and not Flygility.

Well Flygility has become a truly serious sport with titles and expensive prizes and ribbons and it just isn't a bunch of people turning up on a day at a place and playing a dog game with minimal equipment. All we need is 8 dogs and we are away.Two boxes eight fly hurdles and some balls. Great.

It is just sort of Kareoke Dog Sports really, and such fun and achievable and fast. I have sort of morphed the game a bit to fit my need to train new people but it works and it is a laugh.

Hitting the box is such a huge thrill for the handlers and the dogs. So long as the dog wants the ball and will carry it, we will have him hitting the box in no time at all.

This is my method. Get a plank about the same size as a flybox pedal and prop it up on a couple of bricks. Have the handler put the dog on lead and have a 'loader' who isn't really loading anything at this point but instead is going to feed the dog every time he 'hits' the plank. The food will be presented quite high about where the ball is going to fly out of the box eventually. Do not feed low.

Have the handler walk the dog forward on lead and as soon as the dog touches the plank - the box loader feeds the dog. The handler then quickly pulls the dog away and rewards again. Food probably but preferably to play a game of tug. What am I doing. I am teaching the dog that the person at the box is a friend. That going forward and touching the plank is a pleasant thing. But returning to handler is also a good thing. I hope the dog will get quite excited by this activity and appear to be playing. How many times do I do this, probably about ten.

Then I get the flybox out and load a ball.

I start with the dog about ten meters away and fire balls from the box as quickly as I can. The handler is slowly advancing on the box with the dog on a lead saying 'get it' or 'go look'. Then when the dog is about five meters away I put the plank on the box pedal, the box is loaded I tell the handler to let the dog come. I call him he rushes up to the box, hits the plank, the ball comes out, he notices it and he then runs back to his handler for treat or game. Sometimes the dog will retrieve the ball on the first hit, occasionally the dog will actually catch the ball the first time, but most dogs just notice the ball, watch it fall and run back to their handler, for the game.

For a first lesson this is great. I would hope to reinforce that lesson about two or three days later and by the end of that second lesson the dog should be retrieving the ball either from where it drops or by catching the ball.

I rely on the handler to throw balls at the dog as part of play. If a dog is reluctant to catch I do food catches and 'good boy' praise, then soft toy catches, then soft ball catches and finally tennis ball catches.

I also rely on the handler to be working hard on the tug game or alternative play when the ball is retrieved, but this is the hard part, a lot of trainer/handlers are lazy and just use food as the reward. I tell them they will never get the return they need using food. They need to speed their dog up on the return and only game playing will do this.

Learning the box is not hard for the dog, but it really gives the handlers a buzz. I simply increase the length from the handler to the box without obstacles. I like the dog to be charging at the box from twentyfive meters without hurdles or tunnels and returning really fast. Then we are ready to move on.

We have a great retrieve, a 100% sendaway to the box and return. Now we need to put the obstacles in place....

Raewyn Saville 4-11-12