Dog Agility Puns

I have an almost two year old blue heeler boxer mix that I've started doing agility training with. She has been reactive since she was around 5 months. She is both human and dog reactive. She will usually ignore people but if they try to pet her or get too close she will lose her mind barking. With dogs she loses her mind once they get about 5 feet from her. Just snarling and acting crazy. I've had her since 8 weeks and we did puppy training and socialization but the older she got, more reactive she got. So much for that STAR puppy she passed. Lol.

So far we have made it through beginner agility 1 and 2. We also do an additional course that is just handling. She loves it honestly. Especially the handling class where we run the entire time and just take turns in the ring. She is hands down the fastest dog in the class. Once she gets in the zone, it's honestly a beautiful thing to see. She does occasionally get distracted by the class going on beside ours and barks across the fence but I can usually redirect. I think her herding instinct kicks in when she sees other dogs running. Sometimes my dog and another dog are trying to herd each other across the fence. It's a sight to be seen. During her regular course she also does freak out at dogs on leash getting really close to us. The other owners in the class aren't the most considerate unfortunately and literally let their dogs off their leash when it's against the rules.

Anyway, I'm worried about how she will be at a competition. We still have three more courses to get through before she would be ready for an actual trial. Every time I watch videos of trials though the dogs seem very unaggressive towards everyone (dogs and people) and it makes me worried. Have any of you actually gone up to a trial with your dog in agility? Was their reactivity at the trial manageable? Were the other people there considerate of your dog and their reactivity?

Oh and here's the puppy tax

https://imgur.com/gallery/QmcuCtN

I live in a corner house and share a communal front area with the corner house next door. It's hard to explain but we both have seperate fenced off front gardens. My neighbours garden is and has always been full of children's toys because she's a child minder which is fine. The kids often run into my garden which is annoying and I ask her not to let them but she says she can't watch them all the time to stop this so I've got to expect them to get into my front garden at times. There's a small entrance that isn't fenced off and it's how I get into my garden. Without showing a Google map view it's hard to explain it anymore.

I've been going to agility with my dogs and said to my husband it would be good to put agility equipment in the back garden but it's too small due to the sheds, BBQ etc. He said why don't I use the front garden as it's bigger than the back garden anyway. So I bought some equipment and set up a course. I have a temporary gate to cover the entrance so the dogs can't escape. It's been going great and the dogs love the extra exercise.

Today my neighbour came to my door extremely angry saying the agility equipment has to go. I asked why and she said one of the children moved the gate (as they apparently do all the time when I'm not home), climbed up the A frame, fell and sprained his wrist. His mother is extremely pissed at my neighbour and wants an explanation why he was in my garden in the first place. My neighbour said she can't keep her eyes on the children at all times and I'm creating an unsafe environment by having this equipment lying around so it has to go so she can go back to living her normal life while looking after the children.

I told her no, it's my property and I've already told her the children aren't allowed in the garden. She's already went to a few other neighbours and got them on her side and they are making me wonder if I'm an asshole for putting my dogs before children I don't even know

Introduction

1. Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs . I currently have a 10 Year old Border Collie/Springer and have owned a JRT in the past, both were rescued as adults but did not know their names or toilet trained when adopted, trained both to high levels of trick training, able to go off leash anywhere and low levels of competetive agility
2. Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a reputable breeder

As I have already rescued dogs I would like the experience of raising a puppy and want a dog with more predictable character and health tested parents.

1. Describe your ideal dog.

Medium to large sized, loyal, easy to train and loves to please. One of the most important things to me is health, my current 10 year old collie/springer hikes up mountains still and goes on 2hr walks with ease still and I would like a dog with a relatively long life span that would also be active/fit in older age.

1. What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why? White Swiss Shepherd dogs and wokring line GSD's purely on looks, however as I want a dog to be active past the age of 10 this makes me think somthing like a Tervuren/Mali would be more suitable as less prone to joint/health issues. I am unsure on them however due to their issues with epilepsy and gastric cancer which seems to be a fairly common in Tervurens and other Belgians. Other dogs I am considering are Australian Shepherds, Golden Retrievers and Irish Setter
2. What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do?

Agility, obedience and trick training

1. Do you want to compete with your dog in a sport (e.g. agility, obedience, rally) or use your dog for a form of work (e.g. hunting, herding, livestock guarding)? If so, how much experience do you have with this work/sport?

