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I know we are primarily a working training forum, but I have had a bizarre experience with my Dobe and am flummoxed.
Lately, the Dobe has been bored and chewing me out of house and home... or maybe that's chewing THE house and home! Anyway, after chatting yesterday, I decided some agility play/work might make life a bit interesting for him, and took him to the local playground last night to teach some "new tricks". I thought it would be mentally stimulating to learn "over" and "through" etc.
So, we arrive at the playground- there's a rope A-frame, tyre wall, tunnels, suspended "wobbly" bridge, platforms and hurdles. GREAT! I took his collar off, turned around.... and.....
He was completing his own personal agility course. At top speed. Without me
Every other dog I have ever had needed at least some small introduction to the equipment and how to use it. Like encourageing your dog to go through the tunnel. Nope. Not my dog. He was through the tunnel, up and down the rope A-frame, in and out through the tyre wall, back and forward over the suspended bridge and up, down and all around. No fear. No anxiety. No hesitation.... WTF???? What's worse, is when he slowed down and noticed me again, it took all of about three repetitions and he was obeying commands such as "over", "through", "up", "down" ect without pause. Perfectly.
So, clearly we have skipped the "how to use it" phase and he is once again 5 steps in front of me... I was hoping for some time with him learning to come up with some more interesting stuff for him... but now I'm on the spot again....
HELP!
(Anyone out there got a dumb dog I can have????)
You could always try some formal agility classes if he likes it so muchThere is a lot more to agility than knowing how to do the obstacles - handling is very important and can be quite complicated! It is amazing how even something as simple as jumps can become complicated when put in a difficult configuration and require lots of work for both you and the dog.
ETA: Here is a Masters Jumping Course - no contact equipment. Complicated!
"Take this trouble for me: Make sure my shepherd dog remains a working dog, for I have struggled all my life long for that aim"
Max von Stephanitz
Hey, cool. Thankyou.
The biggest problem I seem to have is that the dog gets it BEFORE I do!!!!
I do have a local obedience and agility club, however, on mentioning I had a Dobe, there was a noticeable cooling of enthusiasm for my participation. Bottom line is, I'm willing to learn anything (except maybe doing the jumps myself) to keep this dog busy, interested and engaged...
If there is anyone out there who is willing to recommend a club in the Melbourne area, I'm more than willing to give anything a whirl- and who knows, maybe I'll learn something!
That's too bad about them not being keen on you because you have a DobeThere is a lightly built Rotty at one club I go to, a Shepherd X and a couple of Labs at another. So while bigger dogs aren't as popular as the working breeds like Kelpies and BCs there are some around. If you look on Youtube there are some really nice Dobes doing agility.
"Take this trouble for me: Make sure my shepherd dog remains a working dog, for I have struggled all my life long for that aim"
Max von Stephanitz
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