Victor Begins Agility

[Alifaire]

I can't tell you how blessed I am to have found this group! We adopted Victor in March of 2006 when he as about a year old. Since then we completed Basic Obedience class and are a certified team with Therapy Dogs, Inc. and a local hospice organization.

Last night we attended our first beginner's agility class. Well, I was there. Victor was there. But no one would know we were together except for the leash. I was the least interesting thing in the building despite have spent an hour preparing fresh (non-allergen) treats and having spent a bunch of money on new toys.

My instructor has encouraged us to stick with it - 'after all he is a Brittany' she says.

Any words of wisdom will be greatly welcomed.

Alifaire

[Kathy]

after all he is a Brittany

Like it or lump it! Hey, Victor's $ is green, just like all the other dogs. What is important is that he had fun, even if he decided that he'd do the agility thing later

Cheers!
Kathy

[Barb Wright]

How Brittany No advice except to ditto the Instructor..."stick with it"

Must tell you a story I heard a few years ago about a Brittany in Obedience Competition....seems it was the final day, things had gone great, points holding good, but when the final Come from a down stay was given the Britt came flying towards her owner, blew right on by and jumped into the lap of a spectator sitting nearby and started giving kisses Victor was probably trying to decide where the most fun was going to be

WELCOME to our discussion board, we're very happy to have you join us We look forward to hearing more about Victor, and hopefully you can share some pictures, we just LOVE photos

[Alifaire]

Sticking with it for 7 more weeks and will try harder to keep my sense of adventure. The instructor says I need to be more 'animated' to keep Victor engaged. Like a pound of treats and $20 in new toys isn't enough. Just like a kid - money doesn't matter; it's my attention he needs.

[Lorie]

Hi and Welcome, yes we need pictures.

[HOPE]

Alifaire, Welcome to the board and I can't wait to see the pictures of Victor.

[Canned Ice]

Alifaire - Stick with it. Buckley was all over the place his first couple of agility classes. At the end, he was able to complete a simple course off leash without screw ups.

[Lisa]

Welcome, and like everyone else has said, stick with it.

Buster is doing very well in agility, but it took me figuring out what makes him tick to do it. The biggest thing for Buster is that he gets bored waiting for his turn to do something, and decides to go find something more interesting. So, what I've found most effective is to keep him engaged the whole time we're waiting. I'll shovel treats in his mouth for a good sit/stay, good touch, good spin, just for looking at me, whatever. By the time his turn comes, he's so excited and focused that he'll actually work with me.

[Alifaire]

And there's the problem... how to motivate Victor. He is highly allergic to chicken and turkey; milk/cheese; soybean, lamb, rice, oat, white potato and green peas.

His fish and sweet potato kibble is of no interest. What he really likes is hot dogs (all beef, of course). So I'm trying to introduce that slowly into his diet, but this morning he is shaking his head like he has an ear infection although nothing is showing yet.

Ah, the joys of trying something new. Thanks to everyone for their support. I'm looking forward to learning from those with Brittany experience.

[Lorie]

What about freeze dried liver treats, I would make sure they are beef liver and you didn't say anything about peanut butter that could work as well. So could dehydrated shrimp, mine go crazy for the fresh or frozen salad shrimp. Have you tried baby carrots? Just a couple of added thoughts.

[Alifaire]

Liver treats may be next, if there is no allergic reaction to the beef hot dogs. From what I've read variety is important.

Peanut butter seems to give Victor indigestion. Fruits and vegetables are not motivators. I tried apples and sweet potatoes the first night.

I'll tell my husband to buy shrimp for the dog and see what he says!

Any other suggestions? Thanks.

[Lorie]

If Victor has a reaction to the beef hot dogs, I think that I would still give the liver a try. Especially after you read the list of ingredients in the hot dogs. Where the liver is just that liver nothing else involved. My four love banana chips, and was also thinking that Foster and Smith sells Duck Fillets that could work as well, no mention of that being involved in an allergy. Yes they do need a variety and since his list is so short, your options are running out. One of the other things to do is make his own treats find a recipe and give it a try. Look over the ingredients as you can always subsitute things. If it calls for rice flour or oats use wheat flour instead. I make my Britts cookies all the time and use mini cutters so they are not getting too big of a treat at a time. I have a bunch of recipes and if you need a hand I'd be willing to help you out to find something you could work with.

[ChrstnaLA]

Fish and Sweet Potato kibble sounds like Natural Balance. They make duck & potato treats, just can't remember if it's white or sweet potato in those. They are coming out with the fish and sweet potato treats soon. Also, I found some duck jerky at our Costco that my dogs got nuts over. It's just dried strips of duck meat, nothing else in it.

[Natalie]

Have you tried freeze dried salmon? Oh gosh, Trip goes crazy when I open the bag. I buy them at SitStay.com (on igive.com who donates to ABR) in the 1" chunks. They do have a semi-strong smell (not stinky though), so they might be appealing to him.....

[Alifaire]

Thanks again for the suggestions. The fish and sweet potato is Wellness brand. He does love duck jerky but aren't you supposed to use something the dog doesn't need to chew for fast feeding during agility training?

I'll look for freeze dried salmon too. I'm also looking to cook up some rabbit and/or venison and try that.

I'll try banana and see if that has enough aroma to get his attention. At least bananas aren't as expensive.

Thanks again.