Agility with Mady, take two
We talked to our herding instructor about it and she recommended a place to try. What a difference!!! We get actual instruction!! I know what Pam means about arms being in the right or wrong place now because we actually have an instructor who watches what we do and gives us feedback! It was a joyful experience. Although, and none of you warned me about this (close your eyes, Ron, this next part is for ladies only) you really do run around alot and, um, the proper supportive undergarments are required! I could have hurt someone!!  At least I wore sneakers. Another lady wore flip flops. |
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| As a member of the weapons brigade, invest in several different types of sports bras. "Keep em chose to your chest" takes on a whole new meaning. This is not the venue for displaying your assets. |
| I've never had that problem and as I age I think I'm very grateful for that. At least they're not hanging down to my waist. |
^^^^ You ladies crack me up.  As with anything, I'm sure Agility involves a great deal of training humans along with the doggies. So is Mady enjoying all the jumps and tunneling? |
| LOL...I understand your pain..... Seeing as I go right to agility class from work(Todd brings Chewie in), my 2 usual messups when dressing at 6am (and still half asleep) before work are : 1) wrong footwear and 2) wrong bra!  Number 3 would have to be no pockets...lolThis past Tuesday I forgot and wore slip on sandals ...so texted Todd that I needed shoes when he brought Chewie in. So, Todd forgets, but remembers halfway to town, goes back and gets them, then drives in....so we are REALLY late for class!  But, I am super glad you found a decent place to go!!  |
| Oh Kim, so very funny and not at all!!! Shame on you agility people for keeping your support to yourselves So glad that you and Mady are having a better time.  |
There is no such thing as TMI on this forum. If we can talk about pregnancy after having your tubes tied, we can talk about "boulder holders"!  It's great that you found a training center where actual learning takes place. Go, Mady! Laurie and Oscar |
TMI???? Boulder holders!! I wish! More like cargo slings. |
| Well, I don't know about needing support.....other than the mental kind for my sanity when running Harry. But I am glad you found a good place for class. Go Mady! |
| Kim, I'm so glad that you found a place that doesn't just let the dogs "run" the show. I'm also glad that my flying arms are understood The hard part of finding a good class is from having bad ones in between. We have gone to four different places. The first one was learning the basics and that was fun but a lot was missed...which I didn't learn till later. Number two at the same place was REALLY bad. So we switched to a different place...again good in the beginning, learned a lot and then it went downhill from there. Number three is THE MOST AWESOME and you learn like never before. Number four was ok but not like Number three so we went back and its SOOOOOO HARD but SOOO GOOD. I don't have to worry so much about support, but I do understand. You've learned a valuable lesson...one of many to come. Its not just running around with the dog(and I do mean running) its understanding how your body helps to direct the dog(if your dog happens to pay any attention to you, which mine doesn't). One thing that many people don't realize is that agility is so much MORE than running and telling the dog what to do. I watched a women last year that did not utter a sound to her dog. It was all done with hand signals and body language and the dog ran the course perfectly. Of course her dog paid attention to her...which mine doesn't. We're working on that  |
| Glad you found a good place and had fun!! |
| So glad you had a good time and had fun with Mady. I agree it's hard to find a good training facility. You guys all crack me up. I never would have thought of a sports bra for dog training. I'll keep that in mind today for Treiball. Lisa Frankie and Mattie |
| You so did the right thing, moving on and waiting for a more appropriate class. It will pay off in the long run. Kristine |
| It's so important to find the right class. Our first class wasn't bad but our new class is fantastic. I understand the importance of the right support and was lucky the first class Tiggy and I took sent out a pre-class pack of info which included stuff about appropriate clothing and footwear. It didn't mention support specifically but it did mention running around and comfortable clothing as well as weather appropriate as it was outdoors.Now that we're at such a great agility school Tiggy is loving her classes and learning too fast for the agility servant to keep up.  |
