Starting agility classes...what should we practice now?

[Simkie]

After this whole sucktastic affair, my other dog, Koa, is really not doing well as an only dog. She is fine if she is with us, but so horribly unhappy and anxious if she is left alone.

We are doing several things to try to help her–lots of walks and opportunities for praise, I’ve been taking her to work with me, and we are giving doggy daycare a go tomorrow. I’ve also signed her up for agility classes, starting in July.

The goal, when I called, was to join some sort of intermediate obedience class, but they had nothing but the beginner classes offered. I showed dogs in the conformation and obedience rings when I was a teenager and I’m a hard-ass when it comes to my dogs…but this particular dog has had no FORMAL, taught by a professional, training. She is a good girl and we can take her everywhere. She has a very solid sit, down, stay, wait, here, now, heel, come, with me, etc–pretty much anything that’s useful in real life. She listens, she watches and she is very tuned in to me.

What should we work on prior to our first class? I asked the people who are running it, but they weren’t a whole lot of help. I want to set Koa up to do well, and I also don’t want to embarrass either one of us!

[EponaRoan]

A good recall and hitting a target. We used washcloths as the mark to teach them to hit the contact zone. And have fun!

[SarahandSam]

Target is good… one of the first exercises we did at agility class was just a fun treat game to get them excited about it… say “ready,” getting the dog charged up, then throw a treat/toy and say “go,” and then recall the dog to you. Gets them used to going out and away on “go” and then coming back.

[bdj]

Second on the intro to targeting - and you can also work on reinforcing the stay/wait and release - if you ever decide to get into competition, a good start line stay is VERY useful.

OH - big one - if you’ve done a lot of “obedience-style heeling” so that Koa is very used to the idea that her spot is supposed to be on your left hand side, you can start getting her used to the idea that it’s OK to be on your right side, too - that’s really important and takes a bit of adjustment for both you and the dog.

[wendy]

what behavior are you planning to teach on the contacts? the most common is the 2 on 2 off which you can easily teach at home on a travel plank, but there are other options. Also if your dog has been “traditionally” obedience trained you may want to pick up a clicker and try a lot of free-shaping tricks so the dog learns to offer behaviors. This will also help with her anxiety and build her confidence.

[Simkie]

Thanks for the input, everyone! I’ll make sure her recalls are solid and introduce targeting and the clicker.

We’ve done a lot more um…free form? functional? obedience than traditional “this is the one true way” sort of stuff. For example, I use “here” FAR more than “heel”–stay with me in some sort of heel-type distance, on either side, and sit when I stop moving. She’s GOT a heel, but we just don’t need something so rigidly defined most of the time?

Wendy, I have no idea about behavior on the contacts. My agility experience is limited to sending puppies through the equipment in puppy class (hilarious!!)

[wendy]

ah well you have options- you can train running contacts or stopped contacts, and there are several types of stopped contacts. Training for most of them involve teaching the dog to run to and hit a target. Your class is most likely going to teach 2 on 2 off (it’s the most widely used, although running contacts are becoming very common). The beginning step of 2 on 2 off is getting the dog to run to and hit a small round target- something like a yogurt lid- with his nose and keep touching it until you tell him to release. So can work on that. Running contacts the dog is usually taught to do a foot-target: he runs to and pounces on/in the target and then keeps going. Something like a mouse pad will work. This is not a bad thing to teach even if you want stopped contacts because you can use the behavior to teach distance work. Another useful behavior is mat-work- you teach the dog to run to and lie down on a mat. Handy for teaching the table. Also you can do ground handling- you run and teach the dog to go out and around cones (or boots or plungers or whatever you have handy) and practice doing rear and front crosses. Also many dogs have little awareness they have hind ends so doing things like teaching them to back up, crawl, or perch work (dog puts front end on say a phone book and then pivots his hind end around) will improve their personal agility.

[Marshfield]

Target, clicker and working on right as well as left. I teach mine to pause at the bottom of the contacts in training, but allow moving contacts when competing. Iris also has a “half halt” for when I need her to slow up for a clean entry into the weaves–many courses I encounter are set up such that it’s easy to blow past your weave pole entry.

[Simkie]

She has a pretty well established “easy” button–basically “hold up and check in with me”…it’s not a full “wait” (which is stop where you are and stay until I get there) but it’s certainly a “Yo! Pay attention! Something is happening!” I’ll make sure we practice it!

We spent some time tonight introducing the clicker and basic targeting and she got it quickly and had fun. I’ve played with some clicker stuff with horses, but never with my dogs…it just wasn’t really taught some 15 odd years ago? At least not where I was! I’d forgotten how much fun it is to see that action = click = treat thing connect in their head!

Her daycare trial today was not a rousing success…she was nervous and anxious about the other dogs :sigh: She “passed”, as she showed no aggression, but she pretty much spent the whole day avoiding the other dogs, and trying to get the people to pet her (and take her home?), so I’m not sure if it’s our solution to her daytime left-by-herself anxiety issues. I think we’ll give it one or two more tries…perhaps now that she knows I come back to get her, it will be better?

