Oh cool, well if you apply for anything give me a yell and I will come down

Looks great H. It is almost tempting me to have another go with Yogi He loved all the equipment but then freaked out on the see-saw and the dog walk (big wimp!) and seemed to lose his confidence after that.

I hope you and Zena really enjoy it.

Oh WOW, thanks for those fantastic vids, look at Jack go there, but I notice you let your o/h do all the running lol! He's a little star is Jack isn't he, and don't they love it!

You're not rubbish BenMc! Ben did great imo such a pity you didn't get a clear round though, was that the weaving that let you down? Boy can't you RUN!!! I'll have to get fitter and start jogging instead of walking in the mornings methinks if I'm going to get into this!

Thanks for all that info there Kicks, and I'm very good with my "steady" coz of course, don't forget that was our main command when riding my horse, so I know how to say it properly to make it mean something! I'm going to stick with your methods for Oliver, because don't forget Zena is only just 19 months old, and to be honest, I think this trainer is clued up enough to know that we need to take it very slowly indeed. We're yet to see the dog walk or the other tunnel so that should be interesting! I won't mind that dog walk as much though coz it's lower and I can be there for Zena, unlike that A-frame when I can't seem to reach her very well up top!

BenMc - I know that A-frame is down in their gallery, BUT, I think mine was up, because I could hardly touch Zena at the top when she was backing off when she veered over to the trainer, and I'm quite tall at 5ft 7" with long arms, so I'm sure it was up when I did it, but I'll check out whether it's fixed at the top of the touch point like it seems to be in those videos of yours.

Kirsty, I hope that doesn't happen to us, but if it does, then so be it, but for the moment she seems to have taken to this, and when I finished and started walking her back through the field, you should have seen her little face smiling and she sure had a spring in her step and was leaping up at me (doesn't take much to get Zena hypo though!)

Thanks a million, I loved those video's, let's hope one day you will be seeing ours!!!

Jack lost his confidence on the see-saw as well, it took the best part of a year for him to get it back, to start with he wouldn't get back on any of the equipment, but he's fine know

Son H, he's my son I would love to run Jack, but my lungs are shot to pieces, so I can't do it but I have just as much fun supervising from the side lines

Jack absolutely adores agility, other wise we wouldn't do it, and he quite often has so much fun, he makes up his own course

Oooops and there I was taking you for a spring chicken then!!! I remember about your chest problems, and you need a good pair of lungs for all that running, I know that only too well after I collapsed on the ground at the end puffing and panting, and we were only practising! I have a very good friend who goes to a lot of dog stuff and she lost her shepherd, so I'm going to ring her up and see if I can get her interested, coz Zena adores her I know she'd do it for her if we trained her up well enough.

I'm going to dip out with that see-saw if she presents us with it soon, coz I want Zena to be enjoying this, I don't want to frighten her with anything, and considering mine is only a little fun thing, it's best we stick with what she seems to enjoy for the moment anyway, so that see-saw for me, will be a long way away! Thanks for that tip Kirsty and Christine.

I get slagged off for my running all the time.
Jogging is a good idea - I try and run with mine often for them to get the hang of it

Ben freaked at the seasaw too - we were doing it in a fun class - far too young, and he had just hit his 2nd fear period (which I didnt realise at the time) and it put him off for ages. In the end I built a little one in the sitting room and left it there with treats on it for a few days, then I had him do it once (with lots of treats) just before going for a walk
A week of that and he was doing it by himself while I was putting my shoes on

In class Mia had no problems. The trainer held the end and I guided her on, when it tipped (slowly) I gave her lots of treats and she really got to love it
- In the vid Ben flys off the seesaw - not something he has ever done before but the sun was low, right at the top of it so I think he misstook it for the dog walk

You will find they get the hang of the A frame pretty quick - just so long as they get lots of rewards at the end then they quite enjoy it
The only think to watch on the dogwalk is those back legs its quite narrow and young dogs forget they have back feet
You can practise teaching then they have back feet by walking them along a ladder - or poles on the ground - like you would with a horse

Cant wait to hear how you do this time

It all looks jolly good fun. I thought you might like to see a couple of different obstacles-
here`s the Barrels

and the High Walk (6`)

and the curly tunnels

I used to love agility with Daisy (not competing, just having fun) but I`ve developed high blood pressure and get breathless and tend to fall over when I run. That`s my excuse, anyway!

my two love tunnels - curvey, straight, whatever
I think Mia would love the high dogwalk - so everyone could see her - its like a catwalk for her
I think the barrels might be a bit much for them/me!!

