Agility Classroom Lessons

[johnveryveryveryverylongname]

Would Agility Classroom Lessons interest you? Like teaching your dog to do weaves and agility jumps!

 

[dat123]

That would be a great addition to the academy.
I've been heavily involved with agility for a few years and it's the main activity i do with my dogs.
I'm past the learning stages but I'd like to see different ideas and teaching methodes, and many DTA members starting out in agility would benefit greatly from some lessons online.
Besides obedience, agility is the biggest worldwide dog sport, and seems to work well with tricks.

 

[szecsuani]

Yes, I would be very intrested in it! We just started agility with Pami, and we both love it!!!
And I would love to take part in making them, but school started today, so I won't have too much time...

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Agility lessons are a great idea, but...well, to me it seems like it would be very difficult to meet the needs of every member with their dogs. In my opinion there seems to be a lot more to agility than there is to simple trick training. Making the videos to teach each and every aspect of agility would be extremely time-consuming, and certain important little things could be left out in an attempt to condense the videos. Then the dog and owner are not thoroughly trained, and not entirely knowledgable about the best aspects of the sport.
If you're going to have agility, why not flyball? If you're going to have agility and flyball, why not herding? If you're going to have agility, flyball, and herding, why not competitive obedience?
Of course, agility does seem to be more popular within the Academy. It would indeed be helpful, but I just think that it would be very difficult to accurately and thoroughly attend to each and every agility-interested member's needs.

However...I suppose the Academy could branch off into a "sporting" section of the website attending to nothing but competitors or those simply interested in another activity for their four-legged friend. This could have a separate forum, classroom, and so forth. One or more of the moderators could be designated to be "in charge" of this branch of the website, keeping watch over it just as Jean does this site. However, this would also be a lot of work and could (in a sense) segregate the members, creating perhaps less interest in one part of the site and more interest in another part. There are many pros and cons to these options.

 

[szecsuani]

However...I suppose the Academy could branch off into a "sporting" section of the website attending to nothing but competitors or those simply interested in another activity for their four-legged friend. This could have a separate forum, classroom, and so forth. One or more of the moderators could be designated to be "in charge" of this branch of the website, keeping watch over it just as Jean does this site. However, this would also be a lot of work and could (in a sense) segregate the members, creating perhaps less interest in one part of the site and more interest in another part. There are many pros and cons to these options.

I think this sounds VERY good!!!
I would be a lot intrested in it!

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Thanks Szecsuani. =) Glad you like it. ^^

 

[storm22]

it would be great to have an agility area,

 

[good_doggie]

I would like to add the agility classroom lessons..... just waiting for the equiptment...

 

[posie]

wow what a great idea john it would be great to have a agility lessons! rosie is good at jumping but it takes ages to set up becaues i do not have the right equipment
posie

 

[szecsuani]

The problem with these agility classroom lessons can be that even if you have these videos of how to teach a jump or a tunnel, you still don't have the equipment.
So what then? :?

 

[Jean Cote]

Then you build your own! A broom with two small stands makes a jump.

 

[jeepdog]

I'm all for having a area for agility. My concern is the safety of the dog and the handler. I am currently in beginning agility and having a trainers watchful eye to make sure everything is being done correctly and safely is invalueable.

 

[szecsuani]

Yeah, this is why I don't think I'll do too much agility at home, it's good to have someone around, who can tell you what you are doing wrong.
The only thing I do alone at home is the running contact training.

 

[l_l_a]

I think it would be great, but I also do see the concerns that Tx_Cowgirl raised. However I think it would still be beneficial and possible to do Introduction-level videos for agility (or any of the other sports for example). Then if this sparks interest in people they would probably at some point be interested in seeking out trainers and classes in their area anyway, the idea is to let people try something out on their own to see if it's something they would be interested in spending more time (and money) on in future. Also, if the videos are user-generated (like forum members contributing their own videos), then that allows it to be as flexible as people want...so if someone has been doing a lot of work with their dog on contacts, for example, if they wanted they could post a video showing what they did and how and why...same goes for the other sports. Then maybe someone else will post a video showing how they may have trained it a different way with their dog, and so on.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Good points, l_l_a. Nice to see you around again!