Pug Agility

[jaymiej]

Hi!

Ive bought Bandit and Bridget some agility equipment - a tyre/ladder/hurdle/tunnel!!!

I was just wondering if anyone else did agility and had any pointers - its more for fun in the garden then anything but Im having trouble getting bandit to join in! Bridgey does anything for cheese but bandit seems scared of them?!

[jwestoverpug]

I've competed with all four of my pugs and currently compete with Kittie and Abby.

Do you have any classes you could join? That's the best way to get started.

For teaching jumps, start with them very low, even with the bars all the way on the ground. Make it easy and very rewarding for them, same thing with the tire. Reward low and to your side, using the hand closest to your dog. Practice just having them follow you when you run without any equipment.

Squish the tunnel up as small as possible, you can start by having someone else hold them on the one side and you call them though, from the other side.

The ladder is just to teach some footwork. Dogs don't have a real good concept of what their back feet are doing. Teaching them to back up is also very good for this.

I do everything off leash from the beginning, no forcing, and no luring with food.

For Bandit, if he seems very frightened, you can gradually shape things with a clicker. If he even looks at say the jump, click treat, then if he takes one step towards it, click treat, and so on, until he thinks this stuff is the most wonderful thing around. Let it be his choice, ignore anything ou don't like, and reward any interest in the equipment.

There are a few others at PV who compete in agility. Hopefully the'll chime in soon.

[Snifter]

I agree with what Jesse said, although we did train by luring with food initially.

If you're thinking that one day you might like to compete you should find a class so as to teach them properly from the start. Un-teaching habits is harder than teaching the correct way in the first place.

If it's just for fun, then classes are still a good way to go but not essential. Main thing is to make sure all experiences are positive. But don't let Bandit wee up the equipment!

Jesse - it seems to me Snifter has no idea whatsoever that he has back legs! We are trying to teach the sideways walk in his tricks class at present. Nightmare!!!