Our New Agility Classes
Last night , Missy and I went to our first Advanced Agility Class
. It was the first of a 10 week course. Back in January , we did a course of beginners agility classes which we both enjoyed. As that instructor only did beginners , She recommended Broxburn Dog Training Club ( and a couple of others) to anyone who wanted to go further. So , last night , we went of to the Scottish National Equestrian Centre at Oatridge College. Missy whined and cried ALL the way there
. 26 miles with a whining dog just isn't funny
. My fault I suppose , I did tell her she was going to agility
. Anyway , there were about 10 dogs in our group , a good variety of breeds. There was a small course set up , consisting of several jumps , a dog walk , an A-Frame and a see saw. Each dog and handler took it in turns to first go over a jump , the A-Frame , then 4 more jumps. I like the way this was set up. There was a jump , with another straight ahead. We had to go over the first jump then turn left to the A-Frame. That's a good start I think as the dog is learning straight away that even if there's a jump in front of it , it doesn't mean it has to be jumped. We had a wee hiccup at the A-Frame . Missy ( off lead) decided to try to jump off the side, towards me , on her way up . She was halfway up at the time
. We tried again and she did the same , so the instructor told me to put her lead on and guide her up. That worked , so we kept her on lead for the time being. Not sure why she did that , lack of confidence ? She didn't do anything like that at her beginners classes. She did it once on the dog walk too , but that was at its full height and she's only been over that at about 2 feet off the ground before. Again , it was only the first time she tried to come off , on top of me. We were both a bit nervous and Missy was that excited she was getting hot. The skin on her muzzle , chin , neck and ears was very pink. She was fine once she calmed down and had a tiny drink . Later in the class , we did the see saw for the first time. The instructor held one end for some of us. A couple of dogs were unsure of it and a couple had never done it before , Missy included. She walked on to it no problem but then wanted to charge up it at 100 mph
. I had hold of her collar though to steady her. I steadied her at the top by putting one hand on her chest and saying " steady" , then the instructor slowly lowered the end and we let her run off. We did this 3 times before continuing with the mini course. Towards the end of the class , we all had to go round a course as follows ; Jump , see saw , jump (in a straight line) , turn right , jump , turn right , dog walk , turn left , jump , turn left , jump , A-Frame , jump , turn left, dog walk , turn right , jump , finish. So , although Missy was excited , and we were both nervous , our first advanced agility lesson was brilliant. She's learned the see saw , and she's been round a mini course , which included turns away from jumps facing her
. She didn't miss one single contact but then at our beginners classes , a lot of time was spent teaching the dogs to wait,("4 on" then " 2 on 2 off" ) , on the contacts.In fact , she stopped and sat on the contact coming off the dog walk
. I'm really looking forward to Tuesday next week
. ( And I'm trying to get someone to come with me to take pictures ).