My own little brag

[Michael Romanos]

The A-frame in New Zealand agility competition is at the same acute height for Corgis as it is for the largest of dogs - so Taylor had to learn to take a very very fast and long run-up before touching the obstacle so he could make it to the top. His determination carried him through when occasionally he would drop backwards. Nowadays the only problem is to make sure he contacts on the way down

[corgimom]

Jeni,

I think our trainer should be using the type of tunnel(open one) that yours is considering none of the dogs in Cody's class has been through any tunnel before. That flat thing is just too scary for them right now because they barely step into it and it is completely flat and I don't think the dogs even realize that they can continue on through. I don't particularly care for this trainer.

Linda

[Michael Romanos]

In New Zealand, no dog is given any kind of formal agility training until they are over 12 months old - and then it is just the simple things and not any full height hurdles etc. Certainly nothing the least bit scary for a young dog such as the collapsible (flat) tunnel. If you have instructors who are going beyond the norm, they are overstepping the mark and may be doing you and your dog a disservice.

[Jeni D]

When our trainers do agility it is strictly for fun. Everything is very positive and exciting with lots of rewards and they take very tint baby steps. I think this is the reason that all of the dogs now run through the tunnel with ease. I think pushing them too hard at this age would just force them to shut down .

[corgimom]

I agree with you Michael on the collapsible tunnel thing - when we first get to class, she brings it out with a few other things and says "okay, let them just have a few minutes of fun and try these things out". The tunnel is scary to Cody - even when I throw in some morsels of food, he will go in about 2 feet and quickly come out because the tunnel lays flat. I don't think she realizes that this is not inviting to a puppy Cody's age. Like I said, I won't be going back to this place. She said at this age, whenever our dogs are on a leash and we stop to talk to someone, they should be either sitting or lying down ,and without us having to tell them to do that???


Linda

[Jeni D]

Linda
Those seem to be incredibly high expectations for a pup, even for some adult dogs! Dudley is so excited to see someone he hasn't met before that it's all I can do to not get him to jump on them, let alone lay down without being told. Give me a break

Jeni

[corgimom]

I agree with you Jen, and so does my vet. My vet said he has seen some trainers expect pups Cody's age to sit in 5 to 10 minute "stays" which he thinks if ridiculous, especially if they are wiggling and you are forcing their little behind down by holding it. We do practice in class walking around and then she will tell us to stop and our dogs are supposed to automatically sit without us telling them to and to stay in that position until we release them.

linda

[jprechel]

Linda and JeniD - are the puppy classes you're taking part of an agility course or just "puppy class" with the normal sit, stay, leave it, loose leash, etc. We took our class at Petsmart and were alittle disappointed.
Our puppy class did not touch on agility so we have been trying it out on our own. We found an agility club 2 hours away from us but they won't take puppies younger than 12 months. We bought one of the tunnels (not the collapsable one - you're right Linda - too scary for a puppy still) and Ace loves it. We have been using a hula hoop and working on Ace "jumping" walking through it. We would like to introduce Ace to more equipment but aren't sure which ones are best at his age.

We were not all that impressed with our trainer but we don't have many options down here so we finished our eight week course and Ace graduated. Lucky for us our trainer was pretty easy going during Ace's test. See, Ace likes to jump up at people when they say hello to him (he's a puppy and he gets excited!) and he didn't do too well with that. We have been trying to work on it but come on, it is a hard concept to sit and stay when someone new and exciting is saying hello. Most people allow Ace to jump up and we tell them not to. It's a hard rule to train.

Jim and Bethany

[corgimom]

No, it's not agility, just puppy classes, but the trainer will bring out a few things like the tunnel for the pups to try out when we initially get there. She is usually talking to some of the people from the class that just finished, so it is just informal - so I don't know how much she knows about agility, but when she puts out the collapsible tunnel for young pups (that have never been through one), it gives me a clue. These classes weren't through PetsMart, but a boarding/training place in town.

She just expects a bit too much for a puppy cody's age and the rest of the dogs in there. For instance, she said when we are walking our dogs, that their nose should not be on the ground, but focused on us - maybe I am the one that is uninformed, but I can't imagine a 7 month old Corgi not putting his nose to the ground and smelling at times when one is walking.

linda

[Jeni D]

Our class is also just a puppy class, not agility driven. For the most part, we work on sits, stays, downs, comes, socialization around children and other dogs, and trying to keep the dog's attention when we are outside. We just do agility for the last 20-30 minutes to give the pups a break from the obedience training. To be honest, I think it's a way for the trainers to get you excited about their actual agility class (kind of like free advertising, trying the product before you buy), but Dudley and I both enjoy the agility and I actually look forward to the last part of class.
The class is through a boarding/training facility and I just happened to find it and lucked out because I think it's really great for Dudley--lots of fun and very positive.

