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Magnus and Agility for Fun

By katie, on November 18th, 2010

Seems I haven’t been able to put together a coherent sentence lately, thus the lack of posts. . . Come to think if it I’m not sure if this is a coherent sentence!

Oh well, I have exciting news, so you will have to bear with my lack of coherency.

Tough Choices
Since this Saturday is Magnus last Puppy Prep class I have debated what to do. Obviously his age makes him prime to move into Wonder Pups, the next level of puppy class at Calling All Dogs.

But they also offer what seems to be a great class for reactive dogs. It is a class I feel will be wonderful for Maizey and I am anxious to have her take it.

So the debate began.

I know realistically I can only take one class at a time. Money of course is a consideration, but time and energy are resources I am constantly short on, so I must consider that too. And for me one class at a time is what is realistic.

That leaves me in the uncomfortable position of choosing which pup needs it more. Not something I was happy to choose. But Magnus age, and class availability had me convinced to move on to the next puppy class with him.

Magnus the Brave Goes to Agility for Fun
The assistant to his Wednesday night class teaches a course called Agility for Fun. It is an agility foundation skills class. I would never have considered him for this class since the prerequisites require him to complete the class he is in plus one or two classes past his.

But then a very exciting thing happened.

The Agility for Fun instructor asked us if we would like to join her class! I was floored. And honestly more than a little proud of my little guy for being such a brave, smart boy that she felt he could handle that level of class.

So of course that settled the debate once and for all. I will continue to work with Maizey here at home and use this opportunity to continue Magnus’ education and socialization. I am quite excited about it, and yes. . . a little nervous. (You wouldn’t honestly expect me to be not be nervous by now would you?)

It is a great way for me to learn clicker skills, and for him to learn confidence and focus. Did I mention I am excited?

A Simple Task
Magnus loves to tug, but I have had little experience teaching a release.

Maizey came with a built-in release: “This tug thing is boooring crazymomlady, so sure I’ll give it to you.”

Thus I beg the wisdom of your experience. What foundation skills did you find most helpful? What skills do you wish you spent more time on now? Do you have a favorite method of teaching focus, tug drive, and a release to tugging?

Growth is a continual process and this is an opportunity I hoped to have with my Princessface, so I am very excited and determined to learn all I can and bring it home to her. Hopefully this will be yet another confidence booster for all of us!

"I'm goin' to agility, cause I am Magnus The Brave!"

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  • Dawn

    Sounds like fun! You’ll all be careful, right, because he’s still a pup and still has growing bones..

    • http://www.lessonsfrom4legs.com Katie

      Thanks Dawn, you make such a good point! One I have definitely considered. Especially with everything we have been through with Maizey’s knees the last thing I want is injuries. As far as a I know the only obstacles we will be on is the tunnel. This is mostly focus, confidence building, contact work etc. I know if I decide to opt out of anything this instructor will respect that. Thanks for the good suggestion!

  • Ricky

    A foundation agility class with Magnus will be so much fun!!! The biggest thing I wish I had taught Ricky is speed and drive – I thought he would be naturally fast at agility because he is a naturally fast dog. I didn’t know how to teach drive so I didn’t. He thinks agility is a job and he’s really careful to do it slowly and right. So if I were starting over, I would encourage him to be fast and not worry so much about the correct part until he was super fast.

    • http://www.lessonsfrom4legs.com Katie

      This is a good suggestion Ricky! What things would you have your mom do to teach you drive? I think being careful would be Maizey’s style, she likes to get her job right.:) Thanks for the idea’s!

  • http://barknabout.blogspot.com Misskodee

    Great choice! Magnus age will benefit still from group classes for socialization. Kodee went to few different classes and it really helped her. But with Becky the timing was always off so she hasnt been to any. This in reflection was not a great choice on my part. But we are working through it now and hunting down internet help. I found a book called Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt – you can also search Youtube for videos. Around here the majority of Reactive Dog classes are based off of this book. Look it up you might like it to work with Maisy at home. Have fun!

    • http://www.lessonsfrom4legs.com Katie

      Hi Miskodee and her mom. (Sorry I can’t remember your name.) Control Unleashed is a great book. We have been working on some of the exercises from that book, and they are great! There are some great youtube video’s, and their is a Control Unleashed Yahoo Group. It’s not active now, but the archives are rich with info.

      I’m sure some of Maizey’s issues are genetic, but it is a lot due to not enough socialization, so I am really trying not o repeat that mistake with Magnus. Classes are a big part of that. Thanks so much for the recommendation and the comments!

  • http://www.bztraining.blogspot.com Kathleen

    Agility: I think Agility is great fun, but a warning: I took Beau as a wild 6 month old teenager, and my lack of experience coupled with his “wild ways” made for a complete disaster. I would be very leary of taking a young dog again unless the instructor was familiar working with puppies and I knew the puppy had some self-control. What Beau learned was that running obstacles was a blast and that he could zoomie around/on them and no one could “catch” him.

    The instructor, while highly titled and well respected by many, was horrible with HIM (and quite frankly should have kicked him out of class on day one.) Their desire to create a “reved up dog” at all costs was totally absurd given his total lack of self-control and his already overdrive attitude.

