2012-01-27 Luxo

Trying to send from a distance, without running all the way to the box.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Luxo flyball training

[Sirelroka]

If I had Wixer to do over again I wouldn't use a nose touch at all. I would train a paw target and then tape it to a horizontal board and then start moving it up the wall. I wouldn't add a ball in until he was bouncing off the wall while STILL hitting that paw target (I think having him get the ball and hit the paw target while he was figuring it all out would be too much to think about and I wouldn't get enough success to be able to really shape it). Did that make sense?

[flyball4mdh]

@Sirelroka Yes, thank you!

[Sirelroka]

To try to avoid this with Crowe we are using a foot target (I used a nose target with Wixer) for him to hit on the other side of the jump board, and we are using a 10" jump board with pool noodle bumper on top to keep him up, its pretty darn tall. So far I'm super excited about what Crowe is doing. Not on the box yet, just a slant board, but he's just about to add the ball into the picture.

[flyball4mdh]

@Sirelroka Ok, so let me ask - would you train this with just a nose touch first (getting the turn), or if they will retrieve a ball use the ball (and start the board on the ground and move it up)?

[Sirelroka]

The main thing that I think is wrong with Wixer's turn is that he puts his feet too far from the ball hole.  This means that he's stretching out his neck for the ball and I believe that translates into a lack of rotation/snappiness. I think you might run into the same thing with Luxo with this. I would worry less about getting away from the box and more about getting a turn you are head over heels in love with.

[minimalwhite]

IMO he is WAYYY too low, and you are ingraining a turn that does not incorporate the mechanics of reaching for a ball. I would get a bigger jump board, maybe add a paw target, and get him retrieving a ball. I always add a ball before i move back because the ball is an integral part of the "game" of the box, and I dont move back until I have the "picture" that I want (accuracy).