Agility at home ?

Now that I finally have a dog fit enough to do agililty, I would really like to give it a go.

The trouble is, the only clubs I know of round here are are either really competitive or I don't like their training styles (or both).

So, while I keep looking for a decent club I thought I might start out buying one or two pieces of equipment (possibly a jump & a tunnel).

But what do those (particularly thinking Patch here:smt002) think of this idea. Could I do more harm than good in terms of bad habits etc. because there is no-one to teach me the proper way to do it?

At the end of the day, although I would like to join a club for socialism and fun, I'm not bothered about competing. Of course there is always a risk that I'll buy some equipment and Stumpy won't enjoy it at all!

You are right about picking up bad habits often being the case
Iirc, Missysmum found a club she really liked somewhere up your way but not sure how far from you exactly
If you get really stuck, it would be worth you investing in one of the Agility DVDs by Greg Derrett, this one in particular would be good to start you off :

Agility Foundation Training

Ignore any references to competitive agility in terms of phraseology, I have students who are not interested in competing, but for safety, [ paramount of course ], and getting the best out of agility for both dog and handler whether playing at it in the garden just for a bit of extra fun or wanting to take it further, [ those who do want to compete or to train at a club for the more social side especially for the dog ], the training applications should be the same in terms of learning and using techniques to suit each handler and dog team

We wanted Missy to do agility for fun also - she was 7 when we got her, so I thought getting a touch old to compete.
We bought a tunnel from ebay for £20, so it wasn't massively pricey, we improvised weave sticks by getting bamboo poles from the garden centre and cutting them down (20p a five foot pole!) and handy hubby made Missy a seesaw and some jumps. She loves all of them, but loves the jumps the most.
She had to pass advance obedience before she could get into agility, and did it hamper her learning new commands or routes? No, not really - because it was only fun agility we were allowed to use our commands for tunnel (Tun-nel - original -huh? ) and jumps (over) .
The space there was so much larger than our garden that Missy learned their routes their way.

Few pics of garden agility







Couldn't find the jump ones, they were taken with hubby's camera.
But for those he made wooden side pieces held on a wooden base. there were two crescent shaped holders and a piece of plastic tubing for the bar.

All of ours was for fun agility, and really, it only enhanced Missy's enjoyment.

we have 12 blue poles

we can use them as 6 jumps or weaves

i also have a tunnel from toys r us lol

i dont go toa club anymore - i just mess about at home for now...

imo if your not planning to compete i dont tink it would do any harm

As Mac is unvaccinated, he is not allowed at most agility clubs. We made jumps out of PVC, and bought tunnels that are meant for kids. We have the beginnings of a dog walk, and we have a plank we need to get prepared for running contacts.

Maybe you can 'stuff up', but I'd suggest just getting well read on the subject. Or well watched if you prefer DVDs. I like reading/watching a wide range of techniques and then picking bits and pieces from everywhere.

I think that most important are things involving listening to you (basic obedience) and running with you and fitness. You can walk on non-agility stuff and you can also work on fitness without stuffing up agility potential (if that is what you're worried about ).

There is a little more to it than just putting up some equipment at home and playing at it

There are angles and distances to and from elements to consider which have major safety ramifications if they are not done correctly, home made contact equipment should have non-slip surfaces and slats should be a minimum distance apart plus a maximum slat depth so as not to cause too much angulation on feet and legs, weaves poles should be at least 18 inches apart, jump heights for the size and ability of the dog are extremely important, proper warm ups are extremely important, as are cool downs after training.

None of those things are about competing or formal training, they are basic but vital safety elements for the dogs which should be adhered to no matter where a handler trains or `plays at` agility - so sadly yes, getting things like those wrong can do a great deal of harm

I agree with patch that in the least you need to watch/read some info on the subject first as she said there are more things to be considered health wise more important than whether or not you want to compete. That said as long as you read around it theres no reason why you cant have alot of fun xx

thanks everyone

Patch & Kicks, I know you are right - I suppose that is why I posted.

Patch - it isn't what I've read about the local clubs which makes me think they are too competitive, it is personal experience from people I know. There is a lovely guy in our village that tried them out - they were ok at first, but because his dog had potential and he didn't (being a wee bit older & not always getting things first time) they completely slated him - made him feel like a fool & that his dog was too good for him. this was a dog that he had rescued and would have been nothing without him.

I would probably stick up for myself more than he did, but there is no way I want to be treated like that (knowing that it would probably be me rather than Stumpy who made the mistakes!). But I will go and give the clubs a go, you never know, perhaps the trainer or some of the people have changed and it won't be so bad.

(PS MissyMum lives at least an hour from me, so whilst not impossible, it does depend on timing of the sessions etc)

Thanks for all your advice

What an appalling way to treat the guy
I have a handler coming to me who is very elderly, not fast, not light on his feet, and does find it hard to do complicated exercises at first but he perseveres because he is determined to get things right for his dog, and when it comes down to it, if he is`nt getting something the blame would be firmly on me for not guiding him in a way he finds easy to understand, plus its my job as his teacher to find ways of handling which compliment him with his dog no matter what the course or exercise layout may be.
His dog is a lovely Cocker, a very bright little girl who loves her agility and no way can he keep up with her for speed so we work on distance handling so that they can both get as much out of it as possible, its his hobby as much as it is mine or anybody else`s.
Will he ever compete with her ?
No, he is not interested in competing at all, and he would find it difficult as he needs to work very hard at sequences to remember which way to go. He just wants to give his little girl an enjoyable activity to do which keeps her thinking and learning while having fun with him and vice versa.
He is every bit as valued as a member as my YKC student who has qualified for Crufts 5 years in a row and he is worth every moment of time spent on helping him and his girl to enjoy agility.

Clubs who treat people poorly just because they might not be prospective competing handlers to build a reputation for a club as churning out `winners`, need to think long and hard what they think agility is supposed to be about

That's what I find so frustrating Patch - from being a member of Dogsey I know what a good club could be (or without you, I may have thought they were all like this) but experiences like William's does put you off.

If only we could clone you and have Patch clones all over the country