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I'm just going to start this thread now 
Friday was our second class and we had SO much fun!
I found Aspen's drive! It's not playing tug (although she loves playing that at home)- it's doing tricks! When we were waiting our turn, I would practice her tricks that she knows and she got so excited and fired up.
We practiced "touch" and she did have improvement there so I was happy.
Next, we used a ladder (not sure if that's the right term) and we walked our dogs through it and eventually backing up through it. Walking through it was totally fine but I was impressed with how quickly Aspen got comfortable backing through it. By the second attempt, she was backing straight.
There is a more advanced dog in the class and she uses that team to show us what our 'simple' moves are working towards. So she set up a low, half of a dog walk leading to a table top. She had us each lure our dog up and back down. Man, that thing is skinny! Haha. Again, I was so impressed with Aspen. She has never seen that before and she happily walked up, turned around and walked down.
Our final exercise was to practice lead outs. We used the tunnel, which Aspen has never done. I wasn't sure if she would go through it or just run to me, honestly. So she sat about a foot or so away from the tunnel, I walked about halfway up the tunnel and released her. She ran right through the damn tunnel like she knew exactly what to do! I could not believe it! Maybe that's normal but I was happy haha
I can't even explain how much this dog loves to work. I think we could train for 2 hours straight and she wouldn't get bored. She makes everything fun
I know this is the only agility experience that I have but I really like this instructor. She is patient and fun. She explains things well. Although it's my second class, it's actually the fourth class of the session. I like how she incorporates the 'groundwork' in the beginning and slowly introduces obstacles. I'll call them 'level 1 obstacles'. For example, the tunnel... she shortened it up and made sure it was straight. The dog walk was low and just a third of it.
I've decided that I definitely want to compete, if Aspen keeps liking it. If she starts to dislike it, I won't force her. I'm signing up for the next session this week.
As always, I love feedback. I may not be describing things well so if something seems weird, I'll explain it more haha
Friday was our second class and we had SO much fun!
I found Aspen's drive! It's not playing tug (although she loves playing that at home)- it's doing tricks! When we were waiting our turn, I would practice her tricks that she knows and she got so excited and fired up.
We practiced "touch" and she did have improvement there so I was happy.
Next, we used a ladder (not sure if that's the right term) and we walked our dogs through it and eventually backing up through it. Walking through it was totally fine but I was impressed with how quickly Aspen got comfortable backing through it. By the second attempt, she was backing straight.
There is a more advanced dog in the class and she uses that team to show us what our 'simple' moves are working towards. So she set up a low, half of a dog walk leading to a table top. She had us each lure our dog up and back down. Man, that thing is skinny! Haha. Again, I was so impressed with Aspen. She has never seen that before and she happily walked up, turned around and walked down.
Our final exercise was to practice lead outs. We used the tunnel, which Aspen has never done. I wasn't sure if she would go through it or just run to me, honestly. So she sat about a foot or so away from the tunnel, I walked about halfway up the tunnel and released her. She ran right through the damn tunnel like she knew exactly what to do! I could not believe it! Maybe that's normal but I was happy haha
I can't even explain how much this dog loves to work. I think we could train for 2 hours straight and she wouldn't get bored. She makes everything fun
I know this is the only agility experience that I have but I really like this instructor. She is patient and fun. She explains things well. Although it's my second class, it's actually the fourth class of the session. I like how she incorporates the 'groundwork' in the beginning and slowly introduces obstacles. I'll call them 'level 1 obstacles'. For example, the tunnel... she shortened it up and made sure it was straight. The dog walk was low and just a third of it.
I've decided that I definitely want to compete, if Aspen keeps liking it. If she starts to dislike it, I won't force her. I'm signing up for the next session this week.
As always, I love feedback.
I may not be describing things well so if something seems weird, I'll explain it more haha
