-sigh- *1st agility class a disaster - need advice*

Well, last night was Jack's first agility class....and I was very disappointed, for several reasons :(

First of all, Jack was a complete nutcase. He was way overstimulated and excited. He wouldn't pay attention to me at all for the first 10-15 minutes or so. After a while he became a little better, until the instructor came over and thought if Jack got to play a minute then he would pay more attention, Jack and her Border Collie Chase wrestled for a little bit. When we made them stop playing Jack was worse than ever and wouldn't stop crying :rolleyes: So this went on for a little, and finally he stopped and started actually watching me and leaving the other dogs alone. You could tell he was extremely stressed and anxious though :( Why is he so obsessed with other dogs? Nobody else in the class was like this :( He is THE most perfect dog in any other situation...but seems to go deaf around other dogs. And it was the exact same way when we took basic obedience. The first class he was completely awful, it was so embarrassing, but after that he became SO much better, and ended up doing really great...And I don't know what to do!! He does know "watch me" and does it 100% of the time in the house, yard or on walks if no other dogs (well besides mine) are present....and when I asked him to watch me during the class, he looked at me maybe 80% of the time...

I think it was partly my fault though, I was definatly not myself, I was extremely frustrated with him and felt like I was always correcting him. :( I wanted to take agility because I thought we would both enjoy it but last night was NOT fun :(

And I don't like the way the classes were run...I was looking for a place to take him and my Aunt reccemended I take him to this place because the instructor actually takes classes from my Aunt. It was the very first class, and I really don't feel like I learned anything at all...the very first thing we did was learn the tunnel. We just walked up and sent the dog through and ran along side the tunnel and met the dog at the other end. And by the time they went through it 3 times it was full length and then they put a curve in it! I thought it was waaay too fast!! And I think they could've done a better job explaining things, when I took classes from my Aunt with Micki we spent the first day learning what all of the obstacles were and what commands you can use, etc. And they did nothing of the sort, just went right to the tunnel, didn't give us any instruction on how to do it just said, "Okay, lets practice the tunnel"...with no instruction at all!

I am the youngest in the class and I felt like I was constantly ignored. Most of the people have already taken this particular class and are redoing it so most of the time was spent on them :( Also there was a LOT of down time, time where we just stood around and this was the worst for Jack. I just think he gets way too bored.

I don't know what to do...I feel I should give this place a chance but I honestly think I could better spend my $80 somewhere else...(like gas money to go to my Aunt's house maybe) And I know this has been asked before but how do I get Jack to pay more attention to what I'm doing and not the other dogs? I'm at a complete loss and don't know what to do anymore :(

I have no advice for you. I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry the first class didn't go so well. I hope you don't give up on it though. It was only the first class maybe things will get better.

Tori sounds like Jack. I didn't do well with her in obedience class all she wanted to do was play and wrestle with the other dogs. Lots of whining and crying. I would become self-conscience, embarrassed and frustrated and that only made things worse. At home I'm not like that and she listens fairly well..lol..for the most part.

Anyway..sorry I don't have any advice. I wish you all the best. I would love to see some pics of Jack and the rest of the gang;).

I can remember our first agility training like it was yesterday :)

Fortunately my experience was more enjoyable and our instructors were really helpful.

It is probably better to take Jack for a walk before you go to the training class if he is too excited to begin with like that. Our instructor actualy did give this advice to one of the handler whose dog was overly excited like Jack and it seemed to work as the dog was calmer at the training after that.

I'm not sure if this would work for Jack but Snowy gets focused when I have her favourite treats :D so perhaps you can give it a try and bring Jack his favourite treat? or toys perhaps as some dogs prefer toys to treats.

Lastly, be more positive - enjoy the training. I know it can be frustrated not to get it right. But hey this is training after all and you do get better after a while. Just remember that it may takes years of training to do it absolutely right in the meantime enjoy the training :) it will be more fun when you get to do different things in the training, I promise. I can hardly wait for our agility training to start again this year.

Thanks guys.

