Bulldog/OEB/AM Bull Agility

I'm wondering if anyone on here has any experience training bulldogs, frenchies, Am bulldogs or Olde english bulldogges in agility.
I'm currently training my OEB for the sport, but wondering if anyone has any personal experience that they can share with training/competing these types of dogs in agility. I am mainly looking for AB or OEB info, but I would be interested in other bully breed info as well. What are the down falls? What's the hardest (generalizing) part about training these breeds specifically in agility? What is their best attributes in the sport? What sorts of "issues" should I watch for? etc etc. I train and compete with my JRT, so this is kind of an "opposite" breed for me - not quite as, umm, smart as a JRT - LOL. Fast though, very powerful, but not a lot of body awareness I find (need to do some major ground work - ladder and such).
Thanks in advance!

Smudgie used to have a body awareness issue. We're finally over that. Last month's dogsport had an article about elephant tricks. That helped some. So does hiking in the woods every other day. He chooses to run through the underbrush over logs, etc. Suddenly my dog can stand on the walk and not fall off.. and he's gained confidence.

Out of mild curiosity, how tall is he/ what is his AAC jump height?

Hey Mafia
Good to hear that Smudge is coming along!
My OEB is 4 years old, and has been doing those kinds of activities for years ... my concern is because he's a little, umm, bullheaded, he doesn't care what happens to himself - you can see it in his play and interaction with other dogs. Gotta slow him down and get him thinking - though I think the getting him used to the equipment at lowered heights will help a great deal.
The measurement that I get off him is about 22-23" - which means he'd have to jump 26 in regular AAC, and I don't feel comfortable with that, since he is a heavier dog, so I would feel better at 22 special, but in CPE will allow 20 regular, 16 enthusiast and 12 specialist - and I believe 20 and 22 would be fine, but we'll see as we go.

I work my Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog in agility. We have our first competition end of the summer.

She DEFINITELY has no sense of self preservation or hind end awareness. It can make things . . . interesting. I have to do a lot of ladder work with her quite often just to remind her she has a back end, and teaching an "easy" command seems to be key (though we don't quite have it down yet).

With the bully breeds they are all go go go, no brains, no self control, it can make agility a bit more taxing if you're used to a smarter breed . But personally I love the goofiness that comes along with watching a bullybreed do agility. They just have fun, even if they're doing something wrong, and you can't help but giggle when they run THROUGH a jump instead of over it and look at you like "that was AWESOME!!!"

I definitely say a lot of ground work ALL the time. The problem is usually getting through that thick bully skull to teach them to slow down, especially when that drive kicks in. Personally I find it very rewarding and would probably be bored with an intelligent dog. Plus I like watching Teeny fall off the dogwalk when she gets distracted by something else.. LOL!!!

Trot polls like they use for horses can be helpfull in teaching a dog were thier feet are.

OMG! So true!! LOL - thanks so much for sharing your experiences.
I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only owner who thinks they're like this - LOL.
It is harder for me to go from a highly intelligent breed, to one who's lacking a little, but running a JRT is nothing like running a border collie - they've got minds of their own, so it's given me some good experience in regards to motivation, and handling. Thanks again for sharing!!!

Ah yes, thanks for that, I totally forgot about that trotting poles - I'll have to try that out on him.

I'm not a horse person, what the heck is a trot pole, how do I use one, where do I get one, etc?

Take the polls of the jumps and lay them side by side on the ground about 4 to 8 inches apart, depending on how big your dog is. If you have enough try for a 6 foot line of them or work with what you have. Then trot your dog over them. So the dog has to think about its feet not to step on them. With bigger dogs you can put each end of the poll on a block so they are a inch or 2 above the ground.