Flyball Concerns

[beckster74]

My dog started flyball training a few months ago and has recently been 'graduated' from the beginners class and therefore spends more time actually 'racing' as opposed to 'training'. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that when she got home from training (my partner takes her) she would be all keyed up and last week she actually barked at me and scratched me when I called her over to me. This is completely out of character as she never ever barks except for when she is at flyball (she goes completely nuts) and is extremely well behaved. My partner and I have invested a lot of time training her (she's a kelpie) and ever since we got her as a puppy we have been able to leave her at home alone with our chooks who have free range of the yard. Never any problems......until I got home from work yesterday and she had killed one of them. I'm just heart broken because this has never happened before and in fact she normally lets the chooks climb all over her and seemed to enjoy just hanging out with them. My worry is that flyball has brought out a side of her that we had never seen before. The sport seems to be all about hyping the dogs up to race and I'm worried that being in such an environment has 'undone' some of the good work we'd done in training her. Anyone have any thoughts????

[beckster74]

bump

[Kavik]

I am training my Kelpie pup in agility, and have done some with another Kelpie cross, but have not done flyball. Flyall and agility are very fast, high adrenaline sports, as you have realised The barking and scratching I personally wouldn't worry about, that sounds like excitement, if it bothers you maybe you could throw in a sit or drop as they are controlled positions (you should read what happens to the people who do drive training ) - you must have a very quiet Kelpie normally ;)

Don't know what to say about the chickens. I wouldn't leave mine unsupervised, my older Kelpie cross would definitely try to at least chase them, and since I am planning on doing herding with my pup, I would assume he would show too much interest to leave on his own.

[Cosmolo]

It sounds like flyball it "switching her on" and she doesn't have a reliable "off switch" when the flyball is over. I wouldn't recomend taking the flyball away completely but perhaps you need to do some training in drive in other places and situations and teach her a complete 'off' switch. I would be interested to know how old the dog is as i don't think the flyball has undone your training- rather explored a side of her (working in drive) that perhaps wasn't gone into as thoroughly during her training as what is now required. I'm sorry to hear about her killing a chicken but i do also think that small livestock and dogs unsupervised together can be a ticking time bomb. If she is doing flyball once a week, she may be looking for and lacking drive satisfaction at other times hence the fate of the poor chicken.

[SEQ ACO]

My dog started flyball training a few months ago and has recently been 'graduated' from the beginners class and therefore spends more time actually 'racing' as opposed to 'training'. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that when she got home from training (my partner takes her) she would be all keyed up and last week she actually barked at me and scratched me when I called her over to me. This is completely out of character as she never ever barks except for when she is at flyball (she goes completely nuts) and is extremely well behaved. My partner and I have invested a lot of time training her (she's a kelpie) and ever since we got her as a puppy we have been able to leave her at home alone with our chooks who have free range of the yard. Never any problems......until I got home from work yesterday and she had killed one of them. I'm just heart broken because this has never happened before and in fact she normally lets the chooks climb all over her and seemed to enjoy just hanging out with them. My worry is that flyball has brought out a side of her that we had never seen before. The sport seems to be all about hyping the dogs up to race and I'm worried that being in such an environment has 'undone' some of the good work we'd done in training her. Anyone have any thoughts????

Out of curiosity how old is the dog? What are her past life experiences? Perhaps this is her first experience with excitement and maybe as her fitness levels are increasing she has more go during the day? Does this lead to more boredom potential? Just an observation I am no expert.

[beckster74]

It sounds like flyball it "switching her on" and she doesn't have a reliable "off switch" when the flyball is over. I wouldn't recomend taking the flyball away completely but perhaps you need to do some training in drive in other places and situations and teach her a complete 'off' switch. I would be interested to know how old the dog is as i don't think the flyball has undone your training- rather explored a side of her (working in drive) that perhaps wasn't gone into as thoroughly during her training as what is now required. I'm sorry to hear about her killing a chicken but i do also think that small livestock and dogs unsupervised together can be a ticking time bomb. If she is doing flyball once a week, she may be looking for and lacking drive satisfaction at other times hence the fate of the poor chicken.

