# flyball anyone?



## Cdnjennga

We did flyball with our PWDs when I was a teenager. It's very fun! The only thing I would say is that it was a strain on our dog, because he would slam into the box at high speed, but I think the boxes have been redesigned now to be better for the dogs.

It's hard to know if your dogs would like flyball or not as they're not natural retrievers. Our guy was ball obsessed. The challenge with him was getting him to come back from the box as quickly as he would go to it. What I would do is talk to your local team. They probably have classes for newbie dogs that you can attend and will have lots of ideas on how to motivate your guys. I would go for it if you're interested, it is such a fun sport!


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## highhorse

Our training club occasionally has a flyball session (we do it for fun rather than competition). Here a few things that I've observed:


you need to get your dog interested in retrieving and bringing back (2 balls, one to throw and one to tempt usually does it)
standards are OK with the tennis balls but tiny toys might need especially tiny balls and might not have the weight to activate the ball machine
as said by a previous poster, dog's shoulders can be damaged by too much thumping and the box needs to be safe if they miss

Having said the above, it's great fun.


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## Fluffyspoos

I LOVE watching flyball! I'd be a little afraid for a standard doing it, but I think maybe a mini would fare better?


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## Olie

I like it too and I think Suri would be pretty good at this but again not much around my area for fun stuff like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7f5fDrejp0

Wish I had some tips - maybe using food for the fetch........Suri loves to run and catch she is a total natural. I got so lucky there. We do it for fun - but its cool watching.

Check this one out, it's dog dancing but it looks like a tennis ball on a string..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyDXWXDkiys


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## jak

Olie said:


> I like it too and I think Suri would be pretty good at this but again not much around my area for fun stuff like this.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7f5fDrejp0
> 
> Wish I had some tips - maybe using food for the fetch........Suri loves to run and catch she is a total natural. I got so lucky there. We do it for fun - but its cool watching.
> 
> Check this one out, it's dog dancing but it looks like a tennis ball on a string..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyDXWXDkiys


Lol, that flyball was amazing

I know over here in NZ, the dogs hit a springboard and a ball is propelled into the air, rather than them just grabbing it from the machine.


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## Olie

jak said:


> Lol, that flyball was amazing
> 
> I know over here in NZ, the dogs hit a springboard and a ball is propelled into the air, rather than them just grabbing it from the machine.


See thats what I would like!!! Mine LOVE catching balls!!!


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## jak

Olie said:


> See thats what I would like!!! Mine LOVE catching balls!!!


They also have wee small mini balls for the dogs that can't hold/catch the big ones too lol


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## Buck

Cooper's mom holds some performance titles they are CD, RA, NA, NAJ, NAP, NJP, NAC, NCC, Onyx, Can. NAJ, Berm. NA & NAJ. Now he loves to play ball. He is very good at catching in the air and retrieving. And can cover some ground like you wouldn't believe. I am thinking about doing agility classes with him after the first of year and see where that leads us.


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## desertreef

Yes, it's hard on their shoulders...
I had looked into it, years ago. 
If done on a 'fun' level, it's iffy... here, we have 2 teams and they are very competitive. They even breed their own mixes to perfect their teams. Not fun.


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## desertreef

Cooper's mom holds some performance titles they are CD, RA, NA, NAJ, NAP, NJP, NAC, NCC, Onyx, Can. NAJ, Berm. NA & NAJ. 


Oh Buck, that's awesome! 

I am thinking about doing agility classes with him after the first of year and see where that leads us

You must!


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## neVar

Bernie will be strting at flybll in two weeks. 

My dnish farm dog hs no bll drive what so ever- no recll- unless its in flyball- if he gets out we just run like we do at flyball and he comes back. I think Jackson would rther be an agility dog but too bad mom does flyball! 

Poodles (standards) TEND to not be the gretest speed wise- but rae usually very reliable dogs (good t not dropping blls- being consistant- no issues pssing) Bernie isnt too BOINGY in his gait like soe cn be- We have one who comes to our tourny nd hes like wtching Pepe le peu Boing... BOinngggg.... Boinnnnggg Boinnng BALL Boinnnggggg...... Boing... Hes VERY graceful *L*


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## jak

neVar said:


> Poodles (standards) TEND to not be the greatest speed wise


I beg to differ!

