Boxloading Do’s and Don’ts

The boxloader is one of the most important positions on the team and having a good one is the key to winning heats. I have seen my share of lost heats due to poor boxloading. I consider myself to be a good boxloader but I have had my share of mistakes that have cost the team a win. Therefore, I know that even the best can make mistakes sometimes. Here are some things that I have seen that may help all boxloaders:

• Do have a ball in the box at all times. This includes putting a ball in the box even after the last dog has run. I have seen heats lost due to this one problem more than anything else. As the boxloader, you will miss seeing an early pass or some other fault and not realize that a dog needs to rerun. On a rerun, it is not as important for the ball to be in the right hole as it is for the ball to be in a hole. If you are trying to figure out which hole to put the ball in you are going to lose the heat for your team.

• Do have the right number of balls in your hands. First, you need a ball in the box for the start dog. Second, you should have three balls in your non-boxloading hand. If you have a special ball for one of the dogs make sure you have an extra one of those balls in your pocket or ball pouch. Lastly, you need the second dog’s ball in your boxloading hand. Having this combination of balls will insure that you have at least five or six balls.

• Do have a ball in the box for the start dog. The first of my “Do’s” says that you should have a ball in the box at all times, but you may forget to have one there for the start dog. Scenario: You are rushing around during the warm up and you are trying to hurry to get everything ready for the start of the race, i.e. setting up props, holding dogs for run backs, taking away props, etc. After the excitement of the warm up, you forget to put a ball in the box.

• Do have the start handler check for a ball in the box. The start handler is in the best position to see if the ball is there. Before telling the judge the team is ready, that person needs to make sure there is a ball in the box.

• Do hold your arms up in the cross position if the box malfunctions. If the box malfunctions during a heat, raise your hands over your head and cross your arms to form an X. Do not touch the box or attempt to fix the box until the judge comes down to check it. If you play around with the box and make it work before the judge sees it, the judge will rule that the box is working properly.

• Don’t adjust the box during a race. Unless the box is completely out of kilter from dogs hitting it, do not attempt to straighten the box during the race. The dogs will figure out what to do if the box is a little crooked. I was boxloading recently and made a very stupid mistake by nudging the box a little because the first dog hit it so hard it moved, but the problem was that I had just loaded a small ball into a large hole. The dog was almost to the box when I nudged it, so you can just guess what happened. The ball rolled out of the hole and down the front of the box and the dog received a flag as he scooped the ball up off the mat. So unless the box is excessively crooked, just leave it that way until the end of the heat.

• Don’t get off the box until the end of the heat. The only time you should get off the box during a heat is to get more balls. However, if you have the right number of balls in your hands it is less likely you will need to get more balls.

• Don’t have the ball in a position where the dogs can see them. While holding the balls, make sure they are behind your back and out of view of the dogs.

• Don’t get too involved with the race or a dog in the race. This may sound funny but sometimes you can get so involved with a dog or the race itself that you forget to put a ball in the box. I am not too ashamed to say that I have done this on more than one occasion. I have seen other boxloaders do it too.

I hope these tips will be helpful the next time you are called upon as a boxloader for the team. I welcome any other boxloader comments that you have.

Larry

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