Elizabeth77 Posted July 7, 2009 Report Share Posted July 7, 2009 Tonight I took Meg to a socialisation class it has taken me months to find one. When I saw Agility equipment in the arena I was thrilled as I always wanted to see how Meg would get on. I had this daft notion she would take to it like a duck to water. Of course it was supervised and we were told only to do the low jumps if the dog had not done it previously or was not of a certain age. We also tried the 'ladder, walk across and down the other side thingy' Meg was not impressed with this but did it while being held (as instructed by our teacher.) There were a lot ,30 dogs there in various groups. One of the instructors thought I should take it very slowly with Meg as she was a bit nervy. This was fine with me. I wonder how long it took those of you who do agility with your dogs for them to get used to it and have fun. The evening on the whole was great , so many dogs and humans to meet and lots to learn. We were only allowed to try the agility near the close of the session. The experience also showed how 'clingy' Meg is to me. We all exchanged dogs at one stage and I could see Meg's anxiety. She also jumped up on me a lot, a thing she seldom does so I think she was feeling a bit insecure in this environment for the first time. I think these classes will do us both a lot of good. They are run by the local SAR group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCDreamer Posted July 7, 2009 Report Share Posted July 7, 2009 Psyche only took about a week to really start liking agility. The first class, she was like "Mom, where are we? What are we doing?" by the next week when we got there, she was like "Oh yeah! I can do this stuff!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 7, 2009 Report Share Posted July 7, 2009 Rig loved it day one. However, we've really been serious about all the little details, so it's been a long process. After 5 months, he finally went over the full height A frame for the first time last night (and got air time at the top . Overall, it's been a great adventure for us, really building a bond with each other. Good luck going forward! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agilityrunningdogs Posted July 7, 2009 Report Share Posted July 7, 2009 Congrats! It took my first dog, Annie, quite a while (several months) before she really started showing an intrest in agility. Even now, she enjoys herself and has fun, but she's not crazy about it. Which is ironic because she is my "best" dog Q and placement wise. With Komet, it took 2 seconds. Literally. After the 1st time through the tunnel, he was pulling on the lead and screaming to go in again because he didn't want to wait his turn - such an impatient Monkey! It didn't take Mal very long either (maybe a week), but it helped that from the day he got home, we would run around the soccer fields like lunatics and boy, did this dog love to run. Give it time, as long as you truly enjoy yourself and stay positive, Meg will more likely than not feel the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleS. Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Chase loved agility class on day one. Even though he is on the shy/sensitive side and a bit worried about new people and dogs, he was still willing to be with me and figure out what all this stuff (equipment) was about. We are considered *advanced beginners* now and he just loves it! Have fun ! Michele & Chase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegy Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 I only have had Steve in Foundations class, and it is truly foundations. We've worked on handling, plank, targeting, contacts on a flat contact board, front crosses around a jump standard, sends to a jump and a tunnel. No big fun equipment yet. No more than one piece of equipment in a row. Steve thinks it's all great. I was kind of surprised- he's a nervous kind of dog about novel things, but he's not shown any discomfort with any of the equipment at all. He does, however, want nothing more than to chase/bark at the dogs in the next ring who are doing much more interesting things, so we spend probably 85% of class working on not chasing dogs (yay for Control Unleashed!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie S. Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Cheyenne loved it on day one, also. She is getting private lessons so that may make a difference. On her first attempts she went through straight and 90-degree tunnels, walked the bridge, ran up and over the A-frame from both the stepped and flat sides, went on the teeter-totter, and started jumping. I only had two problems: she doesn't like the tunnel when it's muddy inside and she tries to cheat on the jumps by going under or around. We have our fourth lesson tomorrow night and I can't wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanty Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 We just finished 6 sessions of beginners agility and Truman took very quickly to the equipment. He was a real star at weave poles and jumps, but he was enthusiastic about all the obstacles. In fact, when other dogs were tiring, he was just getting going. If you weren't in place to stop him, he'd do the whole circuit on his own - so it took a lot of running to keep up with him! I noticed the other dogs took to some obstacles faster than others, and those more nervous about leaving 'mom' or 'dad' had the hardest time. Since Truman was excited to get to the trainer he did well. Getting comfortable was the biggest issue for all of them. Our issue was his getting snarky at dogs too close to him while waiting in line - but when it was his turn to play he only had his sights on me, the trainer or the obstacle. I hope you have fun - we did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Cressa Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Cressa we started agility with at 6 months and it wasn't till we started competing around 2 years old that she took a likeing to it. Now she LOVE agility! Troy enjoyed it from the start but he enjoys more is making me happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth77 Posted July 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 very interesting thank you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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