Have you ever tried agility with your dogs?
When Atka was a baby, we took him to puppy socialization classes. Almost every class we would do confidence building with the puppies by teaching them how to use the agility equipment. I hadn’t expected Atka to do well with agility (he’s easily spooked and not very agile), but he surprised me with his ability!
I got to thinking… maybe I should sign Atka up for an agility class. He won’t get through the course quickly or with the most finesse, but if he’s enjoying it that should be all that matters. I researched agility classes in our area and only found one place that offered agility. I had heard great things about this place, so I decided to stop in and check them out.
A really friendly, older women greeted me and showed me where the agility classes take place. After chatting for a bit, she asked what kind of dog I had. I responded that I had a Great Pyrenees and she basically laughed in my face.
“A Great Pyrenees doing agility?! Now that would be a sight! Never in a million years did I think a pyr would be able to do agility.”
I’m sure it will come as no surprise that we decided not to do agility there. The trainer just didn’t seem very welcoming and I later found out that they require choke chains for classes. I’m not comfortable with that style of training and she was pretty adamant that choke collars must be used.
There’s a good chance we will be moving in the next year so hopefully I can find a good agility center! While Atka knows how to use the agility equipment, I think Mauja would do really well. She is much more agile and quick. I just need to get her to an agility place so I can see if she would even enjoy it!
I think agility is a great way to exercise and bond with your dog, regardless of the breed. If you and your dog are both having fun, that’s all that matters! What do you think? Have you ever tried agility with your dog?
Check out this pyr practicing her agility skills!
We’re joining the FitDog Friday Blog Hop brought to you by SlimDoggy, To Dog with Love, and My GBGV Life.
Barley and I love going to agility class! We’ve been taking classes for about three years now, but we aren’t actually considering competing. It’s more a safe, controlled environment for us to practice being calm and comfortable around other dogs (especially high energy ones). It’s definitely helped with her reactions to other dogs and she has so much fun doing it. Good luck finding a training center that will be warm and welcoming! We feel so lucky to have ours–and they even offer agility for fun classes that let dogs who might not compete or are too old or injured to do full courses play with some of the equipment 🙂
That is so awesome! I think agility would be great with Mauja for the same reason you stated, being calm around other dogs. She just gets so excited!
We have gone to several pet festivals where they have had an agility course set up. The dogs loved it so much, took them a few tries to get the hang of it which was quite comical. Sure is a great way to exercise and bond with them!
I wish we had something like that around here!
I couldn’t agree with you more! When I first started competing with my first Havanese Cosmo, we were the only Havanese at the trials. Now there’s a good sized group of them in our area. We have lots of options for training here in Atlanta… I hope you can find a place that works for you in your area. I teach an “agility for fun” class and take a competitive class at a different training center. We have ALL types of dogs in our classes. It’s such an awesome sport for both pup and handler and a great way to build a terrific bond with your dog! Hope you continue to have fun with it!
That would be so much fun! I don’t think we would ever do agility competitively, so it would be great to have a class with people just doing it for fun.
Mom finds this extremely funny. Kuvasz Katie was a wild girl puppy and it was recommended to Mom that she start doing agility with her. This was in Germany. Mom signed up and went to the first class where she was practically told a Kuvasz could never do agility and she should leave, but she stuck to her guns and stayed. Wild Katie was a mess. She only wanted to play with other dogs, so whenever she got on the course, she played catch me with Mom and distracted all the other dogs. After the third class, they were asked to leave and not come back. So much for Kuvasz agility! Hope the Pyr has better luck! Thanks for joining the FitDog Friday blog hop!
Haha! Oh Katie, that is just too funny. I worry that’s what would happen if I took Mauja 😉
Size shouldn’t matter…maybe they are slower but they can still do…says the person who’s never done it. I think it would be fun – if the dog is game, who cares about the speed! Thanks for joining the Hop.
My thoughts exactly!
