Our First Flyball Tournament

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas and I went to our first flyball tournament this weekend. He isn't ready to race yet, but he's getting close. We went to this tournament with our team just to help Halas get used to the noise and activity at a tournament. It's crazy-loud in there with all of the dogs barking. And there's a lot of activity with dogs racing, getting ready to race, finishing up a race, or just hanging out in their crates waiting for the next race. There are just a ton of distractions to work through, and that's the goal at the first tournament. We were hanging out in a teammate's RV in between races, away from the noise and activity. So on Saturday, we just went into the race building 6 or 7 different times and worked on sits, downs, stays, focus on me, etc. I'd get him to sit and watch me while a race was going on a few feet away, so he'd be focusing on me while dogs were running by full-speed. He'd look at them, but he'd focus back on me if I said his name. I'd have him sit-stay, and then I'd walk out to the end of his leash, and he'd stay while dogs and people walked by. He did great that day, so the team decided he was ready to do warm-ups on Sunday. Every team has a one-minute warmup time before each race. But after the first race, most teams don't use that time. So another team was nice enough to let Halas use their warm up time during all but their first race on Sunday. Another dog on our team that's further along than Halas was using our team's warm up time. And it worked out better for us using another team's time anyway, because then our teammates could be there cheering Halas on and really watching him to see what we need to work on. If he's using our warm up time, all of our teammates are focused on their own dogs and getting them ready to run. So he got to run warm ups 6 times on Sunday. First we just did a recall, which means starting at the box and just doing the 4 jumps and coming to me. Then we added the box, which means hitting the box to do the turn, and grabbing the ball. He did fine with that, although the ball bounced off of his nose a couple of times, because this wasn't the box he's used to. But he would still find the ball and bring it to me, so that was great. Next, we had him do one jump, hit the box and get the ball, and run all 4 jumps back to me. And we just kept adding a jump each time. So by his last turn, he did all 4 jumps to the box, did the box hit and grabbed the ball, and did all 4 jumps back out to me. He dropped his ball a little early the last 2 times, but I think he was just really tired by then. And in all of his warmups, he never paid any attention to the other dogs warming up in the other lane, or the dogs in our lane waiting to race. Overall, our teammates said he did great for his first warmups at a real tournament. And Halas loved it, even though he was tired. Even the last 2 times, when I could tell he was tired, he still pulled like crazy to get into the building, because he knew it was his turn again. I didn't see any other goldendoodles or labradoodles there, but there was one schnoodle, another dog that looked kind of like a schnoodle, but it's ears were more like a briard, a couple of standard poodles, a couple of golden retrievers, and lots of labs. Border collies and border mixes were probably the most common breed there. Anyway, I'm so proud of him, and I can't wait to get to some real racing. Our team is pretty laid-back, and not super-competitive like some teams, so the main point with our team is to have fun with your dog and try to run a clean race. I have one exhausted puppy sleeping the day away at home right now. I have a couple of videos that I'll try to post tonight.

[Kathy Spyker]

Sounds like it was a fun day. Can't wait to see a video ;-)

[Linda and Murphy]

Congratulations! Sounds like a lot of fun.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

What a fun day. Congratulations, Halas...it sounds like you did a great job. I'm looking forward to the video.

[Christine & Shelby]

Sounds like a great day! Can't wait to see the videos.... just heard of Flyball a few weeks ago :o)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Way to go, Halas! I can't wait to see the videos!

[GBK]

That is so great Leslie, sounds like Halas will be ready for the real competition soon! Looking forward to more updates.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Sounds like it was a successful day for both you and Halas.