Agility Dogs

From the instructor's point of view perhaps they find it difficult when one person in the class is experimenting and then everyone decides to experiment. All of a sudden out the window goes their lesson plan and it becomes, not a free for all, but not a lesson either. Our club tries to balance all of this, to let people in your position enjoy their time with their dogs, but it is frustrating when people take up the classes time, but don't really want to listen to what you know works. This isn't a shot at you, rather I am trying to look at it through the instructor's eyes. Maybe have a chat with them about how you feel (as opposed to just telling them you don't want to do things their way because you don't want to compete. At least that way the lines of communication are open and everyone has options.

Hi Cinderella, Out of the clubs you have mentioned Brisbane (Oxley) would have the best agility club to go with obedience, followed by Redlands who are pretty good, but have run a bit hot and cold with Agility. The other option is ADCQ (Agility Dog Club of Queensland) on a Sunday afternoon, but that is at Tivoli (Ipswich) and would be about 45 mins from you. (I train there and live at 7 hills). We do skills for younger puppies (age appropriate to look after them as they grow). My little girl (now 9 months) has been there since she was 3 months old and loves it. It will give you the opportunity to build on the obedience skills you already have, but with a focus on moving into agility. With the other clubs you will more than likely be doing a lot more 'proper' obedience than you need if you aren't focussed on competing in CCD etc. (I also train there with my older 2 who compete.) We are also considering classes for younger dogs at the Brisbane Agility Dog Club (at Carina) on a Tuesday night later in the year, but that is a little way off just yet. For the moment the dogs have to be 12 months before we take them on. All of the clubs you have mentioned though are pretty good for obedience (I have trained at Southside and go to Redlands for Doggy Dancing.) Hope that helps. Tony

Two schools of thought - your dog needs to be climbing walls to be fast. Your dog needs to be focussed and understand the game to be fast. Unfortunately most flyballers seem to subscribe to the first school. Even if you do find an entire team that don't bark you can't stop the rest of the dogs at comps doing it. In the end you only end up hearing your dog.

This is a very interesting subject and not something I was aware of. I've always though my boy's response to other dogs 'threatening' movement near and around him was fear based. 'I need to stop you doing that before you do something to me like that nasty dog did when I was a puppy.' BUT what has been described here also describes what I see in him and is really how I manage him. Now I'm not so sure whether it is fear/defence or him switching into moving into heightened prey drive. I know he does have a high prey drive - you only have to watch his COMPLETE focus when he chases a frisbee or toy to see that. 98% of the time I can call him out of anything (off a frisbee, 1/2 way down a flyball lane, chasing birds, etc etc) but on the very rare occasions that he has TRULY switched on you could hit him with a sledge hammer and he wouldn't know. It doesn't really matter because I manage him accordingly. I know situations he can't cope with and don't place him in those positions with dogs/other animals he doesn't know, but it is an interesting perspective. Corvus, I think I am turning into a dog geek too! Thanks for sharing.

Yep, that worked when we had to keep our BC puppies seperated. (Puppies, not older dogs - so about the size of your little one.) T

Well done everyone! Seems like this is going to be a great year!! This one isn't about training (well, kind of) or trialling, more about liveability. I've finally got Wikki to chase a toyy in the presence of the other two. They are about to chase their toy one at a time with the other two watching without stealing it from each other. This has taken me 6 months to achieve (Wikki came pre-programmed ot retrieve at 6 months, but CK took her toy if I tried to play with all 3 of them at once.) Makes it a lot more fun to play with them. I still can't rev them up and do it, but we are working on it.

Yep, I know exactly how you feel - Mr CK is a balancing act in that regard. ADAA's NFC rounds are really good in helping with that. Xena is a challenge too. If I don't pull her up after 2 hours she starts to slow up....... ;)

Both of you are having fun. She is running really enthusiastically - very cool.

:D Vicki - I get the look, but when Kirra gets really frustrated with my crap handling, she bites me - one judge said ... "hmmm well that probably did asist the dog - made her feel better anyway" ;) Yep - I get it too. Xena barks at me something terrible when I am late or not clear. CK just stops as if to say - 'well make up your mind'. I have a nasty feeling that Wikki might be a 'biter'. Better improve!!

LOL. Another forum member suggested to me that agility is just directed jumping really. I think it was kind of tounge in cheek.

Focus on a moving object if it is moving towards you in a straightish line - choose the servo focus mode. (can't be in auto sports mode though). Shutter speed - is a bit of trial and error I think. Don't forget you can also play with the ISO which will help compensate for the light that is available as well. I've just started playing with my EOS and found that sitting and just taking shots on different settings (the same shot over and over and over) is really helping me start to judge what does and doesn't work. Hope that helps a little bit.

With a young dog I would be going down the agility path first before flyball - especially if as a handler you are not totally confident in your ability or that of your dog. I say this because agility is a much calmer environment where it is less likely that you will have dog/dog issues. Flyball on the other hand is VERY full on for a lot of dogs and you need to be on your guard all the time just in case. That said I really enjoy both and find it hard to choose between the two sometimes.

Absolutley, being around other dogs is an important part of their socialisation - obedience, agility or anything else. Although I don't think they need to necessarily be 'in' class. I've been lucky. Wikki - the girl I mentioned above, has been at our clubs since she was 12 weeks old so it is nothing for her to see other dogs racing around and ignore them. She just hangs out with us and is rewarded for focussed behaviour. She also spends time hanging out beside the ring at every trial she goes to and works around the dogs waiting their turn (in the same way that they all do so we are not in the road.) There are quite a few puppies around at the moment and they are all doing the same thing.

