Agility is hard work :)

I have a year old sheltie and have just started agility. She is enjoying it and is doing better than I expected. She wasn't too keen on the chute the first couple of times, but today she ran through like a trooper.
We are still working on the weave poles--I think they are her biggest challenge.

She's a fast dog. I have a hard time running as fast as her. I wish I was younger than my mid forties.

Now if she could just ignore the other dogs and totally focus on me....

LOL agility rocks! But no its not easy..

lol Don't we all wish we could run as fast as a fast dog!!!!!!!!!!! But it doesn't work, everytime you try to beat the dog, handling skills go down the drain as we make mistakes!!
If you have a fast dog, it takes much longer to train them but the benefits out weigh the cons. Personally I wouldn't want a slower dog, I train for speed and right from the beginning. I was told for years 'Never do anything to slow that dog down, become a better handler and trainer to deal with all that speed!"
I would rather have a 'WOW!! run, than a slower more controlled run with a higher Q rate.

Marlowe's not even that fast and I have a hard time keeping up with him! I think he's destined to be that slow/steady controlled agility dog. We were both definitely huffing and puffing after our practice session last night.

Crap, I'm still trying to run as fast as my slower dog! My next agility partner is going to be a hamster!

LOL that made me laugh!

OMG Too Funny!!!

Just to give you an even better image to enjoy, I actually started contemplating hamster agility while working on &&^%*# contacts. I was thinking how if I ran a hamster in a hamster ball, it would just roll down the slopes and would always go to the base. The upside of the a-frame may be a challenge, but it'll give me a chance to slow down and catch my breath .

OMG! Too funny! Hey, I might have to try that with my hamster...hmmm...wonder what they'd say if I showed up with him in his little hammy ball for class one night..

But I hear ya, there's no way I'll ever be able to keep up with Echo. I've given up & finally come to the conclusion that I just have to work on my distance skills...

Hmmmm, I think I will stick with my mini divison and consider obtaining a gerbal or dagu (sp) I heard those little buggers can jump!!!

I'd like to run a squirrel in agility

Balou would kick all ya'lls rodent butts!
I've never seen a faster or more agile animal, though he doesn't listen to a darn thing I say!

Well if anyone needs to get more speed out of their choosen rodent........I have a very experienced JRT that would be more than willing to help!!!!!!!
Petie on leash, screaming on the side lines would induce any rodent to run at Mach lol.

But I think that would be considered to be a negative reinforceropcorn:

lol when I'm trainign with Buster, if I don't keep up with him he stops in front of me then jumps into my chest... think that will probably slow us down if we ever compete lol

Zoey barks at me. Yup, my herding dog thinks Im a sheep, and barks at me... She nipped me today too! Bad dog!

LOL...

I can't keep up with Zoey eather, so she has lernt to wait for me... Or to just "go (insert obstical here)!" lol