First agility class

[avlsarah]

Maxwell and I were invited to join in agility classes, and the first will be this week! I'm really excited to be able to do this with him, and looking forward for the chance to bond with each other and learn together. I think it will be a really good exercise for helping him to focus and listen better. Unfortunately, our school recently closed, but our trainer recommended a new club. They offer obedience and agility. I'm a little concerned that he may be too young to focus on what we need to do (he is 7mo now) as he tends to be a little all over the place. We have completed 2 months of basic training and have taken the last month off to practice everything we've learned. He is just such a wiz! I know he is going to be amazing and have so much fun with agility. At the dog park, Maxwell loves to run up the A-frame and across the teeter totter. He is a little more hesitant to do any jumps, but dives head first into the tunnel. Its going to be so wonderful to have a new place to take the little guy to help get rid of some of that crazy puppy cairn energy (our friends at the park call him the "Energizer bunny")!

[cairnsby3]

Hopefully the class is geared to puppy agility, or at least the instructor gears your part that way. He is too young to be jumping at full height or doing contact obstacles at full height. But he can learn alot of ground work, a contact behavior, starting weaves, going over low jumps or just between the standards, a start line stay, the table, etc. so there is alot you can do. Learning to do the obstacles safely is the first priority. But remember to always make it fun.

[avlsarah]

Well, we made it through our first class!

It was a little rough at the start on account of our arriving late after the other dogs had settled. Maxwell was very excited to be in a new place, with new people and dogs, and we came straight in and had to sit down and be quiet. That DID NOT work at all. Maxwell barked and whined for about 15 minutes as we had to watch all the other dogs. The class is very large and there is one teacher, so we did not get much personal attention or time to work on the skills. Instead we did lots of sitting, watching, listening, and learning by watching others. Maxwell was so excited and ready to take his turn that he absolutely COULD NOT sit still.

After we finally got to partner up and take turns going back and forth across jumps he started to settle in and seemed to realize that doing what we asked was a way to get what he wanted. We went back to our seats and this time he was able to sit more quietly and watch, although it was very hard to stay calm when everybody else took their turn doing a series of 3 jumps in a row. Finally it was our turn and, after a couple tries, we made it through all three!

At first I was concerned we would have to leave early and the class would not work out as Maxwell wasn't able to contain himself. But, once he began to settle in and calm down, I realized that maybe the class will be good for us afterall. My main goal in doing agility, and taking classes, with Maxwell is to help him get better at listening and taking commands. Being in a place where he is surrounded by well trained dogs, and is expected to act similarly, is a good thing! It will be rough for us, but gives us lots of opportunities to apply skills we already know. Tonight already, I could see that Max had to work on his problem with barking, on sitting still, taking commands and staying focused / not getting distracted when it was his turn. Also, the instructor is very good and works with each dog as we take turns individually working on the skill; she was able to adapt each run to what the dog needed and help the handlers know how to specifically work with their pet.

Afterward I talked with the trainer about whether she feels it is realistic for Maxwell to be in the class or if we should consider another class / level. She said she could tell that he was very interested and motivated by the way he was able to focus while we were working on the skills. And she thinks it will be a good fit and is glad we registered for the course!

Now, if the weather ever clears up we're going to the dog park to practice. We're so lucky our community has a shared dog run (that's rarely used) with lots of agility equipment!

[little feet zip]

YEA MAXWELL!!!

The proformance events are a real good way to bond with these Cairns and most of them just suck it right up.Heres to a future MACH Cairn . Now all you have to do is keep up with him.

Rich

[avlsarah]

Maxwell and I are REALLY enjoying agility.

We have done jumps, hoops, tunnels, a-frames and dog walks. He is totally undaunted and confident and always super excited to be there. He gets really distracted though, so we are still working on the lead.

He is also getting much better with his barking. He can sit quietly and watch now, unless other dogs start getting rowdy. It's just not as fun to wait for our turn as it is to get to run! Luckily, now that we have had several classes we are able to do more than one thing at a time so we all get a little more time with the equipment and less time sitting and watching.