Today Maui and I attended our first agility class. It is 6 weeks long
but I am already hooked. We learned the A-frame, some jumps, the tunnel,
the chute and weave poles. We did some individual obstacles and even
sequences (up to 4 things in a row). The class had 4 dogs including Maui
and everyone did great. I was surprised at how much we did today but very
glad becuase Maui was doing well. I had a blast and he also looked very
happy. He was even off lead for the 4 obstacle sequence and did amazing. I
was so proud. He kept his focus and followed my cues. I think he liked the
A-frame best and didn't care for the weave poles. He was a little hesitant
at the chute but ran through with it collapsed on his 3rd time. We had a
lot of fun and can't wait for more next week.

Today Maui and I attended our first agility class. It is 6 weeks long
but I am already hooked. We learned the A-frame, some jumps, the tunnel,
the chute and weave poles. We did some individual obstacles and even
sequences (up to 4 things in a row). The class had 4 dogs including Maui
and everyone did great. I was surprised at how much we did today but very
glad becuase Maui was doing well. I had a blast and he also looked very
happy. He was even off lead for the 4 obstacle sequence and did amazing. I
was so proud. He kept his focus and followed my cues. I think he liked the
A-frame best and didn't care for the weave poles. He was a little hesitant
at the chute but ran through with it collapsed on his 3rd time. We had a
lot of fun and can't wait for more next week.

"MauiJNP" wrote in message
...
Today Maui and I attended our first agility class. It is 6 weeks long
but I am already hooked. We learned the A-frame, some jumps, the tunnel,
the chute and weave poles. We did some individual obstacles and even
sequences (up to 4 things in a row). The class had 4 dogs including Maui
and everyone did great. I was surprised at how much we did today but very
glad becuase Maui was doing well. I had a blast and he also looked very
happy. He was even off lead for the 4 obstacle sequence and did amazing.
I was so proud. He kept his focus and followed my cues. I think he liked
the A-frame best and didn't care for the weave poles. He was a little
hesitant at the chute but ran through with it collapsed on his 3rd time.
We had a lot of fun and can't wait for more next week.

I'm glad you had fun. You'll find its like a drug you're addicted to,
especially if you get equipment for your backyard. I spent Saturday morning
building 3 jumps and a set of 12 weaves. Next Saturday is slated for the
building of mini (6') a-frame, teeter and dogwalk bases.

If you have the room and, preferably, a mitre box you can build finished pvc
jumps, with tape, for about $5-6 each. I fashioned stakes for the weave
poles so that I can set them up any way I liked, including slanted, and a
set of 12 only ran me about $17 and 1.5 hours of my time. Just to give you
an idea if you're handy.

We're almost finished with our beginner's agility class and will probably
take a few months to just train at home before going back to take more
classes. I'm guessing we'll do a handling class before moving on to
advanced. We did a CGC class before agility which was very helpful because
we can do off-leash agility training for the most part.

One of my favorite things at the moment is target training. I'm using a
cream cheese container cap and its become the thing to touch at home. I
never would have imagined a piece of plastic gaining such importance around
here!

--
Tara

Today Maui and I attended our first agility class. It is 6 weeks long
but I am already hooked. We learned the A-frame, some jumps, the tunnel,
the chute and weave poles. We did some individual obstacles and even
sequences (up to 4 things in a row). The class had 4 dogs including Maui
and everyone did great. I was surprised at how much we did today but
very glad becuase Maui was doing well. I had a blast and he also looked
very happy. He was even off lead for the 4 obstacle sequence and did
amazing. I was so proud. He kept his focus and followed my cues. I
think he liked the A-frame best and didn't care for the weave poles. He
was a little hesitant at the chute but ran through with it collapsed on
his 3rd time. We had a lot of fun and can't wait for more next week.



I'm glad you had fun. You'll find its like a drug you're addicted to,
especially if you get equipment for your backyard.

I imagine. I live on 10 acres, some flat enough to set up some agility.
And since I live with my parents, I was glad to hear my mom say I should
definately use some of the yard to set up my own agility equipment.




