The jealousy was finally too much

[Carlasl]

So 4yr old Skye, was my agility wash out, she just wasn't having fun at the training facility or at home. So we decided to just not ask her to do any agility anymore.

 

I have been doing foundation work with Maya since she was a pup, occasionally I would see if Skye wanted to do anything, but usually after one or two tries she realized she didn't want to do it, so I didn't push it.

 

Today I was doing some work with Maya in the front yard with two jumps and a tunnel (no obstacles or weaves), well Skye was going bonkers in the house so after Maya's turn I let Skye out and got some hotdogs (her fave) and asked her to do some jumps and tunnel, SHE went bonkers....loved it and seemed like she was having a great time.

 

Then I pulled out the one set of 2x2 weaves I have (getting my real ones made very very soon) been working with Maya, and did day 1 training with Skye and she loved that also.

 

 

So I am trying to decided what to do now, I think Skye will stress if we bring obstacles back into the picture too soon, and I know the training facility is out of the question, . I could go with a different facility that is outdoors, my other thought was to just school her at home and see how she would do in a tunnelers, or jumpers class at a trial, but she may stress in the trial environment also.

 

At this point I am just glad she had fun doing something without getting stressed over it. if she just wants to play agility in the backyard that is fine with me. I just hated that she feels left out all the time, it was fun being able to rotate dogs too, that way I don't overwork one training session too much, which I can tend to do.

[Christina]

I pressured my first Border Collie into doing agility- she spent two very expensive classes hating it and I finally gave up. Now that I think about it, introducing everything too soon might have been a big factor in her dissatisfaction with the sport. My key sport is disc. My first BC (Maizee) was always a fantastic disc dog from the day I started training her. My second BC (Pilot) showed much less drive for the disc than Maizee did. I eventually started throwing for Maizee first while Pilot watched, and then swapping dogs. Suddenly, I had two very driven disc dogs!

 

I'm not agility buff, but I think your best solution with Skye would be to continue with at-home training and see where it leads you. Being in a facility and adding too many contacts, as you said, will probably put too much pressure on her. Maybe easing her as slowly as possible into the trialing environment could be the trick? (By "slowly as possible", I mean add one obstacle at a time, one spectator at a time, etc).

[Mariji]

I've found also that the drive my puppy have for agility has stemmed from her playing crate games and watching from a crate with the door open while I train my older girls on obstacles.

 

Introduce them slowly and make sure it is all light hearted, fun and most of all kept short. There would be no reason then why she wouldn't learn to love agility. Make sure the rewards are continuous and of a high value.

[SecretBC]

There is no reason not to continue with the training at home if she is enjoying it. If you add something new and it stresses her, just take a step back. Keep using the high value reinforcements and keep everything light & fun.

 

As for how she would do in the trial environment -- just take her along for the day and see how she does. If she's happy and willing to play with you in that environment, try a low stress class at the next trial. Even then, don't worry about Qing -- make up your own short course if you have to. I did that for several trials with my little guy who stresses terribly in active environments -- doing that built up his confidence and he's doing so much better now.

 

Secret started out very "ho-hum" about the whole agility game. The key with her is using rewards that SHE loves (that would be food...) instead of the rewards I *want* her to love (I wanted her to be a toy fiend and she's not) -- and keeping the sessions short. Since I started this plan, her enthusiasm has grown with each session.

 

Not every dog enjoys agility and I always feel sorry for those dogs when I see them at trials -- But it sounds like your girl was definitely having fun with you and there is no reason not to keep it up and see where it goes!

[SecretBC]

Added thought on the jealousy front --- When I work my boys, the one not being worked gets tied to the deck while the other one runs. With *them*, this builds up their anticipation and drive. They see the other one working and get amped up for their own turn.

 

Secret? Nope. I tried and she would lay there with the most bored expression on her face. If I tried to put her into the rotation she would completely turn off and was massively distracted by the noises the boys made while waiting their turn.

 

So she stays in the house in her crate while I work the boys. She can hear what's going on outside and might be able to see some of it through the patio door. It's helping to build up her drive, as she's starting to bark when she hears the boys carrying on. When I come inside to get her (leaving the boys in the house), she's ready and raring to go.

 

Just something to consider -- Some dogs get more drive by watching other dogs, others get more drivey for what they CAN'T see.

[Chi-Ann's Mom]

I also took my girl to a few different Agility classes. The beginner class was a total bore for the both of us. We then took a class from this man and she loved that one, learned all of the obstacles in 5 weeks. Of course I learned nothing about the actually foundation work, but she had great fun! Then we took a class from someone else that did only one thing per class. Well, that was totally boring, but we did learn some foundation work in that one. My last class was done a totally different way. The instructor would set up a course. We would work only 4 obstacles a couple of times then add 4 more etc. until we completed the course he had set up. This was probably the best class we actually took. The only problem for me was one of the students had a very bad attitude and I just couldn't take her any longer.

But, in the meantime we have been playing with Disc's and she actually loves that game the most. We have now attended 2 competitions and had a blast each time. She loves it so much that when she sees a disc in my hand she goes bonkers! She is very driven. Now I am the one that needs to learn how to throw and all the ins and outs of the game of Disc Dog. At least with this you don't need a lot of stuff to play it. Just lots of practice on the human side! I found the the people involved in this sport are totally different then in the other venues. Much nicer and so willing to help newby's! I need all of the help I can get!

So, getting back to your situation, I personally wouldn't persue a venue that my dog isn't interested in as it won't turn out as you hope it would. I am in this to give my girl the best life I can doing whatever, within reason, I can to give her a happy and healthy life. The bond we have is something that I will never regret due to my being flexible to her. I am just happy to do things that put a "smile" on her face.

Just enjoy your dogs for the very short time we are given them.