Backyard agility fun

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lisaanne
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Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 8:37 pm
Tell us about yourself: 40 something mom of 3 sons, 2 living....mother of one beagle girl, Puddles age 9 and our yet to be determined "shepherd" type girl Beta, age 2. Beta was rescued from an area no-kill shelter and was assumed to be a GSD/Greyhound mix, perhaps? I sure cannot find anything greyhound about the girl, sought out Brindle Shepherds and came across the DS, and began to wonder.....she is the absolute best dog anyone could want.
Location: kenosha

Backyard agility fun

Post by lisaanne »

As a relatively new owner of this wonderfully talented dog, of course I'd like to give her every opportunity to use her skills to the best of her ability. I have a huge fenced in yard for my dogs to play, sniff, hunt, and dig...but, i was thinking Beta could really use some sort of structure and variety not only for fun, but for the challenge, which she obviously needs and craves. Since this is something I am totally unfamiliar with, can some of you more experienced handlers please give me some tips and advice on how I can go about beginning some sort of home-style agility training? While Beta has obviously had some degree of basic command training, walks well on and off leash, knows most basic commands, is a good listener and quick learner, we are both still newbies as far as anything of this sort goes. i don't want to simply go off in my own direction and confuse her.

Where to start with an all ready 2 year old girl looking for fun and learning, as opposed to working or competing?
Lisa from Kenosha Wisconsin.....
half-way between Chicago and Milwaukee on the heart of Lake Michigan

Mom to Puddles (9 y/o f beagle) and Beta (2 y/o f DS or other shepherd mix?)
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ZodiacT
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Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2010 2:50 pm
Tell us about yourself: I was introduced to the Dutch Shepherd breed during my time as an Army veterinary technician working with Military Working Dogs. I fell in love with the breed and by pure chance happened to meet a DS in a local rescue who was a police K9 washout and was up for adoption. We adopted Zodiac right away and she has been an important part of our family ever since. We currently compete in Rally-Obedience and participate in Agility.
Location: Andrews Air Force Base, MD

Re: Backyard agility fun

Post by ZodiacT »

I can only speak from my experience so others might have different opinions, but when I wanted to start doing something with Zodiac what I wound up doing was finding a trainer in our area who taught a variety of different dog sports including agility and competitive obedience. Zodiac was 2 1/2 years old when we adopted her, she only knew some very basic commands and I had no experience training dogs, so the trainer recommended we start out in a competitive rally obedience class first to build our working relationship before moving on to more challenging sports.

We ended up having so much fun in Rally that 2 years later we are only just now starting the Agility class (although we could have started much sooner if we chose to), but through Rally she learned the jumps and over the last couple of years as she has gotten used to working with me I have been able to teach her most of the other Agility exercises on equipment we built ourselves in our back yard. There are books and videos out there that teach Agility but personally if you don't have experience training a dog I think it is a good idea to get some advice from an experienced trainer who can work with you and your dog.
Hayley St.Pierre-Thomas and Zodiac RL1-AOE, RL2-AOE, CGC
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lisaanne
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Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 8:37 pm
Tell us about yourself: 40 something mom of 3 sons, 2 living....mother of one beagle girl, Puddles age 9 and our yet to be determined "shepherd" type girl Beta, age 2. Beta was rescued from an area no-kill shelter and was assumed to be a GSD/Greyhound mix, perhaps? I sure cannot find anything greyhound about the girl, sought out Brindle Shepherds and came across the DS, and began to wonder.....she is the absolute best dog anyone could want.
Location: kenosha

Re: Backyard agility fun

Post by lisaanne »

Yes, you are absolutely right. I really didn't want to go off half-cocked with her, especially with her size, physically and potential. I'd rather learn to do things correctly with her in the first place. This is my first time experience with a dog like this, and all ready its been a vast difference from raising beagles. ;)

I plan to look at area trainers and facilities to see what I can find. Thanks again.

ps Beta was also all ready 2 years old when we got her, and had been in a shelter for at least 4 months then. Someone had adopted her, kept her for 4 days (!?) then luckily for us brought her back to the shelter.
Lisa from Kenosha Wisconsin.....
half-way between Chicago and Milwaukee on the heart of Lake Michigan

Mom to Puddles (9 y/o f beagle) and Beta (2 y/o f DS or other shepherd mix?)
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Christie M
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Tell us about yourself: Love my striped beasts.

Re: Backyard agility fun

Post by Christie M »

There are a lot of agility foundation skills that you can start that don't include equipment - or just one jump. All foundation jumping can and should be taught low anyway, so a PCV jump can be made for like $3 :-)

Check out the following website www.bowwowflix.com.

They have a TON of DVDs that you can "rent" like NetFlix - keep as long as you want. I'm sure others can recommend names, but the Suzanne Garrett foundation and 2x2 method ones would be great to start with. Also the Foundation Jumping DVD by Chris Zink, DVM.

Good luck and keep us posted!
Christie Meyer
http://www.northwoodsk9.com
http://www.dutchshepherdrescue.org
http://www.thunderhawkcanine.com

Be proud of the things that you have taught your dog. Be humbled and grateful for all of the things that your dog has taught you. - Unknown
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