She's only 2 and I know she loves flyball but you're probably right about getting her to 'switch off'. And she'll never be left alone with the chooks again. I know it's no excuse but she's always been so good with them and seemed to treat them as part of the 'pack'.......we've learnt our lesson.

[beckster74]

My dog started flyball training a few months ago and has recently been 'graduated' from the beginners class and therefore spends more time actually 'racing' as opposed to 'training'. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that when she got home from training (my partner takes her) she would be all keyed up and last week she actually barked at me and scratched me when I called her over to me. This is completely out of character as she never ever barks except for when she is at flyball (she goes completely nuts) and is extremely well behaved. My partner and I have invested a lot of time training her (she's a kelpie) and ever since we got her as a puppy we have been able to leave her at home alone with our chooks who have free range of the yard. Never any problems......until I got home from work yesterday and she had killed one of them. I'm just heart broken because this has never happened before and in fact she normally lets the chooks climb all over her and seemed to enjoy just hanging out with them. My worry is that flyball has brought out a side of her that we had never seen before. The sport seems to be all about hyping the dogs up to race and I'm worried that being in such an environment has 'undone' some of the good work we'd done in training her. Anyone have any thoughts????

Out of curiosity how old is the dog? What are her past life experiences? Perhaps this is her first experience with excitement and maybe as her fitness levels are increasing she has more go during the day? Does this lead to more boredom potential? Just an observation I am no expert.

We've had her since she was 11 weeks old and without a doubt flyball is the most exciting thing she has EVER experienced She becomes almost unrecognisable at flyball (she goes nuts) and like a said before she usually never ever barks but she is incredibly intense and needs to be exercised twice a day....we're talking about a dog who was taken to the vet because of exhaustion - she doesn't know when to stop and will chase a ball even if you chopped her legs off. She could definitely be a bit bored during the day but I'm also wondering if a bit of separation anxiety is starting to creep in too.

[Kavik]

Sounds like an off switch is needed

Kaos's activity is generally monitored by Diesel, who is less intense and has less energy, so they break when he is tired ;) but if Kaos gets too much, I put him in a crate and he knows it is quiet time in there.

[beckster74]

Sounds like an off switch is needed

Kaos's activity is generally monitored by Diesel, who is less intense and has less energy, so they break when he is tired ;) but if Kaos gets too much, I put him in a crate and he knows it is quiet time in there.

Yes....I'm sensing someone will be getting a crate for christmas

[Cosmolo]

Whereabouts are you located? I do think that working her in drive in other situations would help as well as teaching an off switch at flyball- which flyball enthusiasts may frown upon as they wouldn't want to do anything to diminish drive but you can do it in a way that works with her drive rather than 'against' it so that she still gets most of what she wants but you have a more reliable dog that will switch off when required.

[TigerJack]

I do think that working her in drive in other situations would help as well as teaching an off switch at flyball- which flyball enthusiasts may frown upon as they wouldn't want to do anything to diminish drive but you can do it in a way that works with her drive rather than 'against' it so that she still gets most of what she wants but you have a more reliable dog that will switch off when required.

To some extent I agree with this but I don't think the off switch is actually flyball specific. ought to apply whenever you need it.

I too have an overactive Kelpie. My girl is 18 months old and we do Flyball and also sheep herding. She has now competed in 3 flyball competitions. Her drive is great, learning control and focus was harder (and still not completely there!) The reason I say the off switch isn't flyball specific is that I discovered that the hard work we were doing at herding (almost 12 months worth now) was all about building a relationship with her. We have cemented the hierarchy between us and she is now much more controlled at herding. She knows that she gets the sheep only when she focuses on me and does as I ask. Without doing anything different at Flyball, I found that her flyball focus was getting better, the more I took her herding. I figured out that it wasn't the flyball that was making her a hyperactive nut, it was her lack of focus and my relationship with her wasn't as good as I thought it was.

Now that I have something she really wants (to herd sheep) I have gotten her to pay attention to me and work with me, she knows I am the only one who will let her have her sheep. The same focus just came across to the flyball too. She pays attention more, still gets crazy and barks madly but stops and settles when I ask her to. Her recall now is much more reliable too.

