# What to do next? Agility? Obedience? What else?



## FireStorm (Nov 9, 2013)

Have you looked into nosework? It doesn't require too much equipment. That's one thing that sounds really fun to me and I think my dog would enjoy it. I just can't find a class that's anywhere near me.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

FireStorm said:


> Have you looked into nosework? It doesn't require too much equipment. That's one thing that sounds really fun to me and I think my dog would enjoy it. I just can't find a class that's anywhere near me.


Yes, I should have mentioned that. Nose work is what my current trainers are really into and I will take a class with them for Nose work. 

BTW FireStorm, two of the local humane societies in my area offer Nose work classes - maybe they offer them near you too?

My daughter also did a barn hunt with her dog once- but that doesn't interest me.

Before I got Babykins I had no idea there were so many fun things to do with a dog.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

I would do whatever interests you most. Since she sounds like she has a great foundation, perhaps she could go right into agility? I think it would be a blast, and I hope to do it with Maizie someday.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Entry levels of obedience and rally really require no equipment. Personally I love obedience but you and your pup have to like what you are doing. The activity should be something that strengthens your bond.

I took a private agility hour yesterday and brought Javelin along so we could do some baby starter jumps and work on a start line behavior now that he has some impulse control. My trainer and I had a somewhat lengthy conversation about how many people we see in agility whose dogs don't really have great obedience skills. Neither of us thinks you can be terribly successful in agility if you don't have great connectedness and better than average obedience.

You might want to look at this thread if you haven't already seen it. http://www.poodleforum.com/5-poodle-talk/130721-why-performance-activities-good-you-your-dog.html


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

lily cd re said:


> Entry levels of obedience and rally really require no equipment. Personally I love obedience but you and your pup have to like what you are doing. The activity should be something that strengthens your bond.
> 
> I took a private agility hour yesterday and brought Javelin along so we could do some baby starter jumps and work on a start line behavior now that he has some impulse control. My trainer and I had a somewhat lengthy conversation about how many people we see in agility whose dogs don't really have great obedience skills. Neither of us thinks you can be terribly successful in agility if you don't have great connectedness and better than average obedience.
> 
> You might want to look at this thread if you haven't already seen it. http://www.poodleforum.com/5-poodle-talk/130721-why-performance-activities-good-you-your-dog.html


Wow, I'm half way through that thread - it's full of such practical information that is rarely mentioned.

I also found an AKC obedience club in my city - yikes it's far away - but I can see the advantages that you mentioned - the prices are so reasonable once you pay the annual membership and you get to use the building when there aren't classes to train. Plus I like the idea of being somewhere where most of the people in the class are serious and have similar goals.

And you helped clarify the choice between agility and obedience/rally - obedience/rally make the most sense for Babykins and I at this time.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

My obedience club is a great bargain! $35 dollars a year in dues and then just $12 per class (although since I started teaching I don't pay to train). People pay tons of money to all sorts of people for training their dogs instead of training them themselves and while the dog gains better behavior it doesn't gain the great bond with its owner that I see in people who train at my club.

Even if it is a bit of a trip I think you will love training at a club. You will meet nice, like-minded people who will help you get the most out of the great start you already have with your girl.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Thanks - yes. I look forward to being part of a group. In the first training facility I went which was a most unpleasant experience - thank goodness I didn't fall for her aggressive tactics to buy multiple series of classes or I would have been so unhappy......she didn't want anyone in the class to talk to anyone else - not before, not during or after the class. She humiliated a handicapped woman in the class and after one of the classes I spoke to her and said I couldn't believe this behavior and just wanted to tell her I was so sorry she had to deal with this. We were a block away from the training facility. We both got an email reminding us that we were never to talk......and the handicapped woman was told that if the woman cried in class again like she had done the week before, the trainer would call the police and have her evicted from the class.

I switched to a new training place where not only could I talk to the owners, but some of us came early so our dogs could get to know each other and we could practice walking and greeting each other in preparation for the test. I found talking to and sharing with the others much more productive.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Wow the first place and trainer sounds horrible. I wonder how she stays in business. There are so many trainers around, either with bricks and mortar places or who take their work on the road, that it is hard to see how she doesn't get run into the ground by the other trainers working in your area.

When I first started training Lily in obedience I didn't know any of the other people there at all. I often felt like an outsider since in person I am sort of shy and reserved when it feels like me as an alien interloper into an already established group. The first time I showed her was a disaster and I was terribly embarrassed imagining that they were all secretly laughing at me. One person came over and told me that I should not feel beat up and to know that every person there could tell me a story about a similarly embarrassing time in a ring with a dog. Eventually I got to know a lot of folks very well and now have wonderful friends through dog sports. We had a trial on Long Island today and there were several friends there who have had OTChs and who took high combined, high in trial and the like there who all were genuinely happy for how we did even though we missed the glove retrieve since they know how hard we've worked. I have often said it takes a village to get a UD and I said it today. My friend who got high combined replied and it takes a village to keep qualifying even after you have the UD. That is how dog sports generally are and should be, competitive, but friendly.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

lily cd re said:


> I have often said it takes a village to get a UD and I said it today. My friend who got high combined replied and it takes a village to keep qualifying even after you have the UD. That is how dog sports generally are and should be, competitive, but friendly.


That's what I am looking for.

That first trainer ranks high on google search and she is the closest facility for serious agility and obedience training. The stories I could tell and I only went there for 8 sessions. Sadly I've met so many people with dogs who also went to her - stopped after a few a sessions and gave up training their dog. I have not met one person who has anything good to say about her. How she stays in business is beyond me. Thank goodness the next place I went to was so caring.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Skylar said:


> That's what I am looking for.
> 
> That first trainer ranks high on google search and she is the closest facility for serious agility and obedience training. The stories I could tell and I only went there for 8 sessions. Sadly I've met so many people with dogs who also went to her - stopped after a few a sessions and gave up training their dog. I have not met one person who has anything good to say about her. How she stays in business is beyond me. Thank goodness the next place I went to was so caring.



It is too bad people haven't reviewed her work honestly on Yelp!

I've had plenty of stress in training and trialing for all sorts of reasons, but they were virtually all of my making, not from the person running the class. One of my visions for dog ownership and training is for everyone to view training and taking classes as something to do throughout the life they share with their dogs. It would keep more dogs in their original homes.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

There wasn't much on Yelp, but I eventually did find law suits which explains the extensive contract I had to sign as part of signing up which emphasized that you couldn't get you money back for any reason.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Just wanted to follow up. I found an AKC club that is very active in training as well as having events of all kinds from conformation to agility and everything in between that AKC offers. Babykins and I are enrolled in the right class too - we got the last spot. It's for small dogs and the class you take after therapy dog and Canine Good Citizen community and precursor to beginner Rally, Obedience and Agility. Exactly what we needed. My plan now is to continue into Rally and eventually we can try some Agility, but my focus will be Rally for us.

What I hate is it's about an hour away............on the turnpike, which means it's a serious drive. It's in the middle of nowhere yet they have tons of classes and they fill them quickly.

What I like is that it's not weekends or Friday nights which conflict with our social commitments and I look forward to meeting new people who share their enjoyment of training their dogs.

We start today.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I am so happy for you. It is too bad about the driving, but sounds like it should be worth it.

Please update along the way.


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