The Agility Diaries

Homer

Recently, my brother picked up a dog named Homer. Homer is a really tall Beagle (18 inches) who is naturally energetic. He's over at the house quite a bit. He's only a year old and never has had dog obedience. The place that I usually sign him up does not have classes in the summer. Homer is a scent hound. He needed a job so I thought that agility would be a good way to keep him busy.

He's picked up some bad habits and with a little more exercise, he may not have the time to focus on those habits if he's tired enough. Since I had experience with agility in the past, I decided to give my brother a hand and take him to a seven-week class in my area. I will share everything about the agility class with you all in this new weekly series.

Week 1

Well, starting a new class always is an experience. Although the place is a half-hour away driving locally, I wound up taking the expressway to save time. What a mistake that turned out to be. Because it was in the end of rush hour, I was caught in traffic. I took the exit in the wrong direction and wound up being twenty minutes late.

Luckily, I had filled out the paperwork beforehand, and the class instructors were understanding. Since this was the first class, it turned out to be only 45 minutes. Homer got to try the teeter-totter, jumping through the tire, crawling down low and the staying on the table.

For the first time, I realized he was a quick learner. My biggest problem will be keeping him from getting car sick. He can handle shorter rides but rides over twenty minutes will start to affect him.

After class he still had a bit of energy but wound up being much calmer as well. It's just a start, but will be a start in the right direction.

Let's Discuss!

Do you have any favorite agility stories? How did agility benefit your dog?

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