Trying Agility – A Beginner’s Experience
We do it with ourselves, our children and our dogs. We try different things to find that one thing they seem to be naturally suited to.
So it is with my second Lagotto, Emmroche Amaretto, known as Zucca. As a puppy we did the obedience classes, at which she was very good even when she did not want to sit still. However she finds it hard to curb her enthusiasm outside training and good manners can and do, go to the wind. (I think there is a springer spaniel in there).
We went to ringcraft and met lots of dogs and people. We tried different classes but again natural enthusiasm and an inability to sit or stand still for long got the better of her.
We went to puppy agility camps, with fun, play and ground level obstacles. She was not worried by the equipment and liked to play with the other puppies.
Then we moved house and work, relocation and DIY got in the way of much of anything dog related.
After a year we tried ringcraft again. After 4 weeks Zucca managed a passable stand and would tolerate handling and inspection. She liked to move, but thought that anything more than a stroll was an invitation to play with my feet. All that said she managed a couple of places at local shows and although she was clearly thoroughly outclassed in the French and World championships she did manage to get round the ring and be inspected without too much fuss. It was however, very obviously not her sport.
So, determined to work her at something we sought agility classes. They always seemed like show jumping for dogs and which I can remember trying as a child to get my beagle cross red setter to do, with mixed success.
Situated between Wye Valley and Golden Valley we had a good choice of clubs and so started group lessons when Zucca was two years old. As usual people would sidle over and say “what is it?” Followed by the usual ” a what-o ?” However they also added, “she’s keen”; “she has drive”;” she’s fast”, with no small measure of envy, even from some Collie owners. It should be said that Collies are very prevalent and very successful in agility. It is for them, it seems to me the ideal thing and something very right for a dog that lives to work.
And so, together we are learning the finer points of agility. Both being newbies, we have to work out how to tackle the obstacles. I can see now that the early training paid dividends. Zucca is happy with the tunnel and the raised dog walk and A frame. Whenever she has been unsure a high value food treat such as sausage or cheese has always persuaded her that the risk IS worth the reward. We have now progressed to front, rear and false crosses and flick flaks hold fewer terrors. We both seem to be beginning to understand what is expected of us as we trot happily around the courses.
All of this said, we have our challenges. The energy and the drive mean that whilst I can walk round the kitchen with food in my hand and Zucca will perform an exemplary wait, when placed in front of an agility course, she forgets in her eagerness and so we have to work very hard on that.
We have learnt that contacts are important and that are best taught through target training. So homework is touching and retouching a small plastic box lid with the nose until treated (her not me!). Contacts are not to be moved from until released – thank God Lagotto like food and that unlike many, Zucca has no weight issues.
I am beginning to learn that the less I say by way of command the better. Shouting “dog walk, emm I mean A frame, sorry see saw”, is not helpful. Thankfully, Zucca has always been a dog who is interested in hand signals and so often ignored what I say. Apparently the skill is to get your arm and shoulders to dictate the dog’s direction of travel.
I am also learning that to go at a moderate pace works better than trying to blast after her, she will go on without me and if I run she gets excited, too excited and the brain switches off. Remember those early comments about drive and speed? Well I am learning that they can work against you especially if you are both newbies. Control comes before speed.
We are both loving this sport. She needs no toy or food reward to make the run interesting and fun, she runs for the joy of it. When a run goes right it feels like something from Chariots of Fire – all that slow motion. Zucca must have it in her blood, her mother Gaesten Canna Cia at Emmroche is very good at this and although I have been told several times that she is a hard dog to learn with because she is fast, and that she would have made a great second dog, we are going to keep on learning together, because when it all comes together there is no feeling like it.
This spring and summer will be our first chance to compete after just 6 months training and we will see how we go. I hope for great things, but I know that we will mess up as many courses as those we do well at, but the fun is in working together .
Would I recommend it to others – yes definitely find a good club and join in. Would I phone a friend – yes always ask for advice, then decide whether to take it or not, there are after all several ways to skin a cat – or in this case train a Lagotto.
Have a go, you may love it, your dog may love it and if not there is always something else to try.
By Claire Morgan-Jones
We do it with ourselves, our children and our dogs. We try different things to find that one thing they seem to be naturally suited to.
