She never ceases to amaze me...

Phoebe and I had our 3rd agility class tonight. We've been through this before, through a couple of levels, but that was at least 2 years ago. I can barely remember any of it, so I signed us up for beginner classes this time around, to refresh my memory more than hers. :rolleyes:

Sure enough, as we were driving there on the night of our first class, she started whining the closer we got. There are only 2 places she ever whines about - my sister's house and agility class, which are nowhere near each other. She completely remembered where we were going, even though it had been more than 2 years since she's seen the place. The first couple of classes, she zipped right through any obstacle we presented her with. She remembers all of it as if our last class was yesterday. :D

Tonight, we introduced (or re-introduced, in Phoebe's case) the weave poles. This is a piece of equipment we never quite got last time. She was sketchy at best. I was totally prepared to have to start right from scratch with this one. Phoebe, however, had other plans. Sure enough, as soon as she headed towards the poles, she started weaving. She's not a pro, by any stretch. But she was weaving at almost the same level as two years ago - off-leash, with the bare minimum of leading needed. :thumbs up

The biggest hurdle will be the teeter. She scared herself silly on this thing last time, and absolutely refused to go near it afterwards. If she's developed a mental block about anything, I hope it's this one. :pray: Is that too much to hope for? :laughing:

Agility sounds like such fun to share with your dog :thumbs up .

I've never liked the teeter as a child but was able to go on it as an adult with my children :o :D . Hopefully Phoebe will have outgrown her fear of it too :goodvibes: .

sounds like great fun for Phoebe :thumbs up glad you could get back to the classes again & I'm sure Phoebe is too :fingerscr for success w/the teeter

Isn't it fun!!!! And to see the "I got it" look on their faces is amazing! The beginner class we are in doesn't do weave or the teeter, not until the second level, and the tetter is stablized until the third level. We just leanrt the dog walk, it was only riase half way up, she was scared but did it once she got going. I think my biggest issue is attention span, she does things like 3 times then she'd done, doesn't do too well with repotition, but she gets it right away.

Keep us posted, and good luck with the teeter! :thumbs up

Buster just finished his 3rd class and still isn't thrilled with the teeter (even though the first two times it was flat on the ground!) We still work on leash so there is still a lot of confidence building going on! We added the Frame last week and Buster finally got it by the end of the class :D

Good luck with Phoebe! Hope you both enjoy yourselves!!

We're having a great time! :D We've been given homework each week. One part was to teach them to "target" a Pringles can lid with their nose. This will eventually be used to get them to stop at the bottom of the contact equipment with back paws on the yellow, front paws on the ground. It's a safety thing, to make sure they don't jump off too high.

Till now, we were just holding the lid in our hands and getting them to touch it with their nose. Last class, we were told to name it ("target" or "spot" or whatever) and try to bring it closer to the ground. The object is, eventually, we want to be completely hands-off and have them nail it with their nose when we give them the command. Well, Phoebe's about 50% reliable now with the lid on the floor. The biggest problem is that she gets so excited whenever we're working on it, half the time instead of nailing it with her nose, she's attacking it with her paws, sending it flying across the room. :crazy: :laughing:

Sounds great but where are the pictures :D.

LOL! We're not at the stage yet where taking pictures would be any fun. We're still walking most of the course right now. :sleepy:

But, here are some pics of Phoebe that are not agility-related. These are all from last winter. My more recent pics are on Hubby's MacBook. I'll have to sneak onto it while he's not looking. :p

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c339/AnderiEngr/Phoebe/P1201362.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c339/AnderiEngr/Phoebe/P2170125.jpg

What a life! :crazy:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c339/AnderiEngr/Phoebe/P3151405.jpg

I see Phobe dioes the "happy-dance" in the snow too! :laughing: It's great that she has jumped right back into agility after such a long hiatus ~ smart doggy!