I miss agility

[Toffee's Mom]

i bet you miss agility Sorry you haven't been able to do any. I aree this is how we all end up with multiple dogs, lol
Really think about it tho, is it agility you miss or your competitions and trials? I know you're competitive and enjoy that edge, which maybe Koji doesn't
So you need to find a middle ground, somehow?

There is absolutely no excuse or reason not to find a good class and go there, do some fun matches, or to work on his explosive behaviour. Lower the threshold, go to competitions just to work on him, stay further away and reward calm on the mat, highest value treats at that. Then go home, don't let him practice the behaviour you don't want, end on good note, this stress is perpetuating. You're stressed because he explodes, he feeds of it and it continues.
We have a couple of dogs in our class who have come such a long way, also way over the threshold and reactive as all get out... they are now working with Sophia Yin's Learn to Earn program, and other exercises like that... It involves huge commitment and time, but these dogs have come a LONG way at last practice match they were the quiet ones the whole Sunday afternoon!!

 

[k9kreationz]

So you believe he enjoys his time in the ring, it's just getting him into the ring that stresses him out... I say start with classes. Less dogs around, you can desensitize him as much as possible to other dogs around and get your agility fix.

I'm sure you already tried or considered these, but have you tried a thundershirt or a natural remedy like L'theanine or Lactium? I am currently using a chinese herbal mix for dogs called "calm shen" and it seems to be lowering my dog's reactive threshold a little bit. Maybe it's just because I've moved to a quieter neighborhood and am not in an apartment anymore, but she seems to be less reactive on walks then she used to be.

(I'm thinking out loud in this post, so it's not entirely directed at you, LOL)

Actually, it's the same thing at practice. Getting him to the ring, is a PITA! He barks at the dogs who run, and if they come to close to him, forget it. I know I'm kinda anti-social, but he makes me very anti-social (I have to sit far enough away that a dog looking his way won't make him react - he's done it and the other dog was minding his own business).

In one class, we did try a thundershirt (borrowed from the facility), it didn't do a darn thing. I put it on as soon as we got there. But I was told that he has to wear it "hours" prior to really work. I don't know if that's true or not. Do you know?

I am working with him again, on his walks, so it's a start. When in class, he's always on his mat in his "go to your mat" command, which means, he's under a down/stay to a point. When I walk the course, he barks the entire time. Seriously annoying.

I think that's one reason I stopped doing agility. I was stressing out more than he was after awhile. I mean, *I* was taking the L-theanine (oh, it didn't work, neither did lavender). Maybe that's why I quit agility. I'm sitting here thinking.....if I went back, I guess I'm thinking about what it was like before, when Koji wasn't so reactive, so it wasn't stressful. But now, I'm stressed, he's stressed. How un-fun is that?

I think I was also making it un-fun for him, because we'd run Standard and basically walk off every single time due to his contacts (of course, it also meant I was stressing out over the run, ugh!). The only time we'd truly have fun is Jumpers. Sigh.

Maybe agility just isn't the thing for Koji because of all these reasons. I mean, I can run him and let him blow his contacts, but is that the smart thing to do, so he has fun, but who knows what else it will undo (as in training). He's stressed out and over his threshold for much of the time. Which puts me on edge, which I'm sure feeds back to him. I stress out over his runs, because I have to walk off.

I think I'm talking myself out of this again. Maybe I just needed to be reminded of the other negative sides of it again. Which is about 99%. I see people having fun, enjoying their time, etc and I miss that. Maybe I don't miss doing agility, so much as I miss ENJOYING agility. And Koji makes it very unenjoyable.

Hmmmm.....

 

[dmeyer123]

Have you thought about doing NADAC for Lexi? They have a lot of non-contact runs and even non-jumping runs. It's great to see the older dogs out there enjoying agility w/o the pain of jumping. Poor Lexi.

Pyper is still young, I'd give her time. I know it took Koji awhile. But once he got it, yay, he got it and boy did he start to pick up speed.

Thanks Cheryl. I'm going to look into that. I'm a rookie, so I don't know much about anything except AKC. Sounds like a perfect way to go.

 

[k9kreationz]

i bet you miss agility Sorry you haven't been able to do any. I aree this is how we all end up with multiple dogs, lol
Really think about it tho, is it agility you miss or your competitions and trials? I know you're competitive and enjoy that edge, which maybe Koji doesn't
So you need to find a middle ground, somehow?