Would like a dog that would maybe be able to take me furthur in agility but not that essential as making it to champtionship level isn't really that much of a priority to me as I do it mostly for fun, which is why I haven't mentioned Border Collie's as my dogs primary role is just for companionship and hiking buddy. Have competed in agility at low levels with current dog

Care Commitments

7. How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day?

Probably a minimum of 1 hour walking/jogging exerci

As the title says. My golden retriever girl just turned 6 and as she’s a large breed with a joint issue, I am wondering if there is a point when I should stop agility training. She doesn’t compete and does low/micro height jumps, easy flowing courses with the seesaw and A-Frame off limits. She loves the sport though and runs great but I don’t want to push my luck with her.

My instructors are fabulous and keep a close eye on her and are not worried about her and think she’s doing great and I agree. I just want to know if it’s better to retire them early or to wait until there are signs that agility is no longer suitable.

I want her to have a comfortable and limp free life for as long as possible. She has mild elbow dysplasia with very mild signs of arthritis. She was diagnosed nearly 3 years ago and we stopped agility immediately. She only started back 8 months ago and she has only got fitter and happier since going back. Her vet doesn’t have an issue with her doing agility as she’s doing so well.

I’m just anxious and paranoid about doing the wrong thing. The main paranoia is that she could go lame again at any moment and I feel like we’re almost on borrowed time with her. When she first went lame, we didn’t have any warning, she woke up from a nap and couldn’t walk one evening. Previous X-rays from when she was younger showed she had well formed joints but a CT revealed very mild ED. Her level of pain and lameness didn’t match the mildness of the disease and she baffled many orthopaedic specialists.

I see some agility handlers at shows running dogs with obvious joint issues and obvious lameness and I don’t want to be like that. My dog’s health and comfort come first so knowing when to retire her would be helpful. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We adopted Daisy a month ago, she's a 6 month old mutt. She's super smart and really enjoys training. I have so far only done training at home and around the neighborhood but she's picked things up as if it was encoded in her DNA. We would love to start her in group training somewhere where we could work out way up to rally obedience or agility when she is older.

Unfortunately it seems like everywhere either isn't accepting new clients, doesn't have availability for the weekends, is too far, or doesn't do rally/agility work.

We have already joined the waitlist for Elite Dogs and Impressive Canines.

Does anyone have any other suggestions of places we can try? I feel like it's so hard to find available places.

Thanks!

edit I get notifications I’m getting responses but when I get on Reddit - I don’t see the responses… so if you’re responding and I’m not replying - I unfortunately can’t see it for some reason…

We are starting next week for our first class. I’m a little concerned he won’t follow through/ enjoy it but since this is the most beginner/ basic class aimed towards basic handling and agility foundations for puppies - it will be good to know whether he does enjoy it (to continue) or doesnt, and I’ll focus on other sports.

My main concerns (as we progress in the future):

• he gets bored and doesn’t finish the course

• probably the biggest problem and maybe most embarrassing, is his lack of recall. At the dog park: He’s absolutely crazy and runs around and it’s very difficult to catch him. Sometimes I get lucky and walk through the first gate (since there’s a double gate) and he follows through so I just close the door behind me and he has no where to go so I just leash him up. Other times, I have to sneak up and leash him up (only when he’s tired otherwise there’s no chance). He’s a very active dog though which is why I thought agility may suit him. I’m worried if we ever progress to off leash training he will just go run around and I won’t even be able to catch him - let alone….. do the course… I could and should practice his recall - but when he’s outside it’s a totally different story, but I know I can train this I just haven’t done so outdoors which is my fault.

Anyone have any experiences with the same concerns I have and have any advice? Did it work out for you? Not so much?

Also, I would say he is a relatively well behaved dog for his age (9 months). We’ve taken basic obedience courses and I hope to soon test for the CGC, when he’s in the zone he listens to me well. It’s just in new environments and/or outdoors, it’s very different. But I know it’s a lack of training in new scenarios + the outdoors is why he acts so crazy outside.

Hi, just looking for reccomendations on where I can start agility with my dog in Liverpool? Cheers

Anyone think dressage is a bit shit - sorry horsey folk i dont mind the jumping stuff but if training an animal to that extent is an olympic event then when is the dog agility or pigeon racing joining in ?

Follow up - Well that blew up more than I expected. Thanks for all the comments. Its interesting how many other sports should be included. Squash Netball etc.. and some others removed. As for the dressage.. I appreciate how much effort it takes and its links to the military skills of old a bit more. Everyone has their own interests I suppose. Cheers all.

As the title asks, curious to try some out with my pup, I’m not sure there are classes we can attend but would love resources to get started myself if possible.

Good day all.

My mother trains and competes nationally in Dog agility and I was wonder what would make a good Christmas gift?

Would something like a Fitbit be a good idea? Is there something similar that can be attached to the dogs collar to track it's performance?

All ideas welcomed doesn't have to be specific to performance tracking.

Thanking you in advance.

May be a long shot, but anyone on here have experience taking their dog to a place for agility training? Thanks!