Harry started agility classes
They broke the class in half and our group started on the weave poles. They had wires attached to the poles and gates to encourage the dog to go in the right direction. Then they had the owners walk through so the dog might follow our scent. We stood at the end encouraging the dog as the instructor tried to guide the dog correctly through the poles (and gates and wires). Harry flipped out on his first turn refusing to go near the equipment and twice pulled out of his collar.  I felt bad thinking maybe this wasn't the thing for him. Eventually they got him through. On his next three turns he acted like "no big deal"  Typical Harry (maybe sheepie), he is very panicky over anything new. He did great job on all the other equipment to which he was introduced. He seemed to enjoy himself and liked the praise he received. He even waited patiently for his turn each time.
Here is a picture of him on the A-frame. I just love his sheepie butt!  |
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That's great! Looks like a lot of fun. Keep the pictures coming!  |
| Yay Harry! I love your picure of him on the A-frame.
You may want to get a martingale collar.(previously known as a greyhound collar) That will prevent him from backing out of his collar. It could save him from injury or even death if he were to get frightened someday and get loose from his buckle collar. Keep us updated on his progress. Chewie starts his 1st obedience class on the 18th - it should be fun! We hope to do agility with him when he gets older too. |
| YAY Harry!!!
Have fun and enjoy yourself! |
Ha Ha Ha ya gotta luv Harry Have fun you two, and look forward to hearing how he progresses.  The picture is fantastic, don't forget the camera next class, love the photo. |
| Way to go Harry. Where are you taking him for the classes?
George |
| Way to go - I have always loved agility and appreciated the energy and focus it brings out in dogs. |
| Agility is cool. I'm sure Harry will really think it's fun too. Good luck and take more pics!!! |
| How is Harry's class going? |
| We just had our third class this morning. He is doing really well. I mean it is just beginner so he is just being introduced to the equipment. But I can tell that he really likes it and can hardly wait for his turn. On the way home I call his two brothers at their respective universities and brag about his progress.
Week 2: They worked on the A-frame (he loves that), the teeter and the tire for the second time. Then they were introduced to a jump (very low) and the tunnel. Oh no - not something new - Poor Harry.  He flipped out over the tunnel the first time. They shortened it to about 2 feet in length and he reluctantly went through - with my butt sticking out the one end  as I am calling him through. After that first time - any length, even 20 feet and he was the old pro again!
Today Week 3: They broke us into 3 groups. Harry started on the teeter. The instructor was working on lowering the teeter a little faster so the dog would get used to that. I was told that I need to move faster. I knew I was going to have to increase my exercising to do this with him but being told that in week two? He did a lot better when they reintroduced the weave poles this week. He moves pretty fast once he figures out what to do. On the tunnel reintroduction they started the dogs in front of the opening but then the instructor pulled them about six feet away to the side of the opening. The idea is that when we say "tunnel" he doesn't just run to me but actually has to go to the aparatus. He did really well on this once he made the word association. They were introduced to the Pause table. Getting up was no problem but I imagine that pausing will eventually be an issue for him. His only problem today was the dog walk. He kept falling off when running because it is only about 12 inches wide. Some of the problem was me - holding the leash too taught, or running in front of him (just call me speedy  ) but the biggest problem was that him being a sheepie he has a wide back stance and HE will have to learn how to work his back end on a narrow space. He mastered it on his last attempt. 
I am having such a good time watching him that I can hardly wait for the next week's class. In fact next weekend is the first Parent weekend for Jack and I told him we could come up Friday night and stay for Saturday but we had to be home in time for Harry to go to school on Sunday morning.
Thanks so much for asking. FYI he is wiped out from the morning activities. He is too tired to bother me for attention. Which he does all the time! |
Yay Harry! That's great!  |
| It sounds like class is fun! Chewie has the same problem with his back end - it's like he has no idea where it is. We have been working on "back" at home - he's doing pretty good. We will need it as a command in Rally. How old is Harry now? More pictures! |
| The dog walk problem might not be you, it might be the sheepdog butt! Toby had a really hard time with the dog walk too because he is so wide and he couldn't figure out that he had to put his feet in front of one another to walk on it and that there was nothing underneath him.
He did fall off once at full height but luckily, I caught him. (Which was a ridiculous sight in and of itself!) Don't worry about being told that you're slow. They told me the same thing only in a much nicer way. They told me that Toby was so fast that I'd have to learn voice and hand commands. Yeah, the dog is so fast that I can't keep up, that's it!!!! There is a guy in our area that has CP and will be recognized at the AKC Eukenuba tournament for his work in agility. He pretty much stands in the middle of the ring and points and gives calls. It's very cool to see! So there is hope for the rest of us! |
| Dawn, Harry turned 14 months last week.
Mandy wrote: Quote: There is a guy in our area that has CP and will be recognized at the AKC Eukenuba tournament for his work in agility.
What is CP? 
Mandy is Toby still doing agility? |
| CP is Cerebral Palsy. The short, physical description is that his body is contracted and twisted. (That's the exceedingly short, low tech version!) Here's the link for the newspaper story on him: http://www.pennlive.com/search/index.ss ... ews&coll=1
Toby will start agility again after he is done with conformation and grows up a little more. He is so intense when he does agility that he was getting hurt! Some of it was his age, he had just turned a year, and some of it was his running and jumping and craziness! He absolutely loves agility and once we started linking obstacles he wouldn't just do one jump, he'd do the jump, run over and do the tunnel, jump on the table (slide across it really), do another jump and then come back. He's such a spaz!! If you tell him to just do this jump, he'll just do one but if you don't tell him just one, he does whatever obstacles are out.
How are they teaching the teater totter in Harry's class? We had the most trouble with that and the poles? |
| Oh duh, being in the forum I was in the dog mindset and couldn't come up with a term that abbreviated to CP.
That was a good article. But I was discouraged that the sport requires agility and speed by the handler as well. This would be the point where my husband and boys would be laughing about "Mommy" being agile or speedy. On the teeter - he fell off the first attempt yesterday - because he is going at it at breakneck speed. But he did better after that. The first week they held the teeter firm while the dog walked up to the end - they were treated and then after about 30 seconds they lowered it very slowly. Yesterday they lowered it immediately and a little faster. It was hard to say because I was next to him and it happened fairly quickly but I think he dug in and balanced himself to adjust for the lowering - but he did not flip out. I am sure all the dogs will go nuts the first time they are not holding the end and the teeter tips. The weave poles are okay but they have both gates and wires up. Once he figured out to go in - then he had the coordination down pretty well. They are still being handled by the instructor but he is only stopping them when they go the wrong way, for the most part he is behind them. He made a comment on one of Harry's attempts that Harry corrected himself when he started to take a wrong turn. I am anxious to lose the gates and just be on the wires. But I am being patient. If Harry likes this - we will invest in some pieces for the backyard and the weave poles and the teeter are two I am most interested in. Though due to the cost we are looking at Christmas and Birthday presents mainly. I got him a set of travel jumps for his birthday but we have never assembled them. I was thinking of getting them out this week for him and setting them low so he can practice between classes. |
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