Annie Posted July 22, 1999 Report Share Posted July 22, 1999 OK here goes this is my first question. I think I've decided what I want to be when I grow up! We've had Wizzer 2 yrs and love her bunches. The more I learn the more I want to learn about agility training. I've found lots of info but not enough so I thought I'd turn to the ones who know best, all of you BC lovers. SO if you've got any ideas of where to go for more info let me know! By the way I don't want to start today I'm starting to collect info so I'll know where to go! Thanks, Annie... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy Posted July 23, 1999 Report Share Posted July 23, 1999 I'm at almost exactly the same stage as you, so this suggestion isn't built on a wealth of experience - but check out Clean Run Productions (www.cleanrun.com). They sell a beginner's workbook that takes you step by step through training on each obstacle. The dogwalk, for example, is broken down into about 12 steps for teaching purposes. The info is arranged to fit into a weekly training program. It's been really helpful to me, especially since there are no clubs around here so a friend and I are figuring out how to teach our dogs on our own. The methods are working well with my 4.5 year old BC mix. There's also an intermediate workbook but I haven't gotten that far yet. In addition to my BC mix, I have a 4.5 month old pure BC pup that I hope to start on agility when she's a year old. Any tips on how to prep her for it would be appreciated! We are working on basic obedience now and she picks it up so fast it amazes me. It will take some work for me to stay ahead of her when it comes to training! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dynamite Tess Posted July 23, 1999 Report Share Posted July 23, 1999 Dear Kathy Until you reach the point where you can start your second dog, I would ensure you are able to work with her on either side of your body. I do obedience with my girl and in the early days of agility training had terrible trouble working with her on my right because in obedience she works on the left. As you know contact points on the equipment are important and in England some of us use the command 'freeze' when they reach the bottom of the A Frame, dog walk etc. The dog should have back feet on contact point, front feet on the ground. Without putting your dog over the equipment you can still get her accustomed to the command word you will use by using the stairs in your home. Place dog at the bottom, with front feet on the floor and back feet on the first step [depending how large your stairs are you may be able to go up to the second], stroke her and give the command word. When you take her out for walks get her used to 'left' and 'right' by giving the command when you turn corners. There is a woman over her who is disabled and controls her dog in the ring simply by directing left and right. It really is an amazing sight. Also if your dog is much quicker than you it does help to be able to change her direction with a word instead of making sure she can see a hand signal. I hope this is of some help to you. Regards, Val Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy Posted July 24, 1999 Report Share Posted July 24, 1999 thanks Val, I'll start working on direction commands! I know that I'll have a hard time keeping up if she even goes half speed (she's a quick little thing) so that sounds like good advice. She already knows a Wait command (used to keep her from bolting out of the door when I open it) which I'll work on adapting to hold her on contact zones. I also have a few practice obstacles in the back yard: a 2x12x12 plank on cinder blocks to simulate a dog walk, another plank laid over a piece of pipe to simulate a teeter totter, and a tire "jump" where the bottom of the tire rests on the ground so she can run right thru without jumping. I'm just beginning to teach her commands for each one. Hopefully this will give us a head start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dynamite Tess Posted July 24, 1999 Report Share Posted July 24, 1999 Dear Kathy Another piece of advice we were given at our club might come in helpful. It's regarding 'stay' and 'wait'. If you want your dog to remain in a stay until you return to her, use 'stay'. If however your dog is only in a temporary stay, say for a recall or contact points where she will have to break the stay in order to respond to another command, use the 'wait' command. Regards, Val Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dynamite Tess Posted July 25, 1999 Report Share Posted July 25, 1999 Dear Kathy Something else I've been thinking about that you could work on, if you haven't already, and that is the command 'down'. And my reason for bringing this up is because of the table used in some courses. If you use 'down to get your dogs off the furniture at home, or to stop them jumping up, then it's not too late to change it to 'off' with regards to your youngest dog. Or you could, for agility work, use the word 'flat' for the down position. As I'm sure you're aware, for the table in agility the dog has to jump up, lie down then wait until released by the judge. It would be awful if your dog jumped up, then got down again because it heard a word used in the home to get it off the furniture. You may have already thought about this. Regards, Val Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy Posted July 26, 1999 Report Share Posted July 26, 1999 Val - good advice again. I did think of that, but only because I'd made that very mistake with my first dog (among many other training mistakes - good thing she was a patient and forgiving dog). Keep these suggestions coming as you think of them. If it turns out to be something I'm already doing, it serves to reassure me I'm on the right track. If I haven't thought of it, you give me and my dog something new to try and save us a lot of time and frustration inthe bargain. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dynamite Tess Posted July 26, 1999 Report Share Posted July 26, 1999 Dear Kathy Thanks for the feedback. I will keep the little grey cells ticking over. Of course, I usually get these ideas just before I'm about to drop off to sleep, and it was at that time I thought of Tess's name. I'd been wracking my brain all day for a name for her, went to bed, husband already snoring away, and I was just about to drop off when I shot up and shouted 'I know, we'll call her Tess!'. My poor hubby got the shock of his life. Whoops, I'm going off the subject. I tend to do that, sorry. Regards, Val Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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