Nehi, our border collie mix, has just finished her first intro to obedience class. She did all the jumps and the other stuff (I don't know what you call the things like the dog walk, A-frame, and all). She is very deliberate about them, the instructor says that she will never win any times! But she is having fun and that is what counts! Our basic agility class starts in two weeks, November 22. Let's see what happens then.
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sue, cheyenne the American bulldog bully, and nehi, her long suffering border collie/pit bull mix
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Nehi, our up and coming very deliberate agility star!
munchkins
Nov 09, 2003 08:55 AM
Replies (4)
PHFasDog
Nov 09, 2003 03:48 PM
Congreytulations!!! What wonderful news. Who cares if she isn't the fastest. I would think that having fun and bonding with your dog is more important. Keep up the good work!
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Melody/PHFasDog
Email me at PHFasDog
CharStuff
Nov 09, 2003 05:27 PM
>>Nehi, our border collie mix, has just finished her first intro to obedience class. She did all the jumps and the other stuff (I don't know what you call the things like the dog walk, A-frame, and all). She is very deliberate about them, the instructor says that she will never win any times! But she is having fun and that is what counts! Our basic agility class starts in two weeks, November 22. Let's see what happens then.
>>
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>>sue, cheyenne the American bulldog bully, and nehi, her long suffering border collie/pit bull mix
Congrats! Yes, agility is great fun. What do you mean by deliberate? At this point when a dog is just learning I'm miffed at your instructor for telling you your dog will never win any!? What a thing to say to a beginning dog/owner team! When our club teaches basic agility classes we never tell anyone this. Its only natural for dogs to be cautious. Let me tell you what happened to my 2 dogs:
First, my Chesapeake Bay Retriever had a problem with the dog walk. Now I ask you what dog just learning wouldn't have a problem with a piece of equipment only 10 inches wide and 4 1/2 feet in the air!? LOL! Anyway, what happened was he got distracted and fell off! I was by his side to help break the fall but it took me 3 months to coax him with lots of treats and praise to get him to go over it again. It eventually became his favorite piece of equipment 
Now almost the same thing happened with my Border Collie gal. We all know how skittish the BC's can be. Anyway, once again with lots of praise and coaxing, she goes over it with ease. I gotta brag about her also, at our last agility trial on October 18th and 19th, she got 2 first places, a Q, a second and third place! Not bad for a beginner eh!?
One more thing I will add, so what if your dog isn't the fastest, my Chessie is not fast at all, however, speed is not always a good thing. He sometimes beats the fastest dogs because they drop poles or don't hit their contacts.
Anyway, enjoy your classes and your dogs! Thanks for the update and will love to hear more about your agility/doggie stories!
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Charlene
Adopt the pace of Nature
Her secret is patience
-Ralph Waldo Emerson-
munchkins
Nov 09, 2003 05:51 PM
Actually, our instructor is a good friend of mine and I do know where she is coming from. She has been teaching Cheyenne, Nehi, and me for about the past year. Nehi has not had any problems with any of the equipment, although I do know what you are talking about with the dog walk. That took a lot of coaxing and hand-holding to get her to go over it. But she did it. And the tunnel was a bit challenging to get her to go through, especially the following week after we first learned it. She has the classic Border personality: "been there, done that, and don't need to do it again!"
I am eager to resume classes and see how she does.
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sue, cheyenne the American bulldog bully, and nehi, her long suffering border collie mix
CharStuff
Nov 10, 2003 10:58 AM
>>Actually, our instructor is a good friend of mine and I do know where she is coming from. She has been teaching Cheyenne, Nehi, and me for about the past year. Nehi has not had any problems with any of the equipment, although I do know what you are talking about with the dog walk. That took a lot of coaxing and hand-holding to get her to go over it. But she did it. And the tunnel was a bit challenging to get her to go through, especially the following week after we first learned it. She has the classic Border personality: "been there, done that, and don't need to do it again!"
>>
>>I am eager to resume classes and see how she does.
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>>sue, cheyenne the American bulldog bully, and nehi, her long suffering border collie mix
Guess I have one of those BC's that wants to keep doing it again and again! LOL! As far as the tunnel goes, have you tried scrunching it down to half its size? Then pulling it out to its full size? Just a suggestion. We have another agility competition next month. Our club puts on 4 trials a year. We just put on a USDAA trial last month, next month it is a NADAC trial. Here is our club's web site, its still under construction. Let me know what you think:
Also, here is a pic of my Chessie.
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Charlene
Adopt the pace of Nature
Her secret is patience
-Ralph Waldo Emerson-