So it is with my second Lagotto, Emmroche Amaretto, known as Zucca. As a puppy we did the obedience classes, at which she was very good even when she did not want to sit still. However she finds it hard to curb her enthusiasm outside training and good manners can and do, go to the wind. (I think there is a springer spaniel in there).
We went to ringcraft and met lots of dogs and people. We tried different classes but again natural enthusiasm and an inability to sit or stand still for long got the better of her.
We went to puppy agility camps, with fun, play and ground level obstacles. She was not worried by the equipment and liked to play with the other puppies.
Then we moved house and work, relocation and DIY got in the way of much of anything dog related.
After a year we tried ringcraft again. After 4 weeks Zucca managed a passable stand and would tolerate handling and inspection. She liked to move, but thought that anything more than a stroll was an invitation to play with my feet. All that said she managed a couple of places at local shows and although she was clearly thoroughly outclassed in the French and World championships she did manage to get round the ring and be inspected without too much fuss. It was however, very obviously not her sport.
So, determined to work her at something we sought agility classes. They always seemed like show jumping for dogs and which I can remember trying as a child to get my beagle cross red setter to do, with mixed success.
Situated between Wye Valley and Golden Valley we had a good choice of clubs and so started group lessons when Zucca was two years old. As usual people would sidle over and say “what is it?” Followed by the usual ” a what-o ?” However they also added, “she’s keen”; “she has drive”;” she’s fast”, with no small measure of envy, even from some Collie owners. It should be said that Collies are very prevalent and very successful in agility. It is for them, it seems to me the ideal thing and something very right for a dog that lives to work.
And so, together we are learning the finer points of agility. Both being newbies, we have to work out how to tackle the obstacles. I can see now that the early training paid dividends. Zucca is happy with the tunnel and the raised dog walk and A frame. Whenever she has been unsure a high value food treat such as sausage or cheese has always persuaded her that the risk IS worth the reward. We have now progressed to front, rear and false crosses and flick flaks hold fewer terrors. We both seem to be beginning to understand what is expected of us as we trot happily around the courses.
All of this said, we have our challenges. The energy and the drive mean that whilst I can walk round the kitchen with food in my hand and Zucca will perform an exemplary wait, when placed in front of an agility course, she forgets in her eagerness and so we have to work very hard on that.
We have learnt that contacts are important and that are best taught through target training. So homework is touching and retouching a small plastic box lid with the nose until treated (her not me!). Contacts are not to be moved from until released – thank God Lagotto like food and that unlike many, Zucca has no weight issues.
I am beginning to learn that the less I say by way of command the better. Shouting “dog walk, emm I mean A frame, sorry see saw”, is not helpful. Thankfully, Zucca has always been a dog who is interested in hand signals and so often ignored what I say. Apparently the skill is to get your arm and shoulders to dictate the dog’s direction of travel.
I am also learning that to go at a moderate pace works better than trying to blast after her, she will go on without me and if I run she gets excited, too excited and the brain switches off. Remember those early comments about drive and speed? Well I am learning that they can work against you especially if you are both newbies. Control comes before speed.
We are both loving this sport. She needs no toy or food reward to make the run interesting and fun, she runs for the joy of it. When a run goes right it feels like something from Chariots of Fire – all that slow motion. Zucca must have it in her blood, her mother Gaesten Canna Cia at Emmroche is very good at this and although I have been told several times that she is a hard dog to learn with because she is fast, and that she would have made a great second dog, we are going to keep on learning together, because when it all comes together there is no feeling like it.
This spring and summer will be our first chance to compete after just 6 months training and we will see how we go. I hope for great things, but I know that we will mess up as many courses as those we do well at, but the fun is in working together .
Would I recommend it to others – yes definitely find a good club and join in. Would I phone a friend – yes always ask for advice, then decide whether to take it or not, there are after all several ways to skin a cat – or in this case train a Lagotto.
Have a go, you may love it, your dog may love it and if not there is always something else to try.
By Claire Morgan-Jones
Update from July 2017
Since writing the article about starting agility Zucca and I have progressed up the grades from 1 to 5, which is done by winning one or more classes in a Kennel Club (KC) registered competition days or weekends at a given grade sometimes against dogs of the same grade as you and sometimes against dogs across a range of grades, but always of the same height as your dog... more of that later.
