rtropeano wrote:Any words of wisdom for the beginner. I'm desparately trying to find indoor training - so at least I can eliminate bug catching during training
Couple of things I've learned with Buster -
1. Britts don't do well with constantly drilling a single obstacle. They get bored quickly! So, if you're working, say, the a-frame, do 3 or 4 runs over the obstacle, then reward heavily, then move on to something else or take a short play break, then go back to whatever you were working on.
2. Teach a really good "leave it" and some kind of command to tell the dog to lift their nose off the ground and pay attention. For Buster, I use the command "Nose" which means stop sniffing the ground and pay attention to me.
3. Teach a really solid, whiplash head turn when the dog hears their name.
The more I work with Buster, the more I realize that Brittanys can be great agility dogs, as long as you understand that they are simply going to work differently than herding dogs.
My trainer is going to run Buster for me this Friday evening, as I can't get away from work early enough for his runs at a night trial. She's been working him to get used to him, and she's really enjoying running him! She's used to working herding breeds, and has to keep reminding herself that Buster has a different temperment and totally different handling style than her Belgian Turvuren.
And just for fun...here's a pic of Buster "flying!"


RIP Madi
Charm-future agility champ
Britty- RIP March 27, 2014
Buster-CGC, OA, OF, NAJ, APK, APJ, APG, APR, PD