Can I handle dog agility?

December 21, 2012 9:46 AM

Can dog agility be a "sometimes" activity? Apologies in advance for my ignorance and wack assumptions.

I have a ~2-year old dog (a shepherdy mutt) who has high exercise needs and separation anxiety. We already go running together, spend a ton of time playing fetch and running/playing bitey-face with other dogs at Pt. Isabel, and hike on the weekends when weather allows.

I would like to add something to the mix that is a bit more mentally stimulating, because she's very smart and "working" really does make her more tired than just running and playing. Agility seems like a good idea, but I have some questions:
- Can a dog learn and retain these skills if you only practice once or twice a week?
- The only people I've ever known who did agility with their dogs were retired couples who dedicated their ever waking moment to it. I don't want to do that. Are there casual participants as well?
- I have some not-great assumptions about the general culture of people whose dogs do agility. I love my dog and hang out with her all day, but I really rankle at being called her "dad," and other anthropomorphism stuff just makes me feel gross. Is that sort of culture inevitable?

TL; DR: I think my dog would love agility--will I be able to handle it?

I know I probably come off as judgmental about dog people (of whom I am definitely one). I don't mean to offend anyone, but these are my feelings and from a practical standpoint I don't think "learn to accept that your dog is your biological child" would be good advice for me here.

posted by Ignatius J. Reilly to Pets & Animals (14 answers total)

I'm not that familiar with the agility training crowd, but my wife often only gets a couple days per week to work with the dogs on hunting training. They don't progress as fast as the full time trainers can, but it works for us. So, I say go for it.

Also, food puzzles work really great for our dogs. You might try that, too. Not all dogs take to them very well, but they've been a godsend for our vizsla, who is very smart. In fact, the problem we have, is that once he figures them out, they last about 20 seconds. So, we have 10-15 different kinds and mix it up.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:58 AM on December 21, 2012

Are you married to the idea of agility? Maybe you could work on a different skill that isn't so equipment-intensive and might therefore be easier to practice more often, like nose work. You can set up nose work exercises in your home, so it's easy to do a 10 minutes of practice here and there to keep your skills up. It's still really mentally stimulating for the dog, and if you're interested, you can progress to competitions and whatnot.
posted by juliapangolin at 10:18 AM on December 21, 2012

Response by poster: Nope, not married to agility. I do live close to a public dog park that has a bunch of agility equipment, though. The nosework suggestion is a good one--we will consider it for sure.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 10:36 AM on December 21, 2012

My long-since-died Manchester terrier loved loved LOVED agility on whatever basis she got it. If she saw dogs doing agility or saw a dog do something difficult she wanted to do it and she would figure it out pretty quickly. It was her eagerness to try something that made me figure out things for her to do in the garden - tunnels and balance beams and swinging tires were games for her and when she started a specific run she'd get through it and then bounce around wanting to do it again.

If your dog likes agility then she will let you know, and you'll probably spend time and money and creativity supporting her if she loves it like my dog did.
posted by jet_silver at 10:37 AM on December 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Yes, agility can be done casually. You won't advance as fast and some of the skills will take a frustratingly long time to master (I'm looking at you, weave poles!), but it can be done. Just be clear with your instructor that you're in it for fun and not for competitive purposes. You should also be serious and work hard in group classes while you are there - its only fair to the other people.

Dog agility people are like any other group of people - some will be full of "woo" and others will be more factually based. You might want to check out a couple of different classes or instructors to find one that suits you. I've taken lessons from both types and just ignored the stuff that didn't work for me and took away what did.

Agility was fantastic for my two aussies. They learned about listening and obeying in distracting situations, had an activity where they could be Good Dogs and had a whole lot of fun. We don't train or compete anymore due to injuries, but I'll still set up a few jumps in the backyard (easily and cheaply made with PVC) from time to time.
posted by the_shrike at 10:37 AM on December 21, 2012

I've been turned off training my dogs for agility because of the structure and competition involved. I don't find things that involve winning competitions fun.

I have considered working with my dogs on thins which seem more casual like urban agility (practicing agility skills on available stuff in your neighborhood) and rally, which seems less uptight that traditional agility.

You could also work towards Canine Good Citizen certification.
posted by Squeak Attack at 10:41 AM on December 21, 2012

I sporadically do dog agility for fun and to help with my dogs self confidence and have no intention of ever getting into competitions and have a great trainer who understands that. I do little or no agility training between weekly classes and my dog doesn't seem any further behind than any of the other dogs who's owners take it more seriously.

