Our first agility competition

[JoonieB]

Know your dog! My advice is to not even bother yourself with what other people think or do. If you're there for ring experience, take what you get and learn from it. It's nice to get a Q, but that comes with time and experience. If your dog can't or won't do weaves in a stressful trial environment, I wouldn't be surprised. Just move on! Then in class or at home, you can increase the distraction and proof the weaves. I have a VERY sensitive Sheltie and I have to cheerlead a lot with her when on course. If she even makes an attempt at weaves, I'm happy. The important thing is that she's happy to be out there. When we started, I was lucky if she even wanted to leave from the start line...and I had a few runs where she took one or two jumps and we left the ring to go have a party because she was SO good for taking that one jump!!

In the venues I play, we get a 5 minute walk through. However, we also receive maps of the courses early in the morning, so if you want to plan your course ahead of time, you can.

I would get there early. Let your dog adjust to the sites and smells. Let him learn where his safe place is in his crate or your vehicle. Give him time to chill out before you start walking around and take it slow. If he wants to look around, let him. I wouldn't expect a baby dog at his first show to be super into his handler when first arriving on site. Getting there early lets him get that out of his system so that he's ready to play when it's time.

If he shuts down on course, I would simply grab his leash and encourage him to walk out with you. When you're out of the ring, reward him for something REALLY easy. Will he sit? Make eye contact? Great!! Tell him how awesome he is and reward him!! If you can see him shutting down, I would end the run prematurely and throw him a party for finishing what he did. And remember, don't do something because others expect you to...do it because it's in the best interest of your dog.

I wish you the best of luck!! Looking forward to seeing video. Regardless of the outcome, know that he's giving you his best on that day. Could be one jump and done or it could be a blue and Q. Have fun!!

 

[Simba13]

he is
I debated for a millisecond if I should attempt the weaves or go on and since he was still paying attention to me, I decided to go on. I think I would have lost him to his own ideas if we hadn't kept moving he doesn't really shut down but he does have his own ideas about what we should be doing...

We have different venues here- we run in AKC (Novice, Open, Excellent and Masters) and NADAC (Novice, Open and Elite). both of those have only 6 weave poles in the Novice Levels and increase to 12 poles in the more advanced levels. AKC does have a class called Time to Beat that doesn't have levels and always has 12 weave poles. it's a good class to see if your dog can handle 12 weaves in a trial.

we do love video so I hope that you get some of your runs.

Simba has some ideas of his own as well. He likes to be independent and do his on things sometimes

We only have 2 different venues here and they both use a grading system running from 1-7 and usually the classes will be combined so we will be competing in 1-2 agility and 1-3 jumping at our first show ut at our second it will be 1-4 combined

 

[Simba13]

Know your dog! My advice is to not even bother yourself with what other people think or do. If you're there for ring experience, take what you get and learn from it. It's nice to get a Q, but that comes with time and experience. If your dog can't or won't do weaves in a stressful trial environment, I wouldn't be surprised. Just move on! Then in class or at home, you can increase the distraction and proof the weaves. I have a VERY sensitive Sheltie and I have to cheerlead a lot with her when on course. If she even makes an attempt at weaves, I'm happy. The important thing is that she's happy to be out there. When we started, I was lucky if she even wanted to leave from the start line...and I had a few runs where she took one or two jumps and we left the ring to go have a party because she was SO good for taking that one jump!!

In the venues I play, we get a 5 minute walk through. However, we also receive maps of the courses early in the morning, so if you want to plan your course ahead of time, you can.

I would get there early. Let your dog adjust to the sites and smells. Let him learn where his safe place is in his crate or your vehicle. Give him time to chill out before you start walking around and take it slow. If he wants to look around, let him. I wouldn't expect a baby dog at his first show to be super into his handler when first arriving on site. Getting there early lets him get that out of his system so that he's ready to play when it's time.

