# Had our first agility class today!



## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

After taking a year long hiatus from classes, Meeko and I took our first agility class today!

We already graduated from the "Focus" (Foundations course) course last summer, and I was a little nervous that he would be rusty, but he gave me his undivided attention when we were actually doing stuff together, so I was happy about that!

It was really stressful though ugh. My first time going to these classes alone... and I know it might not seem like a big deal to some people but I am seriously socially awkward/shy so I'm proud of myself for even doing this all on my own lol! Meeko was nervous because he was the only small dog in the group (out of five) and one happy Weim got loose accidentally and ran up to him (causing him to scream and jump five feet into the air ugh... he's so fearful of big dogs, especially when they're super excited). He also dislikes being handled by people other than myself or people he knows well (required for when the instructor held the dogs at the beginning of the tunnel while we called them). Oh and I stepped on his toe! I felt so bad ugh.

Aaaaanyway, besides all that, we were able to do most of the things during the class. The only thing he was afraid of was the wobble board. The instructor was teaching us to use targets to teach proper positioning for when dogs get off the equipment, and to get them used to wobbly surfaces (for the teeter totter thing later on) they had to stand on a slightly wobbly board and touch the target with their noses, and he wasn't having any of that 

Any tips on getting him used to it? I was thinking of using a skateboard and just keeping the wheels stable as he gets used to the wobbling of the board.

Oh, and let me just say... I found it kind of embarrassing that Meeko was being such a "small dog"  He was so fearful compared to the other dogs who were so confident and easy.. I felt sad but then I remembered that most of these dogs did not have a start like Meeko. I mean, he is a former puppy mill dog. He is doing great considering how little his world was before he met me. I am a little disappointed that he wasn't the class superstar, but I am proud of him for overcoming his fear of TWO pieces of agility equipment today!


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## pawsaddict (Apr 17, 2013)

Congrats to the both of you. You both should be very, very proud.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

The first agility class can be pretty overwhelming for any dog. All three of mine were so-so about their first class.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Congrats! I'm sure you guys did much better than you imagine, and some of those big happy dogs probably gave their owners a rough time. Keep us update on the next class!


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

pawsaddict said:


> Congrats to the both of you. You both should be very, very proud.


Thank you! ^_^



Laurelin said:


> The first agility class can be pretty overwhelming for any dog. All three of mine were so-so about their first class.


Ahaha okay that's comforting, especially coming from you Laurelin! Did you experience any aversion/fear to equipment when you first started off with your dogs? Also, how do you practice at home? I don't have any of the equipment hmph.



elrohwen said:


> Congrats! I'm sure you guys did much better than you imagine, and some of those big happy dogs probably gave their owners a rough time. Keep us update on the next class!


Thank you! My instructor actually commented on my FB status saying Meeko did great. I guess I imagined it to be easier for some reason lol! I will! Next class is Monday. Until then we have lots to practice!


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Mia was a bit nervous about a few things. Since she never really trialled much we just avoided those things. Summer was avoid-y with tunnels at first and preferred to run on top of them. Hank is afraid of the teeter and that's the first real 'fear' issue I've had.

We are working on doing wobble boards, me asking him to get on top of all sorts of crazy things, exposing him to loud noises, and now I am actually doing an online class about how to train a dog to love the teeter. We'll see how that goes. I anticipate it will be fine but just take him longer to be ok with it. 

But day 1 of agility Hank was very distracted and also refused toys. By week 2-3 all my dogs have decided it's fun. But the first day just has a LOT going on for new dogs. Some dogs don't take right to the game but later on learn to love it.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Yeah, agreed - first classes and new equipment are hard for tons of dogs. Kylie used to be really, really afraid of tunnels and we definitely started with her being pretty much unwilling to let the instructor within about 10 feet of her. Which made for some interesting times. She'd let the instructor hold her leash, but the instructor used to have to back away from the target and all the equipment to be able to have Kylie go to it, and Kylie refused to take food anywhere near her for a good year. It gets better as they gain confidence.

And agility is GREAT for building confidence!


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Laurelin said:


> Mia was a bit nervous about a few things. Since she never really trialled much we just avoided those things. Summer was avoid-y with tunnels at first and preferred to run on top of them. Hank is afraid of the teeter and that's the first real 'fear' issue I've had.
> 
> We are working on doing wobble boards, me asking him to get on top of all sorts of crazy things, exposing him to loud noises, and now I am actually doing an online class about how to train a dog to love the teeter. We'll see how that goes. I anticipate it will be fine but just take him longer to be ok with it.
> 
> But day 1 of agility Hank was very distracted and also refused toys. By week 2-3 all my dogs have decided it's fun. But the first day just has a LOT going on for new dogs. Some dogs don't take right to the game but later on learn to love it.


That's reassuring. Funnily enough he was totally cool with the tunnel lol! We did a few rounds with it shortened, and then a few more with it in a straight line, elongated, and he just shot through all of them like a little bullet LOL I think he just wanted to get away from the instructor and stick close to me ahaha



CptJack said:


> Yeah, agreed - first classes and new equipment are hard for tons of dogs. Kylie used to be really, really afraid of tunnels and we definitely started with her being pretty much unwilling to let the instructor within about 10 feet of her. Which made for some interesting times. She'd let the instructor hold her leash, but the instructor used to have to back away from the target and all the equipment to be able to have Kylie go to it, and Kylie refused to take food anywhere near her for a good year. It gets better as they gain confidence.
> 
> And agility is GREAT for building confidence!