There is absolutely no excuse or reason not to find a good class and go there, do some fun matches, or to work on his explosive behaviour. Lower the threshold, go to competitions just to work on him, stay further away and reward calm on the mat, highest value treats at that. Then go home, don't let him practice the behaviour you don't want, end on good note, this stress is perpetuating. You're stressed because he explodes, he feeds of it and it continues.
We have a couple of dogs in our class who have come such a long way, also way over the threshold and reactive as all get out... they are now working with Sophia Yin's Learn to Earn program, and other exercises like that... It involves huge commitment and time, but these dogs have come a LONG way at last practice match they were the quiet ones the whole Sunday afternoon!!

Silaria always asks me about the competitive side too, but honestly, I really don't think that's there anymore to an extent. Mostly because I've had to do a lot of retraining that last year or so, which meant, most of my run was spent walking off the course, not running it. I had to squash that competitive side to be able to walk off. And trust me, it wasn't easy.

I'll look up Sophia's Learn to Earn program. Interesting. Never heard of it, but always willing to read something. And yes, I do believe we're probably feeding off of each other now. I have started working with Koji again. And of course, it makes things worse (hopefully just in the beginning). If he knows "going on patrol" gets him treats, that's what he does. Once I put on the treat bag, and open the front door, he's already at attention. Ears up, tail up, body stiff and ready to attack. I hope that goes away as we work on the Look At That game. If I have no treats, he goes out more calmly. And before you ask, nope, no changes in me. He sees food, and he's "on". He knows he needs to work for it, so I think he's now associating being on patrol with food.

But like I said, hopefully this will change as all this is supposed to change how they react to things, right? It's only been a couple of weeks that I've been working on it daily. I see changes already, so it's good.

 

[take4roll10]

You can't keep him the car? In class, I leave my dog in the car until it is our turn. I used to keep her out with me, but then she would bark at the dogs running and sometimes react to the other dogs near her. If she's in the car I can watch everyone's runs and socialize and she is more relaxed.

 

[k9kreationz]

Thanks Cheryl. I'm going to look into that. I'm a rookie, so I don't know much about anything except AKC. Sounds like a perfect way to go.

I'm not sure how tall Lexi is, but unless she's 14" or under, she'll jump 16" in Proficient, 12" in Skilled. I doubt either of you are "seniors", but if you're 60 or older, or the dog is 7 or older, you can run Veteran's.

Non-jumping classes include the following: Touch N Go (has contacts), Tunnelers, Hoopers, and Weavers

No-contact classes include the following: Tunnelers (only tunnels), Hoopers (just hoops - kinda a game of strategy), Weavers (tunnels, hoops, weaves), and Jumpers (jumps and tunnels).

Here's a list of upcoming trials: http://www.nadac.com/afrm/trial-calendar.asp

They're not always close, but some may be closer to you than where I lived. LOL. Look into it. At least it's something you know she can do.

 

[k9kreationz]

You can't keep him the car? In class, I leave my dog in the car until it is our turn. I used to keep her out with me, but then she would bark at the dogs running and sometimes react to the other dogs near her. If she's in the car I can watch everyone's runs and socialize and she is more relaxed.

Actually, once Koji is in his crate and it's fully covered, he's fine. He'll even go to sleep. So, that's not a big deal, I can go socialize if I want, or work the rings. If I have him out and I'm just hanging out under the canopy, he's usually fine unless someone comes a bit too close. It just depends on how much foot traffic is going by.

I'd say, the big issues is walking to the ring and going potty. It's why I carry him to the ring and usually I go the "back way" away from all the tents to potty him and far away from other people/dogs (otherwise, he won't go! too distracted).

Okay, so maybe 99% is exaggerating.

 

[ortegah]

(I'm thinking out loud in this post, so it's not entirely directed at you, LOL)

Actually, it's the same thing at practice. Getting him to the ring, is a PITA! He barks at the dogs who run, and if they come to close to him, forget it. I know I'm kinda anti-social, but he makes me very anti-social (I have to sit far enough away that a dog looking his way won't make him react - he's done it and the other dog was minding his own business).

