The solution to this one actually came from another whippet person. He shared the secret ----- squishy-balls!! These were soft foam balls that were very easy for little whippet mouths to catch. Even mid-air. I brought this idea back to the team, and WOW! Not only did this work for Bella, but it worked for other dogs on the team who had catching problems.
Fifth problem – passing other dogs. As you all know, whippets love to chase. That’s what they do. Well, in a tournament, they must resist the urge to chase. They can’t chase teammates, or competing teams’ dogs either. It’s a really big “no-no” in flyball, for multiple reasons. Every time Bella would pass her teammate, she’d haul back down the lane after them to play. Ummm, ok - she’s a little too social I guess. So, we had to make her destination much more exciting than the environment around her. And, when she’d chase anyway – game over. No more playing for a bit. She’d go into a down-stay or into the crate. That’s no fun!
Ok – these are problems that any type of dog could have. Right? Why was my team still not excited about the new “Speedy Gonzoles” of the group? Well, because she’s a whippet.
Fifth problem – passing other dogs. As you all know, whippets love to chase. That’s what they do. Well, in a tournament, they must resist the urge to chase. They can’t chase teammates, or competing teams’ dogs either. It’s a really big “no-
Ok – these are problems that any type of dog could have. Right? Why was my team still not excited about the new “Speedy Gonzoles” of the group? Well, because she’s a whippet.
She took a year and a half to get the entire game down. We had to work through a lot of problems, and they took a lot longer than most dogs because, she was a whippet. Bella would much rather do things on her own terms. She would rather go visit along the sidelines, she’d rather “go sniff over there” if she played the game more than twice in a row. Her attention span was that of a cat. Keeping her motivated was one of the hardest things I had to do. To this day, she runs great at home in the backyard, and at neck-breaking speed. At practice, she’d rather visit.
To date, Bella is now a therapy dog. She plays flyball at home.
OK, so the moral of the story isn’t “don’t bother training a whippet in flyball.” So, here’s something more positive to throw into the mix.
Last October, my husband and I adopted George.
To date, Bella is now a therapy dog. She plays flyball at home.
OK, so the moral of the story isn’t “don’t bother training a whippet in flyball.” So, here’s something more positive to throw into the mix.
Last October, my husband and I adopted George.
George was a male whippet, around the same age as Bella who had manners – bad manners. He was very motivated, even to our demise. If you didn’t give George something to do, he’d find something to do. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a whippet. You have to make the game exciting, or he’ll go elsewhere. But, he really likes games. He passed “basic manners” and “manners plus” on the first go-around. He went from never being trained to joining advanced classes, like flyball and agility, within two months time. It took George nine months in flyball training before he actually ran in his first tournament. This was a record for me, and a proud day in whippet training. Bella had taught me how to overcome all of the little things and how focus on the bigger picture. George helped execute my dreams of running a whippet in flyball.
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