I signed Gracie up for Agility lessons. If you aren’t familiar with it, agility is kind of like an obstacle course for dogs. There are jumps, climbing obstacles, poles to weave through, tunnels and—god help us—a table that she needs to pause on, usually mid course.
Not Gracie
I figured that this would be fun for her, and I thought it would be a great way to burn off some of that insane energy I can’t seem to get rid of any other way. And bonus? If I can actually train her to do these obstacles, I might actually have a chance of, ehem, actually training her to behave.
This Isn't Gracie Either
Our first class was on Thursday and even though she was a week behind (all the newbies started while we were on vacation) she caught up quickly and did really well. I’m kind of excited about this—even though I have to run alongside to coach her through the obstacles.
And Neither Is This...
She’s still not finished doing regular dog shows, but we only have two more points to go.
Sometimes I think my life has gone to the dogs.
I’m thinking of signing my border collie up for agility classes, too, because she’s like manic-hyper a LOT.
I would LOVE to do this with my rottweiler, Hannah, but alas, she has bad hips. It’s all we can do to get her in and out of the car. Good luck with Gracie. It sounds like a lot of fun. As Ceasar says, dogs like to have a job!
I love that you are doing this with Miss Smooshy Marshmallow puppy. I bet she like the exercise. But please post pix of her.
This makes me want a dog, just so we can do fun stuff. But then I think about housebreaking a dog again, and I weep.
I love going to watch these agility events. The dogs always look so eager and happy to have their turn. There is inevitably something hilarious that happens when a dog gets distracted or decides to ham it up for the spectators. I do feel for the owners racing along beside them though. You do that a few times a week and you won’t have any trouble falling asleep at night!
Border Collies are born to do agility. You should do it. It’s kind of fun and the dog is exhausted afterwards.