Pre-Agility: Week 4

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 5
Week 6

It's been a while since I've posted about agility class because it's been a while since we've had agility class. Thursday evenings seem prime time for rain (which means cancellations).

Week 4 was a lot of fun. We started with sequencing, which Buster and I had been working on at home with our equipment. We did a pinwheel sequence. 3 jumps were set up in a semi-circle, like below.

Pinwheel sequence: person follows red lines and dog follows yellow

 Buster had no problems with this since we practice at home.

We moved on to some new equipment: the seesaw. But we didn't actually get on the seesaw. We got on what the instructor called the "teeter board". It's an unstable board that is very small and low to the ground and moves as the dog walks on it.

Teeter Trainer

Buster did SO well. I thought he wouldn't like the movement, but he walked right across it. We lured our dogs across with yummy treats and the instructor pointed out that when Buster walked across the first time and felt it move, he looked down at the board to see what was going on, then refocused on the treat and continued on.

Then we finished up with practice weave pole entry. We stood next to the weave poles and pointed at them to get the dogs to go through. Nothing too hard, but weave poles are extremely difficult to teach.

Week 5 will be a private review since I couldn't go to the class make-up date. The 6th and final week will actually be AFTER our next class level begins.

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Pre-Agility: Week 3

For week 1 click here.
For week 2 click here.
We missed last week because of weather, but this week the weather was great, although hot.

We worked on the chute again. Buster had trouble remembering what to do at first. But after we showed him, he RAN through the chute as fast as he could.

Then we did the tire again. First I put him on one side, stood on the other side and called him through. But then I stood next to Buster and ran with him and tried to signal for him to go through the tire. He went around the obstacle, not through it. After some work we got him through.

Then we did some more 2-on-2-off work on the obstacle, which Buster excelled at because we were able to practice that.

example of 2-on-2-off

I think it's time I attempt to make some backyard equipment so Buster can practice at home. More posts on that later!

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Pre-Agility: Week 2

Week 1
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

The weather held out so we had agility class tonight at Dog-Gone Fun in Kernersville.

We did some review with the tunnel. Buster didn't do as well as he should have because I didn't give the right signals. But he did go through it enthusiastically once he knew that's what I wanted and that's what counts, that he has fun.

Today we were introduced to the tire and the chute.

Agility Tire

Agility chute

The tire was lowered until it was barely off the ground. So I just put Buster in a sit-wait, walked to the other side of the tire and called him through. Again, he came to me enthusiastically.

I thought the chute might be scary, afterall, it's closed at one end. You can't see where you're going. But we put our dogs on one end, then went over, lifted the chute up so they could see us and called them through. Buster came right through and even when the chute was down on the ground (as pictured above) he ran through it blindly. I was so proud of him. My baby is fearless!

We ended by doing some contact work on the A-Frame. It's important that their paws touch certain parts of the equipment for safety and so they don't get disqualified.

As we started this, a light rain started, so we hurried through and went on our way.

Before we left, Buster and I signed up for an Agility Foundations Workshop. It's 2 hours and we'll learn "backing up/backing onto an object, step onto/circle an object, beginning shadow handling, flat work, acceleration & deceleration." I hope this will help us advance faster and give us an edge. My goal is to participate in the June 2015 Triad Dog Games.

(Buster already knows the command "back up"; we learned it the last day of Advanced Obedience. We practice that one a lot. It's very useful.)

There's a lot about agility that confuses me. Some of the terminology is confusing, especially regarding cross-overs and handling and whatnot. When I was at the Triad Dog Games I saw teams go on some equipment more than once during their run. There was a confusing mixed-up pathway. Why is it all mixed up? Does someone give the participants specific instructions about what path to take in the course?
The description for the Agility 2 class at Buster's school says: " Handlers and dogs will learn how to maneuver serpentines, threadles, wraps, 270′s, lead out pivot’s/reverse flow pivots and layering of obstacles. " I don't understand ANYTHING in that sentence. (I'm sure I'm gonna read this post in the future and think I was dumb for being confused.)

Stayed tuned for Week 3 (halfway done) next week, if the weather holds. Hope there's no midterms!

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Pre-Agility at Dog-Gone Fun: Week 1

Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

My dog, Buster, completed Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced obedience courses and got his diploma! He also passed his Canine Good Citizen test. (Have to wait for the certificate to be mailed).

Summa Cum Laude!

So the next stop on our journey is Agility! (It was a New Year's Resolution.) I chose to take him to Dog-Gone Fun in Kernersville. They offer several Agility courses starting with Pre-Agility.

It's very important that your dog be proficient in sit-stay and down-stay in a distracting environment. These are things Buster and I had been working on since his Beginner class back in November.

For our first class, we introduced the dogs to jumps, tunnels and the A-Frame.

Dog has to run up and down A-Frame , making contact with the yellow parts.

The A-Frame can be a little scary because it's very tall. It was close to 5 feet off the ground at its peak. But Buster conquered every obstacle we gave to him and was very eager to please (and to get the chicken treats)!

So far I'm very pleased with how Buster has responded to agility. I always said as long as it was fun for him, we'd work our way up to competitions. 

We've practiced in the backyard and he seems to enjoy it, so we'll see.

Backyard Agility...with brooms

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