Flyball people

[Liesje]

Depends on the dog. I'm OK jumping mine (just doing a few recalls at training once a week) at 6-7 months or so but by then I've already done hip and elbow prelims and don't jump them more than the 6" board. They are just running a straight line on anti-fatigue mats (at our club) and there's four jumps 10 feet apart. It's really the turning and pounding on the box that I'd hold off on. That is why even with my two adult dogs I designed their push board so that it absorbs the impact (or if I'm just playing around I have Nikon turn off the couch with a big cushion propped up). Having GSDs you won't ever see me turning my dogs off a wall like people do with little breeds.

[blackshep]

I asked the breeder, she said she thinks it's ok, just not the twisting motion of the box until she's older. She only runs through the low 6" jumps a couple of times to get the idea, mostly we work on her chasing the tug.

Don't worry, I was concerned about that too, but I asked her and my vet and they both thought it was ok as long as you didn't over-do it.

[wildo]

Good deal. Carry on then... LOL! She really is pretty!

[Cassidy's Mom]

We start using puppy jumps (5") at 6 months old. We do also do lots of restrained recalls on the flat. I don't know exactly when we start box work because Mollie's puppy just turned 6 months old a couple of weeks ago.

We do some wall work, but usually only a few reps per dog, and we don't work on it every week. I think it's helped Halo get her butt up.

[Liesje]

Willy as an aside, some of the worst things I've seen in flyball were not on the box or over jumps but "catching" the dog at the end. Besides tearing pads, Pan's only flyball injury was a bad catch where he twisted a wrist and was lame for a bit. Pan has also slipped and slid on his back several feet, and at one tournament he crashed and knocked over the back ring gates two times. I've seen a dog who usually latches onto a tug and then gets hoisted in the air do a full flip in the air because he lost his grip when the handler pulled him up. That one was actually really funny, but....if you want to see potential for injury watch people catching fast dogs! It's like long bites in protection.

[wildo]

Yeah, I've always wondered how the dog's neck withstands a "catch" be it flyball or SchH. I suppose I didn't realize there was a technique to it.

[blackshep]

Yeah, I definitely think that's the worst part! :/

I have one of those bungee tugs to help eliminate a lot of the shock at the end, but still...not looking forward to doing that part with a 60 lb dog

[Liesje]

This is why my next thing to work on with Nikon is getting him off of his reward ball and switching him to the same tug toy we use with Pan and Kastle (so they are targeting something that is being dragged on the ground, rather than jumping up and biting something in my hands).

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted by blackshep

I have one of those bungee tugs to help eliminate a lot of the shock at the end, but still...not looking forward to doing that part with a 60 lb dog

I have a long braided tug (with Orbee balls!) that I can drag while I run, but if I let her catch it we BOTH get yanked pretty hard. I worry about that with her, but I'm also afraid I'll hurt my back. What I was doing instead of letting her hit the tug at full speed was to kind of swing around and whip it away at the last second (not up, she didn't have to jump for it) so she runs by me and circles around to come back and grab the tug. Easier on me, but I was still afraid that the rapid deceleration might cause an injury for her at some point, so lately I've been letting go of the tug as she runs by. You can't THROW anything as your dog exits the course, but it's not a problem to drop something for them. She continues running, and then brings the tug back to play.

Another woman in my club has a Mal and a Terv, and they're both intense and hard hitting dogs. She lines up to start and tosses the tug on the ground behind her, so she doesn't actually catch them at all - they just run by, get the tug, and bring it back.

[Liesje]

Do you guys use mattresses? They're super popular here and we tried it with Pan but he would never hit it the same way twice and we were worried about him jamming his neck/back, so now he just has to get "caught" closer to the start line so there's room. Normally I am running, SPRINTING really, dragging the toy and when he catches the ball on the end I sort of pull back and do some fancy footwork in a curve, probably very similar to a longbite. As long as I'm mindful of the length of the runback I can stop him and have him on his feet before he hits a wall or ring gate.