agility training with ripley

Well I took ripley agility training yesterday...what a star!!!

Her first training session (though have worked on slow weaves and contacts at home)

She waited and recalled over jumps(jump wings with poles on the ground), learnt the A frame (lowered angle)after 2 goes on lead and same for dog walk.

By the end of the session i did an actual course with her..easily!!..she did 2 jumps, a frame some front crosses over jumps, the dog walk and then independant entry to weaves!
Her contacts are amazing i can give her command to 'stop' and walk to the other end of the field if i wanted and she just waits with 2on 2 off...
all this independantly with only vocal commands and directional with my arms!
she is absolutely amazing and amazed my instructor how quick she learned...and the speed is just incredible!

What a star!!

well done

really nice when you have sucha postive training session isnt it

well done Ripley - I can't wait to start going properly with Tilly, we did an introduction course & she took to it straight away. She was a bit too quick for me though at times!!

Fantastic

I would love to get Jess into agility

I do love it- its good because as i compete with sadie and know what im doing if there are things she needs extra time on or cant do due to her age i can take her away from the group and work with her on my own

Jen you should give it a go- its such great fun for both handler and dogs!

All the agility places round here don't have all weather pitches, which is what I want. I don't care if it is indoor or outdoor, so long as rain doesn't call it off.

Birmingham is rubbish for dog training

really? thats a shame...dont know how far you would want to travel but i know of a few clubs dotted around me(tamworth) that use indoor riding schools.

Would you be kind enough to PM me some postcodes please?

Tamworth is about 50 minutes, but I would like something a bit closer if pos

Sounds like you're well pleased with Ripley, but can I just ask please! How come you can do jumps and all this with a puppy who is 4 months old and I'm not allowed to let mine even jump or climb stairs until 18 months old then because of joint problems???? I know she leaps 6 ft in the air sometimes for her ball or up at Dave, but I can't stop that, but I honestly thought it's imperative for growing joints not to let them jump things or do stuff like this? Maybe collies are different then? I'm not having a go, I'm just dying to do something like this with Zena that's all, but I know I can't!!!

hi H, the poles are on the ground- she is not jumping and doesnt make any extra effort over them than she does running..it just teaches her the basics of moving independantly through jump wings and learn different 'manoevers' as she will do in competition.
With regards to the other obstacles i ensure she doesnt hit the bottom with force as she gets the contact by slowing her down before she gets there.
She is 6 1/2 months and of course its vital that im careful not to do anything to put pressure on her joints- hence the jumps just being poles and the contact equipment being lowered.
I started sadie at 8 months doing exactly the same kind of things.