Do you and your dog play at dog agility ?

If so, what breed is your dog, how old, how fast, do you love it? What is your favorite venue %26amp; why? How often do you go to trials? What is your favorite competition? Snooker? Pairs? Standard? Jumpers? What country do you live in? Don't answer if you don't do agility with your dog.Do you and your dog play at dog agility ?
I lost my first agility dog this spring. More than being my agility dog, he was my soulmate, my companion, my camping friend. I am still not over his loss, never will be. I got this little bi-blue ';pinto'; Sheltie when he was 9 weeks old to be my agility puppy and named him Micah, registered name Leodens What In Blue Blazes. He was a stunning looking dog. At almost every trial we went to someone would come up and say something like ';That is the most beautiful dog we have ever seen';. He was 17 1/2 inches, not a little Sheltie, long strided. We did it all. Gamblers was our favorite class. By the time I said goodbye to him he was

MACH CATCH NATCH Leodens What In Blue Blazes MAD GM JM TN-E WV-E TG-E JHD (and some ASCA and DOCNA titles) and had qualified for and/or attended the ';Championship'; shows in all 4 venues. He was fast...finished the MACH with like 1600 points, and when Q'd we more often than not took 1st. He was very sensitive and over reactive to any of my body moves, so if I was a smidgen off with a command he would try to adjust over a jump and yes, you guessed it, the bar would come down. ';I'; made him knock bars. He was my first, my best. We had the greatest journey, he taught me so much. He was ';stuck up'; towards anyone but our immediate family. He loved life, loved agility, loved cookies, loved having fun. This is a little ';poem'; he inspired in his youth:



There once was a dog filled with glee

so loyal and faithful to me

I was his best friend

but let's not pretend

so was any one else who had cookies!



My current dog is a BC female, Wren, who is 2 1/2. I got her for ';emotional protection'; for the future when my Micah was almost 10 years old and I was slowing down his career. I couldn't find a Sheltie I liked, Micah had spoiled me, so chose a BC as they are so similar to Shelties (herding dogs) but just ';so much more so';. I like their sensitivity and biddability. What I truly like best about her is her sense of humor, her desire to always want to do, and she makes us laugh constantly. I really like her, and feel so fortunate I had the foresight to get her when I did. In very limited trialing (I'm taking it slow with her) she has her TG-N NA NAJ NFast AD CL3-R CL3-F BTA BJA BSA and some AKC Open legs, USDAA Adv legs and is in L5 CPE Jackpot. She is liquid quick. Out of 55 Qs, 45 were 1st place (most placements below 1st were due to point faults 'cause I can't hink as fast as she runs!) . Her course time is close to half of the SCT. Her fastest Nov Jumpers runs were 12.23 sec and 17.57 sec. Fastest Standard times 28.54 and 25.54. In 3 FAST runs we have accomplished max points of 80 twice. She really takes me on wild rides....quite a challenge for someone 55 years old! She will either keep me young or give me a heart attack ;-)



Well, favorite classes are probably, in order, Gamblers/Jackpot, Fullhouse, Standard. Least favorite is Snooker..I can't think fast enough on my feet to remember what I need to substitute and find it in the opening if something goes awry.



Favorite venue? Well, in the ';old days'; it was NADAC, before they started changing rules and classes 3 times a year. I only did TG and TN in NADAC with Wren as her introduction to agility trials. Have no idea when or if we will go back and do more. Favorite venue now? hmmmm I don't think I have one. I see the other basic 3 out here (USDAA, CPE, AKC) in Calif as just different. Tiers in the agility ladder. I think CPE is more laid back, but feel AKC is more challenging, and USDAA is the most prestigious.



Yes! Agility is the greatest thing! I have never bonded with any of the myriad of dogs I had before as I have with my agility dogs. It is just so amazing, isn't it???!!!! The incredible understanding between dog and handler is impossible to describe to people...but we agility folks know, don't we?



Thanks for letting me share, brag and do my tribute!



I have been an agility instructor for about 11 yearsDo you and your dog play at dog agility ?
I do agility with all of my dogs on my course at home, but I only have one that goes to trials- He is a 5 year old black lab and he goes to weekly trials/shows in the summer. He hates jumping so jumpers really aren't our thing, but anything else is fun. I really enjoy going to competitions with him and I am anxious to start with my aussie next year.
Yes I show in agility I have two shelties only one of them show in agility. He is 6 years old he has both Ex standered and jumpers titles. He is very fast. I do not get to show as much as i would like to because i can not get there. I live in the USA the state is Texas. We might get a chance to show in the fast class later this year. I have show in a gamblers class a match that was put on.
We have 4 beagles that we run in agility.Their medium drive dogs They have the speed but I think they like to pace themselves rather then run ful out.Their all doing very well in it.I love it because it constantly challenges me to do it better and smoother and because I get to play with them.Interacting with fellow trialers with the same interest is really great.I enjoy all the different runs but I think I like gamblers the best.We start in April and finish in Sept. cause we find it's just to cold in the winter for the dogs even in the horse barns.