Ben's first sequence!

I started training my new dog Ben in agility last July. We've done a lot of foundation training but this past weekend we had a seminar and put a little bit of it together. Here's my new little man's first time! The jumps are still low. We work on handling first and then worry about jump height later. Considering he can leap like THIS I'm not worried about getting to the proper jump height.



You can watch him .

Well done Ben Looks like he loves it

He's having a blast! And he's so smart. He's going to be such a fast little bugger. Even at her most confident Dahlia was slower than Ben in that first attempt at a sequence. I suspect when he gains confidence he's going to really give me a run for my money.

Crysania Ben's looking great and he's having a great time and look at you go, I wouldn't have the energy to run around like that lol

I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to keep up with him when he really gets going! Distance handling is a must! He really just loves it and I can't wait until we can do more complicated handling.

Great work Crysania! You can see how much Ben's enjoying that

And here I was hoping that the troll had disappeared for good. I was wondering how long it would take for you to come find this one and attempt to insult me. Let me point out a couple things you missed completely in your attempt at appearing intelligent and knowledgeable about dogs (please note ATTEMPTS because you clearly know nothing).

1. This is Ben's FIRST EVER attempt at a sequence. He's young and learning and there is a LOT that goes into agility. This is also a dog who was picked up as essentially a half feral stray on top of a mountain. He has no impulse control, had no real connection to humans even though he wanted to please, and was distracted by EVERYTHING. The first time I brought him to a training class like this he basically spent the whole time running off and sniffing things and running in great big circles and ignoring everyone while we caught him and tried over. His early training was obviously basically SQUAT. He was probably tossed outside to do his own thing every day. It made him super dog social, but also meant he struggled to work with people.

2. Agility is not about "independent thinking." A dog cannot look at a course map and say "Ok I got this!" Agility is a TEAM SPORT. It's about the handler showing the dog where to go and what obstacle to take. At the earlier levels it looks like this. Very simple sequence and very clear cues where the dog has to go (even so, on the final jump you don't see much clear "handling" from me -- Ben is learning that if I run toward and obstacle, he takes what is on his line of sight unless the handling tells him otherwise). There's nothing complicated here. It's his FIRST TIME. At higher levels, there is so much that goes into handling that you couldn't even grasp it. Like this...here's a simple example

Dog takes jump. And is now presented with TWO obstacles. It is up to the handler to show the dog which one they should take.



If the dog is on my left and I run straight at it, he SHOULD take the A-Frame since it's what is right on his path. To be sure, I could hold my arm up to keep him out.

But if I want him to take something OFF his path (the tunnel)? I could threadle him toward me to pull him off the path and then direct him to the tunnel. It's all about arm and chest movement, etc.

Agility is a beautiful team sport, like obedience is (I suppose you find no use for that too). And most dog sports or dog training is about team work. Even gun dogs it SHOULD be about teamwork and not just "independent thinking." A dog who attempts to flush out every single bird is not going to be helpful to the hunter. Yes, you're working with instinct there (as opposed to obedience and agility, which are not instinctual things). But there's still training involved and there's still working with a handler. Sheepdogs may have the instinct to herd, but they are still trained to work with the shepherd because it's about teamwork. Otherwise you end up with a dog who has herded the sheep into a corner and won't let them move.

You really really do not understand dogs. I'm starting to doubt you even HAVE dogs since you show such a complete lack of understanding them.

Thank you! Ben's having a blast with it. He REALLY loves learning things and he's such a smart boy. He's come really far from the distracted and disconnected dog I brought home last June.

Absolutely spot on. Every working dog or dog who is trained for sport is part of a team with his human handler. Some dogs have instinctual, inherent drives that are harnessed and manipulated to be useful to the handler - such as gundogs and sheepdogs. Some working dogs have inherent drives and these are built upon and utilised through training with the handler - such as police and military dogs.

My experience is with police dogs and sheepdogs and neither works entirely independently. If they did you would have police dogs biting innocent people and sheepdogs worrying sheep!

i think it is absolutely hilarious that this thread has been hijacked and turned into this....no offence Crysania...your dogs are beautiful and happy so just you keep doing what you are doing!!!