• 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

• 16Aug

  Quick Go Lightly

  Dog Agility Training 5 Comments

  Tonight was one of those nights that just make you love Agility. It was fast, it was fun, and other than nearly having a potty incident on the course, it was flawless.

  A Hoop was brought out for us to play with. They’re much harder to teach than I’d thought, and just as fun as I’d known they would be! Quick’s so big he keeps breaking the hoop apart. Someone is going to have tire issues, I think… I sure hope not!

  After we played with the hoop, Quick was introduced to his first half-height A-frame. He was fearless, charging up and running down, spinning himself around, and leaping over the apex. He scampered up and down, demanding his cookies.

  Speaking of cookies, thank God for an understanding trainer! My cat had broken into my dog bag without me knowing, and eaten all the treats! I didn’t realize it until we started class and it was too late to do anything but throw myself on the mercy of my trainer, who laughed and sent me inside to fetch treats. Crisis averted! I’m thinking of trying out a new treat, Quick’s not bored with his Zuke’s and liver, but I am. Any suggestions?

  After the A-frame, we worked on a lowered dogwalk! Again, Quick surprised me. I hate dogwalks. They scare me. I can’t let that show as he works on them, but honestly I just want to hold on to him every minute he’s on it. What if he falls off and hurts himself? He’s got good landing skills if he jumps, but what if he falls? Yes, I’m a worrywart. Thankfully, Quick is not- not about heights, anyway! He loved the dogwalk, but he’s already getting a bad habit of ditching the down plank halfway down. We’ll be working on that next week, I’m telling you!

  The class discussed who could learn running contacts, who could learn two on, two off, and what four on the floor was. I’m not sure, I’d like Quick to have running contacts, especially after reading that Clean Run article about how it can be hard on their shoulders, but I also am not sure he’ll ever get an effective running contact. We’ll see!

  I took my camera to class to get pictures of him being cute, but I totally forgot to take pictures! I’ll try to remember next week.

  

  Tags: agility beginners, agility training

• 01Aug

  Body Language

  Dog Agility Competing, Dog Agility Training 1 Comment

  Q. My Instructor keeps telling me that my body language is ambiguous.  Shouldn’t my collie, Billy, just do what I tell him?  He’s very fast and I’m sure he doesn’t have time to see what I’m doing with my arms.

  A. You’d be surprised how well Billy can read your body language.  When you get up off the couch, Billy knows if you are going to make a cup of tea, if you are going to fetch your coat for a walk or if you are going to switch off the television. Continue reading »

  

  Tags: agility beginners, agility competing, agility training

• 26Jul

  A Sad Class

  Dog Agility Training No Comments

  It was a sad class for me this week. Quick is sick as a dog, so no agility for him! (Don’t worry, the vet said he should be fine, he probably just ate something that made him sick. Me, I’m still worried… but that’s me!) It was so hard to go to class to watch without my baby boy with me! He looked so sad as we pulled out of the driveway.

  I was the gopher for setting up the class, which was fun and a change! I helped set up the course, watch other people with their dogs, and generally absorb as much information as possible. On a side note, I’m officially in love with jumps that have the height clearly engraved on the cup (like our competition adjustable jumps). Without it, setting the jumps is a real nightmare.

  Our trainer ran her dogs for us so we could see how contacts and handling work, up close and personal. Oh, wow. I can’t imagine!!! Quick’s going to be that good one day? It seems impossible my big boy will ever be as good, but I know it is possible.

  Agility classes without your dog are both good and bad. They’re good because you can pay close attention and plan how you’re going to use your makeup class your instructor was generous enough to give you. They’re bad because when you look down, excited to share what you just figured out the instructors’ instructions, your best friend isn’t with you, waiting for you to share your enlightenment.  There’s no answering tug on the end of the leash, no cold nose on your leg, no after-practice snuggles.

  It’s honestly a little heartbreaking. I’m looking forward to Quick being healthy enough to practice with me. I even got him extra-special treats to make up for being ill!

  

  Tags: agility beginners, agility training, dog safety & health

• 19Jul

  Oh what fun!

  Dog Agility Training No Comments

  Last night was our first class on grass! I was a little worried that Quick would zoom around, nose to the ground, oh boy oh boy GRASS, but nope. He saw agility obstacles! That was what he wanted! I’m so proud of my little boy.

  We started the class with restrained recalls through tunnels. Since this class allows classmates to hold the dogs, there was no drama from Quick. I’m glad! He’s doing a little better about new people holding his leash. We’ll move on to leash tabs, then on to collars eventually.

  Tunnel recalls taught me the importance of my body language. The tunnel was on my right, Quick behind me being held to go into the tunnel, and I looked over my left shoulder. Clever boy came to my left side, completely bypassing his beloved tunnel! The next run I looked to my right, towards the tunnel and back towards him, and he charged right into the tunnel.

  All the dogs in this class are very, very nicely behaved. I’ve never seen a crew of dogs behave so well!

  After the tunnel recalls, we worked on a lowered, ‘blocked’ teeter again. Quick prances up and down it easily enough, with side entries and exits, and some falling off. We’ve practiced on planks on the ground at home, picnic benches, and wood guard rails. He tries so hard to turn around that it’s almost sad- he falls off! He managed one turn though, for which he received many, many treats. Our trainer explained to us why she likes training boards this way. If a dog knows how to mount and dismount narrow, stable planks easily and fearlessly, turn around on them safely, and hop on and off the ends, they will be much safer in higher classes. They’ll know how to get off and on, even if they lose their balance and have to jump. I’m all for safe learning!!!

  We have TDAA for small dogs- I want BDAA for big dogs! Can I please have a 14-16” plank for my big boy? He’s almost cross-eyed with focus just to stay on a 12” plank!

  Next up was ladder skills. Quick, not so great with those ladder skills. More cross-eyed focus. Poles on the ground, though? He is so there! His stride is so long the trainer said to work him on poles on the ground or cavalettis instead of a ladder, for now. I’m good with that.

  We were introduced to a tire! I’ve never seen anyone train a tire quite like this. It was very fun and interesting. 101 things to do with a tire! She laid the tire on the grass and let the dog interact with it. Then, she held it up half-way, and let the dog play with it more and get more rewards. Finally, the tire was held up (still without the frame, an assistant manipulated the tire) and the dog was rewarded for going through. This teaches the dog to look for the hoop! It sees a hoop, it means go through. It does not mean go under. It does not mean go by. It means go through. Can you imagine having your dog trained to view a tire jump more like a suspended tunnel? Go through!

  I’m looking forward to next week!

  

  Tags: agility beginners, agility obstacles, agility training

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