I spent Saturday morning building 3 jumps and a set of 12 weaves. Next
Saturday is slated for the building of mini (6') a-frame, teeter and
dogwalk bases.


sounds fun, I was just thinking of how I can build on the simple agility set
I have to increase its function and durability. I plan to surf for some
good instructions on how to best go about making agility equipment.




If you have the room and, preferably, a mitre box you can build finished
pvc jumps, with tape, for about $5-6 each. I fashioned stakes for the
weave poles so that I can set them up any way I liked, including slanted,
and a set of 12 only ran me about $17 and 1.5 hours of my time. Just to
give you an idea if you're handy.


Glad to hear its not too expensive or time consuming. I'm not very handy
but I should be able to get some help to build some obstacles.


We're almost finished with our beginner's agility class and will probably
take a few months to just train at home before going back to take more
classes. I'm guessing we'll do a handling class before moving on to
advanced. We did a CGC class before agility which was very helpful
because we can do off-leash agility training for the most part.

One of my favorite things at the moment is target training. I'm using a
cream cheese container cap and its become the thing to touch at home. I
never would have imagined a piece of plastic gaining such importance
around here!



thats cute.

"MauiJNP" wrote in message
...

I imagine. I live on 10 acres, some flat enough to set up some agility.
And since I live with my parents, I was glad to hear my mom say I should
definately use some of the yard to set up my own agility equipment.

I live in a subdivision with your typical postage-stamp sized lots and I'll
only be using about 1/2 of my backyard. I'm planning a mini course, not
something as spaced out as you'd find in a trial although that's a pretty
tight course itself.

sounds fun, I was just thinking of how I can build on the simple agility
set I have to increase its function and durability.

I'm building out of dry-fitted pvc so its light, portable and can be broken
down if needed. I'm building 6' a-frames, 6' boarded dogwalk (rather than
12' boards) and a 3/4 length teeter. This makes for boards that are more
easily stored due to being shorter lengths and can be carried more easily.
My neighbors will probably thank me for keeping the obstacle heights under
6' anyway since that's how tall my fence is.

I plan to surf for some good instructions on how to best go about making
agility equipment.

This is a good book and you can adapt/modify the plans to build mini
equipment and/or build it out of pvc vs. aluminum or steel.

http://www.cleanrun.com/category.cfm...KEN=3824 0274


--
Tara

I imagine. I live on 10 acres, some flat enough to set up some agility.
And since I live with my parents, I was glad to hear my mom say I should
definately use some of the yard to set up my own agility equipment.

I live in a subdivision with your typical postage-stamp sized lots and
I'll only be using about 1/2 of my backyard. I'm planning a mini course

that sounds fun, I will probably do the same here. Maui loves the A-frame
so I want to build one of those for him. Cali was out today on the
micro-mini course I set up about an hour ago and she is a natural at the
weave poles so those too are a keeper. I also have a tunnel and 1 jump set
up. Next, I want to get some pvc to make a tire jump using a hula hoop
(which makes it really cheap). Maui did pretty well on a "kid" seesaw at
the park so I think I will want one of them eventually too. Wow, this could
be a problem for my schedule and my bank account as it is very exciting just
thinking about all this stuff.




not something as spaced out as you'd find in a trial although that's a
pretty tight course itself.

sounds fun, I was just thinking of how I can build on the simple agility
set I have to increase its function and durability.

I'm building out of dry-fitted pvc so its light, portable and can be
broken down if needed. I'm building 6' a-frames, 6' boarded dogwalk
(rather than 12' boards) and a 3/4 length teeter. This makes for boards
that are more easily stored due to being shorter lengths and can be
carried more easily.


sounds good.



I plan to surf for some good instructions on how to best go about making
agility equipment.

This is a good book and you can adapt/modify the plans to build mini
equipment and/or build it out of pvc vs. aluminum or steel.

http://www.cleanrun.com/category.cfm...KEN=3824 0274



thanks, I was just going to send a post asking if anyone had that book and
would recommend it. I guess I will look into ordering it.