Jump to content
Dogomania

Fly Ball?


Guest Anonymous

Recommended Posts

Guest Anonymous

I've been checking out Fly Ball lately. I've always been a bit interested in it, but Hazel was a Pure Agility Dog.
Coal on the other hand, while he seems he'll do just great at Agility, I was thinking of getting him into Fly Ball too. Now I know he's still young, and can't do any jumping for a while yet, but it doesn't hurt to look into it eh?
I found this website: [url]http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/8411/[/url] and it seems to be the nearest sort of thing around here... although I'm still searching. But it looks outdated :o I don't know if it's not up and running anymore? Or maybe the website moved? It also seems to be more focused on Agility then fly ball...
But yeah...
Does anyone here participate with their dogs in Fly Ball? Any helpful hints?
How do I know if my dog's a fly ball dog?
He sure loves tenis balls, I'm sure that's a great hint! :lol:
I know there's a team that represents Prince George, they came here for the Agility Demo before, but I don't remember what their thing was called :-?
Ooo, found a website about Kim, she's and her Sheltie are really good at agility... and it's talking about "Pawsitive Steps", my friend is going there this summer to learn how to teach Agility... ANYWAY *Stay focused Shara!*... Flyball... :wink: :roll:
Hmm... well, any info would be great! THANKS!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually participate in flyball and have my own team.

Go to [url]www.flyballdogs.com[/url] (flyball homepage) and [url]www.flyball.org[/url] (North American Flyball Association--which includes Canada)

There are links that will help you find a team in your area.

Coal is too young for full out flyball training but you can do some little things. But some of the best flyball dogs are trained as puppies and use "puppy jumps".

They only work for a couple minutes a day on basic stuff. Instead of using jumps, you use something about an inch high and teach your dog to jump it on command. Then you add a second, third, fourth....You want to keep them at a distance that your dog will only hit the groud once in between jumps...as your dog gets older you can increase the distance.

Play chase games. This means that Coal chases you. Have someone hold Coal and you start running away, that person let's Coal go, you keep running until he catches you. When he catches you, you reward him (By the way this helps build a fast recall/come command). My preference is a nice game of tug. In flyball, the dog coming to the tug is usually better than coming to food.

In time, you can add the 1 inch jumps to the game. Set up a jump, someone hold Coal, you call him over the jump, when they release Coal, you run from him until he catches you, then reward....

What makes a good flyball dog. A handler that works hard and wants to succeed. You need patience. Technically a ball obsessed dog is not needed. My mini poodle hates balls but loves flyball. Any dog can learn to play, it just takes longer to train some. Some dogs will be in training for years and some for a few weeks. If you are serious about wanting to play flyball, contact a local club and check things out. They can help you start puppy training.

So is this more than you wanted to know.

As you can tell, I am obsessed by flyball. I love it and my 3 dogs also love it. We are working on a new website but you can check out [url]www.ok9s.com[/url] to see a couple of my dogs (Foster, Charlotte and Aspen). The updated site should be up soon and will have the same page name.

If you have any other questions, you can email me offlist at [email][email protected][/email] and I will try and answer your questions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

Thanks!

But, I was talking to a friend today, and she was saying how she's completely against Flyball because it causes health problems. She said it can give them a lot of problems with their hips and sholders because they hit the spring box with such force, and I know labs are prone to hip displaysia, so this worries me... :-?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Flyball is no more dangerous to a dogs joints than agility or frisbee.

If you are concerned talk to some vets including the ones that specialize in orthopedics. Get some advice from them.

My dogs have more injuries playing ball in the yard or running through the woods than they have playing flyball.

We have a dog on our team that has severe hip dysplasia. When we are active in flyball he has less problems than when he is out. His muscles atrophy during the offseason. He also had ACL surgery a couple years ago. He is better off playing flyball than doing nothing.

There are many dogs out there that play agility, frisbee and flyball that have problems with their joints and many of them are better off staying active.

I am not saying play or not to play but you should get facts from the vets before listening to a friend. There is a huge controversy between agility folks and flyball folks. Agility-only folks will say how bad flyball is for a dog. In my eyes, agility and flyball are actually not the cause of joint problems unless they are taught incorrectly or if the dog is predispositioned to the problems.

If you are interested in flyball, do your research. Talk to some flyball people in your area, talk to vets, etc...get the real scoop not opinions.

As is the case many times, the above is only my opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our public library had a celebration on Memorial Day and there were dogs doing flyball...I've always wanted Duck to do agility and flyball, but my mom was like, what's wrong with Duck right now? Isn't she happy enough already?My mom just doesn't get the fact that there are sports for dogs and they should be able to have fun too..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

Yeah, I know what you mean about the "Agility-Only" people. :roll: My friend is DEFFENTLY one of them! I just never heard of it before (and figured if it was true, how could Flyball be so popular!? :o ) So that's why I figured I'd ask about it here...
Quite frankly, I HATE my vet. He has no feelings, I swear, and is just plain creepy :o But he's the closest vet around, and he's an hour away. If I tried to convince my parents to take Coal to the vet in PG (two hours away) if an emergancy happened, I'm even MORE sure he wouldn't get taken there!! :x :evil: But... my parents seem to like Coal a LOT more then Hazel :evil: :roll: , So I can't be too sure about it...
I've been searching for some "local" (PG :roll: ) people who do it, but can't find any!!! :o That's what I hate about living here!!!
Plus, if I did get into it, I wouldn't exactlly be able to join a team, or make one up, since there's no one who does it around here... I'm thinkin maybe I should just stick to Agility :-? I can do that in my back yard, and don't have to worry about the whole team thing... plus I know a lot of people who play in Agility, and I know a lot of the people who organize the Ominica Area for AAC... so... yeah...
Thanks though!! Your information was very helpful!! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...