I realise herding isn't for everyone but maybe you can find another way to build the relationship between you that will carry through into whatever sport you do with her.

I have to say I would never trust her with chooks either, but I don't have any. So far she's let my parrot alone.

Good luck with the flyball. Where are you training?

Jo

[Cosmolo]

I didn't mean to say the off switch was flyball specific- just that the lack of an off switch is being shown up as the dog does flyball which puts the dog into high drive. The OP may already have an off switch when the dog is low drive which is why my post seemed 'flyball specific', perhaps a better way to put it would just be teaching the dog a reliable off switch when in high drive (and all other situations of course)

[beckster74]

I didn't mean to say the off switch was flyball specific- just that the lack of an off switch is being shown up as the dog does flyball which puts the dog into high drive. The OP may already have an off switch when the dog is low drive which is why my post seemed 'flyball specific', perhaps a better way to put it would just be teaching the dog a reliable off switch when in high drive (and all other situations of course)

I'm in Brisbane and I'd love to get her involved in herding but the problem is she's frightened of sheep I was throwing a ball with her one day at a friends place where there are cows and calves in the next door paddocks and if the ball went anywhere near the fence she refused to fetch. And that's really saying something when it comes to her and tennis balls :D

[TigerJack]

Cosmolo

I didn't mean to say the off switch was flyball specific- just that the lack of an off switch is being shown up as the dog does flyball which puts the dog into high drive. The OP may already have an off switch when the dog is low drive which is why my post seemed 'flyball specific', perhaps a better way to put it would just be teaching the dog a reliable off switch when in high drive (and all other situations of course)

I did get what you meant but I don't think I worded my answer too well. I get what you mean about off switch in low drive not working in the high drive situation (the flyball.) I discovered it by accident myself I suppose, with my girl, as the off switch she learn't while in quite high drive for the sheep herding, just transferred over to other situations. Pretty neat really. Prior to the off from herding, she was less controllable at flyball (or anywhere really.)

Jo

[kylieandpossum]

i agree with jo re herding. done wonders for my supposedly out of control koolie. obviously its hard to comment on the whole situation but i think you have a number of factors happening at the same time. firstly, a working dog who has not been working and suddenly finds out what thats like. secondly, once you stimulate a dog mentally or physically they want MORE of it not less. the fitter the dog the more work out it requires, the more energy it will have. thirdly, your dog is at an age when its 'growing up', she will be pushing boundaries in all sorts of areas. and i dont think an excited dog is an out of control one. it really bothers me when people say they have a hyper out of control dog when all it does is be a dog rather a mute stuffed toy. (not saying this is what youre doing). there was a guy who came to our last herding with a lovely polite calm kelpie that he thought was out of control cos she was friendly and wanted to jump up and say hi to people. after everyone with really 'out of control' working dogs had gotten back off their chairs which they had fallen off while laughing :D it took about 5 seconds to teach the dog to sit instead of jump up. i have heard flyball blamed for all sorts of bad dog behaviour but its as contextual as all other dog trainings. they are hyper when they are doing it because they love it, not cos we keep them wild and out of control, feeding them raw meat through the wire! at home they are all lovely sweet pets but all with the usual dog issues that everyone has, so id be careful about confusing the two.

cheers

kylie.

[Vickie]

I'm in Brisbane and I'd love to get her involved in herding but the problem is she's frightened of sheep :D I was throwing a ball with her one day at a friends place where there are cows and calves in the next door paddocks and if the ball went anywhere near the fence she refused to fetch. And that's really saying something when it comes to her and tennis balls

Have you actually tried her on sheep? It is very easy for a dog to be frightened of livestock before they have switched on to them. You could turn a pup right off by letting them be eye balled by strong stock from the other side of the fence.

Dogs usually switch on when they discover that they can "move" the sheep. So even if you think she may be scared from a distance, you may find she has a totally different reaction if given an opportunity to use her instinct. Or maybe not...depends on the dog, but it's worth a try.