Our 1st day at Dog Training/Agility!

Well this morning was our 1st day, it's run by 3 men that used to train dogs for the Metropolitan Police Force. Ozzie was very good on the training side of things I was really proud of him, especially as he seems scared of big dogs - and there were lots of them there today - but he was really good weaving between them with not so much as a cower

But the Agility well that was another thing - he was petrified of everything The 2nd time round he improved a little - but not a lot - I was really embarrased holding everyone up I'm hoping next week he wont find it so bad

Got the micky taken out of me by the instructors cause of his name and mine Ozzie and Sharon - they were in stitches

well done pleased you had a good time and i am sure it will get better each week with the agility it is fun, keep us upto date on how you go and pics would be good .....lol

Please don't feel embarrased - all dogs progress at different rates and you may find that where you have problems with a certain obstacle, others will have problems with different obstacles.

In the beginners class our club run, they only teach a couple of obstacles each week - so they gain confidence on those before moving on to the more challenging pieces.

Hopefully next week you'll see an improvement, but don't worry if you dont as it will take time

Funny you should say that, we had a ramp, 3 tiny jumps, a tunnel and a seesaw, the thing he was ok on was the seesaw which I'd have thought would of been his worse

Spot on. When I teach I also limit the number of obstacles they learn each time, I don`t want the dogs being over loaded and I don`t want the handlers to feel they are being rushed as that dents their confidence which in turn dents the dogs confidence in the handler.

I always start my students off with low jumps [ never straight to full height for larger dogs, it takes time to build the muscle groupings which the dogs use and it annoys me when any trainer gets people having their dogs jumps at full height far too soon ].
Just having a beginner dog and handler do four jumps in a straight line is quite involved on the learning side, pace, timing of cues, and starting on confidence building for them as a team.
After that I might introduce two new obstacles in one class each time but with the original line of jumps still featuring as a positive to go to if a dog or handler is struggling a bit on anything.
I do like to have other equipment around for the new dogs to get used to seeing as familiarity without pressure to do too much too soon helps toward when they are ready to try the next new obstacle.

Shaza, don`t be embarrassed, no dog is born knowing what to do, so just be patient with Ozzie - and with yourself
One week it might be you who needs a bit of extra time to work on something, the next week it will be another handler with their dog on an obstacle they are needing more time spent on.
Besides, its not a case of holding the others up, if they are smart they will take notice of each handlers turn so they can learn from watching what each other handler is doing, its not just about taking turns and how much time each person spends on something themselves, the learning is as much about the watching as the doing

Fantastic advice from Patch and Greyhawk!

You did quite a lot for a first week IMO! Max took weeks to master the dogwalk and the A-frame - each being alternate weeks - until he was happy (p.s. now his faves!) then the seesaw wasn't even considered!

please don't feel embarrassed at all - all dogs are different and beat your bottom dollar Ozzie will be whizzing round whilst another dog is having a hiccup of some sort!

Just smile and have fun

p.s. Sharon and Ozzie - love it!!!