If he shuts down on course, I would simply grab his leash and encourage him to walk out with you. When you're out of the ring, reward him for something REALLY easy. Will he sit? Make eye contact? Great!! Tell him how awesome he is and reward him!! If you can see him shutting down, I would end the run prematurely and throw him a party for finishing what he did. And remember, don't do something because others expect you to...do it because it's in the best interest of your dog.

I wish you the best of luck!! Looking forward to seeing video. Regardless of the outcome, know that he's giving you his best on that day. Could be one jump and done or it could be a blue and Q. Have fun!!

Thanks a million you have made me feel much less nervous. I'll be happy with anything he does on the day even if he decides to go of for a sniff. I am going to cook up a nice treat for him the night before. Simba picks up on my emotions so easily so I will have to try and keep my nerves in check. We did a display at a local fair in June and he was brilliant and stayed with me and only left the course once to greet a dog that came for a watch. If I get half the attention and interest from him that I did that day I will be delighted

 

[Silaria]

I have a VERY sensitive Sheltie and I have to cheerlead a lot with her when on course. If she even makes an attempt at weaves, I'm happy. The important thing is that she's happy to be out there. When we started, I was lucky if she even wanted to leave from the start line...and I had a few runs where she took one or two jumps and we left the ring to go have a party because she was SO good for taking that one jump!!

THIS would describe the first year and a half of my husband running CJ in trials. It was an incremental process to put a full run together at a trial when she would be outstanding in class. Even today he has to make some tough decisions to abort a run because she's just not engaged. He makes it fun for her ... as fun as possible.

I bought a t-shirt for him that reads: The best handler is the one who's dog is having the most fun. This is VERY true! Have fun with your dog and do what Simba is able to do. Celebrate the small victories.

 

[labgirl]

Are you running KC or an independent?

I find most places give you a good 10-15 mins to walk the course initially and some will give an additional 5 mins between heights, but not always. KC usually offer walking the course between heights because of the larger numbers in classes, but smaller shows expect all the heights to walk the course together.

Top tip, walk the course when it is set up for your grade, even if it is not for your height. So, for instance, yesterday I walked the Grade 1-2 Small Jumping course, though I run Medium. Then if you miss the walking for your height, at least you know the course.

In the early grades many judges only put in six weaves. Out of my three Grade 1 runs yesterday, only 1 had twelve weaves, the other two had six.

If you are not confident with the weaves you can miss them all together and run your own line, no one will mind. I plan to do that with Sparrow when she first starts if there are sections I don't think she is ready for.

If Simba becomes distracted try to call him back, you usually get around double the course time for your run before you will be politely asked to exit the ring. So you do have time to get him back.

Most importantly have lots of fun and Good Luck

 

[Simba13]

Are you running KC or an independent?

I find most places give you a good 10-15 mins to walk the course initially and some will give an additional 5 mins between heights, but not always. KC usually offer walking the course between heights because of the larger numbers in classes, but smaller shows expect all the heights to walk the course together.

Top tip, walk the course when it is set up for your grade, even if it is not for your height. So, for instance, yesterday I walked the Grade 1-2 Small Jumping course, though I run Medium. Then if you miss the walking for your height, at least you know the course.

In the early grades many judges only put in six weaves. Out of my three Grade 1 runs yesterday, only 1 had twelve weaves, the other two had six.

If you are not confident with the weaves you can miss them all together and run your own line, no one will mind. I plan to do that with Sparrow when she first starts if there are sections I don't think she is ready for.

If Simba becomes distracted try to call him back, you usually get around double the course time for your run before you will be politely asked to exit the ring. So you do have time to get him back.

Most importantly have lots of fun and Good Luck

Thank you for the advice It's a kc show. I know that at this show we can't walk the course in between heights but everyone walks it before the start. I just hope I remember the course I was talking to a trainer recently who said that there is always 12 poles in the country we live in and she has never seen a show with only 6. 6 would be great for us though cause he usually tends to pop out at about 10 or 11.

I am just going to treat the round as if it is training (without the toy) if it all starts to go wrong. Thanks a million I'll try and get a video to post

 

[labgirl]

If you get lost pause and read the numbersEven after two years of competing I still sometimes have to do that!

