Agility/Flyball? - Labrador Retriever Dogs Chat Forum Board - Dogs, Puppies, Photos, Training, Pictures, Rescue Forums

bellabri287 · 11-01-2009, 01:33 PM

I am wondering, how/when would you know if your dog would like to do one of these? Star LOVES to retrieve, well... we throw, she gets it and runs back to us and either plows into us, or tries to play keep away until she decides she ready for another throw. You should see her run down the hall... its amazing and reminds me so much of watching dogs do flyball! However... it is uausally a toy like her fox or loofa or holee roller and not a tennis ball. How old and what kind of obedience level would be needed for this?

Agility looks fun, I am just curious how you would know a dog would like it and same with age and obedience level? Our OB class runs agility classes every now and then, I have thought about letting Star watch... but at 6 months I think she would bark too much wanting to play. Maybe not if it was after oB class LOL.

I would assume she needs to be 1 year before trying either due to the 'forced activity' of each and her maturing joints. Would she not be allowed due to her breed/mix?

Anyone know of a flyball team in central cali? Maybe we could watch.

Bailey's Mommy · 11-01-2009, 02:09 PM

We just got back from fly ball practice. Bailey loves the sport.

She began when she was around 11 months and she is now 20 months. If you're dog is ball driven and fast then you have a nice fly ball dog. For OB you need control of your dog as their are many distractions.

I know many who start the dogs out young very young. Just today our fly ball coach had her new 12 week pup there doing recalls and working the tug. You work your way up to the team level which can take a bit. The beginning for novice dogs involves a lot of "pieces" you need for fly ball order for it all to "fit together".

We have many mixes on our team so not a issue.

It's a great sport

Good luck!

stargazing1113 · 11-01-2009, 03:54 PM

Hey!

There are a few teams in central CA. I can find out for you at practice today!

Sophie is on a flyball team, about to head out to practice. As you know she is a mix. About half our team is mixed breeds and they are allowed to compete.

I started Sophie around 13 months. She has always had a huge drive for retrieving, she is fast and has good recall. The main concerns for our team when we joined where 1) does Sophie have the drive for it 2) how solid is her recall in a highly distracting setting. Like the poster above, there are a few members with puppies on our team who right now are working on recall in a distracting environment and building a tug drive.

San Jose hosts an event yearly called Bark in the Park, they have a flyball mini class and agility. I tried both last year (Sophie was 9 months). She loved the flyball class and was a little more hesitant about agility.

After Bark in the Park I found intro classes for flyball and agility. She had more drive for flyball. She does well at agility but she has more energy running full out for a ball and then tugging.

I will try to find out if there is a team near you, if not you should come up one Sunday and watch one of our practices.

ETA: You can probably find agility puppy classes. They have very low jumps and it is more to get the puppy used to the equipment than anything else.

bellabri287 · 11-01-2009, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stargazing1113

Hey!

There are a few teams in central CA. I can find out for you at practice today!

Sophie is on a flyball team, about to head out to practice. As you know she is a mix. About half our team is mixed breeds and they are allowed to compete.

I started Sophie around 13 months. She has always had a huge drive for retrieving, she is fast and has good recall. The main concerns for our team when we joined where 1) does Sophie have the drive for it 2) how solid is her recall in a highly distracting setting. Like the poster above, there are a few members with puppies on our team who right now are working on recall in a distracting environment and building a tug drive.

San Jose hosts an event yearly called Bark in the Park, they have a flyball mini class and agility. I tried both last year (Sophie was 9 months). She loved the flyball class and was a little more hesitant about agility.

After Bark in the Park I found intro classes for flyball and agility. She had more drive for flyball. She does well at agility but she has more energy running full out for a ball and then tugging.

I will try to find out if there is a team near you, if not you should come up one Sunday and watch one of our practices.

ETA: You can probably find agility puppy classes. They have very low jumps and it is more to get the puppy used to the equipment than anything else.

