Jackie had a big day of firsts! She got to see an actual agility field for the first time, we played on the full-sized dog walk for the first time, and we played on the A-frame for the first time today, all with much success.
When first introducing the dog walk and A-frame I need to stay up fairly close to Jackie while she is still learning. The A-frame is very physically challenging for dogs because it is so steep and they have to hold themselves on the downward slope and in 2o2o position so it is best not to play the A-frame too often, but often enough to gradually build strength and proficiency.
Pearls:
- It's a good idea to build lots of value for 2o2o behavior, so the dog starts to want to take every opportunity to get into 2o2o
- Seems obvious, but remember this is all for fun! Stay relaxed if Jackie wants to have a sniff at something or a moment to look around
- Always aim for perfect practice; however mistakes are data points and just another way of learning; if I stay positive, so does Jackie, and anyway we're doing it all for fun so keep that idea always in the forefront!
