June 28 Agility Camp

We had absolutely perfect weather for agility this weekend. Domino finished his first round of classes on Saturday and I still am amazed that I ended up with a dog I can walk off leash with great recall in such a short period of time. He did a great job, learned that tiny dogs are not toys and proved to me that he has one of those 100% reliable temperaments. "Plays well with others" definitely is his middle name.

Sunday we were off to agility with cooler weather.

After a morning of going over each of the individual practice obstacles and working on our hand signals and some more technical things, we took a break for lunch which means swimming time for the dogs. Domino surprised me by taking his first true swim. He was so proud of himself!

Although Ra doesn't go for swimming, he did manage to go from totally huggable to incredibly muddy over the course of the day.

They all had fun playing in the tall grass and the creek.

Domino of course practiced his pit gator impressions.

He seriously has that one down very well. But Charm gave him a run for his money.

This may look like a picture of tall grass but there are three dogs in there somewhere!

Occasionally they emerged next to the creek.

Muddy and wet and full of leaves and grass.

And no matter how Marja tried to rinse off Ra, it just got worse and worse.

Then it was back to work on some contact obstacles for everyone. Charm has the teeter down pat so she saw it as an opportunity to kiss the trainer.

Domino was not quite so sure.

But with a little professional help he made it.

Maggie is always a true competitor.

Then it was time for a timed run through. Charm waited her turn in the shade under the picnic table.

Ra waited while Marja ran the video, resplendent in mud.

Everyone made their runs with various mishaps along the way. Marja and Ra had the ultimate test of the A Frame, but as soon as Ra saw a treat he was all about it. Domino and I had a serious balk at the tire and the teeter and sometimes Domino gets stubborn, but I was pleased that instead of chasing chipmunks...he actually carried over his obedience training and listened. Miss Charm was on the way through a stellar run when she decided she was going to stop at the bone jump, but after a little attitude she made it through.....until.....she decided that even with the stop watch clicking, she could afford a potty break. So she finished in second place behind Maggie.

So here's out video of our timed runs. Ra and Domino are doing pretty darn good for just a few times at agility and Charm is beginning to look like she might be an agility dog some day. After some more swimming we played flyball and Charm and Ra beat Domino and Maggie very solidly! They had fun. We had fun. And now we go to individual schedules until camp starts again in September.

If you don't think dogs enjoy agility, you should be in the car with them when they realize they are getting close to camp....they get soooooo excited.