I had some doubts that the tunnel is big enough, but yay, all went well :o) It was great to watch the video, thanks :o)
Atka has had to squeeze through some pretty tiny tunnels 😉
Way to go Atka! I should look into agility for Kilo, he has so much energy.
I’m sure it would be a lot of fun and a great way to burn off that extra energy!
Of course a Pyr can do agility! That person was ignorant!
I have often thought of putting my huskies into agility, I just don’t have the time to set things up and train properly for it.
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I think huskies would have a lot of fun with agility! Maybe one day 🙂
I don’t see why any dog can’t do agility, although I have heard it is very hard to place against Aussies and the like.
i don’t think a giant breed could ever truly compete with an Aussie type dog, but what does it matter when you’re just doing it for fun! 🙂
Mr. N is an “off-breed” for almost everything. I took him to a competition (not agility) and someone told me she thought it was cruel to make small dogs run so much!
That’s crazy! From what I’m seeing from other bloggers, the smaller dogs seem to have a good bit of energy!
Quite a few of the small dogs (especially the terrier breeds) are high energy. Mr. N can go all day. He went to an agility class, then hiked for four miles in the afternoon and came home wanting to play with his toys. I’m pretty sure he can outrun the Giant breeds in his training class right now. He was almost as fast as the Border Collie/Lab we met the other day!
Goodness gracious! About 30 minutes into an obedience class Atka is done and will sleep for the rest of the day. Mr. N could definitely out run my two 🙂
I think it would be more the personality and activity level of the dog, not the breed. I bet you don’t see many beagles competing in agility, but I bet our Cricket would be great at it. I wish I had tried it with both her and our golden. They are both almost 10 now though and I don’t think the jumping would be good for their joints. SO, I really do hope to try it with our puppy Luke! I don’t think he can do the jumps yet, he’s still too young, but we just won an at-home set and we’re going to try the weave poles. We already have a tunnel which he loves going through!
Oh that is too cool! I was thinking I should get/build some sort of backyard agility set so that I can see how Mauja would like it and keep Atka comfortable with the equipment. I hope we can see updates on how Luke does with it!
Agility is fun! I have taken some classes but never competed. I know some folks who do and I love watching their videos! I hope you find a training center that works for you.
I’m glad you decided not go to with that specific class, it’s meant to be fun after all. I’m sure you’ll find a great center in your area, one that focuses on the dog having fun and getting benefit out of it. It’s a great way to bond with your dog, they really seem to love the structure and activity.
Not every dog is a Border Collie, so not every dog should be compared to them when it comes to agility.
One of my favorite videos is this Husky having a grand ole time on the agility course- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyO8EVzhVU
I think you should go for it. Good for you leaving that one place. I bet Gambler would be good at agility but we just have way to much other stuff going on.
I was also surprised when Honey’s trainer suggested agility exercises as a way to boost her confidence. Turning things into a game really made a difference.
When I watch agility competitions, border collies tear up the course. But golden retrievers are interesting for the carefulness they bring to the course. They’re rarely speed demons. But they rarely make a mistake.
I think it would be great to see what a Pyr could bring to the sport.
BTW, bravo for not joining that agility club. Such terrible attitudes should not be encouraged. They just don’t get it.
I have recently been working on trying to get Bain to jump through a hoola hoop, it’s not going very well. Lol!
He learned the basic tricks such as leave it, shake a paw, bang . After that it’s been extremely hard to get him to do something new. I would love to try out agility with him, as you mentioned it’d be a great activity for bonding.
I am planning on doing some weight pulling with him too once I purchase a harness.
I’m on my second pyr doing agility and yes a lot of people politely smile when I says I do this with a pyr. I always get the …you understand they are big and not meant for this. No one seems to understand that yes they are agile….but no they won’t always choose to LISTEN at a trial. So I’ve had a few laughs but we enjoy playing and hopefully my 2 yrs old will title and show everyone what pyrs are made of!