I feel so bad for her–I just didn’t do a good job of working with her one on one, and so much of her confidence was tied to Riana She is totally fine until she’s left alone, and then she turns into a barking, howling, whining mess. She goes into an x-pen when we’re not home, and has been dragging it all over the place…even with heavy cinder blocks in the corners. I take her to work with me when I can, and we’re on the list for another puppy, but that won’t happen until early next year at the inside.

[spinandslide]

IMO, there are alot of different ways of starting and handling an agility dog…so I am always ALEETLE hesitant to offer advice, because some may not do it the way “I” do.

Our club reccomended working on recall, and long sits/downs…and stay. We also start on targeting, using a butter tub lid…so I start getting my dogs used to this before I take them to beginner agility.

hind end awareness (as was mentioned) was also something we go over…phone book or small step stool works.

I am actually starting a class with my other border collie late this month…so we’ve been practicing targeting.

I think agility will be good for her…I’ve found it helps in increasing confidence in unconfident dogs…

[lovey1121]

@Simkie;5666896

Her daycare trial today was not a rousing success…she was nervous and anxious about the other dogs :sigh: She “passed”, as she showed no aggression, but she pretty much spent the whole day avoiding the other dogs, and trying to get the people to pet her (and take her home?), so I’m not sure if it’s our solution to her daytime left-by-herself anxiety issues. I think we’ll give it one or two more tries…perhaps now that she knows I come back to get her, it will be better?

I think should give it at least 2 wks. Here’s the good-she’s being supervised, she’s being stimulated, she may not make friends immediately but given time, she very well might, and if not, she may decide to become Teacher’s Pet. At the least, she isn’t home by herself, thinking up new ways to freak herself out. I’ve had dogs come into my group (I run dogs in the woods for exercise/training…I know, SWEET:winkgrin:) who may be older and less socialized and uninterested in playing–even kinda freaked out at the whole thing. It took a while, but each of them adjusted well-found at least 1 good buddy, and they got exercise and stimulation to boot–so much better than staying home.

Watch out, though–the gods may not want you to wait til next year for a buddy for Koa…Nature abhores a vacuum Perhaps soon we will be reading a new post describing what showed up on your doorstep???

Hugs to both of you on your loss of Riana:cry:

[DarkenStormy]

I practice targeting on my stairs. It’s easy to do the 2 on 2 off and you can set the target at the bottom of the stairs.

I tried a running contact with my dog, and it just gets him too excited. Plus he’s so darn fast, I need the time the 2 on 2 off gives me :)…

Work on your down stay also. That is critical for the table in competition. It’s a 5 count down stay.

[Simkie]

Thanks for the ideas everyone!

What sort of targeting exercises should we work on? Koa’s got it down, but I am unsure how to really use it. Links to exercises or descriptions would be helpful!

We went to a lure coursing/rally “playdate” last weekend, and I feel pretty good about her base skills after that. She did very well on the rally course! She was not really at interested in the LURE part of coursing, but she had fun running willy nilly.

[Hannahsmom]

Here’s a fun thing you can teach…the table ‘down’. You can use a mat, but I have a practise table. My young dog is so fast on course that he has started to fly across the table vs. stopping on it. So I’ve started teaching him that when he gets on a table he always downs, with no other command. Using the click to mark the right behavior.

Another thing you can start on is awareness by walking him thru a ladder on the ground. Teaches each foot awareness to prep him for the dog walk. Lure him so that his head and body stay straight.

[Simkie]

We started agility classes last Friday, and Koa was FABULOUS.

It’s a class with 5 other dogs, and (I may be biased, but) I think Koa has the best handle on her. There was a glimmer of fear in the instructor’s eyes when I said “this dog has had no formal training…” but it dimmed when I followed up with “…but I showed dogs in the conformation and obedience rings as a teenager.”

Targeting was brought up in the first class, and we do have some homework there. I’d been targeting off my hand, but they want her targeting to an object. We also walked through ladders, jumped over tiny jumps and started working over a low a frame. Koa’s “wait” and “pay attention” and “easy” certainly came into play, and she was the only one who could manage a down stay while we put up the equipment after class.

Overall, a success! I fear we may be the pair to “get it” quickly and have to wait as the other dogs muddle through, but the goal is to get her out and get her mind working, and I’m able to do that, even if we are waiting, so I think it will still suit our needs. She had fun and perhaps gained some confidence, and I am looking forward to our next class

[paintsrgreat]

one of the most basic exercises that helps with agility is what we call “circle work” a bit like heeling at a jog or as you get better a run! Work with dog on both right and left. Start with relatively small circles then as you get better faster and larger circles. The goal is to NOT have your dog cut behind you. Treat/click frequently. Change hands by turning into your dog. As you work this out then try inside circles!

The Go exercise is also one that will come in VERY handy. We call this exercise Straight Line running. Again! Important that your dog stays on the hand that you started with.

Good luck in Agility! It’s a blast for you and your dog!

[Bicoastal]

Isn’t it fun?!

[QUOTE=Simkie;5716569]
We started agility classes last Friday, and Koa was FABULOUS.
… She had fun and perhaps gained some confidence, and I am looking forward to our next class :)[/QUOTE]

I just finished my first agility class with my a new-to-me-dog. (couple threads in this forum about our trials and tribulations) It is a blast! I think my pup loves it. He comes home fired up play, play, playing!

Lots of questions, lots of info on the www, and lots of fun!