doc says I probably have a virus in my ear, whatever.)… Continue reading
And so for my ongoing quest to get Jet to have a good Flyball Box Turn, with some unconventional training, here are some more videos.
I took these last weekend at practice. I still like the idea of the bar on the box, or close to the box, for him to get up and get all four feet on the box. However, his rear end behavior still isn’t solid enough without some kind of help for him.
But he’s in a tournament next weekend, so I’ll practice with him as much as possible this week, and then next week, well, we trust in our training.
Some Box Work:
Jet Racing:
So, now it’s just up to love, luck, and training.
On my continuing quest to get Jet a better box turn, I had a new idea. Well, maybe it’s not really that new, since people use props and hovering sticks all the time. But I haven’t seen anyone put a bar directly on the box before. So this is my next attempt to get Jet to catch the ball, and use his rear on the box as well.
I like how this is working so far. I see success with him pushing off with his rear when he’s getting the ball. I think I’m going to stick with this method for a while and see what we get. I did take him to training, and I’ll get that video up too. I’m not convinced this method is holding over to the training place, but maybe if I work it every day, it’ll get stronger.
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