Agility training

BostonBanker

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Oh bummer, ours is in MA. Maybe we'll run into you guys some day.
We pretty much live at All Dog's in Manchester for winter trials. I generally do some of the Greenfield MA trials during the summer; with baby dog this year, I'm less certain what our plan will be, but perhaps we will see you at some point!
 

BostonBanker

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Gusto is so awesome your doing such a great job with him.
Thank you :) I have moments of such extreme doubt with him sometimes, but I've been so blessed to have such amazing dogs, and so, so lucky to have had the right people on my side to help me with them. Sometimes I just look at them and grin and wonder what I did to deserve them!

It's hard to remember he's such a baby when he has moments of pure genius - poor guy sets the bar so high for himself! Being able to walk out of our first trial with no Qs but a huge sense of "he is right where he needs to be" was a big thing for me. Silly little blips (like me forgetting how to run Snooker after 6 years of it being my favorite class :rolleyes:) will happen and are fine. The pieces are nearly all there - just time to fit them together!
 

Aleron

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It's hard to remember he's such a baby when he has moments of pure genius - poor guy sets the bar so high for himself! Being able to walk out of our first trial with no Qs but a huge sense of "he is right where he needs to be" was a big thing for me. Silly little blips (like me forgetting how to run Snooker after 6 years of it being my favorite class :rolleyes:) will happen and are fine. The pieces are nearly all there - just time to fit them together!
Focusing on foundations, no matter what your exact route is definitely makes for some awesome agility dogs! I can't wait to see Gusto in another year or so :)
 

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wKcSfmOviA

Not sure if I posted it on this forum before, but this was our snooker run from our first trial. It certainly wasn't pretty but we got a Q and a first place lol.

In our next in February I'd really love to see her go faster, but I know that's just a confidence thing. She's very speedy in class, so it threw me a bit that we were going so slow. It was also a VERY long day for her as we had to be there at 7 am, so I think going home in between check-in and our run will help a bit.
 

DJEtzel

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wKcSfmOviA

Not sure if I posted it on this forum before, but this was our snooker run from our first trial. It certainly wasn't pretty but we got a Q and a first place lol.

In our next in February I'd really love to see her go faster, but I know that's just a confidence thing. She's very speedy in class, so it threw me a bit that we were going so slow. It was also a VERY long day for her as we had to be there at 7 am, so I think going home in between check-in and our run will help a bit.
Cute!

This is the video of Frag's snooker run last saturday... It was great until I hestitated and he dropped a bar at 24 points. /facepalm. Still got a ribbon, but no Q. :(

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10151238299222705
 

Laurelin

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Just got back from working at the first ever USDAA trial in the state. Woohoo! :D

I worked half then got the girls and worked with them half the time. We didn't enter anything but we worked on toy drive and tugging, playing ball, recalls, and just overall behaving at a trial. They did perfect. Summer got carried around quite a bit (made her day). Mia didn't bark nonstop the entire time, lol. both my girls have decided to be friendly with some of the big dogs now, which is awesome.

I was kind of wishing that I had signed both mine up for the gamblers and jumpers courses. They were pretty easy and I think we would have had a decent shot at doing a passing job at it. A lot of people were very new dogs to the sport.

I did get some weird questions/comments about my dogs though. I am gathering that papillons aren't so common in agility here which is odd, every trial I went to in Texas had quite a few. And they're such a common agility breed. I had so many people come up going 'Oh, y'all aren't agility dogs, are you?' :/ I also got to talking to some people I know about dogs and mentioned wanting another sheltie eventually and was told 'Then you'd have to really get serious about agility'. Maybe I read too much into it. lol

I measured Summer and she's shorter than I thought she was.
 

BostonBanker

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I had so many people come up going 'Oh, y'all aren't agility dogs, are you?' :/ I also got to talking to some people I know about dogs and mentioned wanting another sheltie eventually and was told 'Then you'd have to really get serious about agility'. Maybe I read too much into it. lol
That's hysterical! Two of my absolute favorite agility people, both of whom have been on World teams, have pap puppies right now. I can't wait to see them running in a couple of years - they are seriously going to be the fastest craziest little dogs on the planet! We don't have a ton of paps around here, but there are a few. I admit, the more I start thinking about my future, the more I kind of think maybe I'll want one for my little dog.

Don't take the comments to heart - I have friends that run Cavaliers and are incredibly competitive, and I know they get the "when are you going to get a real agility dog?" comments frequently. Just go blow them out of the water with your girls ;)

And yay for USDAA! I am always amazed that some regions don't have as many venue choices as we have in the north east. I really do love USDAA best of all.
 

