# Shama Agility II



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Here's a video from our last sesson of Agility II class at the Key City Kennel Club in Mankato, Minnesota. We had previously completed the eight-week Agility I course, and this was the eighth and final week of Agility II. We have two more levels of Agility to take, and at some point, we're hoping to begin trials. She did a good job stopping at the bottom of the A Frame and the teeter because I had left treats there. We had technical difficulties at the end of our video so missed the last three jumps (at 9:00, 12:00, and 3:00 on the clock - she loves to jump in a circle like that) and the tire. Shama weighs eight pounds and does look pretty little from a distance. I hadn't known how well she would do, but she did a really good job. We were very proud of her!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4ujzk7tacizyese/20170227211218.MTS?dl=0


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Cute. Shaka looks like she is enjoying herself.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Good girlie! She's learning! 

I just want to point out that most people, even when they are competing at fairly high levels, continue to take agility lessons, at least on an intermittent basis. There is SOOO much to learn about handling!!! So if your current school only has two more levels, you should probably be looking into were you can move to progress further after that. I'm doing privates with Panda at the moment, just because I want to get her solid on all full sized equipment, the weaves and running sequences before we go back to my regular class, but then, just like Kodi, we will be in our "Advanced Handling Class" (where EVERYONE is already competing) indefinitely.


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## April R (Oct 29, 2016)

Wow looks great! Shama really is awesome!


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

krandall said:


> . . . we will be in our "Advanced Handling Class" (where EVERYONE is already competing) indefinitely.


I think that's what they do here too. You stay in the advanced class as long as you want. They're also having "open mat" (I think they called it) four nights during the two sessions between Agility II and III. You get to take turns doing what you want with the floor/equipment that's all set up. I think that will be fun. A classmate has lent us some little weave poles, a tiny teeter, and a tunnel for us to use for at-home practice.

Thanks for your comments, Pucks, Karen, and April!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

ShamaMama said:


> I think that's what they do here too. You stay in the advanced class as long as you want. They're also having "open mat" (I think they called it) four nights during the two sessions between Agility II and III. You get to take turns doing what you want with the floor/equipment that's all set up. I think that will be fun. A classmate has lent us some little weave poles, a tiny teeter, and a tunnel for us to use for at-home practice.
> 
> Thanks for your comments, Pucks, Karen, and April!


Great! That sound perfect!

What you need to practice most at home are the weaves. It can take up to a year of almost daily practice (only a couple of minutes at a time, but consistent!) to get the weaves down... And even in Novice, the dogs have to successfully do 6 weaves.

The teeter and tunnel will be fun to play with, but I have found that there isn't a ton of carry-over between my TDAA teeter and the full sized AKC one... THat's something we had to work on at a training facility. Even with that, it can take a while before dogs get used to the fact that every teeter is going to sound and behave slightly differently from those they've experienced before. The tunnel will be useful, because it looked like she was a little hesitant with that.

With what you have, and one or two jumps, you can practice just about everything you will need to do on an agility course!


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## Ollie"s Mom (May 23, 2014)

Yeah Shama, what a clever girl. She looks so happy so she must be having fun with it.


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## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

Wonderful!


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Shama does look like she is raring to go on the course. She was ready to start that first jump before her handler was! :bounce:



krandall said:


> What you need to practice most at home are the weaves. It can take up to a year of almost daily practice (only a couple of minutes at a time, but consistent!) to get the weaves down... And even in Novice, the dogs have to successfully do 6 weaves.


Someone suggested to me that I purchase inexpensive toilet plungers to practice weaves at home. 

Ricky's Popi


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ricky Ricardo said:


> Shama does look like she is raring to go on the course. She was ready to start that first jump before her handler was! :bounce:
> 
> Someone suggested to me that I purchase inexpensive toilet plungers to practice weaves at home.
> 
> Ricky's Popi


Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea. Garden stakes are a better option, garden stakes with PVC pipe slipped over them is even better. The problem with plungers is that you want the dog to learn FAST, TIGHT weaves, which means they will most likely be touching the poles as they go through... especially in the case of Havanese, with their long, flying hair. If the dog touches the poles, and they fall over, at best they will slow down to avoid touching them, at worst, you can convince them that the whole exercises is a bad idea, and make them start to avoid the weaves completely.

The average well trained agility dog would send plungers scattering! They drive down through the poles, counting on the fact that the poles are going to stay still.


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