Thanks it makes me feel better that everyone has had similar experiences, especially from more experienced dog handlers!

At least he's taking food around here but he's just like "mom, what the heck is this lady doing holding my leash and trying to touch me?!?!" ahaha he's such an aloof dog with strangers so it totally weirds him out when others take the leash or try to handle him.

Funnily enough, the tunnel was the easiest for him! It's when we tried the baby dog walk that he was totally freaked out by. I had to climb on top of it, hold him by his harness, and guide him through it. He didn't want to go on the wobble board at all so we're gonna work on that at home.

I think he'll catch on fast! All this is making me feel better and more confident


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

If he's super weirded out by being handled by the instructor, you can ask her to stick with just holding his leash so he's more comfortable. It's still not perfect, but Kylie was okay with that, um, about 2 years before she was ready to let our trainer touch her and a good year before she was prepared to even take food from her. ...Silly dogs.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

My trainer never got a hand on Mia. If he has a stay you should be able to work around most things using that to position him and then call him through.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Honestly, there was minimal handling of any sort between the dogs and handlers. Some leash holding for restrained recalls and a couple of points at tunnels (other dogs ran through to the target and trainer, but Kylie was in no way doing that, so we switched places). I think that's about it, the whole time. Trainer petting and feeding Kylie came from just hanging out and private lessons.

So, yeah, pretty much not a thing. Just speak up and the trainer should work with you.


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## pawsaddict (Apr 17, 2013)

Laurelin said:


> My trainer never got a hand on Mia. If he has a stay you should be able to work around most things using that to position him and then call him through.


Agreed. Nova hates being handled by instructors, and when they try and handle her, she just bails and tries to get the heck away. A solid stay really helped because the instructor didn't need to hold her in place at all while I walked ahead. When we were learning new equipment (dog walk or teeter, for example), it was safer for Nova to have me handle her and just have the instructor walk with us and slowly talk us through what to do versus actually touching her or her leash.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

CptJack said:


> If he's super weirded out by being handled by the instructor, you can ask her to stick with just holding his leash so he's more comfortable. It's still not perfect, but Kylie was okay with that, um, about 2 years before she was ready to let our trainer touch her and a good year before she was prepared to even take food from her. ...Silly dogs.





CptJack said:


> Honestly, there was minimal handling of any sort between the dogs and handlers. Some leash holding for restrained recalls and a couple of points at tunnels (other dogs ran through to the target and trainer, but Kylie was in no way doing that, so we switched places). I think that's about it, the whole time. Trainer petting and feeding Kylie came from just hanging out and private lessons.
> 
> So, yeah, pretty much not a thing. Just speak up and the trainer should work with you.





pawsaddict said:


> Agreed. Nova hates being handled by instructors, and when they try and handle her, she just bails and tries to get the heck away. A solid stay really helped because the instructor didn't need to hold her in place at all while I walked ahead. When we were learning new equipment (dog walk or teeter, for example), it was safer for Nova to have me handle her and just have the instructor walk with us and slowly talk us through what to do versus actually touching her or her leash.


Thank you for the tips. Honestly I think he'll be OK. He does have a good stay but he chose to go around the obstacles rather than over/through them during our first session which is why she had to hold him, but next time I'll try using a stay instead of her handling him!


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## LoMD13 (Aug 4, 2010)

Hooray Meeko! I'm sure you guys did great and I can't wait to hear about his future classes!

Lola's pretty weird about wobbly things too. it took me actually building an adjustable teeter and practicing every day for her to be able to do it. Now she has some trouble with the dog walk because it wiggled on her once While she was walking on the straight part. So she zooms up, zooms down, but trots verrrrrry cautiously over the straight part.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

LoMD13 said:


> Hooray Meeko! I'm sure you guys did great and I can't wait to hear about his future classes!
> 
> Lola's pretty weird about wobbly things too. it took me actually building an adjustable teeter and practicing every day for her to be able to do it. Now she has some trouble with the dog walk because it wiggled on her once While she was walking on the straight part. So she zooms up, zooms down, but trots verrrrrry cautiously over the straight part.


Yeah we've been working on this with a skateboard but he is still pretty suspicious of wobbly things. I think I may have to invest in a wobble board and get him used to walking around on it... but it's going to take a loong time!

We have our second agility class tonight! Meeko and I have had a lot of homework since we have the agility class + we signed up for a Fenzi Dog Sports Academy course (CLARITY AND CALM IN A CHAOTIC WORLD, HANDLING DISTRACTIONS).


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

We worked on the U tunnel, the A frame and combining various obstacles (no more than three so far) today. He did great! The U tunnel really freaked him out but once he went through it once he was totally cool with it and flew through it.

We've started putting him in a sit-stay and then calling him through stuff now. He seems to like it a lot more and now that he's figured out most of the obstacles it's become easier to do it this way 

We're getting there! He's still really unsure but I think he's becoming more confident. he remembered the straight tunnel from last time. I think it's his favorite obstacle so far lol!


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