In one class, we did try a thundershirt (borrowed from the facility), it didn't do a darn thing. I put it on as soon as we got there. But I was told that he has to wear it "hours" prior to really work. I don't know if that's true or not. Do you know?

I am working with him again, on his walks, so it's a start. When in class, he's always on his mat in his "go to your mat" command, which means, he's under a down/stay to a point. When I walk the course, he barks the entire time. Seriously annoying.

I think that's one reason I stopped doing agility. I was stressing out more than he was after awhile. I mean, *I* was taking the L-theanine (oh, it didn't work, neither did lavender). Maybe that's why I quit agility. I'm sitting here thinking.....if I went back, I guess I'm thinking about what it was like before, when Koji wasn't so reactive, so it wasn't stressful. But now, I'm stressed, he's stressed. How un-fun is that?

I think I was also making it un-fun for him, because we'd run Standard and basically walk off every single time due to his contacts (of course, it also meant I was stressing out over the run, ugh!). The only time we'd truly have fun is Jumpers. Sigh.

Maybe agility just isn't the thing for Koji because of all these reasons. I mean, I can run him and let him blow his contacts, but is that the smart thing to do, so he has fun, but who knows what else it will undo (as in training). He's stressed out and over his threshold for much of the time. Which puts me on edge, which I'm sure feeds back to him. I stress out over his runs, because I have to walk off.

I think I'm talking myself out of this again. Maybe I just needed to be reminded of the other negative sides of it again. Which is about 99%. I see people having fun, enjoying their time, etc and I miss that. Maybe I don't miss doing agility, so much as I miss ENJOYING agility. And Koji makes it very unenjoyable.

Hmmmm.....

Then how about just going to the shows and hanging out with people. Go volunteer at some shows. Then you get to be entertained by everyone else's dogs acting crazy

If you lived closer, I'd welcome you to come run Trax for me! I encourage anyone that wants to run him, to have at it.

As for acting crazy, Trax does the same thing sorta. Perhaps it's the Daval blood in them Trax doesn't lunge at dogs as we walk by, but he CANNOT be allowed to watch any dogs running the courses. He acts like a complete maniac. Hey that reminds me! Have you ever tried the Gentle Leader Calming Cap??? That's what I used on Trax and it worked wonders! Now we can at least sit at the start line for a couple of minutes and take treats without watching the ring too much. You should really check it out!

 

[Calliesmom]

Puppy! Puppy! Puppy!


While we are waiting for our turn at the gate, I keep treats on me and reward her for looking at me, sitting, etc. As long as I keep her focus on me, she has no issues. In the ring, she will run off if she hears a dog barking near the rings, but she is getting better. Despite all this, she seems to love agility.

Puppy - yes - but not right now.....
it wouldn't be fair to Miko.
When Callie was sick, I had the opportunity to bring a puppy home but having seen how she was with the Cranpup and she wasn't sick then- I just couldn't do it to her....

I do keep treats as long as I can- we practice heeling and rally moves while approaching the ring and waiting our turn...
it does get his focus on me- then we go in and have complete handler focus so I better not screw up.....

(I'm thinking out loud in this post, so it's not entirely directed at you, LOL)

Actually, it's the same thing at practice. Getting him to the ring, is a PITA! He barks at the dogs who run, and if they come to close to him, forget it. I know I'm kinda anti-social, but he makes me very anti-social (I have to sit far enough away that a dog looking his way won't make him react - he's done it and the other dog was minding his own business).

In one class, we did try a thundershirt (borrowed from the facility), it didn't do a darn thing. I put it on as soon as we got there. But I was told that he has to wear it "hours" prior to really work. I don't know if that's true or not. Do you know?

I am working with him again, on his walks, so it's a start. When in class, he's always on his mat in his "go to your mat" command, which means, he's under a down/stay to a point. When I walk the course, he barks the entire time. Seriously annoying.

I think that's one reason I stopped doing agility. I was stressing out more than he was after awhile. I mean, *I* was taking the L-theanine (oh, it didn't work, neither did lavender). Maybe that's why I quit agility. I'm sitting here thinking.....if I went back, I guess I'm thinking about what it was like before, when Koji wasn't so reactive, so it wasn't stressful. But now, I'm stressed, he's stressed. How un-fun is that?

