Starting Agility in April - can't wait

Adelle · #1 24th March 2004, 10:28 AM

I just signed Finnegan up for a new class that combines obedience and agility, its a class to build on existing obedience and introduce agility - I am so looking forward to it and hope to continue on to a regular agility class afterwards if it goes well, I think Finnegan will like it, when we are out walking he loves running through the woods jumping over things and going under things so I really hope he enjoys the class

Jodirae · #2 24th March 2004, 10:32 AM

I am thinking about doing the same type of class with Tunney. How old is Finnegan?

Jodi, Darren & Tunney

Adelle · #3 24th March 2004, 10:35 AM

Finnegan is about 3.5 years old (he is a rescue so we don't have his exact date of birth). I don't think he will be great at agility but I think it will be something fun for us to do together and I have heard its great for building a dogs confidence so I hope to sign up Nessa (my female boxer) later in the year also as she is very timid.

Adelle

Krikkit · #4 24th March 2004, 04:33 PM

It sounds like a great class Adelle

I hope that you and Finnegan have a wonderful time

Keep us updated!

Sharon

Adelle · #5 7th April 2004, 07:14 AM

Finnegan and I went to our first agility class this past weekend. When Finn is at class he is usually very serious, because up till now it has all been hard work in obedience, so for the first half of the class while we were working on some more advanced obedience exercises he was his usual serious self and so were most of the dogs except some of the younger dogs. But once we got on to the agility part most of the other dogs seemed to be having fun, but Finnegan was not, although he wasn’t completing hating it either. With lots of treats and praise he did step through the tire, over some small jumps and even through a short tunnel, he actually took to the tunnel very quickly which surprised me, as Finnegan can be nervous of strange things. But looking around I could see a lot of the other dogs being goofy and silly and having fun at their first attempt at agility but Finnegan was definitely a little worried and confused by this new type of class and all the activity going on around him.

Is this a normal reaction, do you think in time he will learn to enjoy it? I plan to stick with it for the duration of this class (7 weeks) and would really would like to continue to the next level but only if he is having fun which is what its supposed to be about – right ?

**Jan** · #6 7th April 2004, 10:37 AM

He will probably learn to enjoy it. You could also try and make it more fun for him. If he like to play tug or likes squeaky toys you can reward him with a play session rather than treats.