Ms.DaisyDuke Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 For a little background; Daisy is 3 and dog reactive. Partially my own doing for fear of an un-vaccinated puppy catching god knows what and partially due to more than a few really bad experiences with other dogs. I'd be scared too! I would really love to do agility or some other sport with her since the joy I see on her face when we are doing "fun stuff" is fantastic! I have heard this a thousand times that reactive dogs do really well in agility and I believe it, I was going to put her in a reactive dog class first, but now I am wondering if it's necessary or if it will even help. Any advice on this would be great and any tips on what to look for in a good training facility would also be fantastic! Even better, if anyone can reccomend one in Calgary, I would love you forever! The only place that I am really familiar with is the Humane Society and I am never sure of what questions to ask the trainers! Thanks in advance! Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieDog Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 Get thee to a good positive reinforcement trainer, perhaps one that teaches agility, and have them evaluate your dog for placement in classes. Honestly, as an instructor and reactive dog owner myself, I would hesitate to put a known reactive dog into most of the intro classes I have seen or heard of and especially if I didn't know the dog already as the instructor. There's a *huge* difference between a dog who gets reactive upon head on approaches and with dogs closer than 3 feet and one that keys off of fast movement, dogs at 15 feet, and any type of approach, but both can be considered "reactive dogs". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.DaisyDuke Posted March 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 Ya, that's what I thought. Good. Her biggest thing is dogs that stare her down (ironic I know) or bark at her, even to play, she will however walk perfectly fine on a leash side by side with another dog, blows my mind actually. I worked with Bark Busters and had a good trainer and they helped a lot, but I think this kind of falls out of their realm. The people I was going to use have re-located and are now to far away so my back up would be the classes at the Humane Society. They offer agility and a class for reactive dogs, so I guess I was heading in the right direction. I wonder if they would do an evaluation....is that a common thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 I can't contribute anything to the "reactive" dog aspect but I would advise to take lessons only from someone who teaches very safe, positive, solid foundation classes for agility. Anyone can "hang out a shingle" as an instructor, but that doesn't make one qualified. I have seen some poor "instructors" who are clueless, who don't teach the dogs (and handlers) safe techniques, who rush things (because people want to "progress" and do the "fun stuff"), and who don't take the time and effort to teach really good foundation work. A lot of what these folks "teach" will get you and your dog going and having fun, but you won't be in a position to progress because you don't have the right foundation, and you may be lacking in safe handling and contact techniques. Audit or observe some classes first, and don't be afraid to walk away if you have doubts. I hope you find a good instructor and class, as agility is great fun for your and your dog (as long as you both enjoy the activity). Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.DaisyDuke Posted March 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 Audit or observe some classes first, and don't be afraid to walk away if you have doubts. I hope you find a good instructor and class, as agility is great fun for your and your dog (as long as you both enjoy the activity). Best wishes! Thanks Sue, Is there anything specific I should be looking for? I have already walked away from a class. I wasn't super confident in the instructor. I sat in on a class and I actually thought it was one of the first classes with that group, but I found out after it was actually their last class and the dogs were all over the place... Is there a site or another thread somewhere that might go over good contact and handling so that I know what I should be looking for? julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted March 27, 2008 Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 I would have thought that your topic title would produce more replies and some additional advice for you. Maybe tomorrow someone will post? I would look for positive training methods, no forcing, teaching safe contacts, an orderly and disciplined class, and care for the welfare and well-being of the dogs. A good instructor (and handler) is an advocate for the dogs, and doesn't consider the dogs to be just the tools in promoting his/her own ego. I think that person also considers doing things right and well to be much more important than competition per se. What I have seen that I don't think is good training include (as you pointed out) classes where there is little control and order, and classes where an emphasis is on getting the dogs out there, on the obstacles, and making up little courses before the basics and foundations are taught thoroughly. I've taken a course that I wish I had never taken (my young dog was hurt and became afraid of a particular obstacle that he will never trust enough to do again) where, I believe, dogs were put much too quickly onto obstacles without proper preparation. I've also taken good courses where the instructors are very meticulous about teaching how to do things right, with lots of repetition and explanation, and no rush to get those dogs out and doing more challenging obstacles or mini-courses. One "instructor" that I watched at an agility demo (and also was a participant in a class I took - and I can tell you that her handling techniques were awful), was supposedly doing a course with dogs that were out of control, poorly trained, badly focussed, and I could go on and on. I just do agility with my one dog now for fun, but my instructor insists that we do the foundation work and do it right - because it is also a safety issue for handler and dog (in addition to the possibility that student decides to become serious about agility, and is therefore properly prepared to progress). I hope someone here who really is into agility and much more knowledgeable than I am will be willing to give you better advice than I can give. Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Peep Posted March 27, 2008 Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 I'm about to enroll Usher in agility. I'm wondering about his recall. The rest of him is great. We have agility people in our area. You might, unfortunately, have to look to AKC, then they can direct you to other shows. Do a Google in your area. I went to an ACK show to watch. It gave me other venues to watch for. So, you can learn. They have many trials in every area that you can enter. Doesn't have to be AKC. They will help you ETA: Time must be off- what time we working on here? LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.DaisyDuke Posted March 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 BoPeep I did google and I got a couple of dead links and the group that I wanted to use...which I have decided isn't as far as I thought provided I miss rush hour traffic! SueR Thanks for your tips. Hopefully more will come from people who have experienc with their own reactive dogs..I have been working hard with her and we are making progress, so I am really excited to find a good agility course, hopefully by the fall we'll have started as I have decided to go ahead with the reactive dog classes for sure just to help the process along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louanne Posted March 27, 2008 Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 Julie Here are a couple of links for agility places in Calgary. http://members.shaw.ca/itsadogsworld/schedule.htm http://www.superdogspectrum.ca http://www.aac.ca/EN/Home/main/default.aspx http://www.nadac.com Both NADAC and AAC are very popular in Calgary. Hope this helps Louanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.DaisyDuke Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Hey, Thank you Louanne! I really appreciate those links. I am surprised to see that the superdog spectrum has pretty much the same thing I was looking at through the Humane Society, and it is soooooo much closer to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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