Shai

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Just got back from working at the first ever USDAA trial in the state. Woohoo! :D

I worked half then got the girls and worked with them half the time. We didn't enter anything but we worked on toy drive and tugging, playing ball, recalls, and just overall behaving at a trial. They did perfect. Summer got carried around quite a bit (made her day). Mia didn't bark nonstop the entire time, lol. both my girls have decided to be friendly with some of the big dogs now, which is awesome.

I was kind of wishing that I had signed both mine up for the gamblers and jumpers courses. They were pretty easy and I think we would have had a decent shot at doing a passing job at it. A lot of people were very new dogs to the sport.

I did get some weird questions/comments about my dogs though. I am gathering that papillons aren't so common in agility here which is odd, every trial I went to in Texas had quite a few. And they're such a common agility breed. I had so many people come up going 'Oh, y'all aren't agility dogs, are you?' :/ I also got to talking to some people I know about dogs and mentioned wanting another sheltie eventually and was told 'Then you'd have to really get serious about agility'. Maybe I read too much into it. lol

I measured Summer and she's shorter than I thought she was.
Glad they (and you!) had fun :) Gamblers/FAST/Fullhouse type courses (depending on venue) are used a lot to introduce new dogs :) You can pretty much do whatever your baby dog needs and just relax...it's great!

YAY AGILITY

The Papillon rarity thing cracks me up. You really need to move up here...small dog jump heights are a Papillonfest here half the time. They're everywhere! And then you can meet and play with PyrSheps and Mudi too ;)
 

BostonBanker

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Drat, I can't watch Facebook videos because I refuse to update Flash. DenoLo, your dog is insanely cute! That looked great for her first trial!
 

DenoLo

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Just got back from working at the first ever USDAA trial in the state. Woohoo! :D

I worked half then got the girls and worked with them half the time. We didn't enter anything but we worked on toy drive and tugging, playing ball, recalls, and just overall behaving at a trial. They did perfect. Summer got carried around quite a bit (made her day). Mia didn't bark nonstop the entire time, lol. both my girls have decided to be friendly with some of the big dogs now, which is awesome.

I was kind of wishing that I had signed both mine up for the gamblers and jumpers courses. They were pretty easy and I think we would have had a decent shot at doing a passing job at it. A lot of people were very new dogs to the sport.

I did get some weird questions/comments about my dogs though. I am gathering that papillons aren't so common in agility here which is odd, every trial I went to in Texas had quite a few. And they're such a common agility breed. I had so many people come up going 'Oh, y'all aren't agility dogs, are you?' :/ I also got to talking to some people I know about dogs and mentioned wanting another sheltie eventually and was told 'Then you'd have to really get serious about agility'. Maybe I read too much into it. lol

I measured Summer and she's shorter than I thought she was.
Lol I had a pretty similar experience at our first trial. When we first got there, somebody said to us in a really condescending tone "Oh you must just be here to observe"
 

Laurelin

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That's hysterical! Two of my absolute favorite agility people, both of whom have been on World teams, have pap puppies right now. I can't wait to see them running in a couple of years - they are seriously going to be the fastest craziest little dogs on the planet! We don't have a ton of paps around here, but there are a few. I admit, the more I start thinking about my future, the more I kind of think maybe I'll want one for my little dog.

Don't take the comments to heart - I have friends that run Cavaliers and are incredibly competitive, and I know they get the "when are you going to get a real agility dog?" comments frequently. Just go blow them out of the water with your girls ;)

And yay for USDAA! I am always amazed that some regions don't have as many venue choices as we have in the north east. I really do love USDAA best of all.
Haha yeah... I was thinking, I have not seen a pap at any trial in this state. I had a couple people come up and tell me about a guy in a neighboring state running papillons and that they were surprised they were so good at it. I was just amazed at the 'y'all are too little to be agility dogs'/people not thinking the breed would be good at it comments. I really really wanted to say that Mia has relatives competing well and one who made the world team...twice. but I didn't.

I've been having a blast with my two, they're very natural at it. We've almost convinced my trainer she needs one. :D You should get one, they are fun.

Glad they (and you!) had fun :) Gamblers/FAST/Fullhouse type courses (depending on venue) are used a lot to introduce new dogs :) You can pretty much do whatever your baby dog needs and just relax...it's great!

YAY AGILITY

The Papillon rarity thing cracks me up. You really need to move up here...small dog jump heights are a Papillonfest here half the time. They're everywhere! And then you can meet and play with PyrSheps and Mudi too ;)
You have a spare room for us? :D I really wish I lived in a more 'agility central' kind of state. Things are picking up here. There's some good groups putting things together but it's all SO NEW. It's just such a rural state, I think. On the other hand, it's nice to be a part of a group of people that are still figuring all this out themselves.

