# Starting agility classes tomorrow!



## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

We're starting Bianca's first agility class tomorrow! 

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions for class? I used to do agility with a previous dog (Golden Retriever) but it's been years since I've been in a class, we had to stop doing agility when my Golden was diagnosed with spondylosis...

We're actually entering the class late because I was not able to reach the instructor to sign up so we missed the first class, but she said it was ok if we joined it a week late (at a lower rate)... So it will be a 5 week class instead of 6 weeks. I know the instructor from when I used to do agility with my Golden (took a class with her once), and she's a GSD person too.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

My only advice HAVE FUN! and let us know how it goes!!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Bring tons and tons of tiny treats (not kidding, 2 cups worth?) and a hungry dog! Everyone I know runs out of treats the first few nights!

Get there early if you can so you can be calm and ready when it's time to go. If I get to class late and flustered it messes up me and the dog!

HAVE FUN! You got someone to take pictures/video? So cool to see how they improve.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Thanks! I brought extra treats just in case. I had to get there early anyway so the trainer could fill me in on what we missed last week, but I am planning to continue getting there early so I can practice Bianca's focus around other dogs.
Bianca did really well! I was not sure how she'd behave because she has not been in close quarters with other dogs indoors a lot (she used to bark at other dogs on leash.) The obedience classes we took were both outdoors.
She did bark once at another dog when they got too close and was staring at her and she growled a few times while we were waiting for class to start but she ignored other dogs who were 'in her space' at other times. She was somewhat distracted at first but she got better as the class went on. In general she did well for it being her first class in a new place (most of the other dogs started last week so they were used to things already.) The trainer complimented us several times on Bianca's looks and how well we did. I had someone take photos but they mostly came out blurry because I had the flash turned off so as not to disturb people. Maybe next week we'll try video instead.
After class the trained brought out her GSD puppy to show me.







So adorable! He's a 4-month old long coat (or very plushy). I'll try to get a photo of him next week. 

Our homework is to work on front crosses, post turns, hand targeting and to teach a release word. The trainer wants us to pick a different release word just for agility (different than the one we use for obedience) so I'm not sure what I'm going to use. Oh, and to play with our dogs LOL (practice getting them revved up and playful and then calmed down quickly.)


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Yes, tones of treats and a tug is key.

Oh and don`t be afraid to be silly in class.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

> Quote: She did bark once at another dog when they got too close and was staring at her and she growled a few times while we were waiting for class to start


If you are paying attention to your dog (and in agility class I tend to ignore my dog when listening to the trainer, so good luck with this) IF you see the eye contact thing (dog to dog) many times all you have to do is step BETWEEN the dogs (breaking the eye contact) and when your pup looks up say 'good girl' (click/treat even better) and the go back to listening learning. 

Can't wait to see the upcoming videos!

Stepping between is a calming signal and THIS is a skill you can use in your dog's life forever. The smart people do this all the time at dog trials and the rest of us don't even notice. Just a simple management tool that has us calmly take charge and reward our pups for what we want (focus on us) and really ignore/distracts from what we do NOT want (inappropriate dog behavior).


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: MaggieRoseLee
> If you are paying attention to your dog (and in agility class I tend to ignore my dog when listening to the trainer, so good luck with this) IF you see the eye contact thing (dog to dog) many times all you have to do is step BETWEEN the dogs (breaking the eye contact) and when your pup looks up say 'good girl' (click/treat even better) and the go back to listening learning.


I tried to have Bianca doing something (like down, watch me, etc) whenever the trainer was explaining something so she wouldn't focus on the other dogs. I know what you mean about ignoring them because I had to remind myself to keep one eye on Bianca when the trainer was explaining things. I noticed several of the other dogs were wandering around (as much as the leash allowed anyway) during those times so I wanted to keep Bianca from getting worried about them being in her space. At one point we were taking turns with each handler/dog waiting while one pair did 2 obstacles with a front cross in between. One handler did the front cross incorrectly, so the trainer was explaining to her how to do it and the handler was paying complete attention to the trainer so did not even notice her dog wander off down the ring (she was off leash) and go to sniff some of the other dogs!
I kept an eye on Bianca so she did not really have a chance to stare at any of the other dogs-- the dog I mentioned was staring at Bianca, not the other way around. Bianca just looked over and the other dog (who was in line behind us) was giving her a hard stare so she barked.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

> Quote:At one point we were taking turns with each handler/dog waiting while one pair did 2 obstacles with a front cross in between. One handler did the front cross incorrectly, so the trainer was explaining to her how to do it and the handler was paying complete attention to the trainer so did not even notice her dog wander off down the ring (she was off leash) and go to sniff some of the other dogs!


That pretty much describes most agility classes alot of the time. Certainly describes me and mine. Hard to listen learn about my dog/run, and everyone's dog/run, focus on the trainer, and keep track of the darn dogs.

