[Solid Mutt]

Hi all,

I just had to post and say we survive our first agility class. LOL We had lots of fun. Our class was Wednesday evening. It was raining lightly and our class was outside. LOL I did not realize how wet we had gotten in the 1.5 hours we were out there. The class is only an hour long but it was our first class so it took a little longer. We had so much fun, we covered lots of basics and did some starter course stuff. Voodoo did awesome - she is going to enjoy this as well as me. Everything they asked us to do she did x100. LOL I think I need to find less motivating treats. They told me her excitement was a good thing and not to worry about it. I am very excited and can't wait for class this week. I have been working on getting her focus more on me for longer periods of time. That is our real mission to get working on. LOL That and we are working on the touch command. That is something we had not worked on. We just graduated obedience 2-3 weeks ago. My favorite thing I have to brag about is I had emailed the instructor about the practices they offer on the weekends and this is what she told me " Voodoo did great, she is going to be a fabulous Agility dog." I have to tell you all that has made my day week even month. I just had to share my excitement with everyone.

 

[lizalots]

How fun!!! We start ours in a week! I am so excited!

 

[Binkalette]

Ohh man how I wish they had agility classes around here. :-( The nearest I could find was 3 hours away!

 

[Jenna09]

I start my agility this Thursday!! Looking very forward to it and its indoors thank goodness!

 

[agility collie mom]

Look out it is very addictive!!! I have two dogs in agility. Rio is in advanced and Savannah is still in beginning (focus for her is tough she's just too nosey.) I have Squeak coming up and am hoping to do teacup with her. Hope that the weather is better for you this week. Post pictures when you can!

 

[Solid Mutt]

I hope everyone that starts their classes this week, have a wonderful and fun time like we did! Let me know how your class goes! I feel like I am addicted already. LOL

Binkalette - Wow, 3 hours away. That is just a bummer. Maybe someone will start one up closer to you.

agility collie mom - Thanks, I already feel addicted and we jsut started. LOL It sounds like your pups keep you busy with agility. That is my main thing to work on as well is focus. Voodoo just wants to see everything and everybody. LOL She is overly friendly. I watched the weather this am and we have a 50% chance of rain again tomorrow. LOL Just my luck. Oh well we will train in the rain if we must. LOL When I get some pictures I will be sure to post them!

Thanks for letting me share my excitement!

 

[jskd82]

Wow that sounds really fun. Now you got me interested in agility and I just googled in my area and there is a club unfortunately my pup is only 9 weeks old so what age can they start doing agility training at?

 

[agility collie mom]

At least a year sometimes eighteen months depending on breed growth patterns. Their growth plates should be closed before jumping as an injury can occur. They need basic commands come, sit, down, stay, etc. It is very addictive and fun!

 

[Kathyy]

Go ahead and contact the club. My group has obedience and puppy agility classes. This could be an all in one place for you to train!

 

[Solid Mutt]

I posted this on the other agility thread as well.

Hi everyone,

I just loved reading everyones posts and hearing how everyone is doing. I will give a quick update on Voodoo and I. I apologize for no post last week, I was filling in for someone else at work and did not get a chanceto log on here. So, last week went ok, not great. Voodoo had some focus issues but did work every obstacle for me. She actually loves the obstacles. It is just in between she loses focus. Also last week she got jumped by the GSD in our class. This dog zoned in on her and it was all over. Voodoo was fine. The woman came and got her dog. The instructor had her take her away for a few minutes and walk her. We just stayed far far away from each other. I was told this dog did it to two others the week before. Anyways, I was pretty bummed out with everything that happened last week. So all week we have worked on focus and worked on some of our make shift obstacles at home. As well as stopping at a contact point. So fast forward to this week. LOL I brought better treats - seems the ones I use at home were not working in class. LOL Voodoo was awesome. Her focus was most of the time on me. It was an incredible transformation. Even others in the class commented on it. So, we first worked the tunnel from each side. Then we moved to the chute (it was our first time at the chute) She did great. Then we moved to the jumps. I am so uncordinated. Poor Voodoo I know if I could get my cordination she would do much better. We worked on front crosses and post turns. While at the jumps the german shepherd out of no where zoned in on Voodoo and this time pinned her to the ground. She was just looking up like - Get this thing off me. She was fine and the lady got her dog. She apologized and said she normally doesn't do that. The instructor talked with her about her dog and then we got back to work. She later came and apologized again and said that her dog used to play with a neighbor dog that looks like Voodoo and that they played together for months but then her dogs lip accidentially got bit when they were playing and now she attacks that dog, so they can no longer play together. I just so oh I see and went on. I mean I was not mad or upset it happened. I understand, things happen. Voodoo is fine, what else could I do in that situation? I think I will ask to be switched groups. Any ways we moved on to the weave poles which are actually just like two rows of poles with a fair distance in between just to get them to go threw the poles. I hope that makes sense. Well at end was a jump too. I was so proud of Voodoo she ran through the poles and across the jump. The instructor came over and told me Voodoo is going to make a great agility dog. That just made my night. LOL We practiced having our dogs beside us and doing our turns. Then we moved over to practice the contact stopping at the end of a contact. The instructor then commented on how fast Voodoo will be as well. LOL It just felt so good. We have a long way to go, this is just the intro to the stuff, but we are already loving it.

Sorry to have wrote such a long post - but THANKS for letting me share!

P.S. One of the main issues I am having is holding the leash in the opposite hand as the dog is on. Does that make sense?