Dog Agility

[willwander]

Sadly no agility competitions this year, due to the virus, but managed to get some training in today. We had the place to ourselves, which was lovely, but miss all the other dogs.

 

[BrendanJ]

Hi Willwander
Interested in agility training, we have a border terrier and as you know are very “independent”
Ours passed his kennel club good citizen bronze and silver but could not be arsed with the gold, decided not today thank you. Otherwise very good and has trained all sorts of tricks.
Do you find them good with agility, my feeling is intelligent enough and needing the challenge but not always compliant , hahaha

 

[GillianC]

Hi Willwander
Interested in agility training, we have a border terrier and as you know are very “independent”
Ours passed his kennel club good citizen bronze and silver but could not be arsed with the gold, decided not today thank you. Otherwise very good and has trained all sorts of tricks.
Do you find them good with agility, my feeling is intelligent enough and needing the challenge but not always compliant , hahaha

We had four Border Terriers ( now sadly down to two oldies) and my son and I did agility for many years. It was our main hobby, we used to train every week and compete all over the country. I used to judge. BTs can be great agility dogs, they can also be little devils but hey that’s part of the fun
Go for it but be prepared for some embarrassing moments and make sure that you do have a good level of control !!! Otherwise it is very very stressful

 

[BrendanJ]

be prepared for some embarrassing moments

Hahaha, when our dog sat his gold award, despite being extremely good in training, he simply sat and refused to do a single thing, we left with the examiners words ringing in our ears “he doesn’t respect you”

 

[AlisonF]

They removed all the equipment from our club field at lockdown and told members not to use the field... the locals have been having a great time using it to exercise dogs whilst us members paying the rent aren’t allowed in... fingers crossed we can start going again next week. The dogs are getting frustrated as they miss it so much.
My trainers are hoping to start up 1 on 1 lessons instead of classes in the next week or so as well. It will be so good to finally be able to get back to some normalcy...

 

[willwander]

BTs can be great agility dogs, they can also be little devils

Haha, so true.

@BrendanJ You should give it a go, it's a lot more fun than obedience.

 

[BrendanJ]

Haha, so true.

@BrendanJ You should give it a go, it's a lot more fun than obedience.

Haha, all those guys on the beach last week were saying that.
Hope to try once we finally on bail.

 

[willwander]

Haha,
BTW the other great thing about agility...
You get go camping...with a 100's of other dogs...every weekend

 

[BrendanJ]

Oh noooooooo
That’s like putting my dog in with a field of sheep

 

[AlisonF]

And another good thing is 99% of the people understand when a dog needs space (either around the show ground walking or in the queue waiting to compete).
And if a dog barks in it’s camping ‘garden’ no-one worries (but quiet from 11-6.30).
Only been to a couple of competitions but really enjoyed the atmosphere...

 

[BeagleMum]

We had four Border Terriers ( now sadly down to two oldies) and my son and I did agility for many years. It was our main hobby, we used to train every week and compete all over the country. I used to judge. BTs can be great agility dogs, they can also be little devils but hey that’s part of the fun
Go for it but be prepared for some embarrassing moments and make sure that you do have a good level of control !!! Otherwise it is very very stressful

If you want to see embarrassment in agility try it with beagles, scent hounds and agility are not the best companions

 

[GillianC]

If you want to see embarrassment in agility try it with beagles, scent hounds and agility are not the best companions

I remember at a show back in the early days, one of my friend’s Beagle took off into the woods and didn’t reappear (she is a dog trainer too!!).
She waited until dark but they then said she had to leave. After a sleepless night she went back the next morning and there he was, sitting waiting.
One of my most embarrassing moments was when I was judging at a show in Wales. I was concentrating on the dog running in my ring when I hear this familiar high pitched terrier bark. Our little bitch, Thistle was competing with my son three rings away when she spotted me. She exited her ring and ran through the other two, chasing everything in her way. My poor son was in hot pursuit. She ran in to see me, tail wagging and delighted to say hello. Agility folk can take it all very seriously these days (one of the reasons I stopped) and it was not appreciated. I was never asked to judge there again