Tricks & tips to agility - Page 1

Cirberus and I will be starting agility soon.  Any tricks or tips?  

I think the best Tip that can be given is to just ENJOY it and you will create a great bond between you and your dog...And your training and showing will show it...

Well there are no quick tips/tricks to doing agility well.  Focus on the flatwork and getting the handling down without rushing the obstacles.  It's very, very easy for dogs to learn all the obstacles, it is the handling and connectedness with the dog that take YEARS of work.  People who do not seriously do agility don't understand this, it's not just about training the obstacles.  Right now I'm taking more of an advanced handling course and although it is challenging I will say my best tip is don't dumb down your training.  I know my dog won't see any of these backside jumps, complicated crosses and tight turns in his trial courses for a while but it's like training for a Schutzhund 3 and then going out and getting a SChH 1, 2, 3.  Train for the highest level, don't sell yourself short.

The best tips i can give is learn start line stays! Do not let your dog break the start line stay until you give him the "Go" command. Keep jumps low until your dog fully understands the obstacle. And for big dogs like shepherds reinforce the "BOTTOM" of the contacts with a a full 2 feet on and 2 feet off stay at each contact zone.
No running contacts for big dogs or you soon have flying dogs from the top of the A frame. Listen to your trainer and don't rush things. I do a lot of training in tiny bits and then after 2 or 3 classes start putting the bits together. I have handler experience. But each new dogs is different and i have trained from 12" min pin to my 24" plott/bulldog mix.
But mostly have fun and be safe!
Enjoy
Fry

Make sure she has sound hips. Learn how to do stretching exercises with her before every session.

I'm with 'Fry, try and get those contact points down well;  nothing so
awful as a fast round spoilt by missing contacts.  And like Blitzen says,
warm up exercises for her muscles, every time.  Olympics athletes all
do their exercise routines !  And it could make all the difference to how
long she stays fit enough to do the sport.  (Suggest you do the same,
too !)

PS Congrats on her other, CGC thred, too - well done, both of you !

 

Thanks all.  I am so excited.  We start the classes in September (too hot now) and I am planning to do 16 month prelims in August.

If anyone knows of upcoming agility completions in the Tyler/DFW Texas area this summer, post here too.  May not be too many because of the heat.

thanks again (making notes )

I find Sylvia Trckman dvd's very helpful. I wish I had watched those before starting agility, as it was, I didnt get as much out of the class as I could have. There are things that you can start practicing now at home, like going around trees and jumps and even the contacts, doesn't take much and it is fun. 

I just got back from DACOF (Dog Agility Clubs of Florida) which is a state wide agility competion. And boy i am tired! 52 teams from all over the state competing for best agility team in florda. My club sent 3 full teams, 1 of just Papillions, and two of mixed sized dogs. Payne was one of our novice dog competing at her second trial. And first DACOF. I Saw some awesome runs and some dismal failures. But the biggest problems i saw was the blown contacts. That and shepherds dropping bars with their tails. I don't know if that can be fixed in low set tailed shepherds. But the contacts can be worked on.
But it was 2 days of great fun and i hope to post some videos soon.
Fry

↵Hi Fawndallas,

I think the most important things I stress for my dog are:

1. Having a solid start line stay,
2. Directionals (switches and tights),
3. Sticking your contacts,
4. And independent obstacles.

What I stress for myself are:

1. Not getting caught up in the moment and making sure I can laugh at myself,
2. Drawing a good path for my dog,
3. And supporting my dog on the course.

It does help to have a good trainer to help you with your handling because this is the hardest part.  But if you don',t Fluid Motion Agility on Facebook, has free videos and tutorials on the basic concepts.

I think Run as One agility club has a few events coming up in the fall in Terrell, TX.
http://www.nadac.com/afrm/trial-calendar.asp
 
Hope this helps!
Sonia