Agility training

[Panzerotti]

I was thinking it would be fun to start a thread similar to the Tricks and Training one, but focus on agility. There must be enough of us here training it, and I love watching other people's agility vids.

I started training running contacts today!

http://ablondeandadog.blogspot.com/2...cts-day-1.html

[MafiaPrincess]

We have a forum for agility and sports.

http://www.chazhound.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=32

[MericoX]

Nice!
I've started some nose touches and targeting with the younger dogs. Hopefully borrowing my friends weaves soon so I can have them in the house and start refreshing on those vs having to wait until spring.

[Panzerotti]

Originally Posted by MericoX

Nice!
I've started some nose touches and targeting with the younger dogs. Hopefully borrowing my friends weaves soon so I can have them in the house and start refreshing on those vs having to wait until spring.

I can't wait to start weave training! I'll probably start with snow on the ground, don't know if I can wait till spring.

[lizzybeth727]

I'm in a Foundations/Flatwork class with Keegan right now. We're focusing more on not barking at the other dogs, than actually training, LOL. Though he's getting a lot better. We're doing mostly running with our dogs, recalls, stays, targeting, etc. We should be graduating in a couple of weeks and get to start obsticles. I found a set of weave poles from work that were about to get thrown away (), so they're sitting on my back porch waiting.... I've been itching to start training them but at this point I'm going to wait and see how my trainer will teach them before I do them myself. I failed miserably with weaves with Luna so I'm going to take it slow this time around.

[Panzerotti]

Originally Posted by lizzybeth727

I'm in a Foundations/Flatwork class with Keegan right now. We're focusing more on not barking at the other dogs, than actually training, LOL. Though he's getting a lot better. We're doing mostly running with our dogs, recalls, stays, targeting, etc. We should be graduating in a couple of weeks and get to start obsticles.

That's cool. It's always good when places focus on foundations first rather than running over equipment all willy-nilly.

I've been training on my own so far, but I'm going to start a Foundations class in early March. I have to get Pan into an indoor environment with strange people/dogs, and it'll be good to just practice stuff she knows.

[Shai]

I just did some path finding responsibility/extension-compression work today, no vid though. Mostly just a line of jumps in the backyard.

Originally Posted by Panzerotti

I was thinking it would be fun to start a thread similar to the Tricks and Training one, but focus on agility. There must be enough of us here training it, and I love watching other people's agility vids.

I started training running contacts today!

http://ablondeandadog.blogspot.com/2...cts-day-1.html

Has she been on contact equipment before?

One reason I think dogs like to jump off is because they aren't used to running hard on something narrow and with iffy grip (relative to the ground). I saw Daisy Peel using a long strip of carpet for the initial run-the-length-of-the-board training and even progressing into run-to-the-end which I thought was a great idea...it's wider and has great traction, it's different then the surrounding ground (she did it on a matting training floor but it would work on grass or whatever too) so it should transition well, and any stress associated with the initial learning frustration won't be associated with actual contact equipment. Just a thought.

[Panzerotti]

Originally Posted by Shai

Has she been on contact equipment before?

One reason I think dogs like to jump off is because they aren't used to running hard on something narrow and with iffy grip (relative to the ground). I saw Daisy Peel using a long strip of carpet for the initial run-the-length-of-the-board training and even progressing into run-to-the-end which I thought was a great idea...it's wider and has great traction, it's different then the surrounding ground (she did it on a matting training floor but it would work on grass or whatever too) so it should transition well, and any stress associated with the initial learning frustration won't be associated with actual contact equipment. Just a thought.

Yeah, that would be the ideal way to start, I guess I could have staked down a strip of carpet into the snow.

This was her first time seeing a board. I'm thinking though that once she gets the concept a bit more she'll start running with more focus forward and not have to think about where she's putting her feet so much. She really improved just in today's session. It's going to get tough when I have to start rewarding for proper foot placement though, she's quick!

[Shai]

Yeah she'll probably be fine, just an idea is all.

[adojrts]

Originally Posted by Panzerotti

Yeah, that would be the ideal way to start, I guess I could have staked down a strip of carpet into the snow.

This was her first time seeing a board. I'm thinking though that once she gets the concept a bit more she'll start running with more focus forward and not have to think about where she's putting her feet so much. She really improved just in today's session. It's going to get tough when I have to start rewarding for proper foot placement though, she's quick!

Just a suggestion, but we typically train a contact criteria first (regardless of which method chosen) before even doing plank work or the contact equipment (lowered). This is done to avoid bad habits forming that are hard to retrain and often result with inconsistant contacts. Of course I am assuming you want to compete if not, other than safety it doesn't matter.