Aggressive/reactive dogs in agility classes

Cain is excelling in agility class When he first started, my socialisation class voiced obvious concerns that the excitement, fast moving dogs etc could make his reactivity worse. It was a valid concern, and admittedly he was a bit wound up for the first few classes. However we persevered and he quickly settled down. I am absolutely positive that the agility class is responsible for Cain's huge leap in on lead manners. It gave us a really good opportunity to practise calm behaviour, Watch Me, Look At That etc. Cain will now happily glance at a dog bolting by, then look back to me for his treat. Today he causally watched Sosha's Buster getting excited and growling with his tuggy, then deliberately turned his back on Buster and focused on me. He knows the game and also relaxed as he knows he doesn't get to interact with the other dogs, so it takes the pressure off. The rest of the class are very understanding and give us a respectful amount of space. We keep things safe by hopping inside the bike shed () when dogs who leg it off the course have their run, to stop any chance meetings. Thankfully the currents dogs are all very good off lead, and i can control Cain and walk away if they ever did run up. Every member is aware of Cain's issues and frequently reminded to give us space.

Ok, it's not perfect. Cain doesn't get to go off lead and it's a bit of a nightmare trying to do weave poles with an on lead dog As such he's slow and is never going to win any prizes but occasionally, after everyone has gone home I get to run Cain off lead. But he enjoys the work out, even on lead, and it knackers him as he has to use his brain.


For us, agility has only been a good thing. It's taught him to be calm on lead around other dogs (even if they are fast moving and excited), it's really strengthened his focus on me, he has to listen to my direction to get over the equipment. At the end of class, my trainer asks the group to walk on lead with us around the field, again an exercise to help Cain improve. Today in class a relatively new member asked me what was wrong with my dog as he was confused because he'd never seen Cain display any aggressive behaviour I explained that was because I had put an awful lot of work into teaching him alternative behaviours.

Anyway, I digress. Basically I've been googling other agility classes (I'm still searching to rent private equipment) and I was amazed by how many classes point blank refuse to have aggressive dogs in class. Of course I can see the down side to it and I can see how it could make some reactive dogs worse. But so many places have a total blanket ban. It made me realise that I am SOOOO luck that I have
a) a class willing to take him
b) a trainer experienced with reactive dogs who understands him
c) lovely class members who ate happy to work around him. Not once have I been made to feel unwelcome, everyone is so good to work with us and give us space

I honestly feel that agility classes have improved Cain's behaviour and provides him a vital physical and mental work out which he needs as he's rarely off lead. We manage to participate in class safely and without significant detriment or interference to other dogs in our class.

Do you think that aggressive dogs have no place in agility? If someone can control their reactive dog off lead, should they be allowed to let them off in that environment (obviously not talking about Cain here!) or is it always too risky?, should more classes accept aggressive dogs on a case by case basis rather than a blanket ban?, should only experienced trainers accept these dogs in their classes?, would you be unhappy if there was an aggressive dog in your agility class?

Interested in your thoughts I am feeling so lucky to have my class as it appears that we wouldn't be welcome elsewhere!!!

one of my dogs can be funny with other dogs and i take him to agility. i will usually muzzle him and he is allowed to go off lead no problem ( i also attach a very short lead to his harness so can catch hold of him if need be) hes usually that focused on what hes doing he doesnt even notice the other dogs. i think it prob depends on how aggressive the dog is to weather a class situation is suitable. glad to here cain is doing so well

Daisy and I used to go to the antisocial dog class at Essex DTC. Half the session was agility. Andy (trainer) said learning to control an excited dog was important. The dogs loved it and it really helped the bond between dog and owner.
Here`s Daisy doing her stuff.





Andy now runs his own classes in Brentwood and agility is still an important part of his sessions.

Personally I wouldn't have an aggressive dog in an agility class where the people were aiming at competing. Nor would I do it if I was inexperienced and happened to be the owner of some equipment and was teaching other people from my small knowledge base.

You are lucky in what you have found.

rune

Just to clarify, my class is non competitive. He aims to train to a competitive standards, but purely for fun. No one in our class competes, although they are welcome to pursuer it personally if they wish.

