Is it time to give up agility?

HopeShelties said:
Something Jenn Crank said to a few people at the seminar- most dogs will do agility. Many develop a love for running agility because they enjoy it. For the ones that will do it but don't love it quite like the others, it is up to us to find the motivating factor that makes it rewarding for them.
Is she treat motivated or toy motivated? If she does a few obstacles tuned in and doing as you'd want, stop and reward that. If she checks out and wanders, simply go get her and bring her back. Ask her to do something you know she likes and can be successful at and reward it, then go back nd pick back up where you left off. For some dogs, the agility its own isn't enough of a reward, which is probably why your revving isn't working Try the frequent rewarding for anything she does that you so like.
Are you sure it isn't stress as opposed to an actual dislike of agility? Many stressed dogs will behave that way. Its also always worth looking at how consistent ones handling is to be sure that isn't stressing or confusing the dog and causing it to shut down.
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Excellent point! Here, we say you have to find a way to "be the cookie" :lol:
 
It depends whether your pup really does not enjoy agility or transfer of value never happened due to poor foundation. Coming back to Pavlov's experiments when the bell ring- food given dog eventually starts salivating because value of food transferred to ring sound. It does not work if you give food first and ring the bell, dogs can not associate it that way and therefore transfer of value never happens. When people teach fundamentals by luring i.e. showing food first or putting small pieces on teeter or DW in front of the dog, dog will eventually learns obstacle but value is never transferred... some dogs are self motivated but most are not...
I have just observed how well Porter did obedience that Justicemom posted... Che OTOH tolerates obedience and rally but you can clearly see he tolerates it and not liking it... agility is different, this boy has sparkling eyes and easy trot... One part is I DO NOT find obedience / rally enjoyable so this is big reason why my boy was never motivated well...
Seems like Tully finds flyball really rewarding and agility not so much...
For us while we take obed/ rally classes on and off, there are other things we are interested in... and things do change.... there are some many other things to try- tracking, herding, treibball, nosework... We might try rally later on and see how its going... It has to be combination of what my dog enjoys and what I like as well.
 
I say get another dog. ;)

Just kidding. I'd take some time off, maybe the winter since you said that is coming up. And then see if Tully likes it come Spring. If Tully does, great! Maybe she just needed a break. If not, then do what others have suggested, in that you need to find what motivates her. If that doesn't work, I'd stop. You said she does flyball, so she may just enjoy that more.

Tough choice. I know though, if Koji didn't seem to enjoy it as much, I'd probably stop. Heck, I"ve backed off on trialing a LOT this year so far and I'm in withdrawal, so I understand. Especially the social aspect of it. I say, do what you can first, but always do what is best for Tully.
 
Tully's motivator is to chase things, really, really fast. She is definately an adrenalin junky. Its really hard to translate that into agility. Last time she was flaking off I introduced a toy to chase before and after a run but now its just not picking up her adrenalin levels enough. If I set up a short course that she can just run at top speed (with a ball chase at the end) she seems okay but anything that slows her down or is too long really demotivates her. And it does get a bit tiring for me finding new ways to keep her running.

At the Sunday flyball comp several people told me they dropped agility for the same reason - the dogs lost interest in agility as they got faster in flyball. No flyball comps until August now and no training until June (its too difficult training in the dark - Deska keeps losing the ball) so it will be interesting to see if that helps.
 
Oh dear, I couldnt help myself. I've put in an entry for the June long weekend, only one day though. I really do like games and Tully usually likes snooker but I just found my pen ticking all those boxes for jumping and agility too.:rolleyes2: Whoops. Still, its 2 mths away.

Did I mention I am really bad at giving things up.
 
*Caro said:
Did I mention I am really bad at giving things up.
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I know the feeling. BTW, if Tully likes to chase, then um, run faster? That's when the Derrett system is great, because the dog is always running to you. You just need to be the cookie and the chase game.

Easier said than done.

I was talking to a woman I train with, with hubby and her fiance. And my hubby says, "do you think Koji would be faster if he ran with someone faster?" and I said, "you mean like our friend here?" I know he would, because Koji's speed comes from chasing. When I run full out on a course, he runs fast! Even at that, I'm still slow and this game isn't about running as fast as you can regardless of the course, it's also about managing the course. NADAC would be great to see just how fast Koji has become. AKC Excellent level, not so much.

Um, either way. I hope Tully finds happiness in agility. I say, just run fast, and always be in front.
 
Ha ha, me run faster - that aint going to happen.

The last couple of trials I ran in front of Tully because she wasnt moving and it definately didnt excite her. I'm just not fast enough for her liking. Now if it was Deska that would be entirely different. Also had a friend try to run her in jumping courses but Tully is a one person dog.
 
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