Bella's starting her agility classes!

Bella's agility classes start tomorrow night. She was supposed to take them last year but I felt that she would have spent most of the class barking at other dogs, and it would have set us back on our dog issue training(and annoyed the other teams!), so I opted to keep her out of those classes and keep up with the 4-H obedience.

Anywho, this spring I'm very comfortable with how she's doing, so I've decided to do the classes with her. She has already started all of what we'll be doing last summer with me (I wanted to train her here at home, so started, but I think she still needs to be in a class, if not for agility then to help some more with her dog problems), so she'll be a bit ahead of the rest who most of them have never even seen agility equipment (not that we'll be dealing with equipment in this class, really), but I figure it's a good thing because then if she's misbehaving I don't have to worry so much about what they're learning.

I'm not 100% sure that she wont be a royal PITA in this class, so I'm prepared to pull her if I have to, and try to take them again next spring (my class only offers classes every May)...

As a side note, I was working the three girlies today (and Morrie), just fooling around - well I started wanting to work with them on their own, but ended up working the four of 'em at the same time, and got really good reactions from all of them, even when there were 3 other dogs around each of 'em. Lost of focus on me, even when they could have blew me off and played instead.

Thought I'd mention that Bella's heading to classes. I'm really excited to be assoiating with more agility people for classes! Even though I could probably train her at home (I've taken all of the classes with a dog, and helped with out a dog), I, for some reason, love doing the classes, so I'm excited.

*squeee!*

Good luck with class, let us know how it goes.

That is great you are going to be doing a class. I love agility I wish I could do the class this year but it interfers with my son Tae Kwon Do class. I have most of the equipment at home so I can keep working on it.

What do you mean.... "not that we will dealing with agility equipment". Why not?

This class is "Foundations" and basically, it's a lot of ground work. Circle work, recall, some ladder/plank/bouja board stuff, not really any jumps with bars, or contacts, etc..

The class went well! Bella wasn't as good as I had hoped, but not as bad as I had feared. Her behaviour was MANAGABE, and even if it didn't ever get better then that, I could deal with it. Like I had thought, she's ahead of the class.

Psyche went too, Mom had planned on handling her, but it didn't work out because Psyche wanted to be with me, and mom wasn't handling Bella's "reactions" as well as I do, so mom's my go-between girl, and she'll be holding one dog while I work the other. It should go well.

Psyche caught onto EVERYTHING really quick except for working on my right side. For some reason (she doesn't have any real obedience training) she wants to be on only my left... But we're working on it.

All went well. Both girls did well there, and are doing well at home, too.

I'm excited for next week!

Good foundations class should be more about handling and less about equipment. Doesn't have to be no equipment, but it should be minimal. Too many people see agility as teaching the dogs to do the obstacles and then ta da we can do agility. There is far more required in handling skills than effort needing in teaching the dog to do the equipment.

Congrats AgilityPup. Glad to hear classes are going well

Oh well I guess here in northern MN we do it different. Your dog has to have good recall and lsten to you and everyone else in the class. Then we teach the names of the obstacles as we send our dogs through it.

Its not really a regional thing. Its usually a 'competitive' vs 'just for fun' club. You read mags like Dog Sport and Clean Run and the importance of foundation skills before obstacles is written about all the time by trainers all over NA.

A competitive club will teach you the skills you need to be successful at competing. That is why all of us who do compete (Maf, BB, Ado, Me, Mericox, and others...) always stress how important foundation classes are. Nothing sucks more than starting in a less that thorough way, getting hooked, and then you need to spend as much time retraining as you already have training before you can be successful at trials.

Yes, and then you think you are sooo good and all that. And then you hit your first trial, and everything bombs.

Glad Bella and Psyche did well! Can't wait to hear about more updates!!

I've been working the girls hardcore all week on their 'homework', and I've come to the point where I feel like I need to do something else with both of them, lol, they've got what I'm asking them to do downpat. Next class is monday night, yay!

(And I for one, also understand the importence of foundations - I've seen a dog without proper training fall off of the dog walk, and maaaan, it is terrible. I'd prefer to pay $100 and have my dog taught the dog walk on a plank on the ground, lol).

Glad things are going well - it sounds like a great class!

I personally find the foundation stuff just as fun as the obstacles and course work. Perhaps it's the nit-picky dressage side of me, but I love it. We've been working distance on the pine trees at the park the last few nights and having a blast!

BB, I have to agree with you. I am enjoying foundations this time with the dogs, and enjoyed helping in it last spring... I find it's a lot more fun now that I have a higher understanding of dog training - as opposed to when I put Zoey through Foundations.

Did you finish your class? How'd it go?

Guess I never updated that Bella was pulled from classes early on. Her drive to dogs running past was too much for me to handle, so we're taking the summer off, and Psyche's been doing the classes. She's doing really well.

I'm buying the Control Unleashed DVD for Bella and I, and we're going to work on that someone, and I may look into private lessons with Bella.