I haven't met any of the problems you mentioned at all in the classes I take, though they are small only 5 - 7 dogs in a class. A lot I think comes down to the trainers attitude and the fact she knew going in we were doing it to help one of our dogs with his issues and not to become a champion anything. I have never entered a competition with him and just go to the classes which also might mean I miss out on a lot of the competitiveness problems but get to have all the fun of learning how to do obstacles with my dog and meeting new people and dogs.

I'd suggest being open to trying out a few different trainers until you find one that suits your style. A lot of classes you can go to one just to watch to see what it involves before signing up for anything.
posted by wwax at 10:54 AM on December 21, 2012

At the other end of the spectrum (sort of) from agility is Therapy Dog work. It's not especially active but provides lots of physical and intellectual stimulation for your dog. We have a high-energy Westie who thought agility was a rare form of torture, but found being a therapy dog to be very challenging and rewarding. As a bonus, he developed much greater self-control which has made him Easier to Live With.
posted by DrGail at 10:58 AM on December 21, 2012

You can do agility casually if you find the right place. Before we moved, we took our dog here: Canine Sports Complex. It's in Buffalo, NY. Most of the other places were a lot more "serious" in that people were in it to win competitions. You need the place where people come to have fun with their dogs. A lot of the more "serious" places also scoff at non-pure breds. So if you think a place is scoffing at your mutt, don't feel bad about moving on.
posted by rocketpup at 11:45 AM on December 21, 2012

Ooh ooh ooh - you need to learn about Treibball! Pronounced "try ball", it's a great game for herding types that can be played indoors or out. The only equipment you need is a smallish yoga ball and a goal like a doorway or two traffic cones.

I tried agility intermittently with my dog and found that we just lost too much skill during our off-time. Treibball is simple, fun and exercises the "round-em-up" gene.
posted by workerant at 12:14 PM on December 21, 2012

I did it with my rescue Aussie. He looked beautiful on the equipment and enjoyed the work, but the competition aspect stressed me -- a lot of agility is about the owner, not the dog -- and the presence of lots of other dogs stressed him.

You don't need to do a group event to work your dog's brain, I learned. My dog and I have a weekly training session -- I just teach him tricks with a clicker -- and he loves that and loves puzzling out what I want. And I agree with the people above who suggest nose or therapy work.

Agility will be fine if you have no trouble with the competition side and your dog is well socialized to other dogs. And assuming the equipment works for your dog. He looks long legged, which can make a lot of equipment a potential risk.

That's one gorgeous pup you have there, by the way.
posted by bearwife at 12:17 PM on December 21, 2012

I second the nose-work games and activities, even in addition to agility, if you still want to do that. We have a 'working dog', and our trainer said to use smelling games since it actually takes a tremendous amount of mental energy. We also 'hide' things: toys, food, usually his favourite tennis ball, in amongst the folds of an old blanket, so he's got to find the 'layer' it's under. He LOVES it. We tell him to wait, and give him the command to 'find'. If he's bored and we're not paying attention, he will hide a toy HIMSELF and once we realize what he's doing, we just have to say 'find it' and off he goes. We also try and make him find his toys by name. "Get the football", "Get the chicken", "Get the bone", etc. I don't even know if he knows what he's getting, but he'll dig through the toy box and come back with a different toy every time. Once in a while he gets the right one, and we praise him like crazy. He totally loves to look for stuff. It's a good rainy day activity, and actually does tire him out.
posted by wennj at 12:33 PM on December 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

We did agility once a week for a long time, and it was totally fine. The goal was a cool activity once a week, not some kind of crazy progression schedule. Seconding the nosework as an awesome wintertime activity! Search youtube for good examples.
posted by barnone at 2:38 PM on December 21, 2012

My husband did Agility with our Akita (Shaftoe) and they both had LOTS of fun. They had a weekly, hour-long, private lesson with a trainer who had all the equipment at her facility. The trainer understood that we were doing this to give Shaftoe an activity to stimulate his very smart brain and to help him gain some confidence, but that we had no intention of ever entering competitions. Because we didn't own any of the equipment ourselves, we couldn't practice between lessons. It was AMAZING how much skill Shaftoe retained from week to week. And it was so much fun for us to see his progress. The best part was sleepy-Shaftoe after the lesson and seeing him acting more confidently on walks and in other situations.

I hope you and your pup go for it with Agility and have a great time!
posted by Boogiechild at 5:18 PM on December 21, 2012