• 20May

  Taking off

  Dog Agility Equipment, Dog Agility Training No Comments

  Q. I have a problem in training my older dog who thinks in slowing down is not agility and i am having a lot of trouble getting her to touch the aframe sometimes (very rarely she gets the colour) she jumps off half way down and all i want is another 4 q in masters and she can stop doing agility and do games and jumping as thats not as much inpact on she shoulder , due to her jumping off the aframe she has hurt her shoulder.

  Can you please help as she has so much fun and she still has at least another 4 – 5 more years to go hopefully

  A. I think that the best bet for your dog is contact zoners.  If the dog can’t jump, she’ll learn that she has to run all the way down and off the contacts.  Also, for her shoulders sake, train the A-frame with the contact zoner on a leash one or two times (don’t let her leash get tangled in the zoner, but you need to be in control of her descent – try a leash tab or a short leash) so you know she won’t just knock the zoner over.

  Another idea is to put a jump a few strides after the A-frame so that she’ll have to go down the a-frame to take the jump.

  Work on your ‘easy’ command (I know, way easier said than done- lots of dogs are very fast ‘I can’t hear you la la laa’ dogs.) so that your dog won’t jump.

  Never reward a jumped contact zone. Ever. Even a little. Turn away and stop the run and make your dog redo it, with guidance (if this will cause her shoulder undue strain, don’t, but if she’s good for one more, then do so.)

  Best of luck!

  

  Tags: Q&A

• 19May

  A Late-Spring Cleaning

  Dog Agility Equipment No Comments

  If you’re like me, you know you should do your spring cleaning and you haven’t done it yet. Affordable Agility is holding a sale to help with that! Freshen up your agility course with these great sale prices! Amazing deals you and your dog will love!

  

  Tags: Affordable Agility News

• 17May

  When the Light Goes On

  Dog Agility Training 2 Comments

  This week in class we were focusing on learning how to shape. I’m from the luring-discipline myself, since when I was first starting to work with my dogs in 4-H shaping was something only really, really good trainers understood and tried to do (or so it was explained).  It was so wonderful to watch (no clickers in this class, we all used verbal markers, but I’m thinking I may break my clickers out again)!

  There are six dogs in the class. Four of them ‘got it’. You could see the light go on behind their eyes as they worked with a buja board for the first time! ‘I look at this, I get a treat. Hmmm. What happens if I… touch it… like this? MORE TREATS ohmigosh I’ll put my paws on it, oh hey it moves but that’s okay I get treats!’. That was literally what Quick seemed to be saying! His tail was up and tippy-wagging, smiling and excited. He was in love, and so was I.

  Two dogs were having huge difficulties ‘getting it’. They sat in perfect heels, waiting and waiting and watching and watching for their reward. Both of them are the little ladies of the class, and perfect at handling. Personally, I feel like they don’t want to take risks! After all, sits usually get rewards. Why isn’t that working? Eventually, though, they both got it. A little. But a little quickly turns to a lot!

  I’m lucky with Quick. He animates easily, and communicates with me quickly about his likes and dislikes. Usually very loudly! I’m not happy with his tendency to grumble under his breath. I at first thought it was growling, but then I realized he’s not actually growling, he’s grumbling like a teenager who has to clean their room!

  I’m pleased to announce the texting student paid attention this week and their dog did WAY way better. He was like a whole new dog! He caught onto the buja board in no time flat!

  This week, we’ll be practicing changing direction and reminding Quick that no, really, just because someone else is handling you doesn’t mean you’re allowed to freak out and forget your manners.

  Next week: Crash and Burn, baby…

  

  Tags: agility beginners, agility training

• 14May

  Treat Training

  Dog Training (General) 7 Comments

  Agility is a game- and most games have motivators!  Toys and treats and praise all work very well for most dogs, but what kind of treats are best?

  Treats should be small or breakable, soft, smelly, and made out of quality ingredients. A crunchy, grainy treat will leave crumbs on the course and distract your dog and the dogs behind them as well! A treat should be a taste, not a meal. One lick or bite and it’s gone!You can use bigger, crunchier treats as ‘jackpots’ at home, though! I use a medium-large biscuit at the bottom of contacts to reinforce my dogs’ nose touch.

  I also work very hard to keep my dogs’ treats ‘mixed up’ so he doesn’t get bored, although I can’t see Quick EVER getting bored with his yummy liver treats! (evil dog broke into the stash of them and ate them all- who knew large amounts of liver caused huge amounts of flatulence in dogs?) Put a mix in your treat bag so your dog won’t know if he’s getting a bit of dried fruit, or a bit of liver, or some potato chip. (don’t judge me! Nova’ll do anything for potato chips.)  Pretend you’re a slot machine- your dog does what he wants, and maybe he wins the treat, maybe he doesn’t.  It keeps them interested longer! (When training a new behavior, it’s best to treat every time.)

  What’s your dogs’ favorite treat that works well for agility? I keep hearing hot dogs are the best, but I can’t stand the smell myself so the dogs don’t get them.

  

  Tags: agility training, dog products, dog training

• 13May

  freekibble.com

  Inspirational 2 Comments

  It can be difficult to support shelters the way we’d like to. freekibble.com is a website where EVERYONE can help give food to shelter animals!  There is a trivia question every day, and for every answer you give (even if its’ the wrong one) you give ten kibbles of dog or cat food.  While ten kibbles may not seem like a lot, think of it this way.  If ten people do it, that’s a hundred kibbles.  That’s a quarter cup.  That’s breakfast for some dogs!   It takes a second, and you can do it every day. If ten people do it for ten days, that one thousand kibbles!  That’s a respectable amount of food! (there’s a link for cats, too!)

  There are several hundred subscribers to this blog.  If everyone does this, we could contribute 6,000 kibbles in just one day!  It takes so little, and yet it can be so much to a needy animal.

  

  Tags: dog safety & health, Events & News, Inspirational

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