Our very 1st Agility Class - Doberman Forum : Doberman Breed Dog Forums

lulu582 · 11-06-2012, 07:56 PM

Tomorrow I will be bringing Deacon to his (and my) first agility class, and I am super excited!!!. A client of mine is actively involved in agility competitions with her boxers and has the complete set up at her house, and she has kindly offered to teach Deacon and I the ropes and see if it is something that he enjoys. Any advice for us first timers would be greatly appreciated since I am complete newbie in the agility area.

VZ-Doberman · 11-06-2012, 08:33 PM

Have fun!!

Take it slow just proceed at your pace.

lulu582 · 11-07-2012, 04:23 PM

Thanks VZ! It was a huge success; he did much better than I anticipated. We didn't overwhelm him today and only worked on a few things (jumps, tunnel, weave poles, & A-frame.) I was sent home with weave poles to practice at home because he wasn't to crazy about that! I can see how this agility stuff is addictive lol, we both had a blast!

doberdeer · 11-08-2012, 06:38 PM

Glad to see you both had fun! You are very correct with it being additive too.

ZeldaRules · 11-08-2012, 06:48 PM

Awesome!! Agility class is the hilight of my week. You are lucky to have such easy access to equipment to practice on, prime only sees the equipment once a week and our training facility is an hour away! I'm looking forward to reading about your progression as a team

lulu582 · 11-08-2012, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeldaRules

Awesome!! Agility class is the hilight of my week. You are lucky to have such easy access to equipment to practice on, prime only sees the equipment once a week and our training facility is an hour away! I'm looking forward to reading about your progression as a team

This lady is wonderful to offer her time, agility yard, and lend equipment to us. It's great to have 1 on 1 training to teach Deacon and I the basics. I am already trying to find some basic equipment and I have my hubby seeing what he can make so that we can practice in our yard lol. Unfortunately, I have only found 1 professional agility trainer and she is 30 minutes away only doing classes 1 day (a morning) a week. Sometimes I would love to move to a more dog friendly area because pretty much everything that I do is with my pups lol.

I can see why it's the hilight of your week, it was so much fun for both of us! As soon as Deacon saw that we were going towards the equipment tonight to work, he got excited. I couldn't believe how much he enjoyed it after doing it just once! I have seen one of your agility videos...do you and Prime do it for fun or do y'all compete??

VZ-Doberman · 11-09-2012, 12:00 AM

Just wait until you start trialing.......and then that first Q.

ZeldaRules · 11-10-2012, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lulu582

This lady is wonderful to offer her time, agility yard, and lend equipment to us. It's great to have 1 on 1 training to teach Deacon and I the basics. I am already trying to find some basic equipment and I have my hubby seeing what he can make so that we can practice in our yard lol. Unfortunately, I have only found 1 professional agility trainer and she is 30 minutes away only doing classes 1 day (a morning) a week. Sometimes I would love to move to a more dog friendly area because pretty much everything that I do is with my pups lol.

I can see why it's the hilight of your week, it was so much fun for both of us! As soon as Deacon saw that we were going towards the equipment tonight to work, he got excited. I couldn't believe how much he enjoyed it after doing it just once! I have seen one of your agility videos...do you and Prime do it for fun or do y'all compete??

I need to get some weave poles badly because Prime will only weave if he's following a wand with a treat through them. We are training to eventually compete. We graduate from intermediate 2 and move on to novice competition class in 2 weeks. It's amazing how much the dogs take cue from your body and the slightest shift in your shoulders can mess everything up or get them to do exactly what you want. Prime is learning to read me very well and I'm having to learn and be more aware of his buffer zone, my hand directions, and where I'm at on the course in relation to obstacles. Its a lot to think about and you have to process it fast! I'm lucky that Prime has naturally taken to agility, it's more me that has a lot of learning to do. Jonesy'smom and VZ have good agility videos.

lulu582 · 11-10-2012, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeldaRules

I need to get some weave poles badly because Prime will only weave if he's following a wand with a treat through them. We are training to eventually compete. We graduate from intermediate 2 and move on to novice competition class in 2 weeks. It's amazing how much the dogs take cue from your body and the slightest shift in your shoulders can mess everything up or get them to do exactly what you want. Prime is learning to read me very well and I'm having to learn and be more aware of his buffer zone, my hand directions, and where I'm at on the course in relation to obstacles. Its a lot to think about and you have to process it fast! I'm lucky that Prime has naturally taken to agility, it's more me that has a lot of learning to do. Jonesy'smom and VZ have good agility videos.

Affordableagililty.com has some nice equipment at decent prices. I am borrowing the beginner weave poles that came from there, and so far so good with Deacon. If you or somebody you know is handy, you may be able to make them. My hubby took one look at the weave poles and told me not to waste my money buying them that it was easy enough to make.

Deacon isn't driven enough to take food from the wand (we tried that). He likes his special treat once he's gone through and he likes praise and to lean on me so I will pat him lol. I have ALOT to learn about all of this, and I have a feeling it will take me longer to figure it out (my body movements and tone of voice) than it will for Deacon. Our 2nd class will be interesting since we both kind of know what to expect. I will check into those other videos, they really seem to help me grasp what I should be doing.

Herb2relax · 11-10-2012, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeldaRules

I need to get some weave poles badly because Prime will only weave if he's following a wand with a treat through them. We are training to eventually compete. We graduate from intermediate 2 and move on to novice competition class in 2 weeks. It's amazing how much the dogs take cue from your body and the slightest shift in your shoulders can mess everything up or get them to do exactly what you want. Prime is learning to read me very well and I'm having to learn and be more aware of his buffer zone, my hand directions, and where I'm at on the course in relation to obstacles. Its a lot to think about and you have to process it fast! I'm lucky that Prime has naturally taken to agility, it's more me that has a lot of learning to do. Jonesy'smom and VZ have good agility videos.

You can make weaves with PVC and use tent stakes to hold them to the ground.

Zelda - I am surprised that Prime will only weave following a wand. No offense intended just surprised. Have you used targets before? One way to get Kyrah going thru the weaves is to set a 5 gallon bucket after the weaves with a big ole treat sitting on top.

wish I could do that during a trial. Oh, the mistakes I have made with Kyrah. Another thing I learned since teaching Kyrah is to put a leash on her, have the target down at the end and having her pull against the leash that way she is pulling thru the weaves. Thus teaching to one leg it thru there. Oh well maybe my next big dog.

I have to agree trying to remember or not having any idea for that matter, how to guide your dog while trying to remember which obstacle is next plus running at the same time...ugh! What a reminder that my age is showing. LOL