| I have bruises from tonight's class. Mady went completely crackerdog during agility class and NIPPED ME!!! She hasn't done that kind of thing since she was a teeny tiny puppy! She brilliantly went over 3 jumps then, instead of running into the tunnel, just went bonkers, barking madly. My Mady! Barking and nipping!! What the hell???? The trainer didn't seem at all alarmed by it-she said that Mady was just confused and wanted to do things right and that, after all, we had only had two classes and both Mady and I are just learning. She said that I had confused Mady and she calmly went over what I did wrong. We finished the evening with a perfect run of a few jumps and a tunnel. I am getting the feeling that I am going to be a liability for Mady. I am pleased, though, at how calm the trainer is and how she patiently and very specifically tells me what I did to cause the confusion. But, still, Mady nipped me!!! I am beyond shocked about that. Oh, and Dawn, she LOVES that tug you gave her. Who needs treats if we have that! P.S. She also tried to pull down David's pants. I could hear him grumbling under his breath about Mady channeling Tiggy and her mischief. |
Mady wrote: I have bruises from tonight's class. Mady went completely crackerdog during agility class and NIPPED ME!!! She hasn't done that kind of thing since she was a teeny tiny puppy! She brilliantly went over 3 jumps then, instead of running into the tunnel, just went bonkers, barking madly. My Mady! Barking and nipping!! What the hell???? The trainer didn't seem at all alarmed by it-she said that Mady was just confused and wanted to do things right and that, after all, we had only had two classes and both Mady and I are just learning. She said that I had confused Mady and she calmly went over what I did wrong. We finished the evening with a perfect run of a few jumps and a tunnel. I am getting the feeling that I am going to be a liability for Mady. I am pleased, though, at how calm the trainer is and how she patiently and very specifically tells me what I did to cause the confusion. But, still, Mady nipped me!!! I am beyond shocked about that. Oh, and Dawn, she LOVES that tug you gave her. Who needs treats if we have that! P.S. She also tried to pull down David's pants. I could hear him grumbling under his breath about Mady channeling Tiggy and her mischief. I can see I need to make a 2nd tug so David can save his pants..... Chewie is just like that. In class one night we finished our course and he's looking all over for his tug, or his tug lead. He couldn't find it soon enough, so he grabs the instructor's jacket off her chair and gives it the death shakes and grunts....I thought every one was going to die laughing, including the instructor! And don't worry, as you learn and get better, Mady will lose the frustration bark. We got that a LOT in the beginning. It is a HUGE incentive to get better!! It's like your dog publicly screaming "you really suck at this!!" - so humbling.  The pinch...yep, I know that one. Here's what happened one time I didn't have the tug fast enough when he got the wild crazies (yes, he goes bonkers for agility)....  Just one of many...luckily they mostly happened over winter so long sleeves covered the evidence.  |
| Yup, sweet little Mace has gone nuts on occasion and forgotten the no teeth on human rule and her sister has mistaken a couple of t-shirts for tug toys, they are now sporting nice little holes, thank you very much Dawn is right, the frustration barking will go away once your communication skills have smoothed out some. You're not a liability - you're learning. So is she. Lots of room for confusion, and especially in the beginning.Kristine |
Excuse me!! Tiggy has NEVER tried to pull anyone's pants down.  And she also doesn't bark in agility when I'm a total doofus, she just looks really confused does the dog equivalent of an eye roll, gives it another go to confirm that the agility servant really and truly has lost her marbles and then runs away to commiserate with another dog. I can hear them conferring in whispers about the trials and tribulations of trying to find decent agility servants these days. I swear she goes so far as to say she only puts up with me for the great treats. I have had my hand mistaken for the tug toy on many occasions. Yeoowww! Agility is just so darned exciting.  |
| Ok, you guys are making me feel better. I thought Mady had lost her mind. Of course, the border collie in the class never barks. On the plus side, it is a class of just two dogs, so at least my humiliation is limited to a small number of people. So far we are managing to do it without food treats, but I am thinking that it might be ME who needs small pieces of chocolate or something for every successful obstacle. |
