Hi there

I began flyball with my dog during the winter and agility a couple of months ago. She was showing real promise and even won her first few little fun trials, but now things aren't going so well. Btw, she's a boarder collie/spaniel mix...from what we can figure.

My problem is since moving into the more advanced classes, I'm getting really discouraged. The classes are much more serious and focused on handling, which is fine, but I think my dog truely hates them! She used to be very alert and obedient in class but now just sort of sits around, then when her turn comes she bolts out of the ring and pays little attention to me

I think the issue is that in her beginner classes things were much more fast paced AND she would socialize with the other dogs a little. This kept her energy and interest up. But the advanced handlers seem to really discourage any interaction between the dogs and all want their dogs to stay sitting, focused completely on them between turns. I'm wondering if I should play with my dog to keep her motivated, since she can't play with the other dogs now? She loves her tug toy and tennis ball so this would be easy to do, I just don't know if it's considered bad form or something

I'd love some suggestions from some experienced handlers. I really don't want to quit this sport, especially after seeing what a difference it's made with my timid dog who came from a very bad place.

[mightymite]

Don't worry. Many dogs stress and seem to turn off thier handlers as training becomes more difficult. This does not mean your dog no longer likes the sports you are doing. It simply means you need to ease up a bit and make things more fun and easier. Your dog may be stressing because of the increase in intensity and skill level you are now demanding. Remember to play before and after and during every session with your dog. Keep the rate of reinforement (the number of times you give food and toy rewards - or whatever else your dog loves) very high. Take frequent breaks if you need to. Even consider some private lessons - but keep them short. End while your dog is still interested. If need be, take a break from training for awhiel and come back to it.

Thanks for the words of encouragement
I've been trying to do just what you said with incorperating more play and she's responded well. I also found some simple exercizes to do at home which seemed to have helped. I'm glad she's having fun again, I really want her to be able to do trials later this summer.

[mightymite]

:-D That's great news!

There's a book you might want to get available through dogwise.com - it's called "Building Blocks for Performance" - its writte by Bobbie Anderson (I think). WHile it's written with puppies in mind, there's a lot of valuable info about motivating performance dogs in it.

Another great read is actually the autobiography, doggie biography "Shappinig Success" by Susan Garrett. It's a story of the life of a top agility handler and her dog Buzz but in it, she gives great tips on how to keep agility dogs motivated. It should serve, if nothing else, as an inspiration to you.

Best of luck!

Thanks! I've heard a lot about dogwise but didn't know where to start!

Ive always been interested in dog competions like running agility jumping, stuff like that. I really want my dog to compete in some sort of long jumping competion. She is a siberian husky and she can jump so high and so far. She jump strait up from a sitting position and touch her nose to the top of a doorway. Any info about this sort of thing will help???

[mightymite]

For agility and flyball, it isn't just about jumping HIGH, in fact a dog who overjumps and has lots of air time will not be competitive because these are timed sports - and are essentially races. You don't want to be waisting time with lots of "hang time." Dock dogs and canine high jump and to a certain extent canine disc dog are more up the alley of dogs who are just super jumpers and like to catch some air. You might also want to look into canine freestyle because a dog who is "flashy" and has "moves" can do very well in that sport as well.