Both the GSD flyball boys have come so far! Below is the latest video, a compilation from January and February (Pan first half, Nikon second half). It’s funny, both boys are at the same place in their training (doing the full sequence, running singles races, ready to work on passes) but have very different styles of execution. Nikon is all about correctness and consistency. His turns are *really* nice! What he does really well is as he approaches the box he naturally moves to the left so when he launches onto the box and turns in the air, he has plenty of room to make the turn and land squarely on the box. A lot of dogs need a cone or other prop in front of the box to force this but Nikon is doing it naturally. From my angle – at the other end of the lane looking straight on – I can see this very clearly. Pan is the speed demon! In training he is competing with some of the fastest dogs on the team. The instructor believes he is already challenging the fastest GSD in the league and might run under 4 seconds with more training. My friends are also training their GSDs so we’re joking about running an all SchH-GSD team!
NICE! Is that Pan outrunning an Aussie?! I love it!
Nikon is beautiful on the turns, and a just plain beautiful dog.
I think first he’s running against a Belgian (fastest singles BSD) and then later on against Ping the Border Collie. We have two competitive mini-Aussies and a regular Aussie still learning. Pan has run with the mini-Aussies (doing passes) but not against them, they usually run with a 2- or 4-dog team during practice. Pan can’t pass either way yet so he still runs by himself.
Nikon runs against Eden the Corgi in the video. She’s kind of slow but tends to run better against another dog so we put her against Nikon, they know each other from outside flyball get along real well. Otherwise Nikon usually trains with the “problem” dogs – dogs that have issues going after other dogs or cutting into the other lane. Nikon takes this in stride. Some of the competitive dogs are pretty soft dogs and get really messed up if another dog gets in their face, but this does not bother Nikon one bit and has no effect on his performance. Also some of the more reactive small dogs won’t go after Nikon like they would another small dog. For example we have a Corgi/JRT mix that is really good but can be reactive to the other dogs. We run her next to Nikon and she barely even glances at him. He commands respect for his space without ever having a confrontation!
Oh, I mistook the BC for an Aussie — I can’t always tell the difference, but I do know that they’re freaking FAST, and Pan must be flying if he’s passing them!
That’s cool that Nikon is used as a stable, neutral partner dog, exactly how a GSD should be in temperament. I remember the videos you posted practicing the turns with him in your living room — all that practice paid off because he’s a natural now. I love seeing all the different sports and activities you do with your dogs. They both look great, and you all look like you’re having fun!
JK I also have a hard time telling some of the border collies from Aussies, especially with the ones being bred for show. That show stuff ruins everything….I didn’t say that I just repeating what I heard someplace else from someone else.
Cool! I think an all GSD team would be fantastic!
not only an all gsd team but an all schH gsd team. GO SchH GSD!
Wow, that was great Lies, your dogs look fantastic, you should be very proud of them!!!!
Don’t know why, but this won’t play on any of my computers or phone…do you have a link?
Does anybody else have that problem? This shows up as a little box in the corner on both my pc and apple…With the new moble format, my iphone4 just shows me a thin line like it loaded but can only see one thin row.
Barb here is the link:
http://youtu.be/TqG4YD8DNFI
Kira is very proud of Nikon! I am too!