Agility, learning the ropes/jumps


Last night we had agility class. There was just one other person there, and she had two Whippets with her. One was quite old, so didn’t do too many activities.

We started out class by doing circle jumps (I think that’s what they were called!) where jumps were set up in a circle and you just went around them. We started out the first time, and Felix did OK but not great. Then the other person went and did really well. So Felix had to show his stuff and he did perfect the second time around! He went over something like six jumps, and then through a tunnel!!!!! He’s only ever been through the tunnel in the last class, so I wasn’t sure he’d remember it, but he did! Here’s a video:

We took turns with our dogs being out and working on things, so Felix got some time in his crate, which he is handling much better.

The next time it was our turn, we got out the tiny teeter totter that Susan lent us and worked on that. I couldn’t get Felix to put all four feet on it, but he was moving it back and forth with just his front feet. So progress in a different direction. No video of that because I’m going to wait until he has another breakthrough with it at home and then get a video.

When it was our turn next, we worked on weave poles. The aim today was just to get him comfortable going back and forth between the poles. So I sat at the end of the poles and threw treats back and forth through the poles. Eventually I rolled back a bit so there was space for him to go between me and the poles, or he could choose to go between the poles, and most of the time he chose to go between the poles! No video of that, either, because it really wasn’t very interesting to watch LOL.

The last time we were out, we worked on some human handling. We had to work on what I think is called a front cross. I had to send Felix to a jump from my right side, have him come around the left side of the jump, and then turn around and send him from my left side into the tunnel.

I have to say that my handling skills were on point! I was able to do the cross quite well! But Felix was not cooperating with the tunnel and just would NOT go into it. So I deleted all those videos. I’ll hopefully get some good videos of that happening later on when he’s more used to the tunnel.

It was a good class, and we had a lot of fun. I think Felix learned some things, and I learned some things, too. I am very excited we are taking these lessons! I think Felix really enjoys agility SO much more than rally! I kept almost running over him in rally because the signs were too close to the cones and stuff and it was just not much fun for him. He really enjoys running and moving his body and working at a bit of a distance from me.

I won’t be at class next week, but hopefully sometime in the next two weeks I’ll be able to share a success video of Felix doing the tiny teeter!

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