# Agility for fun?



## wyoung2153

Do any of you do agility for just fun? or is it all only for competition?


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## GatorDog

I did it for fun with Carma and got some flack by "serious" agility people for goofing around with it and "moving to quickly" onto courses we weren't ready for and blah blah blah.

But guess what? We had a blast and I couldn't care less how under developed and crappy my handling skills are. It was fun.


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## wyoung2153

Awesome! I as thinking of getting into an agility class at this small training facility here, but I didn't know how others would feel since it would literally be jsut for fun. There's also a tricks class I was looking at. I'm running out of ideas. LOL. But Titan loved jumping on things walks well on odd surfaces and did really wall with intro to agility in basic OB.


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## LaRen616

GatorDog said:


> I did it for fun with Carma and got some flack by "serious" agility people for goofing around with it and "moving to quickly" onto courses we weren't ready for and blah blah blah.
> 
> *But guess what? We had a blast and I couldn't care less how under developed and crappy my handling skills are. It was fun.*


:thumbup:

Alexis, I highly doubt your handling skills were crappy! 

I want to do agility with Draco but I have stage freight so we will most likely end up doing it in the yard only. :blush:


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## Shade

So far it's only for fun and just using natural obstacles. But I am hoping soon to move onto actual classes and formal training now that he's two. I'm going to get his OFA's done and then sign him up once I find a good trainer and facility.


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## Nigel

We do it for fun, not much during the winter though as my work load won't allow it. Getting ready to start again in a couple weeks. Unlike Gatordog, my handling skills are truly bad, but my dog helps by being somewhat natural at it.


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## wyoung2153

I guess we'll see how I do if we take the leap  I really think Titan will be awesome at it.. I really jsut need something that can engage us both and get him thinking and using his body.. something that isn't going to demand my attention if, say work gets in the way, or if I honestly don't "feel" like doing it. 

Hope that doesn't sound bad.. things have been exhausting lately and have caused me to rethink SAR because my lifestyle isn't supportive right now.. so I wanted to get him into something more for fun.


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## Cassidy's Mom

I took agility classes for fun with Dena. In fact the name of the classes was Agility for Fun! I figured if she and I got good enough to compete and we were both having fun I'd consider entering a trial, but she didn't really have the drives for it.

I started flyball with Halo for fun too. Eight or nine months later we raced in our first tournament and have been hooked ever since, so you never know what will happen, lol. 

I personally think that any fun activity you decide to try with your dog is a good thing, whether it leads to serious competition or not. And entering into it with that attitude - that you're trying it for fun rather than being seriously invested in having a top competing dog, is a healthy way to start. If it turns out that it's not the sport for you, or your dog doesn't seem to enjoy it that much, no harm done. And if your dog ends up being into it the way Halo was with flyball, you can always change your mind and go after it with a passion!


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## Merciel

It_ better_ be for fun, because if you're doing anything just for competition, neither you or your dog are going to have a very good time. 

I did it sort of not-seriously with Crookytail. I say "sort of not-seriously" because Crooky doesn't have it in him to be good at any sport ever, so I wasn't expecting him to go all MACH6 in two years, but we did take foundations classes that were geared for competition down the line eventually.

The way I figure, even if the dog I'm training today is not going to ever be serious in the field, _I_ might as well try to set myself up to learn good habits early. Because the next dog might have the potential to go farther and do more, and god knows I don't need to learn any worse handling habits than I already have.


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## Msmaria

I cant do agility because Dex has HD, but we do Rally O just for fun. All others in class are in competition. But I warned them all beforehand that im new and only doing it for fun. Still they give me a lot of tips and try to get me to reconsider lol


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## MaggieRoseLee

I started just for fun too! But when other classmates and their dogs went to trials and starting coming back with brags and ribbons then I decided maybe going to trials was fun too!

And it was!!!


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## wyoung2153

I figure we'll do just that, go for fun and if it turns into more, then so be it! I'm going to look into classes when the weather gets a little better. I think this place is all outdoors.


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## TwoBigEars

I think the majority of people competing in agility started "just for fun", and then got bitten by the bug.  That was definitely how it was for us.

I think "just for fun" classes are a nice place to start and see how you and your dog like it. But don't be surprised if you end up wanting to go further, you might have to do some re-training depending on how the obstacles are introduced. For example, a "just for fun" class will likely teach the weave poles with luring, whereas for competition we have other methods of training the weaves to encourage speed and understanding.

Whatever you do, I'm sure you'll have fun either way!


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## wyoung2153

Thanks guys  this really encourages me to give it a shot!


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## Cara Fusinato

I did a 4 week course with my fat little sheltie. She LOVED it but she ended up very very sore. There were only two of us in class so they moved us really quickly and we got 4x the amount of runs than in a normal class. I can totally see how quickly the bug will bite on this, but my torn knee and her soreness sent us back to obedience and scent. Haven't done any with the shepherd. He is too reactive towards other dogs for the off-leash-ness. I have joked a lot about a new sport called Agility-SLO for us out of shapers. Any ties involve a formula based on combined dog/human BMI. I am holding out for Wizard-Agility. You stand on a platform and direct the dog without running along. Go have fun and don't let the speed demons discourage you.


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## wyoung2153

I will not let them intimidate me! Glad you enjoyed yourself, how fun to only have 2 in the class!


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## selzer

I did it for fun with Jenna and Joy. We had a blast with the different obstacles. I was pretty lost with Joy, when they were teaching us how to move to the one side and the otherside to change directions in the middle and stuff. 