I think we may take you up on that offer for coming to a practice! I'm sure Star would love to see Sophie again! Sucky that we missed Bark in the Park this year, looks like fun! Next year.

Star likes to run, our hallway is just not long enough, lol. I think shes fast

, she isn't ball crazy, but she retrieves without ever being taught to. I think for her, the hardest will be distractions/recall. But this may be something that will be overcome by watching practices and growing up, lol. Star loves tug too... not sure how that is related to flyball though!

Bailey's Mommy · 11-01-2009, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bellabri287

I think we may take you up on that offer for coming to a practice! I'm sure Star would love to see Sophie again! Sucky that we missed Bark in the Park this year, looks like fun! Next year.

Star likes to run, our hallway is just not long enough, lol. I think shes fast

, she isn't ball crazy, but she retrieves without ever being taught to. I think for her, the hardest will be distractions/recall. But this may be something that will be overcome by watching practices and growing up, lol. Star loves tug too... not sure how that is related to flyball though!

What is Star mixed with? A lot of mixes on our team kick butt in fly ball. Of course that's usually after those dang border collies!

Tug is used often as a reward in fly ball.

Our group has practice for recall with distractions for novice dogs.

Give it a shot, it's really fun!

bellabri287 · 11-01-2009, 05:28 PM

Star is Lab, Pit (as far as we can see), and lord knows what else. BF was seeing Jack Russel yesterday, vet said Cocker... hooray for shelter mixes!

agilitydog · 11-02-2009, 10:46 AM

Well if she is a mix between lab/pit/JRT put your running shoes on

stargazing1113 · 11-02-2009, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bellabri287

I think we may take you up on that offer for coming to a practice! I'm sure Star would love to see Sophie again! Sucky that we missed Bark in the Park this year, looks like fun! Next year.

Star likes to run, our hallway is just not long enough, lol. I think shes fast

, she isn't ball crazy, but she retrieves without ever being taught to. I think for her, the hardest will be distractions/recall. But this may be something that will be overcome by watching practices and growing up, lol. Star loves tug too... not sure how that is related to flyball though!

Here is the list of CA clubs
http://www.flyball.org/getstarted/california.html

Our practices are Sunday afternoons. We haven't gotten our official schedule for winter so I will get back to you on when are practices are scheduled. We also have a few tournaments but not until January.

mckjen · 11-02-2009, 07:04 PM

I started agility this spring w/my BCX. Our previous trainer strongly suggested we do agility to increase her self confidence -plus she thought she would rock. Our class had a wide variety of dogs and they all did very well. It was interesting to watch them all approach things differently. Our club won't let you start classes until the dog is at least 1 yr old. Mine was 3.5yrs this summer and did very well. We had a labX and I don't think he was 2 yet and he would loose focus before our hour was up. We had to stop this summer for healing of an injury and now I"m debating which dog to take next year LOL. Ruby the BCX or Yukon the lab

nikkiluvsu15 · 11-02-2009, 09:30 PM

I kind of want to get Harleigh into Flyball/Agility AND Dock Diving. I think she would LOVE both of them.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but does anyone know of any in North Florida? I would be interested to go and watch.

Harleigh is pretty fast and she LOVES tennis balls, so maybe she would be good at it. I know she would be good at Dock Diving.. She is in LOVE with water and chasing toys into the water...

stargazing1113 · 11-02-2009, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikkiluvsu15

I kind of want to get Harleigh into Flyball/Agility AND Dock Diving. I think she would LOVE both of them.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but does anyone know of any in North Florida? I would be interested to go and watch.

Send a PM to Gatorblueyes (I think thats her screename). Her lab, Jubilee is a flyball superstar! They live in Florida

bellabri287 · 11-03-2009, 02:24 PM

My OB class trainer suggested we do agility due to more injuries in flyball. Anyone else heard of this? I think Star would prefer flyball, but we are going to take her to practices for both if we can to see what they are like.