    That class was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made (and I have a lot of biggies to choose from!)

    Of course, many puppies have a great time with Agility and learn all kinds of useful life skills, and Beau was FAR from typical, but just something to keep in the back your mind: make sure what Magnus is learning is what YOU want him to learn and be willing to remove him from the setting, if need be.

    I had Zachary in a Agility for Fun class and he loved it. The class Beau was in was for competitve agility with a different instructor.

    • http://www.lessonsfrom4legs.com Katie

      I always appreciate your thoughts Kathleen. I can certainly see the dangers you experienced with Beau. I am very glad this instructor is completely positive reinforcement, and she knows Magnus from his puppy class. Drive is important, but impulse control is equally important.

      I learned the dangers of not speaking up in Maizey’s class thankfully I have already experienced them respecting when I want to opt out of an activity. Hopefully that will continue, but if not I have no problem walking away. I learned that lesson the hard way once.

      As for the mistakes. . . don’t we all have so many? (sighs) But Beau was a great boy, and Zachary is another great boy, and Henry? He is just the next BZ Training superstar!! Thanks for your thoughts, and always reading!

  • http://margebl0g.blogspot.com Sam and MargeDog

    Thanks so much for stopping by! And thanks for your kind words abut Marge’s accomplishments.

    Marge is actually an agility dog that does NOT like to tug after running. She is, however, highly food motivated. I’ve dabbled in trying to get her to tug, and she enjoys it, but I don’t think she sees it as a suitable reward for an agility run the way food is.

    The “For Fun” class at your training club teaches foundation skills? That’s interesting! The For Fun class I just got finished teaching explicitly was not for foundation work. I do know of one club in the area that has a For Fun class that’s sort of for competition and sort of not (not as rigorous as a regular foundation class). Either way, I bet you’ll have a blast!

    We’ll stop by again, hope you do, too!

    Sam and MargeDog

    • http://www.lessonsfrom4legs.com Katie

      Hi Sam and Margedog, so glad you read! You make a good point about motivation. So far Magnus has a good toy drive, and he is little food monster. So I am glad about that.

      It’s interesting what the different classes teach. What did you cover in your “for fun” class? What things as an instructor do you consider foundation work?

      I am fairly new to the details so I am trying hard to learn as much as I can and I appreciate your thoughts! Thanks!

      • http://margebl0g.blogspot.com Sam and MargeDog

        Hi Katie,

        Foundation work, to me, is usually work that precedes real sequencing with the agility obstacles. Recalling over jumps, tight turns, wide turns, sending the dog laterally out away from you, etc. Contact criteria (2-on-2-off at the bottom of the A-Frame, for example). Ground work, such as teaching the dog to switch leads and turn while they’re running next to you (the beginnings of rear crosses). Etc. etc. It usually has more to do with specific handling maneuvers than it does learning the agility obstacles. I know of one agility instructor in my area who doesn’t introduce obstacles to dogs for WEEKS – they go to agility class and don’t even perform the obstacles, just perform basic ground work! My instructor was less strict, but still introduced the obstacles gradually and taught us a lot of specific skills that we’d need to navigate a competition course.

        In my Agility for Fun class, we didn’t teach anything like this. We went straight to the obstacles and basically taught the dogs/handlers to work together as a team and navigate a 10-12 obstacle course. The dog usually remained on one side of the handler for the entire course, since we didn’t teach and sort of crosses (where the dog changes sides between obstacles). Many of the dogs had obstacle fears, so we did lots of counterconditioning and got them to enjoy going through tunnels, or jumping, etc. It was more about motivation and confidence than it was about formal agility.

        A lot of people take “for fun” classes if they want their dog to do SOMETHING with agility, but are unsure about how competitive they want to be. In many ways, it’s a good first-look in to agility, because there are some skills required (coming when called, staying near you, etc) that are essential for success even in a for fun class.

        Hope this helps some! Feel free to ask any more questions.

  • http://cavalier-a-day.blogspot.com Beth

    It’s good that Magnus is taking a puppy agility class. He looks like he’s having a lot of fun.

    I’m going to be taking Chispita to an adult dog agility class next spring or summer.

    • http://www.lessonsfrom4legs.com Katie

      Hi Beth, I’m sure Chispita will have a blast in her agility class! Can’t wait to here all the stories!

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  • Deb at Emptynest

    I’m sure Magnus will have a blast! As far as foundation skills. My trainer tells all of us at our very first foundation agility class “teach the start line now or spend more time teaching it later”. She tells us NEVER to allow our dog to do an obstacle without being released – if they move go back and reposition them and reward them heavily for their start line stay – as in go back and reward them before releasing them. We are just novices at competing but I think that has been excellent advice.

    As far as a release from tugging I wouldn’t worry too much about it yet. I was very strict with Max teaching him out – the result was a dog who lost all interest in tugging. I’ve worked hard for a year to get it back. Today he even tugged at our trial before his run. Food is still his A+ reward so that’s what he gets. I do try and have him tug to rev him up though. Rylie doesn’t tug much when there are other dogs around (probably due to having his toy taken and being rolled by a rambunctious large Golden who was visiting us) so I considered it a big win today when he also tugged at the trial.

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