It has been fun, and a clear round or win is always exhilarating, but we have had our challenges too as we have learnt together the hows and why of agility. We have both got frustrated with ourselves and each other and are both fairly vocal about it.
Sometimes we have had to go back to basics to re -train an obstacle, to teach obstacle discrimination or simply to ensure that we retain a wait at the start. I would hate to count the number of hours we have spent training, this is not a sport that you can do once in a while and only when the sun is shining. It requires training and continual work to improve and to maintain the dogs fitness, to say nothing of the handler who has to run the course too. One course was 150 metres long and was won in 16 seconds.... think 100m sprint speeds here.
Over the last few years agility courses have without doubt got more complex even at the lower levels, demanding more of handler and dog. We have seen the introduction into the mainstream of European handling with its Ketches and Germans, all aimed at increasing the dogs speed and placement over jumps and on turns and the recent increasing of distances between obstacles which requires the dog to work further from the handler.
Now 7 years old and at an age when some agility dogs are being retired, Zucca is coming into her own, she is more consistent and just a touch more steady (more control over speed) and this was evident in her recent spate of wins to achieve grade 5. We only needed one, but within three weeks she gave me four great wins and in one case was several seconds faster than then next dog. The Judge, the champion handler
Amanda Hampson, was impressed and kind enough to say so.
She is brave and bold and will get up and compete again after a tumble or as in one case a spectacular crash with me, when we both ended up on the floor. Within half an hour we were both out there again, although we had our 15 minutes of fame being the talk of the show and someone tells me on facebook too. I often joke she is made of cast iron, but the truth is she just loves agility and the day she has to retire will be a sad one.
In summary, if your dog enjoys this sport then it is worth the hard work. The working bond is huge and the physical and psychological benefits are undoubted. Indeed, I know of one recent piece of research work that high-lighted the positive effects of agility, the benefits of the exercise, the adrenaline rush and the endorphin boost, which goes a long way to explaining its additive qualities. After all every run is a clean slate, a chance to get it 100% right, to be the best you can be and to do that with your dog. There are not many places in life were that is possible.
It has been fun, and a clear round or win is always exhilarating, but we have had our challenges too as we have learnt together the hows and why of agility. We have both got frustrated with ourselves and each other and are both fairly vocal about it.
Sometimes we have had to go back to basics to re -train an obstacle, to teach obstacle discrimination or simply to ensure that we retain a wait at the start. I would hate to count the number of hours we have spent training, this is not a sport that you can do once in a while and only when the sun is shining. It requires training and continual work to improve and to maintain the dogs fitness, to say nothing of the handler who has to run the course too. One course was 150 metres long and was won in 16 seconds.... think 100m sprint speeds here.
Over the last few years agility courses have without doubt got more complex even at the lower levels, demanding more of handler and dog. We have seen the introduction into the mainstream of European handling with its Ketches and Germans, all aimed at increasing the dogs speed and placement over jumps and on turns and the recent increasing of distances between obstacles which requires the dog to work further from the handler.
Now 7 years old and at an age when some agility dogs are being retired, Zucca is coming into her own, she is more consistent and just a touch more steady (more control over speed) and this was evident in her recent spate of wins to achieve grade 5. We only needed one, but within three weeks she gave me four great wins and in one case was several seconds faster than then next dog. The Judge, the champion handler
Amanda Hampson, was impressed and kind enough to say so.
She is brave and bold and will get up and compete again after a tumble or as in one case a spectacular crash with me, when we both ended up on the floor. Within half an hour we were both out there again, although we had our 15 minutes of fame being the talk of the show and someone tells me on facebook too. I often joke she is made of cast iron, but the truth is she just loves agility and the day she has to retire will be a sad one.
In summary, if your dog enjoys this sport then it is worth the hard work. The working bond is huge and the physical and psychological benefits are undoubted. Indeed, I know of one recent piece of research work that high-lighted the positive effects of agility, the benefits of the exercise, the adrenaline rush and the endorphin boost, which goes a long way to explaining its additive qualities. After all every run is a clean slate, a chance to get it 100% right, to be the best you can be and to do that with your dog. There are not many places in life were that is possible.