I would LOVE to do dock diving... Star has the lab webbed feet... but she still is not too happy about water. Maybe someday.

gatorblueyes · 11-03-2009, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikkiluvsu15

I kind of want to get Harleigh into Flyball/Agility AND Dock Diving. I think she would LOVE both of them.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but does anyone know of any in North Florida? I would be interested to go and watch.

Harleigh is pretty fast and she LOVES tennis balls, so maybe she would be good at it. I know she would be good at Dock Diving.. She is in LOVE with water and chasing toys into the water...

Not much dock diving in Florida at the moment. There are flyball clubs in the panhandle and North Florida. Most of the tournaments are in Lakeland, Orlando, Deland although there was a U-Fli tournament in Lake City last spring.

gatorblueyes · 11-03-2009, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bellabri287

My OB class trainer suggested we do agility due to more injuries in flyball. Anyone else heard of this? I think Star would prefer flyball, but we are going to take her to practices for both if we can to see what they are like.

I would LOVE to do dock diving... Star has the lab webbed feet... but she still is not too happy about water. Maybe someday.

Flyball is high impact and if dogs aren't trained and conditioned properly they can be injured. They can get injured in any sport but flyball is high speed and high impact so I would imagine there is the potential for higher risk of injury. For me, I prefer competing in flyball. It can be an adrenaline rush and it is fun as a team sport. It is like drag racing your labby lol.

bellabri287 · 11-03-2009, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gatorblueyes

Flyball is high impact and if dogs aren't trained and conditioned properly they can be injured. They can get injured in any sport but flyball is high speed and high impact so I would imagine there is the potential for higher risk of injury. For me, I prefer competing in flyball. It can be an adrenaline rush and it is fun as a team sport. It is like drag racing your labby lol.

LOL sometimes I think Star is drag racing down the hallway. Or practicing to the Indy 500 around the house.

11-01-2009, 01:33 PM	#1
bellabri287 Senior Dog Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Tracy, CA Posts: 662 My Mood:	Agility/Flyball? I am wondering, how/when would you know if your dog would like to do one of these? Star LOVES to retrieve, well... we throw, she gets it and runs back to us and either plows into us, or tries to play keep away until she decides she ready for another throw. You should see her run down the hall... its amazing and reminds me so much of watching dogs do flyball! However... it is uausally a toy like her fox or loofa or holee roller and not a tennis ball. How old and what kind of obedience level would be needed for this? Agility looks fun, I am just curious how you would know a dog would like it and same with age and obedience level? Our OB class runs agility classes every now and then, I have thought about letting Star watch... but at 6 months I think she would bark too much wanting to play. Maybe not if it was after oB class LOL. I would assume she needs to be 1 year before trying either due to the 'forced activity' of each and her maturing joints. Would she not be allowed due to her breed/mix? Anyone know of a flyball team in central cali? Maybe we could watch. __________________ Star hitting the bottle... Est. Birthday 4/23/2009 - Gotcha' Day 7/31/2009

11-01-2009, 02:09 PM	#2
Bailey's Mommy and Cappy too!! Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Salt Lake City Posts: 5,039 My Mood:	We just got back from fly ball practice. Bailey loves the sport. She began when she was around 11 months and she is now 20 months. If you're dog is ball driven and fast then you have a nice fly ball dog. For OB you need control of your dog as their are many distractions. I know many who start the dogs out young very young. Just today our fly ball coach had her new 12 week pup there doing recalls and working the tug. You work your way up to the team level which can take a bit. The beginning for novice dogs involves a lot of "pieces" you need for fly ball order for it all to "fit together". We have many mixes on our team so not a issue. It's a great sport Good luck! __________________ Bailey- DOB 3/1/08 -"Helms Midnight Magic", RN, CGC Splash Dogs (personal best):21'5" Utah Tail Blazers fly ball team Proudly sponsored by: Ezy Dog Cappy -DOB 1/16/09 - "Piccadilly's Captain Salty Dog" (In training)