Saffy is extremely fast, and so is Paris

But I know what you mean, some just plod along.
My Grandparents spoo just gallops, not runs, but he can get his speed up when he wants to


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## flyingduster

jak said:


> I beg to differ!
> 
> Saffy is extremely fast, and so is Paris
> 
> But I know what you mean, some just plod along.
> My Grandparents spoo just gallops, not runs, but he can get his speed up when he wants to


lol! I have yet to find a dog Paris can't catch up to when they're running, so yeah she's fast. Saffy is fast too, as was Coco at the NDTA too, and Keira is fast too.... Really, poodles are amazingly fast, the thing is, do they WANT to be fast!? Paris does (cos she has to chase things, so she has to be fast to be able to chase fast things.... *sigh*) so she is. lol


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## Cdnjennga

Flyball is definitely a sport that caters to the border collies, aussies and other breeds who are very focused and can really fly. It's very rare to see anything other than a border collie or jack russell mix on a top speed flyball team. It's one of the reasons we left the sport - our team got faster and faster, and we spent most of our time sitting on the sidelines because our PWDs weren't all that fast.

The key to having fun in flyball is to find a team who is happy to stay in the lower leagues/ lower speeds. It's no fun being the slowest dog on a top speed team.


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## bigpoodleperson

Ive thought about trying flyball with my future dog, and we might look into it. I personally would like a more "challanging" sport. I also am not a fan of tennis balls as i dont want my dogs teeth worn down.


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## neVar

one of our fastest dogs is a doodle- but even she's 'slow' compared to the BC's and bC croses on the team- my aussie 9WHO IS SMALL and is FAST will probably run close to seconds and if i'm REALLY lucky- a hair under. Most aussies are closer to the 5 second range. 

but spoo's are tall- and tend to have a lofty gait- BC's are some of the fastest in this sport. 

Doesn't mean they can't DO it- our team works towards titles not just winning teams- so the dogs who are 'slow' get paired up to make Q runs so they can collect the points for titles. . . we have a lil shi tsu who is SOO slow- you can take a pee break on his turn*L* but he' sa great back up dog- gives the fast height dogs a break. 

Does it mean you can't play flyball? nope- but i wouldn't pick a Spoo to be a dog to get me to nationals (Where yes my lil aussie - she's going to go on a team aiming for that in 2010-2011

Big poodle- the dogs are not encouraged to chew on teh balls- they just carry them- one of our biggest issues on a dog is if they get mouthing the ball too much. 
We also run a lot of dogs on "squishy' balls if they find the tennis balls a bit hard. It's a fun sport i'm loving doin git- i've got two dogs going right now- Puppy at 8months can run a run- but isn't on teh box yet (just the ramp) and isn't doing more then puppy (2") jumps for another four month *Sigh* where my danish boy- well he can do a run- but is slower then mud as that whole get the ball while turning thing is a BIT above his mind yet- he can do it- but doing it as fast as a turn off the box with out a ball? he's 5x slower


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## jak

bigpoodleperson said:


> Ive thought about trying flyball with my future dog, and we might look into it. I personally would like a more "challanging" sport. I also am not a fan of tennis balls as i dont want my dogs teeth worn down.


Do tennis balls wear the teeth down?


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## bigpoodleperson

Most tennis balls are made with sand, and that will erode the teeth down over time. I have seen many ball obsessed dogs with nubs for teeth! I use balls other then tennis. There are actual dog tennis balls without sand in them though.


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## jak

bigpoodleperson said:


> Most tennis balls are made with sand, and that will erode the teeth down over time. I have seen many ball obsessed dogs with nubs for teeth! I use balls other then tennis. There are actual dog tennis balls without sand in them though.


That's interesting, I'll bear that in mind.
At the moment I'm using a super bouncy rubber one that Saffy just loves


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