Prerequisites to Agility Question - Update on pg 3

 AgileGSD and KarissaKS,

Perhaps you guys are right but for sure it seems to be a growing pattern in where those that come from the OB side are pretty uptight at the start. Some of the methods in another class I have seen watching a handler step on her dog's toes to make him sit and be attentive at her this was in fact a Good Canine and obedience winning dog. The aussie was trained by a young handler which yes, she is shy, which could explain some of her dog's behavior. We use to have a papillion in class that was from one of the local OB club that holds trials, she was older and she was very uptight. I am not implying that ALL dogs/handlers from the OB world but it seems to me when they entire the agility world they bring their OB traits over. There is where the agility instructors break their habits.

We have two OB clubs and several kennel clubs that hold trials here. I am just speaking from experience from what I see. Yes, you can see some of the same people showing up at every trials but the atmosphere differs every time an event is held by an OB club. That's fact up here. On the extreme side of things, when the USDAA trials comes, it is very lax. The AKC trials held by the kennel clubs are lively.  

mudpuppy

I cringe when I see someone bring a dog on lead into a CPE trial. I don't think it should be allowed, way too dangerous. I know they do it to make the handlers feel better- but should we do this at the expense of the dogs health? No, I don't think so.  I'm curious, have any of your "trained on lead" first dogs ever mastered distance challenges later on?  I don't put a dog on the obstacles until I can run him through a course of cones with him thirty, forty feet away from me. I don't want the dog to think he has stay within six feet of me. What a handicap to overcome later.

 Obviously since they offer that option, not everyone agrees with the issues you have with on lead work.

 As for the question about distance work and if the dogs who were worked on lead early on could do distance work - absolutely! Quite a few dogs trained with this method by me or my students actually prefer to work at a distance. Much of that is IMO and IME simply a personality trait. Dogs that think they can only be 6 feet from their owner are likely to be dogs who lack confidence and/or drive for the game. It is also a matter of the handler's abilities. I have seen many dogs who could be fast and would be willing to work at a distance but their handlers are just too slow with commands/cues for that to be possible.

 I don't so much train my own dogs this way all the time now but as was mentioned, it can be the only reasonable and safe way to work dogs in class. I will put one of my dogs on lead if they get goofy in class though - no reason to let them practice bad behaviors.

 This is a very informative thread, and shows me that the local agility communities vary greatly.

My neighbor, who has done agility and obedience for years, told me "No, no, just take him to the agility class!" when I said I thought I should take Ole to an obedience class first. This was based on her handling him and knowing him for a while. I think it depends on the dog...she would have told me something different if it had been a different dog. Ole is very attentive, but not velcro. He's smart and energetic, but not hyper.  

So apparently our local class has no requirements. You try it out and see how you do. You must realize this is a small town and there just wouldn't be enough people for four or five classes of differing levels. 

Also, due to our geographic isolation, it's doubtful that many go driving all the way down to Anchorage or fly to Seattle for a dog show. It's almost totally local and for fun, I'm sure. 

*******  UPDATE  ******

Morrison has achieved his CGC and, last night, we completed Intermediate Obedience.  In the last two classes we were introduced to jumps and Rally.  Morrison did really well in both but picked up the jumps REALLY quickly.  He was following my direction on which jump to take and which way to go by the end of the class.

 Here is the clincher - the club wants me to continue taking Morrison to class but they aren't starting agility until, maybe, November.  At this time - I'm going to start looking for a different place to go as I don't want to wait too much longer. Morrison is almost 16 months now.

Congratulations to you and Morrison!

 There are no classes at all here in the summer, either. It's very frustrating.

My club just started up classes again this week and they will run for six weeks -- but then they usually shut down for July & August.  This year classes might start up mid-August because there is a trial in September that people are going to want to be ready for, but nothing is certain.  I guess they shut down classes because fewer people tend to be able to attend regularly during the busy summer months when other commitments might pull you away.  Now, I don't understand that at all -- because I ALWAYS make time for agility. 

Congrats on your CGC and other training acheivements!  Morrison is the perfect age to start his agility training, so I wouldn't blame you a bit for searching out a different club that will offer classes sooner.  Another option, if you really like where you're at, is to ask if they might be able to offer you private lessons.  Not only will this satisfy your agility bug sooner, but you & Morrison will learn a lot faster as well with the private attention.

Private lessons is a great suggestion since it would suit summer schedules as well...unfortunately.

The club is not suspending classes or anything, they are concentrating on their competive dogs until then.  Plus, they are just saying that there MIGHT be a class in November.  I'm just not going to wait and see - I believe that Morrison (and I) have a window of opportunity and I don't want to miss it.