• 30Aug

  At Last, Pictures!

  Dog Agility Training No Comments

  Thanks to my kind classmate, we got pictures of Quick! Isn’t he huge? (and adorable!) for all his photos, you can go to our facebook page- I’ll be putting them all up there shortly!

  Quick started out the night with his dewclaws neatly taped so he wouldn’t hurt himself. He never has, but I live in perpetual fear of it. By the time he came out of the crate for his first nose-touch session, he had removed it. Oii.We’ll try that again!

  His nose touches suddenly became spot-on, almost! At the beginning of class he was insisting on using his feet and only his feet, but by the end he was pecking away with his nose! It was amazing to watch him figure out what got him food. (We went with Yummy Chummies again this week, they smell like fish food, and he loves them.)

  From there, on to the A-frame and Dogwalk! He was bypassing the contact zoners on both ends gleefully at first, but then he got the swing of things. He went through- often taking the zoner with him! For big dogs, I think I will really suggest either using a large wire zoner or a NADAC Hoop. Quick took it with him more often than not. He did launch himself from near the top of the A-frame on his first go. The look of bliss on his face was amusing. After that he behaved himself! He did beautifully on the dogwalk, and has even started going ahead if I hang back telling him to go. I’m very vocal. It will be a challenge if I ever try to run mute.

  The class started working on shadow handling. Quick and I had a little bit of a leg up there, since we’d worked on it in his first class, but the instructor says he swings out a little too much and we need to work on that. We will! Swinging butts are unacceptable.

  I’m going to miss classes. Quick will too, he gets so excited to go play agility. I hope to be able to attend some in a few months, but we will see how it all works out. This is by no means the end of our agility journey!

  

  Tags: agility beginners

• 27Aug

  Changing Sides

  Dog Agility Training No Comments

  Q. I have tried to tighten my Springer Spaniel’s turns by doing front crosses. Yes, the turns are tighter, but Sassy ends up knocking the pole. Where am I going wrong?

  A. Knocked poles are a sign of a badly timed maneuver or incorrectly positioned handler. Moreover, it indicates that the maneuver chosen was not necessarily the best one for the job. There are three types of crosses that enable a handler to change sides and turn his dog. Practice them so that you can execute all with equal comfort, but, more importantly, learn to recognize which cross will be most effective in specific handling situations…

  Continue reading »

  

  Tags: agility training

• 26Aug

  Celebrating National Dog Day

  Inspirational 1 Comment

  It’s National Dog Day!  Celebrate the day with your dog and all dogs that love their humans.  Give your buddy his favorite treat for free, and let him run a course of JUST his favorites today, like tunnels- they deserve it!

  We’re on Facebook!  Go here and ‘like’ us for a chance to win an Agility in a Bag! Stick around and share with us about your dog, too, we’d love to see pictures and hear stories. Keep an eye out for Facebook only specials and content, too!

  He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
  – Author Unknown

  
  

  

  Tags: dog fame, Inspirational

• 24Aug

  Broad Jump Confessional

  Dog Agility Training No Comments

  Dear Professor K. Nyne,

  I have a confession. When I got to my first competition I saw that they had a Broad Jump in the ring. I panicked. I know you are not supposed to bring any equipment or practice on trial grounds (except for the single bar jump they provide for warm-ups), but I realized my dog was unprepared for this unusual jump! So I did something I shouldn’t have. I snuck around in the back hedgerows of the trial and found a square flat piece of wood and binge-trained my poor dog right there!”

  - An Agility Student

  Oh my, don’t do this again! You could have been disqualified. I understand why you felt unprepared though, as the Broad Jump is often neglected in agility class training. Instead, you need to get a set for home and practice all you want. You’ll compete with confidence, and your dog will feel less pressured too. Continue reading »

  

  Tags: agility competing, agility obstacles, agility training

• 23Aug

  Whatcha Got?

  Interesting and Funny 2 Comments

  This is a question I ask almost every day, regarding my co-workers lunches.  They ask me what I have, too.  It’s human nature to see what everyone’s eating!

  My dogs are the same way.  If I give Quick a biscuit, and Nova a liver treat, there’s a definite ‘whatcha got?’ look exchanged.  And jealousy. I avoid this scenario at any cost!  They start milling around me, wagging their entire bodies and pressing up against me like 80lb cats.  It’s not as fun as it sounds.  Especially when they start bouncing.

  What’ve you got?  What kind of food do you feed your dog?  These days it seems everyone has an opinion on what’s the best thing to feed dogs, and I for one am lost!  I feed a high-quality kibble, and my dogs do fine.  I give freeze-dried treats, or real-food treats like apple, potato, or cheese. What do you think is best? Do you like raw food? (if you feed raw, tell me how you feel about the new Delta therapy dog ruling, please? I don’t understand.) Dehydrated? Are you like me and spend hours researching kibbles that are best for your dogs?

  

  Tags: controversial, dog products, dog safety & health

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