Well - took Xena my 14 month BSD girly for her first agility training evening yesterday - Jumps ? - no problem :D - but dog walk/tunnel/tyre/A frame etc REALLY SCARY  - she would not go anywhere near them - made out they were the most terryfying things she had ever seen - this is gonna be a long hard slog I thought, then while we were just standing next to the dog walk she looked up at me and I swear she grinned and off she went - up, across and down all by herself then straight through the tunnel over the A frame ( loved this one - kept wanting to have another go :D :D !) and through the tyre.

I swear she just wanted a bit of time to think them through -Funny breed Belgians !!!

Yvonne

excellent, glad you had a great first time!  She sounds like she's doing much better than most dogs do their first times on the obstacles - my dobie boy has now had 10 1-hour sessions, and he's only just running over the dog walk and through the tunnel - altho he still hates going through it if he can't see the other end.  Goes through the collapsed tunnel no problem tho! go figure :)

I think you are right though - sometimes they do need to just sit back and have a look at something new, and take it in their own time - far too many agility trainers want to just get on with it, sadly my guy has had the same approach - tho with lots of tasty treats and a toy on my part :)  I hope in the future I will be running my own agility club, and any new dogs will egt the time they need, not the time I want to give them - your dog is proof it works much better than pushing them.

Good luck for next time, hopefully she'll be winning comps in no time!

Banya was funny at agility; as you say Yvonne, jumps no problem, but not at all keen on the other stuff. The trainer, although excellent, is used to Bc and gundogs and didn't quite appreciate the BSD way of doing things!

We then had some problems as Banya fell of the dog walk (which was my fault). She hit her chin so that really didn't help matters at all! She did like the A frame and was soon charging at that, and I eventually got my own dog walk and shaped her with clicker to do that :)  We used to do it in the garden before dinner so she got to be very keen;)

It's best to backchain contacts with BSds although some are fine just being walked over etc. Are you going to compete with her, or just doing it  for fun?

Lindsay
X

They introduced a tunnel at pup training with my old dog. All the other pups were scared and didnt want to go through. So I got down on my hands and knees looked through the other end and called his name. He went about half way then layed down and went to sleep. We had to fold it up to get him out as he refused to move. Cheeky boy!  

better than the dogs that stop inside for a pee

I'd love to do agility with my girl but all the ones I've found are outside at the moment :rolleyes: I'm perfectly happy for her to be off the lead in an enclosed area, but not otherwise :(

Most dogs get used to it. My one was a raving lunartic at first, charging round the field like anything with all the other dogs... (luckily it was fenced off), but come the 3rd or 4th session, they all got the hang of it and are all well behaved and know what they're there for :) ...

At the moment I'm just doing it for fun ( and to keep me in shape LOL) but she's as bright as a button and very agile so if she proves to be good I might have a go at some competitions - providing I can keep up with her :D.

Interestingly the other dog that refused to try most of the equipment at first was a German shepherd -He too was fine after a while - could it be a Shepherd thing, they won't be 'pushed' into anything but get there in their own time  ?. All the Border Collies were V good from the word go - but then they were owned by the 'serious' agility folk who were training their new youngsters and were very experienced themselves. The one that made us all smile was a gorgeous Bull terrier who just charged through all the jumps sending them flying everytime. She spent the whole time laughing up at her owner and waggling her bum at all the male dogs :D.

Can't wait till next week ;)

Yvonne

It's not a matter of being well behaved - she can not be trusted on recall and I will not take the chance.

Don't believe it that all BCs get it first time.  We have been doing it since January and mine was exactly the same.  Really suspicious of the tunnels but now loves them.  He has started to love the A frame at last for the past couple of weeks but the dog walk we have yet to conquer but I am sure we will get there.  The weaves he seems to love and hopefully we'll soon have them standing up straight.

But what the hell I have been bitten by the bug and have just the form off to register him at KC and hope to do my first competition in July for a bit of a laugh and see how we get on.

