# Questions for those who do agility



## Mikey'sMom (Feb 21, 2012)

Oh, and as a follow-up, I bet my mpoo would enjoy this as well. I think I would take my Spoo to the classes, since he has a lot more energy to burn, but is there any reason I can't teach my 8 year old mpoo similar skills at home? Or is that too old for some of the obstacles? I wouldn't want to hurt him.


----------



## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

Mikey'sMom said:


> Oh, and as a follow-up, I bet my mpoo would enjoy this as well. I think I would take my Spoo to the classes, since he has a lot more energy to burn, but is there any reason I can't teach my 8 year old mpoo similar skills at home? Or is that too old for some of the obstacles? I wouldn't want to hurt him.


My opinion is, if you even think you might like agility, you will love it! It's so fun! I think you're well on your way with the commands you have taught your dog because they need the basics (sit, stay, heel, come, down, and directional commands) but most agility classes have a pre-agility to teach all the commands you need. If your area doesn't, well everyone has to start somewhere! And there will be lots of dogs (probably, every class is different of course) with less natural ability than your poodles  In our trials we have an old basset hound that can hardly run, Chihuahuas, and lots and lots of cattle dogs who are excellent at agility. They adapt the course to your dog's size and just like human yoga, you only do the stuff that's safe (for your dog). If you end up wanting to compete, that's a ways down the road and you will know a lot more about whether you want to pursue it by then. Anyway I find agility is a lot of exercise because the mental stimulation is fantastic for really energetic dogs! They will come home and just collapse in a heap for a nap


----------



## TammyQ (Feb 10, 2012)

I am in similar situation with Hudson. I started watching Susan Garret' s free webinars on her website and they are dealing with these very issues. So far there are only two available but each week is the next one. I will admit that I got this info from her when I was at her recent workshop so may be a bit biased. But the stuff she talks about is so relevant to teaching the basics before any other skill (like agility) it may be worth watching. These freebies are the beginning of the next Recallers class which I plan to take as Hudson has recall only when he is all alone and there are no distractions anywhere.


----------



## Specman (Jun 14, 2012)

Like Indiana said the basic obedience is good to know. It is helpful if your dog can heel on both sides (heel, side). The beginner classes take it from there. Poodles are so great because they take well to training. Beyond that they just need the confidence to take the obstacles. In the Chicago area I pay about $15 for a group lesson.


----------



## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Agility is fun, fun fun! I bet you and your dogs will love it. In addition to basic obedience training target training is very helpful. I use the lids for cans of tennis balls. You want the dog to run to it and keep their nose on it till you give them a release word. This is very helpful for contact training. I also taught on and off. You can also have him "walk it". Walk a flat board, walk a ladder lying on the ground ect. I also taught paws - I point to something and he puts his front paws on it. This is helpful getting him started on an unfamiliar obstacle.


----------



## Mikey'sMom (Feb 21, 2012)

Is the target training used to get the dog to touch the colored areas on the agility obstacles, or for something else? How would you translate having his nose on an object to having his feet on it? Or does the nose on the tennis ball lid have some other application? Sorry if this is obvious, I don't know anything about how people train agility.

Also, when we are working on heel, do I need to teach a true heel (a la obedience glued to your side kind of heel), or do they just need to be able to keep pace, sort of next to you? Should I have a different command for heel left and heel right?

I love the comparison of agility to yoga...I do taijiquan, which is similar in that you do what fits your body. Love it!


----------



## Specman (Jun 14, 2012)

Target training is primarily to get your dog to go somewhere. For instance, you will be at one end of the weave pole with your dog and the trainer will be at the other end with the target. On command, you will walk your dog as he goes through the weave pole to the target touch is nose and get a treat! It is also used to get your dog to cross other obstacles in similar fashion.

Agility heel is much less demanding and is used for training. In actual agility, your dog will be working at a distance following your directions. I use "heel" for the left and "side" for the right.

Another thing you can work on is an agility stay in which you put your dog on a stay and walk a few feet in front of him with you back to him. This is used to lead out your dog at the start of an agility run so you can stay in front of him on the course.


----------



## Minnie (Apr 25, 2011)

As most of agility training is done off leash that recall is extremely important. I am working on this with my dog as she is extremely distracted by scents and is not completely reliable which is a problem in class. Also the stay mentioned by Specman was one of the first skills checked in my recent class and can be tough for lots of dogs especially before an obstacle. 

One word of caution... agility is very addicting... once you start you won't want to stop :-D


----------



## Mikey'sMom (Feb 21, 2012)

Thanks! Yes, we will definitely need to work on basic skills and focus in a more distracting environment before we try any kind of foundations class. I plan to work on this a lot before we move. I know we aren't good enough for an off-leash group class just yet...do you think 6 months is a good goal to work up to this? 

I may use the targeting as a rainy day game, since my spoo gets a little nutty when he doesn't get his walks/fetch games in. It sounds like a fun thing to try. Same with the off-side heel, which we haven't done before. Not sure about recall...I suppose we'll work up to it at the dog park, which is pretty distracting.


----------



## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

I would first practice his recall without distractions till it is rock solid. Then with small distractions. The dog park I would consider a very challenging environment. Target training is very useful for training correct position at the end of a contact obstacle. Instead of looking at you they are driving forward. The target is for the nose not the feet. When training a A frame you teach two feet on two off with a nose on the target, same with the dog walk. I also use heel for the left side and side for the right. Focus on the connection between you that will help more than anything with off lead work. Off lead work is not as hard as you may think.


----------



## Mikey'sMom (Feb 21, 2012)

Yes, we'll definitely work on recall a bit more at home...I thought he was pretty good, but for some reason today he was so into the "stay" game that I had a hard time calling him after I released him from a stay! He just sat there looking at me like "but you just TOLD me to STAY!" LOL, oh well. We'll get there. The dog park here is actually not bad in terms of distractions, since we go at the crack of dawn when there are only 1 or 2 other people there, but I try not to call him there unless I am positive he will come. Every time he checks in with me though, I praise him a lot. He is pretty shy, so he checks in a lot, but I expect that will change as he gets braver.

I am using "heel" for a loose left-side heel, and "side" to call him to circle around behind me and line up sitting at my left leg. If I ever want a stricter heel, I suppose I'll have to call it something else. I guess I could call the other side "right side" for the line-up and "close" for the walking part...? Beats me. Good call on the attention, though. I'm working on "watch me" now, which I think will help.

I'm a little leery of giving too many treats when we are practicing all this. I bought some 1/2 calorie treats and break them up into 3 or 4 pieces, so hopefully he won't be eating too many calories of junk. I suppose I could always use his kibble, too...though he may be less interested in that.


----------



## Specman (Jun 14, 2012)

The names you use are not critical as long you and your spoo know what they mean. I have one agility command that I do with Max that has a different name from the rest of my class because I did not hear the name clearly when it was being taught but, he does what he is supposed to!


----------



## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

A sticky stay is a good thing. It is much easier to fix than a dog that breaks easily. I usually used bits of grilled chicken.


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Rock solid recall. Also teach your dog to be relaxed around other dogs doing fun stuff. Lily used to act like a lunatic while the other dogs in class were barking. You can have loose leash on both sides and set up on both sides. Look at me is useful. In my area (metro New York) you can pay around 10-15 for a run thru with no coaching, around 130 - 150 for a six week class with a relatively small number of dogs or 60 or more an hour for privates.


----------