Will say I only use a 2' or 3' leash so when my dogs ARE on leash they can only wander so far.....


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

Well, at least you get to do something! At one class I went to... all dogs but the one working have to be in crates. Boring and only a few minutes on the floor all total!!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: SambaWell, at least you get to do something! At one class I went to... all dogs but the one working have to be in crates. Boring and only a few minutes on the floor all total!!


In the Novice/Intermediate classes dogs are more out and about cause we do more single equipment stuff. 

Have to say, most of the more Advanced classes are like yours. Dogs not doing the sequences are either leashed to the walls or crated. Truthfully it's safer if any of the dogs tend to be dog reactive or get over excited. As well as teaching our dogs that to be crated/quiet is just fine and dandy cause when it's our turn it's WHOOHOO! (like at a trial).


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

The class I am taking is a beginner/foundation class because Bianca has never done agility before (except when we tried it out for 1 session at dog camp.) It is focused on competition skills so a lot of the time we are not actually doing obstacles but are working on handling skills as a group. When working on the obstacles we were either in a line if it was just one obstacle (like when we worked on the tunnel) or they had everyone stand at one side of the ring and take turns, one at a time with the trainer's help (such as when working on a sequence with crosses.) 
We also did a sequence of 10 obstacles near the end of the hour. For that part, they had everyone hang out outside the ring while waiting for their turn so only the dog working was in the ring. They have ring gates and then a separate waiting area outside of the gates where we waited our turns. 
The trainer said she doesn't usually do so many obstacles in a row in the second class session but she did this time because all the dogs were doing so well.


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## debbiebrown (Apr 13, 2002)

i was wondering about doing that many obsticles so soon, but thats great everyone is doing well, things should move along quickly........
i like the idea of a seperate area for everyone while waiting, alot of classes don't do that.....
hopefully things will move along well once you get intot he weaves, although that usually takes a while..........
the class sounds good! enjoy!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

It's amazing how many methods there are to teach agility, and most of them seem to work out just fine. 

As long as dog/handler are having fun it will all work out in the end!


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Yeah I am curious how they will teach the weave poles. When I was training my Golden we took agility classes with several different trainers (before we finally ended up with an agility club) and they all did the weaves in different ways-- guide wires, luring, slanted poles... My Golden was always very slow with weaving though.

I figured out why most of the photos were blurry. The person taking them was using the zoom lens. Zoom+low lighting and no flash or tripod= blur. The only photos that came out were when we were waiting for class to start. I'll have to show her the right settings to use next time.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I can't ever zoom when taking pictures. Just tell them to walk in closer and that you want both handler and dog in the shot. I just wander around trying to stay out of the way when I'm helping either photograph of video, and never zoom with my camera either.


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## debbiebrown (Apr 13, 2002)

my dog did better with no wires on the weaves....funny how they are all different............we started with wire guides, he did ok, but did the best with the regular weaves.....there are SO many different tecniques.............but a good trainer will offer a few ways so you can find one that works best.........its just so much fun when they have learned it, and then you watch them slink through like a pro its pretty neat!


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

We had our second class today. It went really well, Bianca did not bark or anything at any of the other dogs. No photos this time because the person who was taking them for me didn't come along.
We introduced the table today and Bianca was a little confused. The instructor said she trains an automatic down on the table and she wanted us to have the dogs do a down from a standing position (a fold back down, front end down first). Bianca did that fine (with a lure) on the ground but wouldn't do it when on the table. A few of the other dogs refused as well though. She had no issue with the table itself, she just didn't understand the down from standing position while on it...
Later in the class we did some runs of multiple obstacles again, this time with the tunnel and table involved. At first when we got to the tunnel, every time I tried to leave the mouth of the tunnel to get in position for the next obstacle Bianca would turn around and come back out the side she just went in! She did this 2-3 times. She must be really flexible to be able to turn her long body around inside that small tunnel! Finally the instructor went to the far end to get her to go all the way through.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Thanks for the class update. Your pup is being just normal! Trying to figure it out and what's more right (going THRU the tunnel) and what's less right (turning in the tunnel).

The table thing is VERY interesting and points out something that crops up in agility all the time. Something obvious to the human handler (a 'down' is a 'down') is COMPLETELY not so clear to a pup when the CONTEXT is changed (a 'down' from on top of the table). 

If you look at 3 min 51 sec into this video, you see what I was told to do to train the table.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kro4NqlaA24

An automatic 'down' is also what I'm taught and ideal. When I say 'table' it MEANS jump up onto the table, turn around to me, and when you go 'down' you then get the click/reward. So the dog is actually doing a rather complex series of behaviors with only ONE command ('Table'). *No*, hup, no 'sit/down', no 'stay/wait commands. ONLY 'Table'.

