Finally an update

I know, my intention was to document all of Squibby & George's training, but alas, it just didn't happen. But I have the latest updates for you!

Squibby:
Squibby is doing full runs, he brings his ball, he brings it to his tug & drops it. Sweet! He started working 1 jump to the box & back with a passing dog. He does much better being passed than passing at this point. Next we'll work him versus another dog in the other lane, but again 1 hurdle down & back, and then expanding on that theme once he's solid with another dog head to head. The other big news is that Squibby has a new home! He'll be going to Gloria at the beginning of October & will hopefully be quite the little flyball height dog for her team!

George:
Well, George had a total meltdown a few weeks ago, timed perfectly for when his Mom came to see him. We struggled for about 10 days, he literally acted like there was no way he could get his butt over the prop & he would avoid turning on the box even if the carpet board was back in & he was at least going over the prop onto that flat on the ground. I was totally dismayed. He was doing a great impression of a log most of the time. Then I might get him to do a few semi-decent turns and he's go back to being a lump! However he did have an ear infection and once we started treating that he seemed to improve and all of a sudden I had the good George back, so I suspect the infection was making him feel outta balance or at least not quite himself. Cause now I have this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TkrDNhhRAE
He is literally worked better than he ever was! So big YEAH! In the video things to notice:
1. His box bounces are nice & high
2. He's not doing them that fast, we stop for treats between each one, so I cut that off
3. I'm sorry you have to listen to my super fake happy voice, it annoys me!
4. Once I add the ball, things tend to look bad, but he's trying to coordinate the timing of popping over the prop, turning, and then picking up the ball.
5. At first I'm rewarding any mouth contact with the ball, so he's maybe hitting the ball with his mouth, or catching it/then dropping it, and he got a reward for that b/c I wanted him to know he was on the right track, even if it wasn't the ideal end product.
6. He's getting the ball, basically where it would be if it was in the hole. I didn't have the right set up so I had to use the carpet board to hold the ball in place.

Future work:
Next time I'll have it in the hole, but the hole will not be triggering. Then we start to very gradually increase the speed the ball comes out at. This generally is done pretty quickly, but with George I think it will be crucial to slowly increase the speed & back off to make sure he's successful and confident before it gets to the end. If he's overwhelmed, you back off the speed, build up the confidence again & move forward.

Of course there is still all that other stuff, passing, running against a dog, running past a dog on the sidelines & putting the whole thing together into a full run. But I still think George has made fantastic progress for a dog who's not super drivey & had to start from scratch!