Entries from August 2007 ↓

Every time I attend a tournament, I like to watch what all the other teams are doing so that maybe I can pick up new training methods or tools. I tend to pay closer attention to the faster teams because they are obviously doing something right.

We have all seen these teams with their video cameras and television sets. These teams all sit around after the each race reviewing their passes. It is common knowledge that if we could just improve our passing we could have better times, but for most teams video taping and reviewing just seems like too much work at a tournament. What if there was an easier way to get almost instant accurate feedback right after each heat? I know that many teams use people to call passes, but how accurate is this? With the speed of some dogs, it is almost impossible, unless they have wide passes, to call passes with any accuracy. So what is the answer?

The Digital Camera

Many of the new digital photo cameras are video capable. They can take short video clips up to 3 minutes or longer. This is more than enough time to record a heat. Armed with a digital camera, the pass caller just has to quickly review the clip and tell everyone what his or her passes were.

Picking the Right Camera

From my perspective, picking the right camera for the job is the most important thing. Some things to keep in mind when choosing a camera:

• It should have a larger LCD screen on the back for viewing. You need to be able to see it and quickly review each dogs pass.

• It should be easy to use. After all, you will need to record and delete each clip after each heat unless your camera has the memory and capability to record and store multiple clips.

• It should have frame-by-frame review capability. Not only should it have frame-by-frame review capability but also scrolling through the frames should be fast. I have an older digital camera which is frame-by-frame capable but it takes too long to scroll through the frames. It would take too long to review the clip before the next heat starts.

I am not a camera buff by any stretch so I cannot recommend a camera. The person that I saw using a camera for calling passes was using a small Nikon but I do not know the model. Perhaps someone that knows more about cameras can recommend one. Alternatively, armed with some of my suggestions you can head to your local camera store. If you find a good one, please let us all know. I will do the same.

Larry

I was just reading on the USA TODAY website the “Ten pressing questions surrounding Vick’s case” written by Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY. The federal judge, Henry Hudson, is saying “…Mr. Vick will be making a plea of guilty next Monday morning at 10:30.” In my opinion, they should have never offered him a plea. This should go to trial and he should get the maximum, which is not even enough.

Here are the questions Mr. Mihoces asked in his article on USA TODAY with my answers. You can read Mr. Mihoces answers and complete article at the above link.

• Why did he plead guilty?
  

He is pleading because he knows that if this goes to trial he will be convicted and he could face a stiffer penalty. Friends are no longer friends when jail time is involved.

• What sentence will he get?
  

Who cares? Whatever the plea is it will not be enough for torturing and killing these poor animals.

• Would an NFL suspension of Vick run concurrently with his potential prison term?
  

The NFL should suspend him for the rest of his life from playing football. He not only tortured and killed dogs he also gambled which is against NFL rules. To top it off, he lied to the NFL commissioner when he told him he was not involved in dogfighting.

• Given he is about to plead guilty to an indictment alleging dogfighting — and gambling — is Vick’s NFL career over?

It should be. He does not deserve the big salaries and endorsements after participating in this type of behavior.

• Could Vick and his co-defendants improve their chances at sentencing by providing prosecutors with information about other dogfighting rings?

If Vick and his cohorts are truly sorry for their behavior, they should come forward with any information that would help stop this activity regardless of the sentencing.

• Has the Vick case damaged the NFL’s image?

I would hope that no other NFL players are involved with this but chances are some of them knew about it. Bad people that do bad things, tend to shine a bad light on the organization that employs them. It is sad, but it happens. One bad apple spoils the bunch.

• Is Vick finished as a high-profile product endorser?

I would hope so. After all, what large company would want any part of this? It would be like endorsing dogfighting.

• Can Vick ever find public forgiveness?

We, in this county, are good at forgiving people for bad behavior if they sincerely ask for forgiveness. I will withhold my forgiveness for when and if he asks. However, torturing and killing animals for fun is an illness, which may never be cured.

• Is dogfighting a Vick problem, or could there be more NFL players involved?

I pray that it is only a Vick problem.

• What will happen to the dogs that were involved in the Bad Newz Kennels operation?

This is the saddest part of the whole story. I feel sorry and sad that these animals were trained this way because they were not born this way.

There is a good article on the Humane Society of the United States website about what we all can do to help end dogfighting. See “Taking Action to End Dogfighting: How to Spot the Signs and What You Can Do.”

Larry

After a weekend of flyball, the syndrome can be recognized in several ways:

• Trouble walking or a visible limp (the flyball shuffle)
• Unable to get up from a sitting position
• Unable to get out of bed
• The craving for hot water in the form of a bath
• The mass consumption of Ibuprofen or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
• Unable to put regular/dress shoes on

My wife and I are experiencing Flyball Recovery Syndrome in a big way today. We have gone through everything on the list last night and now today. I think if we get through the next three or four days we will make it.

