We learned clicker-training in obedience, which really came in handy for training flyball. First, I’d roll the ball and she’d chase it. The moment she’d put her nose on the ball, “click!” and she’d get a treat. This game is much more fun!! Soon, she picked up the ball and dropped it immediately. Then, I shaped her by not letting her chase the ball until it slowed down its roll, almost to a stop. I’d say “READYYYYYY, SET, GO!” Then it became a race game for her. Soon, I would only let her go when the ball stopped rolling on the floor.  

OK – so now I have a whippet running to a ball that isn’t moving and picking it up. Now …… she likes to run around the arena with it in her mouth, zoomie-style. After lots of clicking and shaping, Bella now brings the ball back to me to get a cookie. We play the “bring-me” game, where she puts it in my hand or doesn’t get the cookie. This is useful for other things too.

Second problem – the loud, scary box. When a dog triggers the box, it makes a loud “bang” when the hammer shoots out the ball. Bella wasn’t too fond of this. She’d yelp, bark and go crazy every time she heard this sound. The box was “scary.” She actually acted just as crazy as she does when she sees the bunny at lure coursing! Wow!

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So, I took her to practices and tournaments and worked on making the experience positive. We’d park it near the box, just out of bounds. Every time a dog would hit the box, I’d click and give her something really yummy. After some time, she associated the box noise with a yummy treat, rather than something scary. This helped her later in her career for pet therapy, where noise doesn’t bother her in the least. I’m very proud of this one. The other month, a loud helicopter landed near us at the hospital. The noise didn’t phase Bella at all.

Third problem – her running away from me. OK, in

obedience, you practice a lot of recalls (the dog running to you when called). You would think this would be a problem for a whippet. If you yell excitedly, smile and have yummy cookies, anything can be solved. But, now I wanted her to run away from me, over jumps and to hit a loud box before coming back.

What fixed this? --- treats on the box. I’d show her where the treats were, then walk her to the other end of the lane. She’d run down, over the jump and eat off the box. Then, I’d call her back over the same jumps. It becomes a “doubly-fun game.” Cookies on both ends! If you have an agility or obedience whippet, targeting is very useful for this too. But, with Bella, the food was much more exciting than a disc or target.

Fourth problem – she doesn’t catch anything in the air. If I throw food at her – bop!! It hits her right in the middle of the forehead. For some reason, she couldn’t catch worth a darn. We practiced this all the time  with food at home. She just can’t catch, not even popcorn  Sheesh!
How is she ever going to catch a ball that the box shoots out at her. The tennis balls are big and don’t fit nicely in a little whippet girl’s mouth. They aren’t very nice when they hit her on the head either.

“After lots of clicking and shaping,
Bella now brings the ball back to me
to get a cookie”