Pay attention to where my hand with the treat is (low low low) and when I click (should be when her front elbows hit the table).


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Thanks, that's a great video. I enjoyed just watching the puppies too.









That's basically what my trainer said too about the automatic down. However Bianca is not used to fold back downs so I think that was part of the confusion... Your video segment on the table looked good, but Bianca was not responding to the lure like Glory. When we got up on the table I put the lure back between her front legs to get her to bend the right way, but she wouldn't bend downwards even though she had done so on the level ground. I think maybe she thought there wasn't enough room? Really the table is barely big enough for her to fit laying down so I don't blame her. 
I think she was also a little confused by my luring her into a front-first down because the only time I had previously lured her like that was when I was teaching a play bow, in which case I didn't WANT her to lay down so I always clicked and treated before she got to a down position (and tried to get her to stand back up after the bow rather than lying down) and she did not get a reward if she moved fully into a down instead of a bow.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

See if you can hold the treat in you fist even below the level of the table.

And remember one of the BEST things about the clicker, is you don't have to wait until the final behavior is given to click/treat. You can reward the head lowering, shoulder lowering, bowing behavior you may initially be getting.....

Also amazing how one week they don't get something at all, but as long as it's all fun and happy, just a few weeks later the light bulb will go off and it's no big deal for them. The video I showed also has Glory going thru a fear stage on the dog walk and bailing then entire time. She never did it well that entire class.

But look at her now! No problem at even full height...


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: MaggieRoseLeeSee if you can hold the treat in you fist even below the level of the table.
> 
> And remember one of the BEST things about the clicker, is you don't have to wait until the final behavior is given to click/treat. You can reward the head lowering, shoulder lowering, bowing behavior you may initially be getting.....


That's true, although I haven't done shaping like that with Bianca before so we will see if she "gets" it. The trainer suggested doing "101 things to do with a box" with her. 
If Bianca still won't do the front-first down on the table next week I am going to ask the trainer if we might be able to stay after class a little to work on the table. We didn't get a lot of time to work on it in class since other people were waiting their turn.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

I haven't started agility classes with Halo yet, but I taught her to go to a mat with an automatic down, and she just started spinning around to face me on her own, without me even asking her to. Maybe you can try some mat work with Bianca and combine that with jumping on the table. I also have Halo jump up on big rocks at the park, and then do a sit or down. I'm amazed at some of the things she's actually willing to do, LOL! I'm pretty sure that once we try the table it will be no big deal because she's used to being sent out to lay down on something, and usually something way less stable and comfortable!

To get the automatic down I had 2 bowls of treats on a nearby shelf, one with kibble and one with Natural Balance roll. You can start shaping from scratch by clicking her for even looking at the mat or taking a step towards it, but I jumped past that step by waiting for her to put at least two feet on it. Two feet got a piece of kibble, I'd release her off, and wait for her to return to it. Then I waited for four feet on the mat before clicking and treating with kibble. Once she was running to the mat from a couple feet away and standing on it with all four feet I started cuing a down, which earned a piece of NB roll, and then I'd call her off and wait for her to return again. if she went to the mat and just stood there - kibble, if she dropped into a down - NB roll. Within 10 minutes, start to finish I had an automatic down on a mat she'd never seen before.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

PICNIC TABLES! Go to the park and have her start getting up and then going 'down' on a picnic table! Somewhat similar with the 'up and turn around' but you'll have the extra length for their LONG body!


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## mygsds (Jan 7, 2007)

Sounds like you had a lot of fun. For the release word I use "Quit" I never use it anywhere else with my dog so it is only for releasing.

I stole it from a friend who uses it and I like it as it is short and sharp.

try to stay away from Okay )

Pat


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I chose "Los" for my release word. I figured since Bianca knows German I might as well use a German word so I asked my dad (former German teacher) what German words would fit for that use. He said they use "los" to start horse races in Germany so I thought that would be perfect!

I looked it up and the definition sounded perfect too:

*los*
interj. hi-ho, forward!, onward! (cry of encouragement)
adj. loose, free, slack


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I had my "photographer" back again this week! A lot of the photos were still blurry due to the lack of flash, but a few came out ok...

She also took some video, you can see those and the rest of the photos in the thread I posted in the Pictures forum:
http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...2-biancas-agility-class-gsd-puppy-others.html


Bianca doing a hand target out of the tunnel:











Journey, the instructor's adorable longcoat:









(he was never still so all the photos were a bit blurry!)


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## mygsds (Jan 7, 2007)

In my class all dogs are crated while one works. This is because we share the arena with a puppy class and only separated by baby gates. It is not uncommon for one of the pups to wander over the the gate on our ring so having our guys crated is easier and safer for all.
Also I find I am better able to watch the other handlers runs and listen to the critiques if my dog is in her crate. Having to pay attention to your dog and listena nd watch someone else is tough.


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