Is flyball a young person sport? I sure see many older people playing flyball and I am over 50 but I heard comments from people half my age complaining of syndrome symptoms. For me, it takes at least 3 days to recover from a flyball tournament. Did I say that we had a fun, great time at the southeast U-FLI qualifier over the weekend?

If you are like me, your friends will know that you played flyball over the weekend. They will be able to see visible discomfort on your face or see the flyball shuffle when you are walking.

Larry

You should not proceed to this lesson until lesson 4 is complete. Your dog should know the command “hit it” and be comfortable going over the jumps. In this lesson, we will be putting it all together.

Chute to Flyball Box Transition

Start this exercise with no jumps and no ball. The handler should stand slightly in front and just off to one side of the box. Facing the box, if the dog naturally turns right off the chute, the handler should be on the right side of the box. If the dog turns left, the handler should be on the left side of the box. With a small jump in front of the box, send the dog with the command “hit it” to the box. As the dog comes off the box the handler should use the motivator to pull the dog off the box in a very fast fluid motion. This exercise should be repeated many, many times over a series of short training sessions.

With some dogs, the transition from the chute to the box can be very difficult. You may need to switch back and forth from chute to box a few times. The dog may start reaching for the ball or not jumping on the box so you may also need to add a couple jumps in front of the box or other obstacles to lengthen the distance to the box. Whatever you do, do not give up on this. With the last dog I just trained, it took me over a week with many short sessions for this transition. With other dogs that I have trained, the transition to the box was not a problem but each dog is different.

As the dog progresses, you can start placing a ball in the box but only after you see that the dog is comfortable and coming off the box in one single fluid motion. The faster the dog comes off the box the better. After you add the ball, you will probably notice that for the first dozen times or more the dog will have a hard time catching the ball. Do not stop rewarding the dog for its efforts. Even if the dog does not catch the ball, continue using your motivator as a reward for failed attempts - this is very important. However, if you see that the dog is not attempting to catch the ball, back up your training and go back to the chute and ball then repeat this process until the dog can catch the ball from the box.

During practice sessions, you should always have a jump in front of the box. You can test the dog from time to time without the jump but as a rule, you should always practice with the jump.

Adding Jumps

Continue to use baby gates as in previous lessons. Start with 1 jump closest to the box and send the dog with the “hit it” command to the box. Insure the dog comes back with the ball over the jump to you and reward your dog with the motivator. Continue doing this adding more gating and jumps until the dog is completing the complete series of jumps. Take as much time as needed to complete this training. If the dog fails at any point in the training, back up a step and repeat until solid.

Before proceeding to the next lesson, be sure that the dog is retrieving the ball, can maintain the swimmers turn with nothing in front of the box, and can jump all of the jumps. The dog will slowly build speed off the box as they become comfortable catching the ball.

Training Manual Information

This is a series of articles that I will post about Flyball training. I would ask that you please try to keep your comments to the specific topic of the each article, for there will be many others. You can see a high level outline of the topic to be covered in future post by viewing the Training Manual. Keeping the comments specific to each article will help future readers.

Please keep in mind that there are numerous methods in use, but these are the ones that I use and they work for me. If you have others that you would like to share, please post your comments.

I just want to play with my dog. I have heard it a hundred times and I know I have even said it myself on a few occasions. What a concept, where we can play with our dog and not be on “a team.”

The Pickup Team^TM

I know, I know, the pickup team concept, invoked by U-FLI and now under consideration by NAFA, was not intended to do away with the flyball team. However, it may be a way to expand the sport. I am sure there are a number of people that might be playing flyball if it was not a team sport. A lot of agility people play agility with their dog because it is just them and their dog. The same concept could be used for flyball.

Do not get me wrong, I think that flyball will be always played as a team sport but what if people could sign up for pickup teams ahead of time just like teams do? In U-FLI I know that they can sign up for singles or pairs if offered but extending it to teams may allow more people to play without actually being on a team. I have a couple of dogs that have to sit out because there is no place on the team for them. I try to swap them out from one day to the next over single tournaments but still at least one day they are just sitting in the crate.

I know that there would be many issues to think about such as what flyball box would they use and seeding; maybe the pickup teams could just be in their own division. I am just throwing things out there to provoke thought on the subject. I think it could work because I hear all the time about people that would like to go to a tournament but are unable to because the whole team is not going. This could be a way for people without a permanent team or someone that just wants to attend a tournament in another area and does not know anyone in that area.

What do you think?

Larry

Pickup Team^TM is a registered trademarks of United Flyball League International, Inc.