Kia and I are starting Agility next week!

[ramanth]

First class update!
Kia's class went wonderfully! There are only 3 people total which makes it great for having Janet, the instructor, work closely with all of us.

In Kia's class there is Molly, the Doberman and Paco, the Border Collie mix. Paco isn't very dog friendly on the leash I suspect. When we were introducing our dogs to each other Paco laid into Kia. But when we were working around the equipment, he was real good. Molly is very shy but towards the end of the day she really opened up.

For the first class we worked with tunnels. Kia's still hesitates on the closed tunnel and Janet has to hold her at one end and I call her at the other. But with the open tunnel and chute, she barrels right in. All the dogs did great.

We also practiced walking the dogs slowly over a ladder so they know what their back feet are doing. Took them all a little while to get used to that.

And we as handlers practiced working the dogs on the left and right side.

Looking forward to next Wednesday!

~~~~~~

I'm really excited!

Here's the specfics:

MI Dog Agility will be offering an introduction to agility class from 6-7 p.m. Wednesday evenings from June 16 to July 21. This course will:

~Show you and your dog how to negotiate all the United Kennel Club agility obstacles. (UKC has some obstacles not found in other registries. If you learn the UKC obstacles, you’ll have the skills to participate in agility events sanctioned by the American Kennel Club, NADAC, USDAA, CPE, etc.)
~Teach you the rules of agility, including some of the differences among the various registries.
~Teach you basic handling techniques.

This course is recommended for owners and dogs who are new to agility, or for experienced owners working with an inexperienced dog.


I don't expect to ever end up at competitions, but I think Kia and I will have fun with this.

I'll be sure to get pictures once we get a feel for the class.

[apcrs5122]

Sounds like fun! I've always wanted to do agility, but Alex just isn't the right kind of dog
You guys must be excited, hopefully Kia will enjoy it too! Can't wait to see pictures of it all

[shais_mom]

Go Kia!!

[Kfamr]

Yay! Have fun Kimmy and Kia~!

[wolf_Q]

Awesome!! Agility is a lot of fun. I bet you will do great!!

[anna_66]

Oh I just know Kia is going to love it! I remember you talking about it when we were at the park.
Have fun and let us know how you both like it

[Crikit]

Good for you Kimmy. I know you'll both enjoy it, but I must warn you it gets to be a very very very addicting sport

[ParNone]

Welcome to the wonderful world of agilty! You guys are gonna have a blast!

[lizbud]

Sounds like it would be great fun for both of you.
Go Kia, and Go Kim...... Let us know how it goes.

[RobiLee]

This is exciting. I remembering you mentioning it at the park also.

Yay! Go Kia and Kimmy!

Can't wait to hear all about it.

Robin

[ramanth]

Thanks everyone.

Hey Amy...did you find that you got a lot of exercise too?

[jenfer]

Yay! Have fun!!! I think Gigi loves her pre-agility class too. But seems like I am the one who do most of the work.

[Logan]

Kimmy, you guys are going to have so much fun! Honey and I tried it, but she was too scared of everything! It was outside and at night and there were lots of other dogs around. It was not the confidence builder we had hoped for! I think Zipper would love it, but we haven't figured out when we have time to try with him!

Logan

[ramanth]

I also love how this class will be small. She only allows 6 to register at one time.

[ParNone]

ramanth writes:

Hey Amy...did you find that you got a lot of exercise too?

hi ramanth, I know this was directed at Amy, but thought I'd chime in with my observations. How much exercise you get is in direct proportion to the peppiness of you and your dog. I've seen fast people with slow dogs, that don't get much in the way exercise. Fast dogs running here and there or ahead, while their owner was more or less stationary, standing there yelling commands at their dog.

I get a lot of exercise, because Oz paces his speed to me. He won't run ahead of me, which is something we have to work on or I have to get really thin and fast. So the more I put out, the more he does. So I really try on every run, to run full out. Even in the beginner's class, after the initial introduction to the obstacles, I'd keep running well after he completed the obstacle, to make it more fun and keep us both running, whereas a lot of people would just stand there as their dog came trotting out of the obstacle. Not much incentive for the dog to run through the obstacle.

Kia seems like she'd be really fast, so I could see you getting quite a bit of exercise, trying to keep up with her.

Par...