Last night after Rally class we let the dogs run around a bit, and the instructor pulled out some agility equipment - just an A-frame, a tunnel, and a jump. I probably did everything wrong, but it was the most fun we've had with agility equipment in a long time.
Watson immediately zoomed off and ignored me while trying to get the other dogs to play. When he did come to me, I asked him for an A-frame (which he was nervous about and refused) and a tunnel (which he did, but then zoomed off again). I just let him do his thing and after a couple minutes he came to me and didn't leave again. He flew up the A-frame, through the tunnel, and over the 16" jump again and again with a huge smile on his face. This is a dog who is nervous about contact obstacles and always refused any jumps over 12". He was having a blast and it's the most engaged, connected, and confident I've ever seen him around agility equipment.
I used to spend every agility class trying to keep him under complete control so he didn't run away, but every time I lost and he would eventually zoom off. It was clearly stress, and I think now that trying to control him and pressure him to do what I wanted him to do was just too much. I tried my best to make everything super easy and within his abilities, and he did what I asked in class because it's what I wanted, but he wasn't 100% comfortable with the equipment and it would build until the stress came out in zoomies. Once I removed the pressure and let him choose to participate, he had a blast and zero confidence issues.
We may never trial, and I've probably taught him terrible habits and he'll always zoom away from me during agility, but I'll take that if we can have moments like last night where we can be a joyful team.