Agility for a newbie

punkchica321

Also what do you guys think of this leash?: http://www.petexpertise.com/dog-leashes-lines-and-couplers/long-leash.html

Personally I never use long leashes made for dogs, usually they're crap. Ive had sooo many of them snap when trying to stop the dog (grabbing or stepping on the line and the clip snaps off)

I use a long thin rope. I bought a huge roll of it (it was suposed to be a clothes line) and cut them into different sizes, I have a 10', 20' and 30' line. I just tie a knot at the end so that there is a small loop, then unbuckle the dogs collar, put it thru the loop, the buckle the collar back onto the dog.

Spazzy

punkchica321

Also what do you guys think of this leash?: http://www.petexpertise.com/dog-leashes-lines-and-couplers/long-leash.html

Personally I never use long leashes made for dogs, usually they're crap. Ive had sooo many of them snap when trying to stop the dog (grabbing or stepping on the line and the clip snaps off)

I use a long thin rope. I bought a huge roll of it (it was suposed to be a clothes line) and cut them into different sizes, I have a 10', 20' and 30' line. I just tie a knot at the end so that there is a small loop, then unbuckle the dogs collar, put it thru the loop, the buckle the collar back onto the dog.

 

 

Well that doesn't sound safe. o.o 

Hm alright I'll try this! Thanks again. :D

You've gotten a lot of good feedback, and I would second Lani's suggestion that you start with an open jump, until you can get your dog's jumping evaluated by an instructor.  There's a book called "Agility Training For You And Your Dog" that has a lot of good groundwork diagrams and ideas if you wanted to start practicing working away, lead-outs, closes, etc.

One of the hardest things for me to train personally is I have an issue with rear crosses.  There's some great groundwork prep you can do to expedite the training process.  Klickerklok and Fidgetinmotion on YouTube have some good training videos that I've enjoyed to emulate for groundwork activities.

As for the cost, it really depends.  $130 seems to be about the norm, but I got lucky and found a wonderful agility club that is $70 for 7 weeks (AMAZING!).  The main thing is if both Simba and you enjoy the club you'll training with, then you're good to go. 

Infiniti

You've gotten a lot of good feedback, and I would second Lani's suggestion that you start with an open jump, until you can get your dog's jumping evaluated by an instructor.  There's a book called "Agility Training For You And Your Dog" that has a lot of good groundwork diagrams and ideas if you wanted to start practicing working away, lead-outs, closes, etc.

One of the hardest things for me to train personally is I have an issue with rear crosses.  There's some great groundwork prep you can do to expedite the training process.  Klickerklok and Fidgetinmotion on YouTube have some good training videos that I've enjoyed to emulate for groundwork activities.

As for the cost, it really depends.  $130 seems to be about the norm, but I got lucky and found a wonderful agility club that is $70 for 7 weeks (AMAZING!).  The main thing is if both Simba and you enjoy the club you'll training with, then you're good to go. 

I'd recommend you train him in some rear leg awareness type stuff, like backing up, backing up so that he steps his rear legs on to something, walking off a surface and keeping the rear legs on,  circling a  perch with front legs off and moving the back legs, etc. Also walking on a wobble board so he is used to walking on a moving surface. You can make a small raised narrow raised platform that is a few inches off the ground for him to walk over for him to learn to keep all his feet on the surface, which he will need to be able to in order to do a dog walk. Luke did a fun and games class before we went to agility, which had a lot of things to help them do agility later on, so I am trying to think of the things we did in there. We also had an extra session at his first agility class in order to do some tricks, which can be fun, and also some tricks can help in agility.

You've gotten a lot of good advice so far. I used to do agility with Benny, but he has some dog issues and refuses to perform at events, so he retired early, lol.  He did love it though.  It was great exercise and great for bonding with him.  I also don't have great coordination and found going through some courses difficult....although I have issues.    Now I just do Rally O with Finn, which is also tons of fun.

I pay $140 for 8 week classes and then I can rent the building for $5 for an hour.  If you take Simba to the place to check it out and get him used to the space, I wouldn't let him just sniff around.  You don't want him thinking that's what he's there to do.  Do some training with him, even if it's not on the equipment; he can learn that he will be there to work and play with you and not just do his own thing.

 You've gotten some great advice already.

Things to work on before class: walking nicely on leash around lots of distractions.  Teaching your dog to follow your hand movements, so that you can guide your dog with your hands instead of using the leash.  Practice juggling leash, treats, and possibly clicker if you use one.  Practice BOTH sides!  Work on sit, down, stay.  Work on attention to you in high distraction environments like pet stores or busy parks.

I, personally, do not train my dogs to move out away from me if I am standing still.  This is not a skill that is in high demand in agility.  I teach my dogs to go with my body  movement and motion.  If I run straight, he runs straight at my side (not necessarily in heel position but at my general side).  If I turn, he is watching me to notice and also turns with me, etc.  Teaching a dog to go over a jump to a target or thrown toy while I remain standing still, teaches my dog to ignore my body cues and motion, which, I feel, will cause problems when running a course if I need him to turn after that jump instead of going on to the next jump.

the hind end awareness things folks have suggested are good ones to do.  Teach your dog tricks.  Any tricks.  It builds the bond between you which is crucial in agility.

Most of all, have fun!

A lot of great agility foundation info on this site:

http://silvia.trkman.net/

and her new interactive site: http://silvia.trkman.net/lolabu/

 Thanks for all the advice guys! Will take this all into consideration and read the links I was given. :D