If her reactivity is under control, then yes, it should be possible, but I would absolutely work on making it very, very solid first.

The recall issue is less of a problem. I know a couple of straight up hounds who run agility. There are some issues in the beginning, but they catch on pretty fast that agility is about and they're always so busy doing the thing at speed and running already, and are so focused on that they're okay on course. They're not okay just turned lose to do whatever or hike in the woods but on course they're okay.

It does take work, but they get there.

 

I agree with CptJack. My reactive dog and I have been taking agility classes for almost a year. Her reactions are from excitement / frustration, not fear or aggression. She even reacted (barked, jumped up at the end of her leash) at another dog during our pre-agility assessment; I was sure we had failed, but we got in. I do need to be extra careful to keep her attention when we're working around other dogs - she's easily distracted by other dogs running and will run to the ring gate to bark and play. I have seen significant improvement in her ability to focus and her recall just in the past few months and I attribute that to our weekly agility classes.

 

Thanks for your responses. I do have a separate fenced area (away from the yard around the house) where I used to practice agility with my previous dogs and with Riley. I was hoping Riley would be my agility dog but the older he gets, the worse he gets with noise, strangers, new places, etc., despite the fact we've taken him everywhere since puppyhood (just got back from vacation on the NC Outer Banks), and took agility classes until they were priced out of our budget. I think I'll go ahead and start flatwork skills with Michaela and see how she does.

 

I think a lot depends on the setup. My dog isn't great with other dogs (fear reactive really) and we do ok in a class setting where crates are used between runs.

 

I figured I'd work at home for now to get a flatwork base down. The place where I used to take classes has a couple of crates but most people sit or stand at one end of the building and some of the courses go right by people waiting their turn. I think private lessons (in the future) will be less stressful until she learns the game.

 

Obi is reactive and doesn't like other dogs, and we've been attending different classes for years with no issue. I make sure to keep him away from the other dogs, that way he knows there's very little chance the other dogs there will actually approach him = he doesn't need to care about them.

Dogs who are in working mode are less likely to be reactive than dogs who are just chilling on a walk, because they're focused on the work and the rewards.