mr.coffee 364 Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 I'm thinking this is Training type stuff anyway. So, Harley has this duality thing going, the mild-mannered lazybones and the rampaging berserker. Of course it's easy to satisfy lazybones, just let a sleeping dog lie. The berserker, on the other hand, wants to do stuff. When the weather's good and I'm not totally burnt out, I'll take him out back and we'll run around the yard as fast as we can. He's faster than me, and usually has to stop and wait for me to catch up. Another of his favorite things is his tennis ball. We got him little ones at first, and he likes those too, but the normal ball is perfectly fine as far as he's concerned. So I got to thinking, and I know between the running, the ball and the hurdles in the title, you know what I'm thinking. Flyball. Unfortunately, nobody Flyballs here. Nobody Flyballs anywhere close to here. So if I want to see Harley try it, it's gonna have to start with me and him. Anybody here got any info on building hurdles and boxes? Then there's the other side of things, I want to try him out with silly stuff like weave poles, hoops and tunnels. I think I could come up with pretty easy weave poles and hurdles with stuff from the big orange box hardware store...but existing designs would be helpful! I guess the other question would be, some of it's pretty obvious, but are there any useful tips for teaching him how to do some of this stuff? -m Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tzuhouse 4 Posted September 13, 2009 Report Share Posted September 13, 2009 Wish I could help on this one ~m, but sorry, not my cuppa tea...OR coffee... We do the back yard running and ball chasing, but it is usually ME chasing the ball cause only Maddy will return it to me, Josie runs after it and keeps going.... Now, to be honest...I don't even know what "flyball" is....I assume the rest you are referring to is agility type courses of some sort, right? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LondonGirl 3 Posted September 13, 2009 Report Share Posted September 13, 2009 Try the North American Flyball Association site: http://www.flyball.org/ Page 12 and onwards in their rulebook sets out equipment and set up requirements: http://www.flyball.org/rules/rulebook.pdf They also have a small(ish) Q and A/How-to archive American Agility Rules and FAQS with equipment specs link in left menu bar: http://www.nadac.com/rules.htm You could probably buy equipment very cheaply on ebay 'cos the owners/handlers ran out of puff... like I did . AND a lively Dog Sports Forum dedicated to small dogs: http://www.mightymitedoggear.com/forum/ Have fun :sun: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kcsheperd 13 Posted September 13, 2009 Report Share Posted September 13, 2009 Hi Mike. .I'm teaching Payslee to weave through my legs, and to jump througha hoop.. )I figure the elderly people will find that quite comical at the nursing homes when she visits!).. So what I do is get her treats, and lure her around my legs giving the command "Through".. (you can pick whatever works for you).. With the hoop, (it makes noise and she doesn't really like it) so I just lay it on the ground and let her walk through it.. then I praise her and treat.. Then I move it up off the ground and if she walks through it I will say "JUMP" and treat her.. Its a process.. lol.. So we just do it a little bit each day. Good luck! I can't wait to see Pic's of Harley bobbin' and Weavin! :( Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LondonGirl 3 Posted September 13, 2009 Report Share Posted September 13, 2009 And for some fun training on jumps and weaving, Mike, you could Join the Circus Or perhaps Gladiator Dog is more your style. PS the two people in the first vid are actually champion trainers/handlers in obedience and agility :P Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Apeke 4 Posted September 13, 2009 Report Share Posted September 13, 2009 Mike, if your looking to train Harley in these things, try looking online for a training video, then a lot of department stores that sell toys, is where you can find certain things to use for practice.. Like the Hoola Hoop.... That tunnel thing? ...we have this tunnel like toy for kids that expands out and it made of wire loops and some sort of canvas.... And the hurdles? Just go to Home Depot or Lowes and buy small PVC pipe and put a couple together with fittings...easy peasy! Whichever route you go... I wish you luck! I'm sure Harley will enjoy the fun and exercise@ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wicket's mom 1 Posted September 13, 2009 Report Share Posted September 13, 2009 I was just thinking that's a great idea for my boys too. I went on e-bay to check it out and there are quite a few things posted there, and some for really good prices too! (for you they will be fine, but I can't get any because everything I clicked on only shipped to the US) I looked at suppliers in Canada and it's very expensive to buy like that, but my hubby said he might try to build some himself Now I just have to keep nagging him so he actually does lol. