First Training Days of Agility

I have been fortunate to meet a lady through the local sheep and herding world that is a very knowledgeable and successful competitor in agility. She lives close enough for a quick visit, so my friend and I took Chance and m Australian Shepherd, Sadie, up about a month or so ago to get a lesson. They were really impressed with Chance and his athleticism. I think he would do really well, which is part of the reason I decided to take him up.

She taught me how to teach the dogs to “go around” something, and to jump. Oh, and to “touch” my hand, which I need to start doing with them too. She let me borrow a jump and bring it home, and I set it up with great intentions! But when I worked with Chance, all of the other dogs just barked and carried on like crazy, so I stopped training him so the dogs wouldn’t bother my friend or the neighborhood.

Yesterday, my friend set up a few sheep to train my herding crew on, so, since I was feeling all ambitious, I decided to start working with Chance and Sadie again, and maybe some of the other Ratties. Chance really enjoys playing with a headless, destuffed bunny, and chases it with great enthusiasm around the yard. He seems to be very studious though when I bring him to the jump to teach him to “go around.” He doesn’t quite get the concept, although he seems to understand it better, at the moment, than Sadie. The jump is easy, as I have worked with him before with jumps back at my old place.

I was able to take a few shots of him playing with the headless, destuffed bunny and working on the “go around” and “over.”