Agility A Personal story

Sparky at a young dog training camp. Photo credit: Rachel Gue

I’ve always felt that dogs should have a purpose, so when Rosie came into my life I wanted to find something suitable for her intelligence and energy levels.

By Penny Hurt

Rosie is a bearded collie. Then, she was an energetic 18 month old, full of beans and quite capable

Rosie and the author of inventing her own fun if she wasn’t feeling fulfilled. Sadly this had got her into trouble in her previous home on a farm so when she came to me I committed to helping her learn to direct this energy into more suitable activities.

She needed a lot of basic training but I could also see that she needed more than that. She was bred to work. Beardies were bred as herding dogs designed to be in tandem with their shepherd owners, to work on instruction, follow directions, but also to think for themselves and take on challenges without question.

We are so lucky these days to have many activities to choose from. For me agility was the right choice. It’s an active sport involving running around both for the dog and the handler and keeping us both fit. There’s a lot to learn – and this is what I love best. The great feeling when my dog and I are working a course together, both doing our own jobs, her taking the obstacles and me making sure I’m in position to direct her around the course without mistakes. Believe me it’s not easy to achieve (!) but it’s immensely satisfying when it all comes right. To get to that point takes many months of training but I love being out, engaging with my pal, short sessions, always making it fun and what a difference it makes to our relationship. Rosie became so engaged with me instead of wanting to run off and do her own thing.

Agility is also a social sport. For me, a mixture of one to one lessons and group lessons is ideal. Many of my friends are people I’ve met through the group classes and then we will meet up at competitions too, maybe camping for the weekend (when it’s permitted again). For Rosie group classes were good because she had to learn to focus on me with other people and dogs around.

So I joined a group class at my local club and started to learn the basics. As time went on, I wanted to learn more and to get the detail right and this is where one to one classes with an experienced trainer are the way to go. Not all agility trainers are the same and it’s important to find one who suits you and your dog. Over the years I have had six one to one trainers all of whom are very good (and very patient!) and have helped us in different ways.

I also found that we needed to practice at home in between lessons. There is plenty to train using no equipment at all and my back lawn has been adequate for much of it. Later on though, I wanted to practice Rosie’s jump skills and my handling skills around

Training session

Practising the weaves at a lesson

obstacles, so the next stage for me was to buy some equipment. This can be quite an investment so I didn’t do it until I was certain that I wanted to carry on with agility and quite possibly train more dogs (more on this later!). I started with 3 jumps and then added a tunnel and a mini A frame and more jumps and then weaves. I made sure the jumps could be easily set to competition heights. With the tunnels you can choose from different lengths, I chose a 2 meter one from Naylor which was enough to provide the experience for Rosie and to fit into my garden easily. (The most difficult decision was choosing the colours!) I also bought a mini A Frame and I see that there are better contact training ramps and rockers (to train see-saws) available now too.

With Rosie and I embarking on the world of competition in a very modest way it only seemed right Rosie taking the finish line

that my next dog (and the one after that!), would also learn agility skills. Beware, it can be addictive! So Monty was the next to join us. He came from a rescue centre (Many Sparky, Rosie and Monty on the training A Frame Tears Rescue in South Wales) as a juvenile and has a lovely calm attitude. Rosie had to retire early because of hip problems and Monty so far has been my dog with whom we have achieved most in the competitions and gradually worked our way up the grades.

Latest to join our little agility troop is Sparky, a border collie who came to me from the same rescue centre as a pup. Sparky has been quite a challenge so far, with some behavioural and physical problems but already the agility training we have done has helped our bonding and his focus on me. Each dog learns in a different way and has different skill sets so the challenge with more than one dog is to adapt the training to their needs.

Meanwhile I am getting older and the courses are getting faster. Will Sparky be my last agility dog? I hope not as I find it such a rewarding thing to do. It keeps my mind and my body active and gives me a wonderful relationship with my dogs. And most importantly the dogs love it.

Competition Standard Jump Wings

Naylor Agility Equipment

Naylor Agility are pleased to introduce their new range of dog agility equipment to complement their popular range of Dog Agility Tunnels. Naylor Agility Equipment is manufactured using high quality materials in the UK. The new range of dog agility equipment is ideal for agility training at home and at club level.

The new range comprises:

• Wobble Board – a 60cm diameter board with paw print design and a secure wobble dome in the centre.

Fantastic for building confidence on unstable surfaces, promotes balance and co-ordination and is great for rehabilitation exercises. The wobble board is also fully rubberised for safety. • 4ft Contact Trainer – for training stop and 2 on 2 off contacts at home. Fully resin bound rubberised surface with contrast colour contact area. The contact trainer is 4ft in length and 1ft wide with the contact end angled to sit closer to the ground when in use. • Stacking Blocks – ideal for posture and form training. The stacking blocks are fully reversible with wider and narrow sides for big and little paws, both sides are rubberised.

Suitable for creating a still position for standing pose and can also be used to grow confidence and teach paw awareness. • TanGo Mat – a 180cm x 90cm resin bound rubber surface on rubber backing with durable plastic buckles to fix to Marker Poles. Rolls up for transportation. • 4ft Rocker Board – a 4ft long x 1ft wide fully resin bound rubberised surface with angled ends to sit closer to the ground when in use.

Each end of the rocker board has contrasting colour contact sections.

The rocker board is ideal for building confidence in movement under foot for young and nervous dogs and is a perfect introduction to seesaw movement. • Competition Standard Jump Wings –supplied with 2 pairs of removable jump cups and weighted pole.

Made using high quality treated timber with removable feet for easy transportation and storage. All 4 KC standard heights, with 200mm available on request for UKA select height the specification allows use in

KC and UKA competitions. Can be ordered directly via the webshop www.nayloragility.co.uk or phone our sales team on 01226 444378 to discuss your exact requirements. Please note all agility equipment is made to order with a 6 week lead time.

Stacking Blocks

TanGo Mat

4ft Contact Trainer Wobble Board