A lot of serious obedience dogs have problems working on both sides though when they start agility. Something to factor in to it. My dogs have great stays, focus, drive etc and we only do a few minutes of obedience a day and don't attend formal classes. Personally, I find formal obedience classes that go for an hour very boring . To the OP - there is a free shipping DVD at cleanrun at the moment called the Sporting Puppy (or something like that) that is apparently very good. You can - and should - work on focus and handling skills now. Too many people focus on the obstacles but in my very limited experience, that's the easy part which most dogs get pretty quickly. The focus and control is another thing though... Unfortunately. many clubs make you go through a lot of obedience levels before you are allowed to start agility and don't let you just pass a "suitable focus and control" type test as a pre-cursor. :rolleyes: My little girl (9 months) has done very little formal obedience (nil in class), but has the best recall of all 3 of my dogs (and the other two will come almost regardless of what they are doing), has a good stay and understands most handling cues. I don't think you need 'obedience' to do agility, but you do need similar foundations and a good relationship with your puppy for any sport you want to play. There is no reason you can't do either or both, you just need to make sure there is balance in whatever it is you do.

For the first time in 3 years (since I started 'training') I have only really worked on play and relationship. We've used some agility equipment along the way, but haven't really focussed on anything other than having fun and building drive. Now back to work. LOL. My goal for this year is to make EVERY training session for each dog fun. Something I've not been the best at in the past.

Agree - he is not a finished product and it is more a product of the dog than it is of the method. What you see there is a world apart from what he was prior to starting with the 2 x 2's. It is not how I would want my dogs weaving either, but it is far closer than what I did have. I guess seeing the change is why I'm an advocate for 2 x 2's - if I am closer to the poles I get even less.

Xena weaving - about 16 seconds in. About 26 seconds in. She was taught using 3 pole method and it took a long time to get it right. She now has reasonably independent weavers. They could be better, but it is unusual that I can't get into position. CK weaving About About 25 seconds About 20 seconds. He was taught initially using the same method as Xena and sucked badly for a variety of reasons. This is him weaving having been taught with 2x2's - and he is continuing to improve. Xena is def a better weaving dog, but she is just naturally more athletic. The improvement I have seen in CK is nothing short of amazing. I like the 2 x 2 method better for dogs that drive to their reward and have a learning history.

I can't speak for obedience, but I know the agility and flyball people at Jimboomba and they are excellent. Good luck with your new pup!

HERE HERE. I had a problem with one of the clubs I was training at - my boy was being harrassed by another dog and each time it happened it escalated. The dog belonged to the chief instructor who couldn't see a problem, even when the dog dragged her across a field to attack CK. The dog has done it to others and no one had said anything because of who owned the dog, but the last situation was just over the top and I felt something had to be done. I made such a noise that the issue as osetnsibly been addressed, but I have since left the club because there has been no outline of how to move forward. There are idiots everywhere, but when things are like that its just not worth putting your dog in the line of fire.

Don't think so. (not in Aust any way). There was a little bit about a UK one, but I couldn't find where it actually happened.

This is just a bit of fun and I was interested after I commented in a thread that if I had my time over I would not start agility with a BC. The fact is I would because (outside a Kelpie which I'm not allowed to have) BC's are my breed and I don't really want another one. It would just have been easier with another breed. BUT, I have progressed from just getting a dog to have a dog (Xena - pet shop) to getting a dog bred to be a good pet from a breeder I know has a good reputation and longevity in her lines (CK) to seeking out a breeder I wanted to get a dog from to play agility (Wikki). I still haven't gone to the lengths that some do and purchased soley for performance, but Wikki was sold as a performance prospect, she just happens to be the breed and look that I like. How did you come to live with your dogs and what helped you make that decision? Oh - and just for laughs - how into your dog sport are you? I'm addicted - but I think my life is balanced.

This has got to be one of my bug bears. If you don't want the dog to leave the ring without a lead on don't put the last obstacle 3m from the exit to the ring and expect a quick dog to stop before the ring rope. (Got a warning one night.) I agree with you that rules are rules and that if you get it right you don't have to worry about what the judge is doing - nice goal any way!

This is the one thing I find really frustrating and have seen the same thing both with my dogs and with others. The rules are really black and white. The dog is either right or it is wrong. Contacts I can understand a judge missing if the dog is really quick, but the other stuff leaves me scratching my head sometimes. eg: My dogs have either been given a refusal or not for bouncing off the table. Surely it is one way or the other - if we are getting passes when we shouldn't does that mean our titles have the value they should? Sometimes I wonder if it is a 'beginners' thing where the lower classes are given an easier ride - again, that just means there are dogs in Excellent/Masters that probably shouldn't be there. I just don't get it.

Ok thanks! This clears up Ruby's dogwalk mishap for my curious mind for future trials Still a bit over Millie's tragic jumping round being DQ'd I think she might have clocked up more than 3 refusals in that one. Ah cool, thanks! I am loading the video up now to take another look Edit: we are talking about the many refusals on the one tunnel, right? That was two of them. I also saw - Yellow Tunnel out the back (not signalled, not sure if it was or not), The jump out the back, the jump in the middle, then the 2 at the tunnel. I woudn't worry too much though - most dogs do that when they start. all part of the fun!! My boy still does it after 2 years!