I've just booked myself, hubby and 2 Huskys into a training day that focusses on obedience and socialisation which I think we are fine on but also agility and flyball which I am really excited about! :-) Think my boy will be useless at both to be honest, typical husky and doesn't retrieve (infact doesn't always chase balls) and don't think he has the coordination for agility but wonders may never cease and I'm prepared to give it a go. On the otherhand I've wanted to do agility with my girl for ages but another local club has a 3 year waiting list so I haven't had the chance and shes great at chasing/catching/retrieving balls so think she'll be fab at flyball. Training day is not until the end of march so was wondering if there is anything I could be doing training wise in preparation for this. We are complete beginners at it (myself and hubby included) so any tips would be greatfully recieved.
Thanks

I don't do agility with either of mine but was looking at some cheap equipment to give my boy something to think about and found this set on zooplus.  There is also 10% off first orders - total bargain!

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_toys_dog_training/agility_sport/fun_agility/131130

Hi there. For flyball I would just practice recall and chasing a ball! If your dog is ball mad and comes back to you then you have the makings of a flyball dog! Maybe try holding her at one end of a garden and have somebody else call her towards them at the other end and as she reaches them gently roll a ball towards her and then call her back to you with her holding the ball all the way. Initial training will probably start with the whole course netted in so that really helps with the recall! Most ball mad dogs pick up flyball quite quickly and once they've got it, they've got it! Its fun for owners and not too much running about!!

Hi pinkbrady, I did flyball with my GSD and my St Bernard.  To start I found a good retrieve was useful but this can be taught as long as they love tennis balls!  My GSD took a while to get used to touching the pedal (she was scared of the noise), so maybe you can get them to stand on something which makes a noise (I have a cover on my underground gas tank which bangs when the dogs stand on it - realise you probably don't have one of these but just to give you an idea).  My Saint wasn't keen on chasing tennis balls so I had to do a lot of 'ooooh, do you want the ball, no it's mine' waving it frantically in his face then hiding it behind my back, over and over until he actually began to believe it was something he wanted (not leaving any balls lying about for them to play with, they have to be 'special').
I've recently started agility with my Leonberger, a very laid back boy, who I had no great expectations of but surprisingly enough he's doing really well.  I doubt we'll win anything for speed but he's very careful, and you can see the concentration on his face.  Our initial 'homework' was to get a good 'wait' command (in sit and stand), which means you can leave them on one side of the jump whilst you get yourself in position.  Then put a touch point a couple of metres in front (i.e. a block of wood, or a bin lid), put a treat on it, have them in a wait then give the command to 'go', at which point they can run forward and take the treat.  We also lay planks of wood on the floor to practice the beam (no danger of them falling off but makes them concentrate on placing their feet), and also lay broom handles down and walk them over (seems simple but alot of dogs have no idea what their feet are doing and it takes concentration).  You can then raise these off the floor slightly.  Keep it simple and keep it fun.  We're having a great time!

At my previous club, one of the trainers had a husky that was trained to a very high standard in both obedience and agility :)

Daisy

Thanks for the replies - I can't wait to get going! Just had confirmation we are booked on the training course at the end of March so will hopefully start regular agility beginning of April.

susieq - great advice. I will work on trying to get my boy excited about tennis balls. Not sure my girl needs any more encouragement! Will also try the beams/planks on the floor to get them started. Are there any specific commands I should use whilst doing this? They are both already quite good at waiting while we stand a distance away from them. Do this regularly and they sit and wait before they eat and when waiting to cross rods but will try and increase the distance we are from them.

cheekychow - that equipment looks great and really reasonable. I'll see how they get on then might have to invest!

Daisy - great to hear about other huskys doing so well. theres hope for us yet!

Use whatever commands work best for you.  I tend to use wait, ready........go (my boy needs a bit of encouragement, you may find the ready send yours over the excitement barrier!!), over (jumps), through (tunnel), feet (for on the beam), weave.  When they take the treat off the touch point say 'touch' this helps with the contact points later.  Some people actually name the equipment but like I say whatever you like as long as you're consistent.  Another useful thing though is to get your dogs happy working on both sides, I've struggled with this as I'm used to obedience and always working my dog on the left.  Best of luck : )