Monday, October 1, 2007

Beginner Agility Starts

We took the Puppy Foundation For Agility class last year. Keeley really liked it but then he hurt he his foot somehow and had to be on "limited activity" for a very long time while it was healing.
Tonight we went to our first Beginner Agility class. The hardest part about agility for Keeley is his concentration and waiting his turn. The actually obstacles are a piece of cake. Tire, Weave, Jump, Tunnel, Bench.... these things are easy for Keeley. In fact he does them without putting forth any effort. But his lack of concentration sometimes gets him into trouble. He even trips over his own feet because that's how little attention he's paying to what he's doing.
He also likes to make his own course. I'll say "tunnel" and he'll go thru it just fine but then he'll turn around and go back thru it and then forward thru it again. And then he'll do some jumps and jump thru the tire and then back thru the tunnel. It's ridiculous. I guess he's a typical terrier with a mind of his own. He just wants to go full throttle and doesn't want to wait to be told what to do next.
Keeley's other major problem is waiting his turn. He can't stand to watch the other dogs practicing something. He lunges and barks as loud as he can. He pulls hard and tries to wiggle out of his collar.
The worst is when another dog has difficulty learning something and needs extra help. It just drives Keeley crazy.

4 comments:

Noah the Airedale said...

You know what Keeley, you sound just like our sister Lucy. We were told by our vet that she may be part Irish terrier and she certainly is a very active dog. We're not really sure what she is crossed with but a number of people who have had Irish Terriers have commented on her looks and behaviour. Tell us what you think, there are a few pics on our blog of Lucy.

Noah, Willow, Tess and Lucy

erin said...

I would guess that an Airedale/Irish Terrier cross would just look like a smaller Airedale. People are always asking my girl if I'm some kind of Airedale. We share so many wonderful terrier features such as our beautiful brown eyes, the shape of our heads, our stance, our intelligence, our perfect black noses and our built-in black eyeliner.
Your sister, Lucy, is a cutie pie (Tess and Willow too!). Were her ears glued when she was young? When I first came to live with my girl as a puppy, my ears were perfectly placed (like yours, Noah) but when I started to get my grown-up teeth that's when my ears went floppy and my girl didn't want to glue them. Lucy's ears seem to stand up. I don't think Irish Terrier ears do that unless they were glued.
Also, is tail docking outlawed where you live? I noticed that Lucy's tail looks very different from mine. Her's is longer and curls more. It could be because I had my tail docked when I was just a wee baby and maybe she didn't? I would love to met you and your sisters in person. But since you are so far away, I can't comment on Lucy's behaviors. However, I can tell you about a couple of mine...
I HATE having my feet touched and people tell my girl that is typical of Irish Terriers.
I don't give many licking type kisses. Instead, I let my girl know that I love her by bumping her with my nose. My breeded says that this is normal Irish Terrier behavior.
Does Lucy do any of those things?
I wish you and your sisters didn't live all the way on the other side of the world!
-Keeley

Noah the Airedale said...

Well as Lucy was a rescue dog we don't know anything about her ears but I would say that her previous owners would not have bothered glueing them.
She is very affectionate and is always giving kisses by way of licks.
Docking is now against the law in NSW but Lucy's tail was never docked.
One trait she has is she is very very bossy at times. If the mood takes her she likes to keep the others away from Bryan. She really loves Bryan and watches him all the time unless she's asleep lol. She doesn't like to have her backside touched but that may have been because of her previous owners, not sure about that.
If you ever come to Australia, come visit and you can meet Lucy and the others in person and give us your expert opinion.
Take care,

Denise

Asta said...

Hi Keelley
Nice to meet you!
Youw fwiend Lacy sent me to say Hi and welcome to the DWB!
O'm a tewwiew too, not iwish,but just WFT, but I love evewyone a lot!
smoochie kissses
Asta