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SPORTS AND HOBBIES ARE A GREAT WAY TO SPEND QUALITY TIME WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND Agility, Herding, Flyball, Dancing, Tracking, Therapy visits, or just taking a walk are precious moments. A loved dog laying at your feet while you are reading a book or watching TV is a bond that nothing can take away. Share the time you spend with your loved ones Send your stories to odie@odiedog.com Click on pictures for a larger view. Click back button to come back.
CORRECTING PROBLEMS WITH FUN I got Sidney, an Australian Shepherd from the shelter. I thought he was going to be a playmate for my beagle, Rosco. I'm not sure why I thought a dog twice the size of another dog would be great friends but I couldn't resist the look Sidney gave me while we were looking at him in his kennel. My husband melted at the sight of him. We brought him home and at first Rosco and Sidney played quite a bit but as Sidney got more comfortable with his new home, the nippier and rambunctious he got. He was getting totally out of control and starting to unintentionally hurt Rosco not to mention all the bruises I got. He needed so First, I started basic obedience (sit, stay, come, and down). I then joined an agility club and my husband built some agility obstacles for Sidney and I to practice. Sidney liked agility but I wanted to do more. I found out about an herding capability test and since Sidney is a herding breed I signed up for it. He loves it and so do I. We go super early in the morning before the heat kicks in and its me, him and the livestock. We have an excellent trainer and Sidney and I are learning to read each other. Herding has taught me how to take control without negative corrections and is teaching Sidney to be able to trust me. Both Sidney and I are gaining confidence in ourselves and each other. Doing something both you and your dog truly enjoy is what brings a relationship together. We have a long ways to go behavioral wise but we have come a long ways too.
BEAGLE TEE-SHIRT I was bringing in the laundry from the clothes line one day and as I was coming in the door with a tee-shirt that has a beagle picture on it, I noticed the water I had on the stove starting to boil. I hung the tee-shirt on the refrigerator handle to turn the burner on low. Sidney, my Aussie, who was behind me suddenly started barking. I turned to look at him and he was inviting this beagle tee-shirt to play. He was actually
STARTING AGILITY WITH SIDNEY Sidney loves to learn and I've never had a dog that trains so easily. We decided to join an agility club as soon as it had an opening. In the mean time my husband built me some agility obstacles (A-Frame, dog walk, 2 hurdles, a hula hoop tire, the pause table and the weave poles). We started training. I also included my beagle Rosco but that's a whole other story. Sidney learned all the obstacles fairly fast. We had a few problems with the pause table and dog walk at first. He was scared to death to get on anything. That included in the house too. I had read and used clicker training a little so I started with getting Sidney to just put his front paws up on the bed (click and treat). I then put the
treat further away from the side for him to have to stretch his snout toward the middle
Sidney learned all the obstacles I have at home so when I got the paper work for joining the agility club, I put intermediate class and we got in the club. The club has practices every Saturday for 8 week sessions. Sidney had never seen the tunnels and wasn't quite sure what I wanted him to do. Not being shy, I crawled in the tunnel with a treat in my hand while someone held Sidney at the other end. He sure was surprised when I poked my head out at him. I said his name showing him a treat as I crawled
backwards and he just followed me. Since then,
About the fourth lesson, my club has a fun run. Two handlers and their dogs race each other from a pause table over a hurdle, through the weaves and through the tunnel curved so the dog enters and comes out in the same direction so that we repeat the obstacles we just did. Sidney and I took second place and would have made first if his handler (me) wouldn't have gotten in his way at the weave poles. I have a feeling that when a mistake is made, it will probably be the handler's mistake. We had a lot of fun with our first practices sessions
Last Updated 04/05/03 |
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me behavioral modifications and energy release sports pronto. 
forward and clicked and treated and petted him so he would not be scared and know it was alright to be up there. Now he has no problem making himself comfortable on the bed and his favorite place is on my husband's
favorite chair (HA).
he's gone through the tunnel almost every time I've asked him too. I lucked out and he just took it for granted that the chute was basically the same as the tunnel. At home, Sidney wasn't to predictable about going over the A-Frame. At the practices, he surprised me and went over them every time. I think he was
showing off.