I am really kicking myself for not entering gamblers and jumpers. Bah. Oh well.
 

BostonBanker

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I'm trying to post Gusto's first agility trial run, but I can't figure out how to convert the video to a format Photobucket will accept.

I do have one of Meg's runs from that trial. I hadn't asked anyone to tape because...well, it's Meg and she gets zero pressure to do anything in agility these days :D I wasn't sure if she was even going to want to run. But a friend noticed us on the start line and got most of the run anyway. I love this dog so much. She's never going to take out all the BC in our height class on speed, but she's so pleasant to run. People constantly come up and say how much they like watching her run and how happy she always seems, and it makes me stupid and weepy.

 

DJEtzel

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I did get some weird questions/comments about my dogs though. I am gathering that papillons aren't so common in agility here which is odd, every trial I went to in Texas had quite a few. And they're such a common agility breed. I had so many people come up going 'Oh, y'all aren't agility dogs, are you?' :/ I also got to talking to some people I know about dogs and mentioned wanting another sheltie eventually and was told 'Then you'd have to really get serious about agility'. Maybe I read too much into it. lol

I measured Summer and she's shorter than I thought she was.
I have never met a pap irl around here, let alone see one at a trial! I can only imagine what you'd be asked here! lol. I did see a few poms and pugs last weekend, but usually just shelties in the shorter classes.


Drat, I can't watch Facebook videos because I refuse to update Flash. DenoLo, your dog is insanely cute! That looked great for her first trial!
I really need to just start uploading to youtube. :p
 

Finkie_Mom

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She looks so great! I always love how natural and relaxed you both look. Good agility trial thoughts your way. Me and Lo are entering our second one at the end of February.
Thank you!!! It's been a long road and we have an even longer road ahead of us! AHEEEEE! Can't wait to hear how you guys do at your next trial :D

Laurelin - It was REALLY good that you got to take Summer and Mia out for a good part of the day and just play. I did/do SO MUCH of that kind of thing with Kimma and I definitely do not regret it. Though there have been times where I've felt like we should have just entered :p

And geez. If you're getting those reactions with Paps, I'm scared to see what people say about me and Kimma once we start competing more LOL.

Boston - You and Meg are amazing. Truly. I hope that Kimma and I can look that great while trialing one day. Can't wait to see more of Gusto.
 

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We are in the 8 inch class and the only other dog in there was a Corgi. There are a LOT of corgis around here!
 

Laurelin

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Meg looks awesome! Y'all are such an inspiring team.

Most the shortest height classes here are corgis too. Corgis and schnauzers and some of the tiny shelties.
 
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I was kind of wishing that I had signed both mine up for the gamblers and jumpers courses. They were pretty easy and I think we would have had a decent shot at doing a passing job at it. A lot of people were very new dogs to the sport.
I play NADAC, Chances (which is comparable to Gamblers) is one of my favorite classes! My proudest agility moment was in Chances, Marsh called off a tunnel and took the correct obstacle to Q and take first place in the class. :)

I was really nervous about the distance challenge but in NADAC at least they ease you in gently.

I did get some weird questions/comments about my dogs though. I am gathering that papillons aren't so common in agility here which is odd, every trial I went to in Texas had quite a few. And they're such a common agility breed. I had so many people come up going 'Oh, y'all aren't agility dogs, are you?' :/ I also got to talking to some people I know about dogs and mentioned wanting another sheltie eventually and was told 'Then you'd have to really get serious about agility'. Maybe I read too much into it. lol
I think there's only one woman running Papillons here (I always mean to grab her kennel name to ask if you know them!) but I always hear very positive comments about them. I got to hold one's leash once, it was fun. :D
 

Shai

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Looking forward to watching the Meg vid when I'm not stuck on my pone anymore!

You have a spare room for us? :D I really wish I lived in a more 'agility central' kind of state. Things are picking up here. There's some good groups putting things together but it's all SO NEW. It's just such a rural state, I think. On the other hand, it's nice to be a part of a group of people that are still figuring all this out themselves.

I am really kicking myself for not entering gamblers and jumpers. Bah. Oh well.
I have a guest room :p

It's a double-edged sword though. Getting into trials is insane...even if your entry arrives on opening day you are likely to be closed out. And that's the first-come-first-serve trials...draw entries are really dicey. The last two trials here had over 250 runs closed out (including mine, hence the two month agility hiatus...again...). It's insane.

And you can enter next time and be even more confident!! :)
 

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