I guess it depends on the judge as to number of weaves. I've been lucky here in my KC competitions in that many of the 1-3 courses have only had 6 weaves.

Its a great idea to treat it as a training run. That will take the pressure off you. Good luck!

 

[seashel]

I would second everything Sophie has said. We don't tend to get course maps (apart from events like Olympia and Crufts) so have longer to walk the course. Sometimes over lunch if you're lucky which is great because you have an hour and not as many people walking. Usually the G1-2 courses are nice and flowing with few changes of sides. If he goes wrong, just carry on as if everything was going perfectly. One of the biggest mistakes I made at one of my first shows was to repeatedly keep trying to get the weaves right. I knew he could do them fine in training but it was really demotivational to keep on trying. You are wiser that I to ask these questions in advance because I didn't know whether I had to complete the whole course before leaving the ring or what I could/couldn't do if things went wrong!

I think you've got a great attitude to this, so I'm sure whatever happens it will be a good outcome for the both of you. Hope you have a great time starting out on your agility journey and try and get some video (for you to review as well as us to enjoy!). It is such an invaluable tool - many times I've thought things went much worse than they actually did and you can learn a tremendous amount from watching your round back. I've found that innocent bystanders are generally happy to film if approached with a camera and brief instructions, if you don't have anyone on hand to film that you know. The agility community is so friendly and if you explain it is your first show someone will happily help you out on the day with what to do. Good luck and have fun!

 

[seashel]

Top tip, walk the course when it is set up for your grade, even if it is not for your height. So, for instance, yesterday I walked the Grade 1-2 Small Jumping course, though I run Medium. Then if you miss the walking for your height, at least you know the course.

Just a word of caution on this - sometimes the course does change between heights even if same grade. I've seen this happen a few times so it is worth checking if the course definitely will be the same. They often announce in the judge's briefing before the start of the first course if the next height will be running over the same course to allow everyone to walk early, but not always. It's not until you are told 'course is ready for walking' for your class that you know for sure what it will be. If the weather conditions are poor, changes can be made to weave entries etc between classes if the ground is getting cut up too badly.

 

[Simba13]

I would second everything Sophie has said. We don't tend to get course maps (apart from events like Olympia and Crufts) so have longer to walk the course. Sometimes over lunch if you're lucky which is great because you have an hour and not as many people walking. Usually the G1-2 courses are nice and flowing with few changes of sides. If he goes wrong, just carry on as if everything was going perfectly. One of the biggest mistakes I made at one of my first shows was to repeatedly keep trying to get the weaves right. I knew he could do them fine in training but it was really demotivational to keep on trying. You are wiser that I to ask these questions in advance because I didn't know whether I had to complete the whole course before leaving the ring or what I could/couldn't do if things went wrong!

I think you've got a great attitude to this, so I'm sure whatever happens it will be a good outcome for the both of you. Hope you have a great time starting out on your agility journey and try and get some video (for you to review as well as us to enjoy!). It is such an invaluable tool - many times I've thought things went much worse than they actually did and you can learn a tremendous amount from watching your round back. I've found that innocent bystanders are generally happy to film if approached with a camera and brief instructions, if you don't have anyone on hand to film that you know. The agility community is so friendly and if you explain it is your first show someone will happily help you out on the day with what to do. Good luck and have fun!

Thank you for all of your advice We made it up to the club today for one last practice before the show but unfortunately we had a bit of a scare on the seesaw. It's as if he forgot it was going to move and he came flying of the end before it hit the ground and then he wouldn't even touch it, but luckily by the end of the class had him on it again but I was controlling it to the ground. I am unsure now though if I should just skip it on the course, I'll probably have been eliminated by then if it is closer to the end .

Luckily there are a few people from the club going to the same show and have all offered to record it for me. I can't wait to look back on it this time next year to see how far we have come. I have already decided I am going to attend the ikc festival in England with friends next summer for our first agility holiday so I can't wait to see the difference between then and now! I'll also have my new Sheltie puppy who was born this week and will (hopefully) be starting his agility training this time next year