The agility thread

Spotherisk said:
Oh cross post @Clodagh !

Thank you for hanging onto coats and videoing, my friend was made up to Grade 3 with a win in agility today, so delighted to have it recorded for posterity.
Click to expand...
Her who I met? Well done! I loved her dog.
Rew is just a comedian. He was on the boardwalk (if that’s what it’s called) all calm and good. Saw the judge and realised her knew her, leapt off and did a couple of ‘hi there’ laps around her and then went back up again. I’m pretty sure she was trying not to laugh 😄
 
Clodagh said:
Her who I met? Well done! I loved her dog.
Rew is just a comedian. He was on the boardwalk (if that’s what it’s called) all calm and good. Saw the judge and realised her knew her, leapt off and did a couple of ‘hi there’ laps around her and then went back up again. I’m pretty sure she was trying not to laugh 😄
Click to expand...

Yes, the artist 😊

And I fully expect a message from the judge later saying well done, now run faster!

Friday training with Barrie James will be interesting as I understand he pushes people to run and run.

Must start C2 5k again!

🤣
 
We have a comp tomorrow after a break. I must try and be chilled 🙄 she has been ok in training on the whole. The entries are huge apparently so am already expecting a long day! Daz has her first measure too. Just hope she manages to make it at agility but time will tell. Be chilled. No pressure. Be chilled.....
Aim is to get round with no time penalties 😂
 
Last edited:
Jenko109 said:
Today we went to a show.

Jumping she screamed basically the whole way round, got eliminated at the final fence as she took it the wrong direction. She went so freaking fast that I have no idea how I kept up with her or maintained control up until that point.

Agility had 15 faults so not eliminated, but silly mistakes that she would not normally make as she was so wired.

Steeplechase just five faults caused by my handling not setting her up quite right.

She thought the whole event was absolutely hilarious.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a different version of my normal competition days!
 
Spotherisk said:
And I fully expect a message from the judge later saying well done, now run faster!

Friday training with Barrie James will be interesting as I understand he pushes people to run and run.
Click to expand...
Not my sort of trainer then. I want to distance handle as much as possible. I do like being able to run with my dog but just isn't possible these days or at least not at speed so getting my dog working well away from me is a must. Very satisfying when it goes well. At our last little unaffiliated show a week ago we had 2 e's in agility and just a pole down in each of the jumping classes. On time she would have won the jumping and come 2nd in the steeplechase.
 
Errin Paddywack said:
Not my sort of trainer then. I want to distance handle as much as possible. I do like being able to run with my dog but just isn't possible these days or at least not at speed so getting my dog working well away from me is a must. Very satisfying when it goes well. At our last little unaffiliated show a week ago we had 2 e's in agility and just a pole down in each of the jumping classes. On time she would have won the jumping and come 2nd in the steeplechase.
Click to expand...

I love watching people distance handle well. Life goals for me!
 
2x2 weaves? We got stuck on slightly offset 4 weaves. Eventually went to a different trainer who had us doing 12 straight weaves in one session. Once he got it, Arthur really got it, even though we used the unfashionable luring method to get there. The lure was phased out almost immediately
 
Well after yesterday I’ve had a rush of blood to the head and signed me and Scout up for a total beginners course. Got to wait for the ground to dry up first.
As he doesn’t like retrieve training I thought it might be a different way to get him listening, and he loves a bit of one to one.
However I DO NOT RUN. So distance handling it will be, if he ever gets fast enough that I need to break out of a walk. 😄
 
I’d love to do distance handling, however we’re a long way off that. Anyone who’s googled Barrie James will know he’s definitely a distance handler himself!

Unfortunately the group I started with didn’t give me and Rew a great start, of course you don’t know what you don’t know, so I’m very behind with our education and understanding. Im on holiday for a week soon, on a non-skiing from my pov skiing holiday, as OH has booked an apartment with no WiFi 😱 I will be taking my Agility Bible with me and practising blinds with the furniture!
 
If I lure this one I will be left bleeding. 😅

If I send her from anywhere on the clock face, even the really tight angles, she's doing four in a straight line. Variation in handler position, speed, distance - no problem. Send her in a straight line from 12, she can only see the second gate and sends the first flying even if it's wide open. Too much speed going in and an inability to regulate herself to make the first gate, she's just blasting. Unless she's coming in on an angle and has a pole to wrap, in which case she can apparently brake and turn on a sixpence. I've missed something fundamental in her understanding and it's very annoying.

Had another session with Sam Lane this week with my boy though which went a long way towards helping the blood pressure, she always leaves you feeling buoyed up, and he is a proper comfy slippers dog to run these days.
 
MurphysMinder said:
I'm going on a distance handling training day next month. Zig is too fast for my old legs so hoping to get some tips. There is a lady at our training class who is 80 and it is lovely to watch her distance handle her collie.
Click to expand...
My friend is 80, lost her old boy last year sadly. She used to compete in G6 with him mostly distance handing and he was brilliant, picked up commands so well. Transferred to Hoopers when he retired from agility and did very well there too. She misses him dreadfully as they had such a brilliant partnership.
 
Funnily enough I've just been offered a date for Barrie, not trained with him before.

