So, my lovely dog Wire contributed to Skidmarkz running a blazing team record of 14.333. However, in our first race that day, Wire ran a 3.396, clean pass, great ball carry. You may not be a flyball person, so why is that significant? It's a damn rare gift to have a dog that can put a 3.3XX on the clock in tournaments. The 14.333 is the 2nd fastest time ever run in the sport of flyball. Both things are super impressive. Especially in 2020, with limited to zippo tournaments. It is downright stellar given the circumstances. I have grown more & more reluctant to brag about my dogs in general. As we have gotten faster & more eyes are on us, it can put a lot of pressure on the humans and the dogs. It can set the expectation for your dog to always perform flawlessly. I don't expect that from my dogs, I know they will have ups and downs, bad and good days & they will eventually slow down. I also don't want it to be about me. It's Wire The dog is amazing. I am just along for the ride! And my whole team is on the ride too. I don't want my brag to water down the fact that this took a whole orange village!
You could argue the 3.396 is solely Wire's achievement. I would argue otherwise. You see, Wire was running second when she posted that time. She was passing Trix, one of our amazing height dogs. Trix is hands down one of the easiest dogs to pass on our team. She is extremely consistent. Trix was NOT easy to train. We knew what to do because of every dog before Trix. We knew to throw away the flyball manual and work with what Trix brought to the table. I could not have done that pass without the training that made Trix consistent.
Wire IS fast on a whole 'nuther level. We have fast dogs on Skidmarkz. Wire and her brothers are Fffffast. It is challenging, but training every dog before her meant that we knew where to insist on good technique, and where to just let her rip. She does not follow the flyball manual. She does 2 strides in & 2 strides out. She uses a squishy ball instead of the far cooler regular tennis balls. I don't show her tug to her on her return. She has no props. NONE. Not in warm up, not in practice. We are 100% doing it all wrong. We are 100% doing it all right, for Wire. And that's a big WE. The entire Skidmarkz team trained Wire. Every dog on our team is the product of the efforts of every human on our team. So THANKS Skidz!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4btv1i_kpws
Hey, video of it, so it actually did happen, with a ball, at a tournament...
Wire taught me some things recently too. Compared to my other Border Whippets: Sway who is quick & graceful, Ping who is super chill & powerful, Wire is demanding & intense. She commands your full attention or you will be sorry. There is no casually running her. Wire reminded me of this by biting my finger, through my Mechanix glove at a tournament. I pulled off the glove hoping the tip of my finger was still attached. (It was, just bleeding & numb). Message received! I stopped trying to multitask and just watched my dog. I realized I wasn't playing tug the way she likes. This tournament, I focused on what she wanted and how she wants to tug. Eyes OFF the lanes, Eyes ON the dog. Thank you Wire, I'm sorry I wasn't listening before!
Now after you have read all this, please know, I am truly, insanely proud of Wire. But I really want you to know that I love this dog for everything she is, not for the time she runs. The time she put up was faster than anything she has run before in practice or a tournament. It is super cool. But, we may never see it again. We are not training Skidmarkz dogs to be 3.3XX dogs. I will not be disappointed if she never runs it again. Because PERSONAL BEST TIMES DO NOT MATTER. Average times do. Consistency matters. Finding where she best fits in the lineup matters. Finding out what her weak areas are matters. Yes, she still has some, she's just over 2 years old.
My ego is not tied to Wire's times. If that is what your dog is to you, reconsider what you are asking of the dog. Is the dog in the lanes to bolster your ego or so your dog can PLAY a fun and super complex game of fetch with you? I want happy waggy tails, and dogs enjoying this GAME. Because...it's just a time, it was only 3.396 seconds of her life with us. It meant nothing to her, she was just playing. A blink of an eye & it was over. Their time with us is short. Make it fun, make them love to play silly games with you, to the best of their ability, as safely as possible.
Finally - Some top secret training advice...
Question your training. Why do you do it? What is the purpose? What is the result you expect to see? What are you trying to teach the dog? If the answer is "I don't know.", rethink your training.
