Holly Agility Practice

[Moviedust]

At christmas, my father gave Holly and me a PVC agility jump. We haven't had nice enough weather to practice much outdoors, but we did today. Holly's the only one of my dogs who does Agility, but the other two were enjoying the nice weather and the random treat or two they got while Holly did her practice. We only have the one PVC jump for now, so we added a second jump (to practice series) made out of two chairs and a broom. Holly prefers the PVC jump. ;) Enjoy!

"I'm focused and I'm ready!"
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/moviedust/hollyjump15.jpg

"Watch this technique, Ma!"
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/moviedust/hollyjump10.jpg

"No, Cedar; not under! Over, like this!"
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/moviedust/Hollyjump13cedarunder.jpg

"What's that over there? Oh, yeah, I'm jumping. I'm focused, I Swear!"
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/moviedust/hollyjump6.jpg

Cedar: "Wow, Look at Holly!"
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/moviedust/hollyjump8.jpg

"I'm over--now, I must stick...."
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/moviedust/hollyjump14.jpg

"...the landing!"
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/moviedust/hollylanding.jpg

[cy1266]

Cute pictures! I would love to start agility with my two - is it hard to teach them?

[Moviedust]

With my dogs, only Holly is the dog who does well with Agility. I've found that an active, energetic dog is a must, even if that dog seems to lack focus. The agility will help the dog learn focus.

Plus, it is important that your dog gets an all-clear from the vet. Especially with cavaliers, they need to have strong knees. If they have weak knees, even if they dont experience problems with them currently, I would never exercise the dog with jumps. My Cedar is that way; even if she was inclined to do agility (which she isn't) her knees are not strong enough for the jumping.

My third cav, Willow, is a little princess. She is only outside because I ask her to be; she'd rather be inside on the sofa being groomed. She wouldn't like agility AT ALL. It'd be like Paris Hilton doing track & field! Ha!

If you have a healthy dog with the energy and desire to run and jump, look for a training center that offers agility classes. They'll have the equipment to learn on and the trainers to show you techniques. If you like the class and all goes well, then you can start investing in your own equipment. Good luck!

[Cathy Moon]

:rah:Go Holly! You go girl!:rah:
Is she taking agility classes? :)

[Moviedust]

Yes, Holly is taking her second class. The first class in our club is geared toward simply learning the different obstacles. So the second class is more advanced, setting up more complex series and different handling situations. Right now, Holly is learning to "go" do the obstacles on her own, without having me run along next to each obstacles. She's doing pretty well; she's definitely learning to focus and look to me more, which is excellent.

[wildandcrazyguys]

That looks like a lot of fun!

[ice-cavi]

She is awsome:rah:! This is something I would love to do later with my girls :)