Shame you cant do it anymore
mind you - we do have a lady train with us who only has one leg and she manages to compeate

Oh WOW, look at our Daisy there I didn't realise you have played around with this too! OMG those barrels, she looks like a proper police dog doing those!!! and is that ONE tunnel there!!!! I think Zena loves that tunnel now, the way she zoomed straight in it, without having me at the other end, and the way she arrived at the same time I did and flew on top of me on the ground!

Poor Zena didn't get many treats BenMc, coz she's more ball orientated which is a good thing with something like this I think, but she got some cheese when she weaved, well, she didn't get it till the end, I just had it to get her through, but she did like those weaves and did them brilliantly.

Thinking back, I remember the trainer instructed me in great detail before we first did that A-frame, and she said we were to hold the lead loose, and if she panicked or went to veer off and we had to shorten them, then I had to slide one hand up, just like you would with a rein, still holding tight with the other hand kind of thing, but when I think back, I'm darn sure I held her too tightly going up there, I should have left her on a really loose lead, but I seem to remember I felt some fur on my left hand as we took her up it and that shouldn't have been there should it, I should have just had hold with that right hand and left the left hand for a just in case scenario, so it was probably MY fault that she panicked at the top. From then on though, I was so relieved to get her over the top each time, that I honestly can't remember how well she got up it, fear took over ya see, my mind went blank! Next time, I'm going to be totally relaxed about it, hold her loose, and let her run, just making sure I'm always there at the side of her no matter how fast she does it! I'm wondering if I can stick that ball of hers on the ground just away from the downward slope, so she can see it from the top, it will give her the encouragement she needs, but how I get it there is another story!

BenMc, so was Ben an actual puppy then when you first started doing this for fun? I've only waited until after the 18 months due to worrying about joints in my particular breed, but it's always been in the back of my mind to do something fun!

I have made a note of those back legs too for the dog walk, and the dog walk doesn't bother me.

I'm wondering whether it might be a good idea to find some stairs for Zena to go up and down? She's NEVER been allowed up our stairs, again due to her young age, and although she won't put her paws further than the first step when she see's me coming down, perhaps I should get her up there and see how she comes down faced with that steep incline? Trouble there is, bang goes my only sanctuary I have left in life, my bedroom!!!!

I can find a nice low wall along the seafront for her to walk along, it's quite narrow with only a 2ft drop, so that'll be good practice too won't it, and I might try and find a flight of steps, coz she only has the 3 long steps onto our patio, so no height involved there, and she needs to experience this height thing doesn't she.

Can't wait for Sunday now, I hope I can enlist somebody's help with that camera!!!

It was Bens puppy class that introduced us to some agility stuff (just walking on different surfaces) then when he was 6 months old they let us come to the fin agility class - it was on mini obsticles - I didnt know then I really shouldnt have done it, but it was tiny jumps and slow and safe

You can train with toys instead of food - or a combination of both is good - I would give something really yummy after doing something difficult - espesh the contact stuff - because you dont want them racing down off the end expecting the exciting ball to be chucked - they need to learn about contacts

I think you are over thinking the A frame - With Ben he was a little scared so I led him all the way giving a treat for every step, the 2nd time he did it no problem
Mia I just held her collar the first couple of times - just till she knew what we wanted her to do on the contact - then she just ran over it no problem
I bet on Sunday if you just walk out confident that your dog is going over - then she will remember it being fun from last time and just go over
Just so long as you are not dragging her then it dosent really matter what you are doing with the lead (everything has been offlead in Mias class anyway)

Practasing walking along different surfaces isnt a bad idea - will give you confidence handling her - just keep her slow and under control and reward her lots

After Ben being a big scardy cat for a while once he trusted me at agility he actually climbed a tree (and loved it!!)