2 people  Lordy Tiggy embarrasses me in front of a class of 9 others plus onlookers.Is there a reason why you're training without food treats?? I know some instructors don't agree with them, but Susan Garrett theorises that games like tuggers energise and food treats calm. Certainly from a physiology perspective that makes sense. She admits that it's her personal opinion based on observation though not fact. I admit I'm not convinced it's true when Tiggy shurtles my fingers off though but I guess the arguement could be made that she'd be worse without the food treats.  Border collies often don't bark, they have 'eye'. Weird thing is Tiggy barks like a banshee at home but not at agility. Seems Mady is the opposite. Consider yourself lucky! |
| Treats are allowed and the other person uses them for their Aussie-mix (not a Border Collie). But treats don't have a calming affect on Mady, they make Mady lose her freakin' mind! We stopped using the tug halfway through last night, since it seemed to just fire Mady up to Total Crackerdog state! Switched to just a lot of praise and a chest rub, she calmed down and actually started doing better. We're not morally opposed to treats etc. it just seems so far that any treats, toys or tugs or anything just distracts her and makes her mental. I still believe Mady has a very strong work ethic and desire to please, and she just seems extremely happy and proud when she something well. And the instructor pointed out that Mady's barking decreased considerably as we improved in communicating what we wanted her to do. It's funny the contrast with herding. No treats, toys, tugs are needed in herding, and they would NOT distract her at all. A steamy sirloin steak would not even get a glance. In herding, the ultimate reward is the sheep. Mady enters a state of grace when she's allowed to herd the sheep.  |
Baba wrote: In herding, the ultimate reward is the sheep. Mady enters a state of grace when she's allowed to herd the sheep. Yup. That's what they're bred for. The other things may take some tweaking Kristine |
| Fair enough. Tiggy is like that with roast chicken. She's good with other treats but if I bring roast chicken she rushes at me and snaps my fingers off and misses obstacles because she's too busy looking over her shoulder to see if I'm reaching for the chicken. Tiggy would also ignore a steak when there are sheep however I would not describe her as in a state of grace. A state of completely mental and out of control yes but grace ...... no. |
Mim wrote: Tiggy would also ignore a steak when there are sheep however I would not describe her as in a state of grace. A state of completely mental and out of control yes but grace ...... no. With an OES I think it's safe to say it's a fine line KB |
Mad Dog wrote: Mim wrote: Tiggy would also ignore a steak when there are sheep however I would not describe her as in a state of grace. A state of completely mental and out of control yes but grace ...... no. With an OES I think it's safe to say it's a fine line KB Ya reckon?! I don't know about a fine line with Tiggy. Maybe she's just so far over it that I can't bleedin' well see it.  |
| Belle will tell you that in herding she was always in a state of grace. It was the stock, me and our instructor who bore the brunt of her "grace" Kristine |
| Yes that sounds familiar. Last visit to see sheep Tiggy worked herself into a frenzy and ran round and round the yard clockwise. It's the only direction for sheep herding you know! I was so dizzy I nearly fell down and Tiggy was deaf. She got the sheep so stressed that when she finally made a dart at one it panicked and jumped over her. I've not seen the instructor jump the fence to the round pen before. That's when we decided that Tiggy should herd on lead only till she learns some self control. That's also when you guys helped me decide to work on self control in the context of agility for a while before we went back to herding. So far so good we're going ahead in leaps and bounds at agility and with a new full time job I haven't had time for herding anyway. |
| I do so hope that I meet Ms. Tiggy in person one day. I bet she has some stories to tell about you! |
| Mr. Simon "used" to nip. I think it was because I wasn't moving fast enough for him. I say "used" to because he got me a good one on the inner thigh the other day as I was practicing weaves with him. Yes, I did let him know that I was not impressed. |
So Mim, do you think if you bring Ms Tiggy up to the northern hemisphere, she would herd sheep counter clockwise??  The water swirlies change direction, so why not Tiggy? |
got sheep wrote: So Mim, do you think if you bring Ms Tiggy up to the northern hemisphere, she would herd sheep counter clockwise?? The water swirlies change direction, so why not Tiggy? Bound to!! She's a force of nature after all, not a state of grace. |
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