• 22May

  Take a Survey Contest

  Monthly Contests No Comments

  FRIDAY FUSION CONTEST…
  This contest is now closed. Check back this Friday for a new contest!

  For today’s contest, I’d like to ask for your help. I would like to get to know you more, and what level of agility you are at. It’s a short and easy survey, and it will be very helpful in making AgilityFusion even better. One of you (random draw from a computer program) will win a $50 gift certificate! And, for the non-winners, I will be emailing a special thank you coupon they can use toward a future purchase as well! It’s what I call a “win-win contest”!

  To make it easier for you, I suggest highlighting the text below, and copying it (Shortcut: Press Ctrl & C. It will go into your memory). Then click on “comments” in the upper right corner, and then paste (shortcut: Press Ctrl & V) into the comments box.

  Deadline is Monday night at midnight (I’m extending the contest because it is Memorial Day Weekend).  And also, just a simple reminder, that you must be a registered user of AgilityFusion. You only have to register once, and you are good forever. Thanks!

  Survey Questions:
  1. Have you taken an agility training class before? (describe if it was a one-time class, or a series of classes)
  2. Have you ever done an agility trial before?
  3. If so, what venue(s) do you participate in? (AKC, USDAA, etc.)
  4. Approximately what level are you up to, in these venues?
  5. Any other involvement in agility, other than backyard practice and/or competitions? (trainer, volunteer, etc.)
  6. Of all the equipment you own, what do you not own that you would like to get next (or need to upgrade)?
  7. Any suggestions for AgilityFusion? Anything you’d like to see more of?

  
• 21May

  Leading out at the Start Line

  Dog Agility Training 7 Comments

  So you’re confident that your dog will stay at the starting line, so you go way up to the first or second obstacle and then call to your dog with the “go” command.  Good to do?  Possibly. If your dog is trembling with excitement to break his stay and run like a lightning bolt, you need to get ahead as far as you can!  But for some dogs who are more hesitant, it may be better (even if they have a reliable stay), for you to stay by their side and play with them until it’s time to run.  Then unclip your leash and go.  While you may have to run faster because you didn’t get a head-start, you may find your dog more revved up and less apt to be poky in the initial start-up. 

  Now usually, a slow dog at start-up is caused by a lack of drive.  In home or class sequencing, it is important to reward your dog (through effective motivational methods) in the right balance.  People often reward their dogs too often, or not often enough.  Too often, and you get a dog one who is always looking to you for a reward after every obstacle (not to mention possibly fat and full before you even finish your practice session).  Too little, and you will have an umotivated dog who forgets the whole reason why he loves agility to begin with.  The right balance is important, and it is a balance that should continually be adjusted at home practice to produce the optimum drive.

  For more information, read “Motivating Your Dog” blog entry.

  

  Tags: agility competing, agility training

• 20May

  Agility in the movies

  Interesting and Funny 1 Comment

  Life is far from boring for us at Affordable Agility. And ever once in awhile it gets spiced up even more with an order from Hollywood. Someday we’ll list all the interesting places our equipment has been shown. Meanwhile, I just found a YouTube video for a movie that featured a short excert for dog agility on it. It was the 20th Century Fox film, “Firehouse Dog”, featuring Josh Hutcherson.  The production company ordered a bunch of things from us, including an a-frame, teeter, dogwalk, chute, tunnel, etc. (2 of everything, actually).  They painted everything firehouse colors, so some of them seem unrecognizable. 

  Here is the YouTube trailer containing the stunt picnic event that features the equipment. It’s 10 minutes long.  If you want to get to the actual part that shows the equipment (which unfortunately goes too fast), drag the control button to the 5.18 minute slot to start watching it from there.

  (By the way, the Ring of Fire is NOT a regular agility obstacle!)

  

  Tags: dog fame, videos

• 19May

  Dog Leashing Rule

  Dog Agility Competing 10 Comments

  Christine, one of our frequent commenters (and the winner of a previous contest) wrote,

  Hi, this is Christine, and I just won the agility record book!

  This will make up for my competition of Saturday, I had a clean run and the best time, soo happy that I forgot about the new rule of the AKC that you have to have your dog on leash before you exit the ring! Bummer! I didn’t have her on leash and I got disqualified! It will not happen to me again but it would be a good idea to have the new rules or the change that the AKC or any other organization makes.

  Thanks,

  Christine, and my dog Sideway

  First of all, congratulations to both of you for your great run!  About the non-qualification complication, it’s always hard to learn a lesson the hard way, but we sure learn it best this way.  (I speak from experience!  One of my favorite sayings is, “I never make the same mistake twice.  I just keep inventing new ones!”.)  The AKC rule you mentioned is not actually a new, but it’s always been a requirement, as far as I know.   It’s mentioned in the current AKC rule book, which was last updated in 2006. 

   

  But even still, leashing rules are not something we all know, going into a trial.  So thank you for sharing!  I’m sure it has helped others.  And thank you also for your suggestion for the blog too, about announcing changes that the agility organizations make.  I plan to do just that!  I’m an “Outlook task fan” (if you are one, you know what I’m talking about!), and its a regularly occuring task of mine now to check all the event organization’s news pages.  I’m also subscribed to many of their email groups for up-to-the-day alerts.   So yes, along with your help too, as soon as I hear about something, I hope to pass it on to all of you. 

   

  A couple of the more recent newsworthy changes (in case anyone missed them) is about the AKC’s plans to allow mixed breeds, and rules about t-shirt advertising.   I’ve also posted AKC’s rules for leash usage at agility trials here.

  

  Tags: agility competing, agility training

• 18May

  Nippy Dog Contest Winner

  Monthly Contests No Comments

  We had a great response to Friday’s contest.  Congratulations to Dee, who was the 16th person to post an answer.  I used a random-number generator, and from the 1-24 range, it picked #16.

  DISCLAIMER:   Our reader,  Lorraine, has plenty of great advice to work with.  To view all the comments, just scroll down and click on “comments” in Friday’s entry (or go here).  To those who also have this same problem with their dogs, please remember that not everyone who gave suggestions are professionals.  The fun of these contests is that it bring out the ‘inner trainer’ in all of us, to solve problems.  Some advice will work better than others.  Some may not work at all.

  REGARDING THE USE OF FOOD:  A few people mentioned using food as a distraction at the end of a run.  I assume people meant in practice settings only, as food is not allowed in the competition ring.  I just wanted to clarify this in case there are beginners who were not aware of this. 

  Speaking of food…I was at a trial this weekend.  I watched a woman run her dog, then she came out of the ring, stopped, and out of her mouth came a bunch of dog treats.  (hotdog pieces maybe, I couldn’t tell).  Now, I’m not particularly fond of this practice, at least from the perspective of the observer.  In this case, I was shocked at how many pieces came out!  She looked like an overweight pez dispenser.  If the judge saw her, she would have been disqualified.  Although she treated the dog outside the ring, the food was technically in the ring.

  

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