Agility

[bridgie_cat]

Hey!

It is me and Lana again! We are starting doggy school tommorow (very excited ) > she already knows sit, drop and roll over

Anyway > i have been hearing people mention different base training for different outcomes. I really want to do agility with Lana and i was hoping that some of the agility experts could come and give me some advice as to what i should start doing with her to end up with best agility doggy possible! > any little tricks you use to get focus and any way to train drive?! I figure if i start doing it right now > it will save me a lot of trouble when we actually get to doing the tricky stuff!

Any advice would be wonderful!

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

The agility people will give you heaps of advice, ask at your obedience school about pre-agility courses, for youngsters, as (if I remember correctly) you are not allowed to start agility until they are 18 months old.

[Tassie]

Lots of foundation stuff you can be doing even with a pup - not sure how old your pupper is. Agility is a real teamwork sport, so any kind of relationship/trust/focus building stuff is good.

I mentioned in another post that I'd just finished reading, and thoroughly enjoyed, Susan Garrett's book Shaping Success, about how she trained one of her dogs. Some great stuff in that. Have a look on the net too for puppy agility, agility foundation training etc. Greg Derrett has a great video on agility foundation training.

There's a puppy training edition of Clean Run mag too - haven't got it, but all their other stuff is great.

Key thing to remember - IMHO agility must be fun at least for the dog - and hopefully for you too.

Take advice from the agility people at your club, but make sure yu are comfortable with what they are doing.

Most people say pup shouldn't be jumping anything more than a couple of inches before growth plates have closed - age will vary depending on the breed of dog but you can do a lot of rear-end awareness stuff, stepping through poles etc. Pup also should not be weaving until pretty well full grown, as it can be too much for the developing spine.

[bridgie_cat]

Thanks for the advice > Lana is a 10 month old sheltie > not sure if that counts as a pup anymore or not...

How do you build relationship and trust? > I am going to start the triangle of temptation for her focus as was recomended on another forum!

[Agility_Freak]

could agree with you more, Barb.

one more thing to add though. when you get more experienced and start trialing, find what work for you and use it, but at the same time don't be affraid to try other things. that way you can see if a different technique will work better.

[pnsdc]

why is there an age limit?

[Agility_Freak]

why is there an age limit?

Simply just to protect the dog from injury

[Tassie]

Yes - ideally dogs shouldn't be doing any serious jumping or weaving until ther growth plates have closed - varies according to breed of dog, and some say, may be affected by age of spay/neuter. For safety's sake, most venues don't allow competition before 18 months.

Bridgie_cat, the triangle of temptation sounds quite good - I haven't used it myself. Remember that everything you do with your dog contributes to relationship and trust building. Susan Garrett has this lovely concept of training sessions (where you set out to train something, with a plan in mind) and training moments - those many times during the day when you can capture and reinforce a behaviour you want - like eye contact (if you catch the dog giving good eye contact, you reinforce that - verbally or whatever.)

One thing I would be concentrating on with Lana is working out what really motivates her - what are her favourite treats, what toys does she really like. Then you have that variety of things to use as reinforcers. Tuggy toys are great for many dogs, as you can quickly rev the dog up - remember that you start and end the game. You may also be working out whether she's a dog that revs up too much - in which case, you will be looking for ways to cam her a little.

Another thing to be aware of is that while obedience works dogs on the left, for agility, the dog needs to be equally comfortable working on your right. So that's something you can be working on as you work with her. You can do some circles running with her on your left, then switch and have her on your right - probably on lead initially.

And most important, have fun!

[sidoney]

Train drive before you train control. Have only enough control that you need for day to day living. You need to elevate drive first. I wish someone had told me that early on.

Choose training methods that split the behaviour down into the components and train the components. As Susan Garrett says "be a splitter, not a lumper". The more you split behaviours and train them separately the better the dog will understand. Many clubs "lump", that is, try to teach a lot at once - as an example, contacts, they try to run the dog over the contact and teach the end behaviour all in the same process. Better to separate it. When you put it together it will work beautifully. As an example, I trained a "one rear toe on" end contact behaviour on planks and a milk crate (bit by bit, did not put those together at once). I took my dog to the club and used the half height dog walk. I put her on the side of the down plank twice and got her end behaviour. The next time I took her over the whole thing. She basically RAN to the end and stopped as I wanted her to. It was putting together previously learned components. I was walking on clouds that night. It's a great feeling.