Back from a socialisation walk with a friend in which large dog had to do some very hard thinking so she was in a good, lightly tired state of being as we drove back past the paddock - sod it, says I, let's stop and do a couple of reps. Four poles barely offset, straight entry, braked and put herself in carefully, totally nailed it. The inconsistency is going to drive me insane. 🙃
 
Just back from a very long day! Positives? Mmmm well we were clear in combined agility G3 to 5 BUT we planted on dog walk again and had times penalties again 🙄 In the graded jumping we managed a placed third but again with time penalties 😬

Daz had her first measure and measured in as small phew.

So many there and car park rammed approx 400 in each ring.😳
 

Attachments

  • Compress_4c947191-14bc-4289-85ea-a761f115a78e20240225_162222.jpg
    Compress_4c947191-14bc-4289-85ea-a761f115a78e20240225_162222.jpg
    441.7 KB · Views: 3
I had a brilliant first training session with Barrie James on Friday.

He speeded me and Rew up so well, really got us moving, my dog has never driven on so well.

I found his views so interesting because it was the first time he had met us - once he ascertained I was horsy he said ‘this dog is like your schoolmaster - he knows all the moves, you just have to work out how to ride him.’ Spot on Barrie.
 
blackcob said:
Rules and regs for the new Agility Nexus organisation have been launched - several items in there on the European model that aren't for me/my dogs, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
I won't be joining as it stands currently, although the lower height option would be nice. I think it is going to be too "serious" for us, plus seems to be mainly down south currently.
 
The bits I have issue with are:

- No collars
- No bum bags, training skirts or equivalent style training aids (presumably inc. vests?)
- Dog is under test from the moment they enter the ring, not the time they are presented to first obstacle
- Nothing can be carried in the hand in the ring
- Bitches in season may compete
- Not permitted to start with a backside push/fling, will result in elimination
- Very zealous wording on the incidents section about reporting 'near miss' events (and if they ban everyone whose dogs charge at the garden fence, they won't have any competitors left!)

I think the no backside push starts is a standard Euro thing but their justification on FB for including it irritated me - they reckon that if you don't have a start line wait you are likely to not have control in other areas of your training and your dog is likely to leave the ring and chase other dogs. 🙄
 
Why no collars? So a harness or naked? (Sorry if that’s a silly question).
Ridiculous taking hot bitches, still at least they’ll win. 🤦‍♀️.
What’s a backside push/fling?

ETA it must mean a harness or there will be carnage!
 
Clodagh said:
Why no collars? So a harness or naked? (Sorry if that’s a silly question).
Ridiculous taking hot bitches, still at least they’ll win. 🤦‍♀️.
What’s a backside push/fling?

ETA it must mean a harness or there will be carnage!
Click to expand...
Nope, absolutely no harness, they are not allowed now. When I first started in agility in the 80s collars weren't allowed but everything was a lot calmer than it is today. I would have struggled when starting my first heeler without a collar to recover him from the judges tent where he liked to steal their snacks !
 
MurphysMinder said:
Nope, absolutely no harness, they are not allowed now. When I first started in agility in the 80s collars weren't allowed but everything was a lot calmer than it is today. I would have struggled when starting my first heeler without a collar to recover him from the judges tent where he liked to steal their snacks !
Click to expand...
Well wow. I’m used to naked dogs, but at agility it always looks like madness about to explode. All those stalking collies. So will slip leads be a thing for taking in and out of the ring?
 
No, they must be nakey:

No collars are permitted whilst competing at Agility Nexus events. Failure to remove the collar before commencing a competition or NFC run will result in an elimination.
Click to expand...

Which is somewhat contradictory to the next bit:

Following the completion of the course, the dog must be under control prior to leaving the ring, and must have a lead put on as soon as possible.
Click to expand...

Backside push is when the dog and handler start on the incorrect side of the first jump and send the dog around the back of the wing to start them, instead of setting them up in a straight line and leaving them in a stay.
 
I don't understand why you can't wear a bumbag?

I also do not understand why you cannot start a dog around the back of the wing. I do not see how it makes any difference. Having to do that does not give you an advantage.

The whole wording gives me bad vibes TBH. I imagine we will give it a miss.
 
blackcob said:
No, they must be nakey:



Which is somewhat contradictory to the next bit:



Backside push is when the dog and handler start on the incorrect side of the first jump and send the dog around the back of the wing to start them, instead of setting them up in a straight line and leaving them in a stay.
Click to expand...
The under control prior to leaving the ring thing is an issue. I know Ziggy isn't the only dog who carries on through the finish looking for his reward , usually in a bucket just outside the ring. If I had to start checking him as he finished I would lose the drive I've worked so hard to get.
 
Ditchjumper2 said:
We already have KC plus the other one so why do we need this too? I had heard rumours that the "small" KC shows were going to struggle so maybe this is part of a master plan? I just do KC and that's plenty.
Click to expand...

I mainly do UKA so my little short a**e dog can jump lower height, and the occasional local KC. I was really pleased when Nexus said they would be having an XS height, but don't think I shall bother.
 
MurphysMinder said:
I mainly do UKA so my little short a**e dog can jump lower height, and the occasional local KC. I was really pleased when Nexus said they would be having an XS height, but don't think I shall bother.
Click to expand...
So this is another competition organiser? And KC and so on will just continue with their rules as they are?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top