Bamm- Agility training

[skittledoo]

Bamm and I started agility training again... in the backyard yesterday. I only have three pieces of equipment right now though. I have a jump, weave pole set and a chute. It's enough that we can do some training though.

First off... it was still kinda damp because it rained most of the day... thing is... if I wait till it stops raining well... we'll never do practice lol. It's been rainy a lot out here. I just went barefoot.

Bamm is doing really well with the jump. Go figure. The dog LOVES to jump! My rail goes up to about 24" but I know he can easily jump 26" so I want to get another jump. I think he's about 22" at the shoulders, but I need to measure him again to be sure.

He's doing really well with the chute now. He wasn't so sure about the closed end of the chute at first, but now he's running through it with ease. I know he's done the chute before since his foster did some agility practice with him, but he hadn't done it in a long time so it just took some getting used to.

Now the weaves... he's doing really well, but I need to work on more directional cues with him because sending him onto the weaves properly is a bit of a pain in the butt. Plus... he keeps skipping the last two poles so we really need to work on that more. He did improve on the weaves somewhat during practice though.

Overall we had a great practice. The only downfall was that I started working the practice with him on leash and that was getting annoying so it's looking like most of our practices will have to be off leash. The problem is that I have to let go of the leash for him to run through the chute and the leash got caught and took the chute with him and then it obviously gets caught in the weaves no matter how hard I try not to let it get caught... so off leash it is.

With that said. I live on a really good size property on a farm. For the most part he's really good about staying by my side during training. But, when you first let him off leash he goes into this sporadic zoomies mode and decides to run all over the property like a mad man. That makes me nervous because when I call him back to me he doesn't come until after he's finished his zoomy. I'm going to start running with him a little bit before agility practice to wear him down a little, but I really need to work on a stronger recall. Any tips? I use clicker training with him. Also... I do have a dog whistle and would like to teach him to recall on the whistle as well... but don't know how to begin to do so... once he's finished his zoomies he's always right at my side ready to work on the agility, but it's the zoomies at the beginning of practice that really bother me... unfortunately at this time we don't have a closed off space on the property to do agility. No one really drives down on our road except us since it's our private road, but you never know when a car might come down the road and I really want to be careful and keep his safety in mind.

[Dekka]

Glad you are having fun...

Suggestion on the weaves though. YOu want to train an independent entrance. You want the dog to find the entrance, not have you find it for them. I wouldn't worry about directional cues.. just keep working the entrance (usually just use two poles to start) from all angles.

[skittledoo]

Originally Posted by Dekka

Glad you are having fun...

Suggestion on the weaves though. YOu want to train an independent entrance. You want the dog to find the entrance, not have you find it for them. I wouldn't worry about directional cues.. just keep working the entrance (usually just use two poles to start) from all angles.

thanks. I'll definitely give that a shot. He's LOVING the agility practices so far.

[MafiaPrincess]

I would be careful jumping him 24" - 26" perpetually. It's said in horses and in dogs that there are only so many jumps in the animal. Cider jumps 16" in the AAC.. I used to jump her 16" all the time. I've taken to training her at 10". I'd be more apt to double drop or more if I had a larger dog and larger jump height. The concussion of a 24 to 26 inch jump all the time would be a partial worry to me. I wouldn't be forcing the height all the time no matter how happy the dog seems ot be jumping it.

Zoomies are fairly normal occurrence in beginner dogs. Takes time, practice and some self control. Doing anything on leash in agility isn't the safest (unless you are using a tab leash- like 4-8" on leash connected to the dog so you have a hand hold if need that can't get caught). It scares me to have heard from others on chaz that some classes have taught beginners on leash. Too much can happen. Glad to hear you are looking at weaning off.

Careful agility is addictive. Next thing you know you buy more an more equipment to play at home

[skittledoo]

I used to do some agility with my dog prior to Bamm, but she was older when we started and didn't really compete much, practiced mostly. Where can I find one of those shorter tab leashes? I want to wean off of using leashes in entirety, but it would hurt to have one of those around just in case. Bamm is approx 22"... what do you think is a good height to practice jumps on with him? My jump is completely adjustable.

Ya my horror with practicing on leash is Bamm getting hurt if the leash was to get caught on anything.

Also... my roommate said if I buy the supplies and provide him with the dimensions, he'll help me build some of the other stuff... i.e A-Frame, teeter, Dog Walk, pause box etc

[Dekka]

You can but them.. but the cheapest way is to take an old leash and cut it to however many inches you would like

What venue would you contemplate doing? USDAA has higher jump heights, CPE and AKc have lower ones..

I'd tend to stick with 16".. but throw in a few higher jumps every practice so he learns to judge the height accordingly, not just muscle memory.

[skittledoo]

I've been keeping USDAA standards in mind with practices and planning on competing with USDAA. I don't know much about CPE and I have to look to see if we have a lot of CPE events around here. I wouldn't be surprised if we do. Is AKC still not allowing mixed breeds to compete? I know for a long time they weren't, but that may have changed some time somewhat recently? I haven't paid much attention to AKC as of recent.

[Dekka]

They are allowing it as of now. But its up to each club to offer the mixed classes (they compete separately from the purebreds)

[skittledoo]

That's awesome. I was hoping they'd start offering mixed classes. I'm still looking into the different agility clubs out here. I haven't really done any agility since I lived in New Mexico and even though I trained a lot, I'm still somewhat new to the sport and have a LOT to learn. But... it's so much fun.

[Dekka]

They may or may not offer them in your area. In some places there are draws for entries... so they are not likely going to offer mixed breed classes. So if you are in an area that has less trials than there is demand you likely won't get a chance. (lol anyway who wants to play in a venue where you aren't 'good' enough to get the same title or play against the purebreds?) USDAA and CPE have more fun classes too. (and are cheaper)