I think I was also making it un-fun for him, because we'd run Standard and basically walk off every single time due to his contacts (of course, it also meant I was stressing out over the run, ugh!). The only time we'd truly have fun is Jumpers. Sigh.

Maybe agility just isn't the thing for Koji because of all these reasons. I mean, I can run him and let him blow his contacts, but is that the smart thing to do, so he has fun, but who knows what else it will undo (as in training). He's stressed out and over his threshold for much of the time. Which puts me on edge, which I'm sure feeds back to him. I stress out over his runs, because I have to walk off.

I think I'm talking myself out of this again. Maybe I just needed to be reminded of the other negative sides of it again. Which is about 99%. I see people having fun, enjoying their time, etc and I miss that. Maybe I don't miss doing agility, so much as I miss ENJOYING agility. And Koji makes it very unenjoyable.

Hmmmm.....

Cranberry hasn't run a standard course since last Dec because of his dogwalk contact.....
I know we would have been stressed if I had continued with that. I probably let it go too long as it was................

I have been devoting time to fixing his jumping and will soon start retraining contacts.


at practice, both brown dogs bark when they see other dogs running the course. the only way to keep them quiet is to sit, down, sit, etc and cookie them a lot.......

You can't keep him the car? In class, I leave my dog in the car until it is our turn. I used to keep her out with me, but then she would bark at the dogs running and sometimes react to the other dogs near her. If she's in the car I can watch everyone's runs and socialize and she is more relaxed.

most of our trials and our practice area, the car just isn't close enough to get to the dog when you need to.....
plus it's hot at least 7 months out of the year.....

Actually, once Koji is in his crate and it's fully covered, he's fine. He'll even go to sleep. So, that's not a big deal, I can go socialize if I want, or work the rings. If I have him out and I'm just hanging out under the canopy, he's usually fine unless someone comes a bit too close. It just depends on how much foot traffic is going by.

I'd say, the big issues is walking to the ring and going potty. It's why I carry him to the ring and usually I go the "back way" away from all the tents to potty him and far away from other people/dogs (otherwise, he won't go! too distracted).

Okay, so maybe 99% is exaggerating.

I usually set up our mat, then the two expens hooked together (depending on the site, they can be fully open or partially overlapped) and then the three crates side by side and then the covering over the crates. At only one trial where we crate completely outside, we also put up a canopy- should have gotten a pic when we were there- maybe next year....
mostly the crate setup is under the arena roof and shaded so we don't need the canopy at those trials.

If they could see out, they would bark at everything. and even with the cover, Jocu has started to bark when he knows that I came and got one of the other dogs out..... not sure how we're going to fix that...

Cranberry has also started to get reactive while on leash....
I think he still wants to say Hi to every dog that he sees but not all of those dogs want to say hi- so now if we don't go over, he starts to bark and pull and jump a little on the leash...
off leash- nothing....

I'll echo Ortegah- come run one of my dogs.....
and you can play with not so little puppy Jocu

and maybe you should return to some non-contact Nadac courses- they are way more fun than standard. and Nadac is always less stressful than Akc- at least for us

 

[SheltieChe]

Methinks you are asking wrong questions... it is not about what Koji likes... it is about whether Koji likes to be with you and likes to be active and have some job... It is one thing when you have medical problems like loss of vision or ligament etc then you need to decide if you can move down to veterans etc or time to retire... agilitynerd just posted great article on this account as Meeker has been sick for while.
I regret I do not have Leo ¨before¨ video clips, the boy was a maniac when we started. I thought it could not get any worse. I have big smile on my face every time when I run Leo now, it is sheer joy to be with this baby. My journey with Che still continues. I do not dream about Q´s although our rate is 90-100% what I dream is I want to see Che running as carefree as he does when he chases his favorite furry rats...
I posted in another thread article by Daisy about Juno girl
http://www.daisypeel.com/blog/afraid-to-be-beautiful/
here is another one from Silvia about Lo and Bu
http://www.lolabuland.com/2011/10/27/busting-the-myths-ii/
see, you are in good company
as for what to do- DO SOMETHING!
Start somewhere, do something and adjust as needed. I suggest start teaching Koji tricks, for one there is no downside to teaching tricks, two- there is plenty of free info ¨how to¨on the net, three- it is how you get your dog to value working with you more than lunging/ barking at other dogs even outside of agility course...