Awww look at Daisy go do you still take her? She looks like she's loving it. I like the barrell stack, not seen one of those before.

I agree with Rune.

There are an increasing number of incidents at shows being recorded in the Kennel Gazette with owners being reprimanded, fined and/or banned.

I was talking to two of the British Worlds Agility Team last week both of whom obvioulsy compete at an international level, train (competitively) and judge and both said that there were an increasing number of dogs at competitions whose owners have no control over.

I am not going to repeat some of the information that was shared, but suffice it to say, IMHO putting a reactive, nervous dog into a situation of high arousal with people who may not have the skills, knowledge, ability, training or experience to foresee potential problems, prevent them or intervene in time to prevent dogs practising bullying behaviour or dogs being bullied is a recipe for disaster.

I can control an excited dog (which is vastly different from a reactive one) in all sorts of situations and I have been to classes/clubs where I and my dogs have been exposed to dogs which have been out of control, I have no wish to repeat the experience.


You may be lucky in that the environment you train in has plenty of space, there is plenty of time and there are not many handlers and dogs; this is not the case at many top training clubs.

Also when I am training a dog in any discipline, I do not want to have to worry about the actions of other dogs, I want to be able to concentrate on mine, after all that is what I pay for.

Dogs have been severely injured and killed at both clubs and agility shows, and this of course can affect insurance premia.

There are enough challenges facing clubs, trainers and handlers without importing trouble!

Specialist classes for "growly dogs" means that everyone knows where they stand and hopefully means the rest of us with social dogs can relax.

I do think that in some ways the tightening up of rules regarding dogs running onto their leads at the end of a run has not helped the situation. They finish a run in a state of very high arousal and the toy provides a release and a focus for that energy.

I would hesitate to do agility with Benj---not because of th actual run but because by the time he had queued and watched dogs run for that length of time he would be on the ceiling and ready to get anything that moved. He has a low threshold for noise/movement/aggro and agility wouldn't help that at all.

rune

Having had bad experiences in the past with reactive dogs in an agility class I would be wary of going to a class with reactive dogs in it. I would have to see the class and the dogs and make a judgement based on how my own dogs would handle it.

Both Jed and Jessie are sensitive dogs and have been seriously put off their classes by dogs (other border collies) who have been off lead doing something else and have then ran snapping and snarling at my dogs as they have been running the course. The dogs werent aggressive, just reactive and aroused by the movement, as many border collies are.

But I think dogs who are likely to react in such a way should never be given the chance to be off lead whilst other dogs are training.
At one of the clubs I attended there was BC who would run at other dogs as she was passing. That dog only ever ran by herself and we all gave her lots of space and moved our dogs out of harms way. The trainers would also stand in front of the spectators as a first line of defence.

If reactive/aggressive dogs are managed correctly in class so they have minimal impact on other members then I dont have a problem.

As I said - the class was for antisocial and aggressive dogs.
I completely agree that most clubs shouldn`t have reactive dogs because trainers who are capable of helping owners retrain them are sadly few and far between.
The setup at Essex you can see. There are secure enclosures. All antisocial dogs are muzzled (the photos were taken after she graduated into normal classes). The dogs enter the enclosure one at a time.
At Andy`s current antisocial class, the class is held when no other activity is taking place. All dogs are muzzled. He has years of experience and safety procedures are solid. It is possible to rehabilitate and retrain a dog.In fact, many of the dogs in the Essex Dog Display Team come from the anti-social class.
As I said - he insisted that owners must be able to control their dogs when they were excited. Agility can be a good way of doing this. One of the exercises was dropping the dog between obstacles. Very good with a reactive dog.

I think you might find that this comes down to insurance issues.

I help run some classes, and we are not allowed to take on dogs who are aggressive/reactive/feral with 'normal' dogs. We take them on in a seperate class, with smaller numbers and more staff, but many places around here just point blank refuse.

I suppose if the trainers aren't able to handle reactive dogs, its probably better that they don't allow them in the group. It means owners will find supportive, knowledgable clubs like you have

It's great to hear Cain is doing so well, I hope he continues to improve.