Members doing flyball

dat123

Experienced Member
I know there are a few on the DTA doing flyball, I was just curious on how long it took to get your dog doing a full run and getting into competition ?

I'm training my young boy, Talin to compete in flyball. He has learnt very quickly and should be in our next competition in mid-may.

Also interested in what methods you have used to teach your dog. It seems to be many.
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
I'm so envious. :dogtongue: Our ONLY dog club is pretty snooty...they literally stick their noses up to flyball and disc. Surprisingly enough though, all other sports are acceptable. o-0 I've had several reputable trainers/competitors tell me they've offered to volunteer for the semi-non-profit group and were rudely turned down. If I wanted to travel to Colorado(at least 8 hrs away) every chance for competition, then I'm more than welcome to...but no thank you. o-o No time, nor money, to do that.

But anyway...I've read up on a few things for flyball training. Having any problems or scoping out methods?

Not sure how quickly the average dog gets the full run down...but a trainer friend of mine had her dog doing the run(not in competition, just solo practice) flawlessly in a matter of minutes. If Zekers could get the box mastered quickly there's no doubt in my mind he could easily pick it up competition-quality in a few days. Trainer friend has talked about starting a flyball club here and I told her I'd be thrilled to go into it with her. I know there's tons of people here who would dive into it because there's no other group here. Hoping that gets somewhere, but we'll see.
 

stormi

Well-Known Member
Breeze was doing full runs in her first lesson. Sure, she could be a bit tidier on the box, but she was fairly quick. I think it helped that already understood running in straight lines/sendaway/recall and had a solid retreive, so I didn't have to teach her very much. I just went up to the box and got her to hand-follow a few times over the box to desensitize her to the noise/movement; she wasn't particularly bothered especially when she then realised tennis balls were involved!

Unfortunately due to time/finances I wasnt able to compete with her, but during her first lesson she was asked to go onto the competition team. But...like I said she was a fairly experienced dog in other sports, so it was more a case of adaptation for her than learning something new.
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Lol, not in West Texas...in my town it's actually looked down on by the ONE dog club here. Ugh. But fortunately I know several knowledgable dog owners/trainers who are seriously considering starting a flyball club. So...we'll see!!

To join a club and train regularly, I'd rather not travel 3-6 hours away....I can't afford it. If I had a club to train with HERE, then I'd be willing to travel for competitions. But we don't have one here. :(
 

hannahb_patch_faith

Well-Known Member
hey guys, i compete in flyball in the uk and this weekend is the bfa championships. I have 3 dogs who compete in flyball and i have a really big intrest in it so any questions about training feel fee to ask.
 

cindyv

New Member
I am starting to compete in flyball with one of my dogs, but the other seems pretty distracted getting to the ball. Coming back he is great - I would like to build a training box for home, does anyone have any instructions?
 

flydogz

New Member
I've been competing in flyball since 1994 and have improved and developed ways of teaching flyball. I started my dogs at 8 weeks by just walking them on the box and doing occasional recalls on the flat.

None of my dogs did a full run over jumps until they were a year old, but they did it with no problems. They also progressed to open competition with no problems.

They have excellent boxes and we have had lots of comments about my teams dogs all having super swimmers turns!!

Don't be in a rush to get full runs or out of netting, the most important thing is to get reliability and a good safe turn!!!!

Good luck, have fun and watch out for getting addicted!!!!!

Steph.
 

whipple

Experienced Member
Well, I'd say about a year for most dogs to get it down, and do it correctly. Maybe less for older dogs who already know some stuff. Unless you have a whippet. Then at least two years.:dogblink:

Tx_cowgirl, have you checked for clubs with both NAFA and U-FLI? Our team is not run through a training club, as the team does strictly flyball and disc.
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
I haven't recently, no. But thanks for the tip!!

As soon as I have some time on my hands, a trainer friend and I have considered starting a club...there is certainly a lot of interest here, but just no resources. For the time being I've kind of given up on trying to get into the competition realm of any kind, as I'm working full time and going to school full time. Ugh. xP So I have no life. But, I am still keeping flyball on my to-do list, and I am trying to find all the resources on it that I can.


EDIT:
Just checked both of their club locators--nothing closer than 6 hours away. :dogsad:
 
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