Flyball!

 Nope but I love watching the dogs run! Don't have a club around here. But then again, neither of my two are interested in tennis balls.

PICTURES! Please.

 I've heard lots about it, but have no clue what it entails.

I did a class with one of my Labs years ago.  It was fun but a bit on the crazy side.  It's not something I wanted to pursue, although my friend and I were both asked if we wanted to join the "team".  lol  Our dogs were both already trained to hold and come back over obstacles, so they thought we were pretty hot stuff. lol 

No pics yet.  I went last night to watch.  The dogs were practicing going over 3 jumps, then two dogs at a time (so they could practice leading or following).  Then they were working on touching the box and turning.  I figured Nikon would be good since 1) he's already ball motivated and can catch balls 2) since he's bigger and we have some small dogs the jumps will be easy, good since he is young and 3) they were really working the dogs in drive which is what he needs/likes.

Words cannot express how much I want an AKK flyball team...I know that my two would LOOOOOOOOVE flyball, as they a) love running, and b) love catching balls.  All I need are two more motivated AKK and my dream will come true!!!!

But for now, they will do Rally and agility, as there are no flyball classes in the area yet. 

Lies, you're going to have to keep us posted on how Nikon likes it.  I can live vicariously through him.  

Liesje

I figured Nikon would be good since 1) he's already ball motivated

It's all about the ball !  lol  A high drive dog is a perfect flyball candidate, they get super pumped up!  My dog was already crazy about the ball and this was her idea of heaven on earth.

Infiniti

Words cannot express how much I want an AKK flyball team...I know that my two would LOOOOOOOOVE flyball, as they a) love running, and b) love catching balls.  All I need are two more motivated AKK and my dream will come true!!!!

But for now, they will do Rally and agility, as there are no flyball classes in the area yet. 

Lies, you're going to have to keep us posted on how Nikon likes it.  I can live vicariously through him.  

We could start a team and meet halfway (lord knows I already drive farther than that weekly!), lol.  An AKK would be a great team member because I am told the jump height is based on the smallest dog on the team! 

JackieG

Liesje

I figured Nikon would be good since 1) he's already ball motivated

 

It's all about the ball !  lol  A high drive dog is a perfect flyball candidate, they get super pumped up!  My dog was already crazy about the ball and this was her idea of heaven on earth.

When I realized what it was - you run, jump on a box, a ball flies out, you catch it and run back - trying it with Nikon was a no-brainer!  His main form of exercise is fetching balls.

 Just a word to the wise: be VERY careful about any flyball work for a dog under 18mo - even stuff on the flat with low jumps gets VERY repetitive on their joints and that can have some pretty nasty side effects later.  If I were you, I'd be avoiding all box or chute work and working purely on the flat, without jumps even, until Nikon's growth plates are well closed given his body size/type.

Stardog beat me to it -- I'm surprised they are letting you start training with Nikon at his age.  Flyball is a VERY stressful sport, even moreso than agility.  With a dog of Nikon's size, I wouldn't recommend starting flyball training until he's 18-24 months.

It's not the jumping that is of concern -- it's hitting the box and doing the tight turns that can damage a dog (young or not).  It's very hard on a dog's body.

There is so much you can do with him right now -- I'd save flyball for later.

stardog is right.  I forget how young Nikon is because he has gotten so big!  I didn't do flyball till my dog was almost 3 years old.

KarissaKS

Stardog beat me to it -- I'm surprised they are letting you start training with Nikon at his age. 

I wondered about it too but she didn't seemed concerned since they don't hit the box yet anyway, it looked like they were doing a lot of working on the dogs' drives and motivation, using various toys and rewards.  The current class is still going on so we would have to wait for the next session, probably the one after that b/c I don't think there's enough interest for the upcoming session. 

 woohoo! I'm so glad I came across this thread, I'm thinking of enrolling Teddi into a flyball class this summer :)