Claire

don't forget to post and let us know how you get on :D

Yvonne

what name did you decide on finally Claire? I have still been thinking all week but it's just SO hard!!

Ice, where are you based?

PM Sent :)

Hi there,

Finally took the plunge yesterday and sent the form off.  First choice is Foxy Flyer as ever since he was little has been called Fox as a nickname because he looks like a fox and hopefully he will be flying over those jumps!

I have another BC called Ky who we hope to start training later this year.  We already have his name: Kamikaze Ky.  It really suits him as so far, you show him a jump and he just runs through it like it isnt there!

Just never believed I could get into agility so quickly and easily.  Am loving it and would highly recommend to anyone!!

Claire

I am so sorry mate but you won't get foxy flier :-( I have a friend who has a little crossbreed (looks like sheltie cross) her name is Amber but her KC name is The Foxy Flier. Did you initial the box or did you have other choices? Someone I used to train with didn't get any of their choices but her name was Nicola and the KC chose Nicola's Joy for her dog which he obviously was so it worked. I am so glad that my pup is registered as it is much less trouble than thinking up a name!

That's odd. I always thought on obedience/working trials kc forms, it said dogs name not to include owners name.

I have named all three of mine and have to say, I loved it. All of their names suit them and mean something special to me.

While we are on the subject, does anyone know how easy it is to change a dogs kc name, if at all? A friend of mine registered his dog but hates the name. I think he was so convinced he would get his first choice he came up with really silly names for the other three and now regrets it. :rolleyes: ...men! 

It can be done but I think it costs about £25

Anne

if they have registered with the working trails ob reg etc then if you havent won anything under that name i would think there is no reason why you cant just register agian from scratch, and just pay the £12, if you have won awards under that name in kc shows, its probably not worth it!

if its on the breed register, i looked into it as i have a new pup whose breeder didnt like my choices of kc name so put her own choice, and its not what i wouldve chosen!!! i looked at the form tho, and it seems you need the breeder signiture for it too!

We tried Agility last week and Big Eck loved it. He even scooted through the tunnel, which amazed me as hes scared of dark enclosed places. He likes the A frame best. :) Next week a Large Munsterlander is coming so that will be great to see.

I fancy taking my 15 month old Bichon Frise to agility but is it just for larger dogs. Do they cater for small dogs and is there a minimum age?
Deb

There is mini and midi agility for small and middle sized dogs. Dogs under 15" are mini, dogs between 15" and 17" are midi and the jump heights and contact equipment size is smaller too. If you go to http://www.agilitynet.com/ they will tell you more, especially as a lot of of it is changing in 2006 anyway. The dogs has to be 18 months plus to compete and needs to be around 10 months before they start training, although that depends on what you do. They shouldn't weave or jump more than poles off the ground for minis or 15" for standard until they are at least a year old. That's just to allow bones to finish developing. My youngster was running through tunnels at 9 months as that doesn't affect them at all. Now he is 11 months and jumps 15" and does the channel weaves set apart. This does depend on the dog though. He is a bc and has finished growing. A larger dog like a dane would need to wait until he was nearer 18 months before training began. 

Regards to the kc name, the dog in question has never competed and I did wonder if he could just re-register him. No one would know would they! I think that's what I'll tell him. ;-)

I walked around All About Dogs yesterday wondering if any of the people were Champdoggers! We should have worn badges! :D I loved looking at the Huskies and the guy with them was so friendly. He seemed quite impressed that my collies ran in harness too. :p I had a great time and came home with a few rossettes, 9th in Starters agility and two firsts in the fun obedience, which wasn't bad as he had had no obedience training for nearly a year! It was lovely to see so many pet dogs which were obviously so well looked after. :-)  

I was thinking of going but the weather was dreadful down here so didnt really fancy such a long drive in such dreadful weather.  Maybe next year!  Glad to hear you did well though. 

Shame about my KC name but I did put the second choice down as JC BC so hopefully we will get that instead.  At least if we ever get called out I will know its my dog they are referring to!

Claire