11-01-2009, 03:54 PM	#3
stargazing1113 Senior Dog Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bay Area, California Posts: 5,607 My Mood:	Hey! There are a few teams in central CA. I can find out for you at practice today! Sophie is on a flyball team, about to head out to practice. As you know she is a mix. About half our team is mixed breeds and they are allowed to compete. I started Sophie around 13 months. She has always had a huge drive for retrieving, she is fast and has good recall. The main concerns for our team when we joined where 1) does Sophie have the drive for it 2) how solid is her recall in a highly distracting setting. Like the poster above, there are a few members with puppies on our team who right now are working on recall in a distracting environment and building a tug drive. San Jose hosts an event yearly called Bark in the Park, they have a flyball mini class and agility. I tried both last year (Sophie was 9 months). She loved the flyball class and was a little more hesitant about agility. After Bark in the Park I found intro classes for flyball and agility. She had more drive for flyball. She does well at agility but she has more energy running full out for a ball and then tugging. I will try to find out if there is a team near you, if not you should come up one Sunday and watch one of our practices. ETA: You can probably find agility puppy classes. They have very low jumps and it is more to get the puppy used to the equipment than anything else. __________________ Sophie 10/17/07, gotcha day 12/19/07 Stitch 6/9/02 Shasta waiting on the bridge (10/27/97 - 12/19/06) 40/50 Last edited by stargazing1113; 11-01-2009 at 04:01 PM.

11-02-2009, 10:46 AM	#7
agilitydog Senior Dog Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: in a house Posts: 1,943 My Mood:	Well if she is a mix between lab/pit/JRT put your running shoes on __________________ Success is a journey, not a destination

11-02-2009, 09:30 PM	#10
nikkiluvsu15 Senior Dog Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 1,045 My Mood:	I kind of want to get Harleigh into Flyball/Agility AND Dock Diving. I think she would LOVE both of them. Sorry to hijack your thread, but does anyone know of any in North Florida? I would be interested to go and watch. Harleigh is pretty fast and she LOVES tennis balls, so maybe she would be good at it. I know she would be good at Dock Diving.. She is in LOVE with water and chasing toys into the water... __________________ GOOOOO GATORS! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. - 1 Timothy 4:12 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *If you ain't a gator....you must be gator bait!* ~~~~~~~~~~~ Add Me... Facebook! Last edited by nikkiluvsu15; 11-03-2009 at 04:24 PM.

11-01-2009, 05:28 PM	#6
bellabri287 Senior Dog Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Tracy, CA Posts: 662 My Mood:	Star is Lab, Pit (as far as we can see), and lord knows what else. BF was seeing Jack Russel yesterday, vet said Cocker... hooray for shelter mixes!

11-02-2009, 07:04 PM	#9
mckjen Senior Dog Join Date: May 2009 Location: Juneau Posts: 1,468	I started agility this spring w/my BCX. Our previous trainer strongly suggested we do agility to increase her self confidence -plus she thought she would rock. Our class had a wide variety of dogs and they all did very well. It was interesting to watch them all approach things differently. Our club won't let you start classes until the dog is at least 1 yr old. Mine was 3.5yrs this summer and did very well. We had a labX and I don't think he was 2 yet and he would loose focus before our hour was up. We had to stop this summer for healing of an injury and now I"m debating which dog to take next year LOL. Ruby the BCX or Yukon the lab

11-03-2009, 02:24 PM	#12
bellabri287 Senior Dog Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Tracy, CA Posts: 662 My Mood:	My OB class trainer suggested we do agility due to more injuries in flyball. Anyone else heard of this? I think Star would prefer flyball, but we are going to take her to practices for both if we can to see what they are like. I would LOVE to do dock diving... Star has the lab webbed feet... but she still is not too happy about water. Maybe someday.

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