I think that we would have had more fun if we could just goof off on the equipment, but they were there with the idea of competing, and I said right off, that I really didn't want to. 

I did not sign up for the next set of classes because I did not feel we were ready, but the trainer said we were, and then there was this tri-color corgi that wanted to eat my puppy, and the trainer agreed it would be better to wait with my puppy and pick it up later, rather than get a nasty dog-dog altercation with her being a pretty young, and not reactive puppy. 

So I went through rally, conformation, and cgc with her, and haven't gone back to agility. I don't know if I am athletic enough not to embarrass myself and the dogs trying to do that stuff for real.


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## llombardo

I did a couple sessions with Robyn when she was about a year. She loved it. I ended up buying most of the equipment and hopefully will put it up this summer. In the meantime a year later I brought her to another place go get back into it and she remembered everything and doesn't have to start at the beginning. We start again on Monday. She could spend the whole class going up and down the A Frame, that is her favorite by far. I won't rule out entering a trial but it's not my goal.


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## gsdlover91

I got into agility with Berlin because we needed a fun way to burn off energy this winter... We both ended up loving it and have become agility junkies (ironically that's the name of the place lol) I didn't plan on being serious as everything I do with my dog is just for fun...and I don't know if we'll ever compete, but he enjoys it too much to just only take one class. We are signed up for another and he'll be taking his beginner agility test this weekend  I think most do it for fun, atleast it seems that way around here!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## wyoung2153

Interesting! It's nice to know, most started as fun. This seemed to be one of the sports that I could do as much or as little of as I wanted and it wasn't frowned upon. I honestly think Titan would be good with ScH but I don't know how committed I could be with it, and I just don't see that being a good idea, starting bite work but not perfecting everything. Doesn't sound smart to me.


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## MaggieRoseLee

I know when everyone starts agility we think it's all about the equipment and doing it with the dogs. And it is, kind of 

For those that stick with it we realize agility is ACTUALLY about what the handler is doing in the space BETWEEN the obstacles!

This is where it real fun is for me. What do I have to learn, and does my dog have to learn to communicate to get around the course in the proper order so the dog is having fun and doing it fast, and we are going in the right direction!

Classes with instructors that don't really do agility have no clue about what to do in the area between obstacles. So they won't teach, from the start, all the fun and easy handler skills WE need 'on the flat' to give information where the course is going. Instead they just have the dogs go S L O W cause then (of course) everything is easier. But also then (of course) we are teaching our poor dogs that agility is a slow and steady (BORING) thing. When, instead, if we start out right, agility is at speed for the dog and we are NOT having to tear around after them because we know how to direct them with our fabulous handler skills 

http://agilitynerd.com/blog/agility/starting/LearningRearCross.html

http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=dta281


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## wyoung2153

That's really good advice! I will certainly have to look into the course I'm thinking about. I THINK she competes in Agility so that will def help. I really really think titan and I would enjoy it. I just want us a little more solid on some of his OB first.. or does that matter at this point?


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## Nyx

I started agility for fun. My dogs need something to do and I like to learn how to communicate with them better.

I think any sport that you are willing to learn with your animals is a good thing.

And if others in your courses don't like that you are not "hitting it hard" for competitions, that is their problem, not yours.

As long as you are not disrupting the class or hampering others progress why should it matter if you are or are not ultimately learning/practicing for competitions.

Now if only I could get out of my dogs way, we'd be doing so much better. LOL


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## MichaelE

Lisl and I do it for fun. I don't have every obstacle that is on a course, but the jumps are higher. She has fun and it's good exercise.


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## lauren43

I know everyone has pretty much said the same things here. I did it with my last dog for fun, we did formal classes for 8 months and most of it was just foundations (mostly because I started in the winter and their facility is a barn, so we stayed indoors while it was super cold)...

Lots of recalls, crate games, sequencing jumps...I quit because I got really frustrated with Avery. If there was another dog around he was bailing on me to go visit, among other things. But that boy loved to jump!

I will be starting again with my new pup, this time I'm going in with a different dog and a totally different attitude, so if he likes it we will stick with it!


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## DutchKarin

I did agility with my last dog an aussie. We started for fun, got a bit competitive but it was always fun. I really laughed a lot both at myself and all the dog antics. I have always said that training agility just itself is great for building a much deeper bond with the dog. I sure do miss my partner who passed on in March. Anyway, you work off leash and you learn so much about how your body language communicates to the dog, sometimes in the most subtlest of ways. Really has improved the way I communicate with dogs. 

Try it out and find the humor in it all.


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## Jake and Elwood

*Having fun in puppy agility!*

Just returned from week 2 of puppy agility class (Trapper's first class and Hawkeye's second). Both boys enjoyed themselves today (and got lots of exercise)! Hawkeye watches the other dogs and does really well when it's his turn. Trapper doesn't care about watching the dogs ….he's more interested in the dog behind him or who's walking through the front door, etc . He has the concentration of a flea at that point. The first time he went through the tunnel he got halfway through the tunnel and laid down (he seemed to enjoy the "cave" feel of the tunnel). The trainer coaxed him out with a treat. The second time through the tunnel he did the same thing but this time he didn't want a treat….just liked hanging out in the tunnel. Unfortunately, the room was moving fast and the next dog in line went through the tunnel while Trapper was laying down. Dog #2 also laid down, they both then crawled to the exit and stuck their heads out together….dorks!!! LOL! Funny to the observer but still trying to figure out Trapper's deal….jury is still out.


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## Jax08

:rofl:


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## osito23

We just started agility - doing it for fun for now and will see where it goes. So far so good


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