Super Speedy Steve makes new friends.
Steve has been rocking the flyball lane, so last week I took him to meet a real, actual flyball team. The place where we’ve been taking classes doesn’t actually have a team yet. They’re trying to put one together from the people in their classes. They’re hoping to be up and running by next winter. At this point, Steve’s the only dog there with a reliable box turn.
And I’m sorry, but I’m not waiting until next winter to start running him.
The place where I take Steve to swim has a functional flyball team. They’re not the best of the best. They’re not a super-speedy powerhouse. But they seem to run consistently and they seem to know what they’re doing. I emailed the guy in charge and told him I have a grass green dog in need of a team and a place to learn the rest of the game, and he said come on over.
He wasn’t expecting the dog I brought.
I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to get from him. Brand new place, different flyball box, a lane with no fencing on the sides to make absolutely certain he went the right way, a line of strange people and dogs at the edge of the room.
But he was brilliant. I set him up and released him, and he zipped down the lane, did his turn correctly, snagged his ball, found the jumps without trouble or guidance, and came right back to his tug.
Very quickly.
The words “holy cow” may have been uttered by an observer.
Also, there may have been applause.
I think they liked him.
He ran a bunch more times by himself. I learned a ton about where to set him up, how to set him up, and why all of this mattered. We worked on teaching him to come back down the correct side of the jumps so that he will be in the right place when passing. Steve never slowed down, and he hit his box turn every time but once.
They are talking about him as a start dog, since he has a lot of endurance. They’re talking about him maybe running warm ups with them, and possibly even actual heats, in April.
Holy cow indeed.
I am stoked. There is still a lot for both of us to learn. He has been passing dogs in class without trouble, but they do it a bit differently here (longer distance). He’s never run with another team running next to him (my biggest concern, since he’s such a dog-chaser). But we’re set to do those things next week when we go to practice again.
I’m really hoping that he’ll do a good job for them and that they’ll have a place for him on their team, and that he’ll be able to run for real at the next tournament. How amazing would that be?
This little dog can be the most frustrating creature on the planet, but gosh is he good at flyball. I’m so proud of him. And I’m proud of that freaking box turn!
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Siren's Shiitake Happens Couch-Holder-Downer EX
Puppy Steve FDX
Steve is going to be the flyball champion of the world! GO STEVE!!!
Go Steve!!!
congratulations, you must feel so proud right now! I don’t know much about flyball but am considering trying it with Vito when he grows a brain around tennis balls. it might be awhile :)
Awesome! WTG Steve!
Glad the team is going to make sure he has practice experience with a team in the other lane. We’re curing Levi of a crossing over problem and it’s been a lot of work!
Y’all don’t have U-Fli out there do you? Singles racing can be a great experience for a green dog since there’s less insanity out there.
Yay Steve!
I’m so excited you found his passion!
i do have some cautions for you. (not that i’m not super excited for you and steve!)
i’ve been playing flyball for 4 years now (with our pit bull Frances, our lab Greyhound Hank and debuting our baby pit bull Levi in April). Frances was our first flyball dog, she was great at practice and a whz in the lanes, but the team never practiced with another dog in the other lane. we debuted frances, and she FLIPPED OUT totally freaked. we pulled her from competition and it took us antother year of training to get to the point where she could compete.
With Hank, he is such a happy go lucky guy, the club put him on a team long before he was ready (b/c he was fast) and we have spent the last 2 years fixing bad habits.
With our baby, he’s been training for a little over a year and he will debut in April. We made sure that from day 1 he worked side by side with another dog so that it was never a suprise. we have worked slowly and methodically with him to make sure when he enters the ring he is 100% ready.
I guess what i am trying to say is, don’t let a club pressure you into competing unless you feel like you and him are going to be sucessfull. and please please please make sure you practice with another dog! it seems easy, but that’s where many a dog has lost it!
and remember, flyball is really really fun and addicting! have a blast and let steve be the freak he was born to be! i cannot wait to hear how he does!
Leslie
Oakland CA
Leslie- thanks for the advice!! Racing with a dog in the other lane is my big question mark with him. I am really curious to see how it will go. We’ve done parallel games with him in a CU setting and we did parallel games at class, but they were more of a “passing” type game (recalls in opposite directions, recalls past a dog who is running with his handler, stuff like that).
On one hand, he has a lot of trouble ignoring other dogs in agility; on the other, he’s a completely different dog at flyball. He does great at targeting his ball and targeting his tug and ignoring what happens in the middle, but so far what has happened in the middle hasn’t been that stimulating.
Tracy– we don’t have U-Fli, which is kind of a bummer because singles sounds like a ton of fun.
Congratulations to you and to Steve. It’s great he turned out to be so good at it. We look forward to reading all about his trophies/ribbons in the future :)