[jprechel]

Jeni - that sounds like a great class! Free advertising is always good! We will have to research a wider area to see if there are any boarding/training facilities around us.

Linda - I agree with you about the walking with Cody's nose not to the ground. Puppies explore the world around them through smell among other things. If Cody is following you and "paying attention" then it shouldn't matter if he is looking at you. I wouldn't worry about it. As long as Cody is learning and following your lead then all is good. Are the other dogs in your class doing around Cody's age? Are you seeing them have the same issues as you?

[corgimom]

There are two rather dominant dogs in my class, one being an Australian Cattle dog and one an Akita - both, per their owners, have snarled and lunged at them(at home) when one owner was trying to crate the dog, and in the other case, when one tried to take away a cookie the dog had taken from the counter. The Cattle dog is constantly challenging its owner in class and is very dominant. There is a cocker in the class who is about 2, but was abused as a puppy and is afraid of men, there is also a rescued Pit Bull who is somewhat Timid,(but listens quite well) a Newfoundland, who is quite shy, a Border Collie who is quite friendly, a very, very energetic golden retriever, Cody, who wants to be friends with all of them(but I keep him away from the first two I mentioned), and a couple of other dogs whose breed, I cannot remember (10 in all). We are all having various issues, the two first mentioned, their owners were concerned about their dominance, and then there is the jumping and not coming - quite a few of these dogs are large, so Counter surfing was an issue with those dogs. Every dog is at a different stage - I would say the Cocker, probably listens the best, but he is older, it is hard to say because when she gives a command, we are always supposed to be focused on what our dog is doing rather than paying attention to others.

I think Cody is doing okay for his age. We sort of walk around like "musical chairs" and then she tells us to stop and the dog is supposed to sit automatically and then we give the stay command. He follows this pretty well. He also lays down with just the hand command and stays with that also. The "leave it" command does not always work with him and I think in another thread I stated that she goes around a throws a handful of yummy treats at their feet and expects them to not eat them - I think that is asking too much at this age, personally, I think it is quite dumb of her. She also puts pigs ears around the room and we are supposed to walk around with our dogs and tell them to "leave it" as we get close to them; this seems to work better than the Throwing of the treats - I know it is just consistancy and working every day with commands. She said at this point, if we are walking them on a leash, and we run into someone and strike up a conversation, our goal is that our dog should be either laying or sitting until we are done and are ready to release them from that position. The range of age is 6 months to
2 years. I only have 2 more classes to go.

linda

[Michael Romanos]

Lasr Xmas, Taylor and I won the musical towel contest at the local canine training centre's annual prize giving and Xmas function.
When the music stopped everyone entered headed for a towel and the dog part of the partnership had to sit down on the towel. Each time of course there was one dog eliminated and one towel removed. It all boiled down to me and Taylor and a woman in her twenties/thirties with a Border Collie. Taylor and I won the race to the vacant towel and our prize was a packet of choc bars and something nice for Taylor.
One dog at agility training who hates Taylor is an ugly brown Labrador. His owner has had to dive onto the dog twice so far to prevent harm coming to Taylor. The Labs owner looks like his dogs ( he's actually got two of them) but otherwise he is the president of the club. There is a Boxer who is experienced at agiliy but likes no other dog.

[corgimom]

I think that is a cute idea with the towels. Now why does this brown lab not like Taylor?, and is he that way with other dogs? I think I mentioned in another thread about the Border Collie who gets along great with Cody at puppy classes, but she really dislikes the Australian Cattle dog; however, he is extremely dominant and gives off bad vibes. Personally, I would not approach him to pet him myself.

Linda

[jprechel]

Linda,

It sounds like your class has a very wide range of trainees! When we had a lot of dogs in our class we felt like Ace was getting passed over because he was being good and doing the commands and the trainer focused on the dogs with the behaviors. I know that she needed to spend time with them but.. Plus there were a few bigger dogs and for some reason Ace just doesn't like bigger dogs. When we tried to get him to socialize with them he would whine and hide behind us. So we switched to a smaller class and it worked better for us and Ace. Ace is pretty good at the leave it command when we toss a treat by him but when the treat is right in front of his nose it is a lot harder! It just takes practice. Self control is tough!!
Good luck on your next two classes.