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I think I have mentioned that I have Dazzle in agility class. So last Sunday we are at class on a 10 obstacle course working on front and rear crosses. Dazzle is doing great and we approach the last 3 which are the A frame, the tire and a a jump. Dazzle goes up the Aframe stops for a moment at the top and I see his face light up in that sighthound grin and think "oh oh" . He turns on his rocket jets and launches himself full speed down the A frame and swish through the tire moving full speed he then turns to his left and shoots into the tunnel instead of taking the jump. He pokes his head out the other end and looks at everyone grinning big time to see if everyone had been watching him . Everyone is laughing and commenting on how he was just a flash that flew by as yes he can be that fast.
The funniest part is that is what Dash would have done. Dash could run a clean course but if he had a crowd watching he would pull a stunt like that to make everyone laugh and if the crowd was really laughing he would repeat it over and over. Dazzles antics brought a huge smile to my face as it was like running agility with Dash one more time.Humm ya think maybe Dash was there running with Dazzle?
If you have not tried agility you and your dog are missing alot of fun and some pretty good exercise.
I wish we had agility around here. There is one in El Cajon, which is too far, and another we tried but it wasn't what we expected and the instructor was terrible. Our breeder keeps telling us to sign him up, since his dogs perform competitively, but there are none around here!
What kind of dogs are Dazzle and Dash? Great names, BTW.
Dash was a border collie springer spaniel mix, I say was because I had to put him to sleep at the end of Sept due to nasal cancer .He was 12 and most people thought he was a black and white aussie as his tail had been docked probably as a puppy so yes he looked like an aussie. I got him at 1 yr of age from the local humane society. He was the clown of our agility club and when we did demos at retirement homes the old folks loved him and his antics. He lived to make people laugh.
Dazzle is about 17 months now he is a sight hound breed called a silken windhound. Very different to work with as he gets bored very easily and if things are not kept fun he just shuts down.I got him at 8 months. He is always happy has never shown any aggression towards anyone or any thing. Kids can pull on him and he just stands and grins. His coat is on the long side but it is a single coat so he sheds very little. He is a very elegant dog and yes VERY fast. Like most sight hounds you take him out and get him some exercise and he is the couch potato back at home.Oh and he LOVES to cuddle. He is on the large side of the breed so is about 24 inches but is thin as a stick so is about 40 lbs and in many ways is like having a small dog verses a large dog.I am very impressed with the breed.
I have always loved herding breeds and still do but I am past 50 now and was not sure I still had the energy they require so Dazzle is perfect. Dash loved him and was his instant baby sitter. Jazz ( 13 border collie cattle dog cross) tolerates him and knows he is way to fast for her old self to keep up with.I have lots of photos of them in albums that you are welcome to look at on my settings page.
I wish we had agility around here. There is one in El Cajon, which is too far, and another we tried but it wasn't what we expected and the instructor was terrible. Our breeder keeps telling us to sign him up, since his dogs perform competitively, but there are none around here!
To any of you reading Maks post and thinking a bulldog doing agility..yea right! Well, when Jazz started agility 12 years ago the club had a bulldog name LuLu. Lu LU was a great agility dog and while she was slower then most dogs she ran clean runs and she could turn up her speed if she had fans clapping and calling to her. She was kept on the very thin side and she and her owner walked miles every day. As for Bulldogs being unhealthy? Well Lu LU was healthy and while they did move out of state I found out last year she had died at age 13 quite an amazing dog and she showed bulldogs could do things other dogs do. There is a lesson in her story do not let breed limit your dog as Yes Lu Lu even tried herding!
We did agility with Ringo; it was such fun. He loooved it. Really, I think it helped us bond a lot. But eventually our trainer retired; she was so nice and laid back. Then Ringo got a little iffy around strange dogs and we ended up retiring too.
No one else around here does it. It's a shame.
I highly recommend it! The human will get lots of exercise too!
Dash, when you told me about Lu Lu, that's when I decided to sign PC up for agility! He loved it, but the instructor is one of those that believes only border collies can succeed and he wouldn't even give the poor boy a chance! He clearly favored other dogs, so we decided not to continue. We are looking for a new place right now and hope we can find it soon!
And funny you mention sheep herding. My friend takes her corgi, and I really want to take PC, at least once. But, knowing him, he'll try to make friends with the sheep instead of herd it! He loves all creatures and thinks they are all his friends.
MAK you have to be careful with the sheep as a lady that use to live here and breed border collies lived up in the mountains near here and yes she had a small flock of sheep for her dogs. Well she also had a Pitbull and one day he decided he was going to go in with the sheep and work them like he saw the rest of his BC family do. Well he did not have the " eye " the BC's do and the sheep being well worked sheep decided to have ago at him and almost killed him had the woman not heard him and gotten him out of the pen. He was pretty beaten up by the flock as they used their feet and beat him and did learn his lesson so stayed far away from the flock. I think the crazy boy just thought he was a BC like everyone else on the ranch and chasing those sheep looked like fun.
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