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mr.coffee 364 Posted September 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2009 Yep, I'd seen the Flyball site....I just kind of skimmed it, probably overlooked some stuff, I'll have to find details on heights and distances and all that good junk. Either way I think Harley would enjoy the added twist to Fetch. I have some ideas for hurdles and weave poles, I figure some of that stuff can be made collapsible. For the Flyball launch box, I'll probably skimp and just start him with a prop that holds the ball rather than launching it, just to see if he's into it. Where did you find the tunnel? I figured there had to be something kid-oriented on the market. New news: Harley is definitely going to learn to do some of this Agility stuff. We have a big sectional in our living room; Harley has been worrying us for some time by jumping up the corner when we're at the door or in the adjacent dining room. Well, now he's gotten strong enough to launch up to the edge and pull up. I wasn't too crazy about the idea of this being his little perch, dogs aren't supposed to roost and it's a bit more of a drop than I'd like to see him take on if he loses it. No worries...now he walks along back and forth on the back edge of the couch. At first he sort of squirmy-shuffled along, but now he confidently struts along or even bounds from one end to the other like it's no big deal. Said sectional is 10' from one end to the other. Bonkers. -m Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mr.coffee 364 Posted September 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Update: We went to the big blue box hardware megacorporate entity and picked up three 9' lengths of 3/4" pipe and a dozen Tees after dinner, all told it was like $6 & change. Not wanting to start a big project late, I settled for cutting a 36" length and slipping a Tee on each end.... We started by having Devon hold Harley at one end of the room while I squeaked his favorite toy at the other; he ran over it without even changing his step. So I propped it up on some thick flip-flops. That got a little hop, but no big deal. Okay, this time I'm digging up...uh...lemme see....okay, giant book on DHTML and equally giant book on Linux. Stack the flip-flops on the books and the hurdle on the flip-flops, run the dog. This time we got an actual jump, but it just looks so easy. Alright, Learning Perl on the left and Perl/TK on the right. Still no sweat. Javascript on the left, GIMP on the right, now we're working for it. First pass tipped the bar, but second time cleared it. Adding a Sai Yuki DVD on each end proved too much too soon...but just the books & flip-flops he clears every time. That's 7", he's 9" at the shoulder. AND HE LOVES IT!!!! I'm so PROUD of my Harley! Before bed he got all riled up and rambunctious, wanted to attack, run, play, bounce off the walls, so I set it up again for him and we did solo runs just tossing his toy across, he burned himself out for the night playing Fetch over a 7" hurdle! -m Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wicket's mom 1 Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Update: We went to the big blue box hardware megacorporate entity and picked up three 9' lengths of 3/4" pipe and a dozen Tees after dinner, all told it was like $6 & change. Not wanting to start a big project late, I settled for cutting a 36" length and slipping a Tee on each end.... We started by having Devon hold Harley at one end of the room while I squeaked his favorite toy at the other; he ran over it without even changing his step. So I propped it up on some thick flip-flops. That got a little hop, but no big deal. Okay, this time I'm digging up...uh...lemme see....okay, giant book on DHTML and equally giant book on Linux. Stack the flip-flops on the books and the hurdle on the flip-flops, run the dog. This time we got an actual jump, but it just looks so easy. Alright, Learning Perl on the left and Perl/TK on the right. Still no sweat. Javascript on the left, GIMP on the right, now we're working for it. First pass tipped the bar, but second time cleared it. Adding a Sai Yuki DVD on each end proved too much too soon...but just the books & flip-flops he clears every time. That's 7", he's 9" at the shoulder. AND HE LOVES IT!!!! I'm so PROUD of my Harley! Before bed he got all riled up and rambunctious, wanted to attack, run, play, bounce off the walls, so I set it up again for him and we did solo runs just tossing his toy across, he burned himself out for the night playing Fetch over a 7" hurdle! -m That's great! Yay Harley, you're so talented!! And I'm sure daddy's quite happy to see you a little tired :dede: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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