Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Flyballin'

Last week we shared a little bit about Athena's progress in her beginning Flyball class.  We received some great advice for how to manage Athena's socialness during class, and this past weekend's class was much more successful than the last!


Instead of barking in her crate the entire hour and a half, Athena spent Sunday's practice in the car where she was able to relax and be bark free.  I noticed that each time we took her out of the car and brought her into the training facility she was WAY less anxious than she had been when we would let her out of the crate.  I think that the car solution seems to be a great one for keeping Athena's anxiety and stress low and helping her to focus on the game rather than on the presence of other dogs.

Here's a video of Athena jumping over eight hurdles (can you tell how much she LOVES Flyball?):


Yes that's my squealing voice in the background encouraging Athena to run to me for some fun tug time with this beast of a tug toy:


This tug started out with four brand new tennis balls, but in the end, only two of them survived.  I'll just say that Athena's distraction issues were partially cured due to this miracle working tug toy.  She thinks it's the greatest thing to tug with in the whole world!  Unlike last week, this week Athena completely ignored another off-leash dog for some time to tug with her new toy.

Don't forget to enter the February Bow of the Month Giveaway.  A winner will be chosen tonight (February 6th) at 9 PST!

12 comments:

  1. Awesome! So nice to hear about your guys' progress. And super glad the crating in the car is working out so well. I know that some of the top teams make a point of crating outside the building at tournaments even, so it makes sense that it will help make a difference with sensitive dogs.

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  2. Nice work! She looks like an old hat at jumping those hurdles! Did you make the tugger or find it somewhere?

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    1. Our Flyball instructor brought the tug toy to practice for Athena to try out (she made it). My homework this week is to make my own....and replace hers since Athena destroyed it! =)

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  3. Great job Athena! I am wondering if we'll have to use the car for Nola during her Noseworks, I think she might get worked up like Athena did using a crate.

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  4. Yay Athena!!! I'm so happy you found something that helped. :-D

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  5. What a good job, Athena!! You're going to be a flyball champ in no time =D

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  6. Wow! Athena jumped over those obstacles real fast! Congratulations.

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  7. Is it normal that watching the video made me cry?
    Go Athena! My goal is to meet Athena in real life. ;)

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    1. =) Is it normal that I've re-watched the video about 50 times?! I can't get enough of it!!

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