Sunday, March 22, 2009

Agility 4

As we left the city limits today, Marley started jumping around in excitement...she knew we were going to agility today. Class was held partially indoors due to sporadic showers. As soon as she got out of the car she started pulling on the leash and whining. Why is it so embarrassing when your dog acts out of control?

As soon as Marley was close enough she jumped on the wobble board and just wiggled with excitement. She didn't want to get off the board. Besides the wobble board, we worked on the tunnel and 3 new things: Contact, away and a combination.

Tunnel: Marley was distracted during the tunnel practice, she kept looking for treats inside. Last class she had been doing so well, I have to admit I found it a bit frustrating. Hopefully, this will correct itself soon.

Contact: Our trainer had her dog ramp (on her vehicle) down and Marley went up the ramp and she had to run down and sit with her front paws on the concrete and her butt on the ramp. She quickly caught on and was excited about the activity.

Away: I started with Marley on my left side and as we approached a cone, I said "Out" and guided her away with my arm. After a while, we started directing the dogs around the cones in a similar manner as the weave poles. I ended up having to jog during this exercise, it seems otherwise Marley found it boring.

Combination: It was very simple, after working on contact, the dogs had to go through the tunnel. It was fun, except for Marley's need to stop in the middle of the tunnel.

We had a great time and I hope Marley continues enjoy this activity.

2 comments:

Ms. Wagner said...

sounds like she's doing really well!

Johann The Dog said...

Woo, hoo! Agility! Mum calls that getting excited turning the corner to the practice field, and pulling on the leash to get in the building - drive! Sounds like you've got it in spades :)