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