Edited April 20, 2006 by sidoney

[helen]

I think if you concentrate on making it fun that is the most important thing - also try and keep it simple. If you are doing obedience classes from the beginning get the dog used to walking on both sides (although at class they will probably insist your dog is on the left).

[TroysMum]

why is there an age limit?

No age limit to my knowledge lol

[Agility_Freak]

No age limit to my knowledge lol

there is an age limit for trailing. i don't know what it is up in vic or nsw, but down here in tas your dog has to be at least 18 months old until you can trial with them. and also, most clubs will have an age limit for beginner classes. the club that i train and also teach (hobart canine obedience club inc.) has an age limit for beginner dogs (the dog has to be at least 12 months old). this is because we start jumping from the second week. but if you have all the equipment at home i don't see a reason why you can start training on the contacts and tunnels before. i would leave jumpung and weaving till they get to 12 months.

[sidoney]

18 months before trialing in NSW. Even that may be too young - some people jump and weave dogs too young and try to rush them in order to trial at that age. Dog needs mental and physical maturity for trialing. For training, it's OK to train younger, you can even train simple foundation work as a puppy.

[Agility_Freak]

i agree with you sidoney. it's better to wait untill your dog is ready than put them in a trial right at 18 months. like you said the dog needs mental and physical maturity, and not only that, you'll be giving money away for no reason. i made the mistake of starting Foxy a bit too early. he was nearly 3 but we had only been training for about 6 months. and i can tell you that it wasn't that much fun going in the ring and your dog running out of the ring. So i guess what i'm trying to say, is don't start trialiing as soon as the doog turns 18 months. wait untill they're ready.

[baileyb]

I'm going to have to disagree with the "speedsters" out there!! I'm a big one for "accuracy before speed".

Teach accuracy, speed will come. I would rather run an accurate dog anytime, over one that leaves in its wake, a demolition site but has run 20 seconds under SCT.

You only have to be under time by 100ths of a second to get your Q. One jump down or one missed contact ....your gone!!!

[sidoney]

This is where "splitting" comes into its own. You can train each bit independently, at max. desire. If you deliberately slow the dog down, it's hard to get back. A dog may slow somewhat while it's trying to work things out but when it's got it, get faster again. BTW this is one reason for slow dogs, that is, dogs that aren't sure what they should be doing, whose criteria are "grey" - dogs creeping down contacts and so on. You train accuracy by breaking the behaviours down. Not by deliberately slowing the dog down. I am sure you don't mean deliberately slowing the dog down, baileyb. The ones that crash jumps most likely have just been "pointed" at jumps and see how they go ... these dogs benefit from being taught how to jump properly in the first place, as in gridwork, etc. Also benefit being taught how to work in partnership with their handler - and the handlers benefit from learning how to handle the dog in a way that is clear and consistent.

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

Troy's Mum there is definately an age limit, as Tassie has said it is to do with the growth plate, and as Agilityfreak has also mentioned it is to protect the dog from injury.

It is many moons since I did agility with my oldest and at the obedience and agility club to which I belonged the age to start agility was 18 months.

Obviously every club will set what they deem to be an acceptable age depending on the breed.

[AgilityGirl]

Another thing to be aware of is that while obedience works dogs on the left, for agility, the dog needs to be equally comfortable working on your right. So that's something you can be working on as you work with her.

And most important, have fun!

Hehe I have always found working on the right very difficult...I've done alot more obedience stuff than I have agility and my brain wants the dog to be on my left. My dog can work on my right just fine...its ME who can't deal with it :rolleyes:

Sonia.

[sidoney]

Suggest you consciously work your dog on your right MORE than your left then. That way, since you will probably favour your left when you are not conscious of it, you are likely to make it more even ... and get more used to working with dog on right.

[AgilityGirl]

Suggest you consciously work your dog on your right MORE than your left then. That way, since you will probably favour your left when you are not conscious of it, you are likely to make it more even ... and get more used to working with dog on right.

Yes Sidoney that most definitly sounds wise, thankyou :rolleyes:

Sonia.