Zebbie Posted July 14, 2000 Report Share Posted July 14, 2000 Dakota and I had a substitute teacher in agility this week. Dakota decided he was gonna be a show off......she had us do a small sequence, tunnel, jump, a frame and tunnel....I let go of Dakota and said tunnel..... he was outta there he ripped through that tunnel, over the jump and was up the aframe before I was even at the end of the first tunnel....he did the darn thing by himself, I fell down laughing......it was the funniest thing, the whole class was cracking up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Licky Posted July 15, 2000 Report Share Posted July 15, 2000 wow!!!!!!!!!!!! I FOUND A CLASS FOR MY DOG, OBEDIENCE/ AGILITY! Do u have any advice about things I need other then my dog, such as a leash, food, ect.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebbie Posted July 15, 2000 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2000 Your trainer will tell you what to bring. I suggest to bring very high food drive food! I bring hamburg and hot dogs normally, but my dog is very food driven. Make sure you practice what they tell you, it makes a big difference! I practice daily on wait and stay and stuff like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamite Tess Again Posted July 16, 2000 Report Share Posted July 16, 2000 Can I please also suggest that you take along a toy. If your dog loves chasing a ball you have it made. I am taking Isa through her pre agility training with the use of a ball only, although Zebbie is right about the treats. The only reason I am trying not to use them for Isa is that I found it hard to phase them out with Tess, and she is incredibly hard work going round a course. Regards, Val and the girls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted July 16, 2000 Report Share Posted July 16, 2000 That's the thing about Border Collies, they're always thinking on their own. You sent Dakota on the tunnel and he decided that he'd like to do the next thing he saw and started making up his own course. I think I'd need rockets attached to my shoes to keep up with a Border Collie at full tilt on an agility course. Makes you realize how much you need to teach them some directional commands. As long as we are trading funny agility stories..... When Gus was about 9 months old I had him in class and we were doing a series of obstacles which included the A-frame. I was chugging along and sent him up the A-frame I made the mistake of turing towards the next obstacle (cheating to keep up). I heard a communal gasp from my classmates and turned back to see Gus flying about 10 feet off the ground!!! He had launched himself with all his might off the highest part of the A-frame. I stopped and watched him land and then he paused and looked around at everybody as if to shrug and say "What? What's the big deal???". I still have the image of a border collie doing it's best flying squirrel impression in my head. Licky, just find out what motivates your dog best. If you're teaching your dog to sit or lay down just see if you get the best results when you reward with food or a toy/play or just love and affection. My dog cares little for anything else but play and activity so that's what he get's as a reward for doing things right. ------------------ Sabre and BC Gus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted July 16, 2000 Report Share Posted July 16, 2000 That's the thing about Border Collies, they're always thinking on their own. You sent Dakota on the tunnel and he decided that he'd like to do the next thing he saw and started making up his own course. I think I'd need rockets attached to my shoes to keep up with a Border Collie at full tilt on an agility course. Makes you realize how much you need to teach them some directional commands. As long as we are trading funny agility stories..... When Gus was about 9 months old I had him in class and we were doing a series of obstacles which included the A-frame. I was chugging along and sent him up the A-frame I made the mistake of turing towards the next obstacle (cheating to keep up). I heard a communal gasp from my classmates and turned back to see Gus flying about 10 feet off the ground!!! He had launched himself with all his might off the highest part of the A-frame. I stopped and watched him land and then he paused and looked around at everybody as if to shrug and say "What? What's the big deal???". I still have the image of a border collie doing it's best flying squirrel impression in my head. Licky, just find out what motivates your dog best. If you're teaching your dog to sit or lay down just see if you get the best results when you reward with food or a toy/play or just love and affection. My dog cares little for anything else but play and activity so that's what he get's as a reward for doing things right. ------------------ Sabre and BC Gus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy Posted July 17, 2000 Report Share Posted July 17, 2000 great stories! I can foresee my dog doing some of the same things (launching from the A-frame in particular). This renews my determination to work on directional commands. I use a 2-pocket fanny pack when training. I keep food treats in one and a tennis ball in the other. I use the tennis ball for non-contact agility obstacles or anything I want SPEED on - because the ball is the biggest motivator there is for my dog. I use the food for contact obstacles, most standard obedience exercises, whatever things I'm more interested in getting done with precision rather than speed from my dog because although she'll definitely work for treats, she dones't go nuts over them. Probably no big revelation here, I imagine most of us do the same. I do recommend the 2-pocket fanny pack if you use a combination of motivators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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