Milly has started Agility

[puppywalker]

We've had Milly 7 months now and she's spent most of the summer on our boat which she's really enjoyed.

Now that we are at home for the winter I have started Agility training with her - first lesson yesterday! I thought she would spend all her time wandering off and scavenging ( her favourite pastime) but she was really good. The only thing she didn't like was the tunnel so I had to crawl in at the opposite end with a handful of treats to coax her through!! Once she'd been through the first time there was no stopping her.

We are only doing it for fun, not for competition, but as long as she enjoys it we'll keep going.

She certainly slept well last night!!

Helen, Blake and Milly

[tosca100]

Great to hear Milly enjoyed it.

We tried taking Bonnie to agility (for fun) and initally she was reluctant to go through the tunnel. We got her through it eventually as it was telescopic and it was reduced to being a 1ft long tunnel. Then it was gradually increased in size until it was at full length (12ft) and she was fine.

We stopped going as the assistant who ran the next class was adament that Bonnie WAS going to go through the suspended tyre not matter what, which invariably caused Bonnie to get really stressed out. In addition to that she would not go up the plank/bridge construction. I think it was something to do with its instablity and that it was a bit like laminate flooring/slippery. When we go anywhere with laminate floor she comes to a grinding halt (embarassing when we first found this out in a shop in the Lake District) Initially on my sister in laws laminate floor she would only walk over it backwards?????

Invariably if Millie enjoys doing it, go for it, but it is a shame that some people/organisers get so hung up on that they MUST do it all no matter what.

Dave, Sara & Bonnie

[puppywalker]

Sounds as if you didn't go to a very good club. No dog should be forced to do anything they don't want to do in agility and the dogwalk and A-frame should have a gritted surface to stop them slipping.

Milly is the third dog I have done agility with. Blake didn't like the see-saw but I kept showing it to him every few weeks and after about a year he got the hang of it! Leah used to stop at the top of the A-frame as it was a good vantage point for looking around!

As I said, it's only for fun and she seemed to enjoy the first session.