Agility foundation class

Where are we going?!


Last Sunday, Beezer and I entered our first puppy agility foundation class. Surprise surprise, we were in a class full of Border collies and other breeds of dogs with high drives. Including Bee's good friend, Seven (a Viszla). No surprise that Beezer barked his head off with all the new dogs. He did really well in class though. Tackling the large wobble board, the puppy cavaletti's, and the stairs ( to practice 2 on 2 off method). However, as much as I would like to say he was the star of the class, we did have a few things to work on. Sit stays for one. One task was to have your puppy sit, throw a toy over a low bump and release him over the bump. Well, that certainly didn't happen for 2 reasons. Beezer doesn't have a sit stay ( we're still working on it), and he wasn't as toy motivated as the other mutant puppies. One station had us working with just tugging with our dogs. B didn't have any interest in tugging. Barking is wayyyy more fun! (Note to self: reward next puppy with more play instead of food).

Unfortunately a lot of the exercises have your dog focus on driving towards a toy. He'll tug well enough at home, or where he is comfortable, but not in high excitement areas. Ppfft. His behaviour with the other puppies was atrocious. Screaming and hollering on his back feet trying soooo hard to chase, catch and kill his fellow classmates. Playtime for Beezer didn't last long.

This past Sunday, Beezer was more well behaved. Not as much barking,and he even greeted the other pups appropriately. Not until they start running in front of him does his brain melt.
We did have issues with the table though. Supposedly we don't like to lay down in dirt, or on turf, or when we're told. Awesome. Thankfully, he did really well with the other obstacles.


No lie down! Running more fun.










But the great news is that I did get him to tug for quite some time. But the excitement over my super drivey mutant tugging machine was short lived. Once we tugged viciously all over the barn for a bit, we moved to the next station...and he never tugged again. Small steps, right?!

Next Sunday is our last class. We have lots of stuff to work with, and the class even gave me ideas to help train the older dogs that I work with. Win win!