Third Agility Class

As we pulled in the long dirt driveway to the agility training center this evening, Sage began whining in excitement.  She jumped out of the car and pulled me toward the training arena.  Before class started, I took her across the small and then the large wobble boards.  During class, she raced across the teeter-totter and the trainer said, “I love her enthusiasm.”

Tonight she learned the wide jump — as wide as it is tall.  We also worked on the double jump which is two poles wide (the “wide” jump is three poles wide).

We’ve been working on sit-stay during class, and at home, and tonight we put it to use.  First we had our dog sit-stay in front of the tube.  Then we walked to the other side and called them through.  Last week, we put our dog in a sit but stayed by their side while the trainer called them through.  So, this was up a notch in focus.  Sage has great focus.  This was easy.

The weave poles are getting more difficult.  This week there were twice as many poles.  Sage went through fine, although I did have to encourage her a bit with my voice.

We ended with another sit-stay exercise.  This was a sit-stay-jump-target exercise to be more precise. Sage had to stay in her sit until I walked to the other side of the jump.  After I released her to jump, she had to touch a target in front of me — that was holding a treat.

Agility seems to be the perfect sport for Sage.  The harder it gets, the more she loves it.  The faster we go, the more enthusiastic she gets.  And, best of all, she sleeps all the way home.