we finally had a go at agility yesterday. I discovered a class in my village! It’s very relaxed and they don’t do competitions, just the odd village show which is fine for us. I didn’t know if the Pig would like it or be scared but she took to it very well! There was a small group of dogs who had done it before and they were a typical bunch of maladjusted reactive collies that barked constantly and skulked around snapping at everyone. You can tell I don’t like collies. Then there were us beginners, who were mainly cockerpoos too small and bumbling to get over any of the jumps we were a motley crew. There was a lot of waiting around between each go because the cockerpoos took so long to do their runs, but I was pleased with how quiet and calm the Pig was despite collies barking at her constantly. It was also outdoors on a farm, open to the track with dog walkers coming past and pheasant shooting nearby so a little stressful letting her off lead but apart from one run up the track to shout at a dog barking behind a gate, she was generally a Good Pig. She boinged over all the jumps at speed and everyone was laughing saying she had springs in her paws. She didn’t understand the tunnels the first few times but after getting her to lie down and stay whilst I went the other end and called her through she got the hang of it. But the biggest surprise was the see-saw. The Pig gets freaked out very easily, particularly with weird stuff moving, so I was convinced the see-saw would be a disaster. But by the third run she actually ran onto it by herself before I’d even got cheese in front of her nose and scrabbled up and down it and was ready for the next jump! I am proud of my brave springy Pig and will definitely start going weekly from now on. It’s also good for her to practice being calm waiting for her turn with people running and shouting and dogs jumping and barking which can’t be easy for her!
It's sounds like you both had fun. That's the important thing. The agility I went too was very like this the person who rang it kept the seriously scary agility people separate from the beginner so it stayed calm. I know what you mean about collies I learned to be very careful around them. Glad you had such a good time the pig is seriously talented she does well at everything you try even though things are hard for her. Doug was terrible at agility but he though he was the best, Moo thought it was a waste of her valuable time.
She sounds like a natural - fancy getting the hang of the see saw that quickly! How great that it went so well Can't wait to hear more stories.
Oh well done The Pig! See Pigs can fly You have such a lovely positive attitude @Lara, you have made me think twice about my experience at agility class. I LVE your description of the BCs hehehe.
It sounds like a really great class for the Pig, lots to learn from it apart from the agility aspect. I found agility very good for Ripple in all sorts of ways whereas I had thought it was going to be a disaster. Unfortunately my class has now moved to a time I can't manage - maybe they did it on purpose .
Oh well done the Pig! What a lovely post to read, and how fab that it is in your village. I'm going to try it with Cassie ☺it will be for beginners, i've enquired about the yapping and it's ok cos it's not serious, I will go for the first one in a fortnight. My agility is going to be something to see
Yay, go Pig go! This was a delight to read and I'm glad that you both had such a good time. Looking forward to the continued adventures of Springy Pig.
That's amazing, so glad you enjoyed it despite the Collies (I feel the same as you). Charlie and I did agility years ago but he was so, so fast I couldn't keep up with him, he would do the course in a matter of seconds and was sitting waiting for me to catch up and throw the reward ball The very least they could do is provide oxygen tanks or a defibrillator
Yes they have a very different body language from what I am used to. One of the more amiable ones tried to play with the Pig (both on lead) but her initial ‘play with me’ involved suddenly lunging and air snapping at the Pig’s face. We were both rather shocked and then the Pig decided it was funny and commenced play ‘Pig style’ which involved slapping the collie with her big puppy paws. They actually got on well, but I stayed well clear of the other collies. There was one hideous one - I know I shouldn’t judge by looks (and it’s behaviour was equally awful) but it was this horrible scraggy merle that crept along the ground and one eye was half brown half blue so it looked like it had a cataract. It snarled at everyone and barked continuously when another dog moved. I actually jumped in fright when I saw it! Yuck.
I know, I was pretty knackered after our runs and we weren’t even going fast as we kept stopping at the tunnels and things to make sure the Pig understood. I also have no sense of direction so couldn’t remember which order to do anything and ended up just running about sending the pig over random jumps that I came across! I will definitely be the limiting factor in this endeavour!
Sounds like fun which I think is the main thing. There's always lots of other benefits to a class than just what you're supposed to be doing.
Awww, that sounds great! I'm really glad you're going to keep going - it's wonderful when you find some thing you and your dog can have fun together doing!
The Pig had her second agility class today. She went on a big a-frame thing for the first time, as well as the jumps, tyre, tunnels and see-saw from last time. She still likes it she surprised me on the tunnels as at the end of the last class she was still only running through them if I got her to lie down at one end and wait looking down it until I appeared at the other end and called her. Today, she just took one look at it and ran right through and did the rest with no problems! It’s funny when they seem to learn something between training sessions that you don’t work on. She still sometimes tries to go round an obstacle rather than over by default but hopefully I will get better at directing her. We had one mishap where she ran off to stare at a dog behind a gate down the track (and then ignored my recall ). But we recovered and we still have a happy boingy Pig (now full of cheese)!
