Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Molly on June 15, 2008 at 4:46pm

We are really looking forward to starting agility. She is only 5 months old and enrolled in puppy classs now but we are starting to work on it at home.

When we first saw Molly, we knew she would be an agility dog. She has such good energy and wants to please use. We figured agility would be a way to work on socialization, training, as well as burning off some of her energy and giving me a work out. I am really looking forward to the bond this will help us create as well.

I can't wait to really start.

Permalink Reply by Megan on November 3, 2008 at 8:38pm

So, how has your preliminary training gone so far? I'd definitely take it easy with Molly, especially if you're having her jump because her joints and bones aren't full developed yet. But, that doesn't mean you can't get her used to walking around a board for a "dog walk" and working on the table (learning sitting and downing, then staying for 5 seconds).

I do believe agility has helped strengthen an already strong bond between Dally and myself--we've been through a lot together already and moved across the country a few times in her short life--but agility makes her hone her intelligence and energy, which is a great thing!

Permalink Reply by MagnoliaFly on October 29, 2008 at 10:58am

Bernie and I train at the dog school I work at. We're hoping to go to our third trial January of next year and hopefully get our first Q. :) We're trialing in CPE and NADAC. I'm going to wait a bit before we do any AKC trialing until we get our feet wet.

I got into it because she has a moderate amount of energy and loves to run. She absolutely loves agility and can't wait to run the courses when we go. I think it is one of the best things you can do with your dog to build a strong bond that fun comes from you and you work as a team. Most corgis naturally work away from their owners and this helps with the distance gambles in agility trials.

Permalink Reply by Megan on November 3, 2008 at 8:34pm

A friend of mine, and a Cardigan Corgi owner, does the NADAC and AKC, while I do the CPE and AKC. NADAC actually seems like it'd be fun, especially with "tunnelers" (Dally loves tunnels), but I don't know if I want to have to keep up with 3 different associations. CPE is fun and more relaxing than AKC, which is why I chose to do a CPE trial before we hit our first AKC trial--it gives you great confidence.

Permalink Reply by MagnoliaFly on November 5, 2008 at 9:55am

Yeah I've heard horror stories about how strict AKC is. One of the trainers at my school shows at AKC a lot though (she's a judge for them too) and loves it. I don't think I'm ready for it, not to mention it is expensive to show in classes there.

I'd rather have the relaxed atmosphere I've found a CPE and NADAC for a while before heading to AKC.

Tunnelers is fun! That was one of the first classes I competed in in NADAC. Bernie had fun with it and even though we both screwed up it was funny watching her dash around through all those tunnels. I want to compete in a Touch n Go class too since we love our contacts.

NADAC is hard because the courses run so fast though so if you don't have good focus with your dog it is easy to lose them. They are really spread out. Good for large dog owners hard for us medium/small dog owners.