# Agility training question - coordination



## Curlydogs (Jun 28, 2010)

Cosmo is just under 3 years old and we have been training in agility for about 10 months. He is my first standard and the first dog I have done agility training with, so we are both learning together. He has so much fun in class and practicing with me, and he is learning everything and progressing well, but he still seems fairly uncoordinated - like he is still figuring out how to control his body (especially his back end) and speed. I am wondering if this could be a common issue among standards - with their bouncy long legs and large size. Has anyone worked through similar issues? Other than practicing and reinforcing body control and awareness, is there anything else I can do to help him work through this? Thanks.


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

Huh... interesting. Sorry to tell you, but I find Poodles to be naturally quite coordinated. People usually comment on how their Poodles can turn on dime and jump the moon.

Is your dog unusually large? When you say speed, is the issue more that he is going so fast that he is not careful and he knocks jumps?


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## Margotsmom (Jun 6, 2010)

Margot is 14 months old and has been doing agility pretty much since I got her at 4 months. She does not do high jumps or a lot of repetitive jumping just fyi, since she hasn't finished growing. She is very bouncy and "enthusiastic" sometimes to the detriment of her work. A couple of things I have used with her are: doing a set of say four or five jumps in a straight line, but I vary the distance between the jumps so she has to learn how to pace herself, and set up to do the unvenly spaced jumps. I also sometimes have about four jumps set up in close proximity but not in a straight line. And that day i will randomly quickly direct her over "this jump, now this one, now this one". It makes her focus on me, not get out of control with enthusiasm, and learn to be careful where she is placing her feet since she doesn't know where she will be sent next. I have been really pleased with how "collected" she has become. And she seems to have gone to a new level of enjoyment in doing the agility runs. Can't wait until she is grown. Just try some fun quick exercises like that designed to make them learn about their stride and their foot placement.


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## debjen (Jan 4, 2010)

Curlydogs said:


> like he is still figuring out how to control his body (especially his back end) .



This says a lot. Dogs really are not aware that they have a rear end/back legs so you might have to teach rear end awareness..one of the classic agility rear end awareness techniques is to lay a ladder on the ground and have the dog walk/run through the ladder..at first they hit the rungs with their back feet a lot but they soon learn to judge the distance better..A couple that I like that I learned in a clicker class is to have the dog put the front feet on a stool and then you slowly get them to walk around the stool keeping their front feet on the stool and basically just moving their back feet..also the opposite back feet on the stool and walk around with front feet on the ground and back feet have to stay pretty still (they move a little)..another even if you aren't teaching a 2 on 2 off contact performance is to get about a 3 foot board and teach the dog to get on the board with 2 feet on and 2 feet off. 

Hope that makes sense and might help a bit.


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## Curlydogs (Jun 28, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback. 

Cosmo is about 27" high and weighs about 55-60 lbs. He runs so fast and is so bouncy that he often misses his 2 on 2 off contact positions and overjumps the jumps (dropping the bar does not seem to be a problem - he seems to always jump bigger than what is required). I will definitely try the suggested exercised for rear end awareness and collection over jumps. 

Thanks again.


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## Purley (May 21, 2010)

Debjen has some really good advice. I've been doing agility for years and big dogs in general, far more than little dogs, have no idea where their back legs are. We had an Airedale that knocked down every single jump - and they weren't at the correct height for an Airedale because he was just learning. 

We had an Afghan that fell/jumped off the dog walk because of the same reason. Going through a ladder or over obstacles on the floor and start off slowly until the dog realizes that he has a couple more feet that he can't see. I wouldn't be concerned about it. I think its very common in big dogs.


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## CelticKitti (Jul 1, 2010)

Mia was a very "awkward" puppy she didn't know she had back feet. Her front feet went, and her body/back end just kinda followed. I've used both the ladder and the "elephant games" (putting feet on a pot and spinning) with Mia and have seen DRASTIC improvement in her back end awareness. We started this at 6-7 months when she couldn't figure out she needed to put her back feet on the flyball box. 

A few weeks back we were at my parents house and my dad had 2 large ladders laying on the ground. She went over and walked through the ladder stopped at the end and looked at me. When I didn't give her a treat, she did it again, and again, and again, and again. My dad cracked up laughing and thought she was just being goofy, I had to explain that she usually gets meatballs for walking through the ladder. Suprisingly I didn't have any treats on me... but we did play ball for all that hard work!


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