First Agility Class

Tonight was Eden's first Agility class. I was a little nervous about how she would do (it is hot, humid and a new place, new dogs, new people etc) - I didn't want distracto-dog but I also wanted her to really have a good time. Shouldn't have worried. She spent the first part of the introductions barking randomly at different dogs in the class (there are only 4 others besides us) but settled down when we started to move around work on the obstacles.

We had the dogs walk on a flattened A-Frame board and also a flattened Dog-Walk board. They wobbled a little bit but Eden didn't think anything of walking across them what-so-ever. Not that I expected that she would - she LOVES to balance on the curb on our walks around the apartment.

She went through the tunnel, scrunched short and straight. By the end of the tunnel work, it was totally extended and in the shape of a U. She got confused at the first sharp turn but with some verbal encouragement, popped right out the other end. She especially liked this obstacle as there was a person at the end with a treat and she loves people/praise/treats.

We worked on the table, no issues there. I had her sit and down, even though that is no longer a requirement for AKC agility. I want her to learn that rule at first at least and then I can decide later if I want to fade it.

The tire was up next. She cleared the bottom by 3-4 inches - she was really jumping high to get through it. That was really fun to watch, she's so cute when she jumps.

I was very curious how the closed tunnel/chute would be introduced. She started with the chute partially extended but actually all the way open at the end. Then each time we had a turn she would extend it further and close it more. It was much faster than I have ever encountered in my other agility classes but luckily, my dog's nerves seemed more than capable of handling it. She finally went through the entire length of a totally closed chute and was happy and very pleased with herself coming out the other end. I was happy and very pleased with her too! :-)

I think she has the potential to end up being quite fast. As fast as legs that are that short can be! LOL The more repetitions that we did on each obstacle, the more excited she got. She would whine and pull and get really excited every time our turn came up - which was really exciting for me. I can't wait to see how she progresses!

There was also a wading pool set up. I had her go in it every other obstacle or so, to cool her feet off as she was quite warm. Seemed to really help and she didn't have any concern about climbing in there. Overall, a really great, fun class.