I will try walking him before class, and I really meant to but I had a lot of other things to do. Before his obedience class I took him for a bike ride before to tire him out and he was still a brat :( But I will definately try it again before our next class!

I had treats, and I didn't feed him dinner before hoping he would be more focused on the food than anything. But he still wouldn't take the treats, everything else was way more exciting...

I know that my frustration had some effect on him, he was stessed out enough to have diarreah last night :( Its so hard to be more positive though when he won't respond to me :(

I definately am not going to give up on agility completely, I have wanted to do it for YEARS and I know it'll take time, I just kinda wished the instructors would be a bit more helpful I guess. I asked them what I should do about his problems and thats when she brought her dog over to play :rolleyes:

Bumpity bump?

Seeing as I help teach Agility classes perhaps I can help you a little.

You have to remember that people teach differently then others and it could take you a little while to get used to this new teachers style.

When we first start agility classes the head instructor goes over some of the rules of the class and the building and also over some of the things that students might need in the class. From there we go straight to the tunnel, the head instructo likes to explain each obstacle as she goes along.

As for Jack I actually go through the same thing with Beaker, only also inculde the IG need to zoom around the room at break necking speeds. What I've learned to do with him is either keep him focused on me while we are waiting our turn by working on other commands, flat work, or on attention commands or I keep him up in my arms unless of course I have his kennel there and then he goes in to his kennel while waiting our turn.

The waiting game is a big thing in agility classes because it's not like obdience classes where you can work on the stuff as the same time as everyone else. That's why I always find it good to work on the other stuff with my dogs while I'm waiting. Some of the things that I do are things like getting the dog to follow my lead hand, which doesn't need any equipment at all. I also do target work with my dogs where they target my hands which will later help when we are running on course because they learn to watch my hands. I have also be known to work on my side changes while waiting or even just working on the dogs commands for the side changes. It's also fairly easy to do attention work while you are waiting as all that really takes is praising your dog everytime they look towards you...I could explain that in more detail if you want.

Jack could have been acting like that for the first class because it was a new place, with new smells and new dogs. I've seen plenty of dogs that are really excited and hard to control for the first week or two of classes but who eventually settle down as they get used to everything going around them.

This is what my agility instructor taught me to help Toby focus on me when there is distractions


My instructor is having me play a name game with Toby. When I say his name he should look at me within 2 seconds. You start off by having him on a leash and holding no longer then his body. Standing behind him you call his name once and if he doesn't immediatly turn around and look at you, you goose him or give a little pull on his tail to get his attention. As soon as he looks at you, you click and give a high value treat. You build up with more distraction such as other dogs and treat and toys on the ground. When he is consistently responding on a leash you caan move to a long line. You also want to back when you call his name so he has to chase you. You have to be very consistent. The most important thing is to have really good treat and a variety of treats.

I still love Jack don't worry!!!! I have some great advise for you!!! But I haven't thought of it yet :D But I hope that your second class goes better ;) Remember Jack is the man!!!! I hope this helped you ALOT :D :D

I think you need to give him time. Zeke was like that at flyball at first. He still likes dogs and sometimes get distracted, but he became much better at focusing on me after a while. I think it was a new thing for him, and very exciting. Does he have a fav toy or treat? Try brining it and getting him to focus on it.

I'm sorry to hear your first class didn't go well. I confess it's a little odd to start with the tunnel but every instructor is different. I don't think there's a right or wrong on what to teach first. As for the waiting/distraction. Targeting helps to keep the focus on you. My class gave each of us a clear plastic small plate that we taught the dogs to touch then gave them a treat. Since it's clear it teaches them to focus on your hands. As for the waiting, our instructors recommended bring a favorite toy that you can play with him. Something like a rope to play tug of war, etc. Gets rid of energy, keeps focus on you, and is a reward for him. It works really well for an extremely hyper aussie in our class that if his owner let him would just sit there and bark and whine the entire class.

Honestly, if the instructor was allowing you to correct your dog alot and was moving THAT fast, they probably aren't quality instructors. Is there any other place you could go? Have you check on www.apdt.com ?

A listing of training places in MI: http://www.otch.com/michigan.htm