I was playing tug with Able the other day, and I suddenly noticed that the toy was covered with blood. He’s already lost most of his front teeth, but I guess another one came out. He clearly enjoys his tugging enough that he doesn’t mind if his mouth hurts – but your puppy might not. If you notice any sudden changes in play habits or in your retrieve behaviour, don’t panic. Just try again a couple of days later, and maybe things will be back to normal.
On Thursday night Able had his first week of puppy class at my agility/obedience club. He was the youngest puppy in the group (we don’t take them prior to 4 months) and he spent the entire class trying to bounce on all of the other small breed puppies. He was particularly besotted with a Cairn Terrier, which was bouncing around doing play-bows at him as well.
Do You Need to Go to Obedience Class?
Last year my landlord sent a tradie round to install some underfloor insulation. He saw all the agility gear on my lawn and told me that he’d tried to take his own dog to agility class but “I just couldn’t get her to do anything with all the other dogs running around”.
This is not that uncommon. Agility involves dogs moving at high speed. Often at a training night there will be two or three classes going at once – maybe up to twenty excited dogs out on one field. For some dogs this is a bit overwhelming, and they are scared to go too far away from their handler. For others it’s super duper awesome and they get so hyped up by all the activity around them that their owners can’t even get them to sit.
I think a lot of people who are interested in agility are good at basic dog training, and believe they don’t need to go to obedience class because their dog already comes and sits and stays. You’re missing out on the opportunity, though, to give your dog lots of rewards for focusing on you when there’s other dogs in close proximity.
However, I “do” obedience classes a bit differently to someone who is solely interested in creating a well-mannered pet..
Domestic Obedience Classes for Agility Puppies
- Work things on both sides. Most domestic obedience classes are still taught with dogs working solely on the left. That’s the way dogs have been trained for generations, because of how hunters carry their rifles when they’re out shooting things. It’s easier for some exercises if every puppy is on the same side (particularly when you’re walking parallel to other people), but try to do at least some work in the class with your puppy on your right. You want him to grow up equally comfortable working on both sides.
- Think about the methods. The type of training you’ll get depends on which club you go to, and often which instructor you get. Some trainers at obedience clubs are well-versed in science-based training methods with positive reinforcement. A few are decades behind the time. Then there’s a group in the middle that I call the “Cookies and Choker brigade”. I try to be open-minded when I’m in somebody else’s class, but if I feel uncomfortable with a piece of advice I’ll respectfully decline. Don’t do something if you think it might hurt or frighten your puppy, and never put a choke chain on your puppy (use a headcollar if you need more control). I think I am lucky with my club and my instructor – I didn’t hear anything this week that I thought would be bad for anybody’s relationship with their puppy.
- Choose toys carefully. A lot of domestic obedience classes are taught exclusively with food. This is because it’s an almost universal reinforcer – most dogs like it – and it doesn’t cause as much chaos as toys can. If you bring the wrong toy to puppy class and start a commotion, you’re not going to be popular – and your puppy could have a bad experience if another dog gets over-aroused by your play. Pick something that doesn’t roll or make noise – like a plain fleecy tug – and don’t use it in close proximity to other puppies. Mine actually stayed in my pocket for the entire night because there wasn’t a lot of space to play in.
- Use your breaks wisely. Be intentional about how you use your down time in between your turns. Make a list of a couple of skills you want to generalise before you go. Separate yourself from the puppy owner chat circle and put a bit of work into these, but keep your expectations realistic. Use some of the other breaks to practise relaxing – Able offered some of “fake relaxing” towards the end of the night.
- Easy on the inter-dog interactions. There are a lot of dogs at agility shows, and not all of them are friendly to other dogs. You need your puppy to be able to concentrate on you when surrounded by other dogs, and to learn good etiquette. Don’t let him decide to “leave work” to visit another puppy; if you want him to socialise, ideally you should ask him to do some work first and then release him and invite him to say hi. And never, ever let your puppy pounce on another dog from behind, or continue approaching another dog who is clearly scared or hostile.
- No toileting during work. Toilet your puppy before the class starts, and keep a close eye on him during the class. If you think he needs to toilet, take him away from the class and give him that opportunity. I noticed Able was getting sluggish and sniffy during the group heelwork, so I took him to the side and gave him his “Be Quick” cue and he did a giant wee. When your puppy’s young and he’s gotta go, he’s gotta go – but try not to develop the habit of stopping in the middle of an exercise to do it.
Able enjoyed his class immensely, and I got a few moments of good connection with him, but it was hard work. I’m looking forward to seeing our progress over the next few weeks, and a more enjoyable experience down the track when we start agility classes.