Anything is possible

Last night Kozmo had his first class at a new dog training facility. Koz seems to love agility but struggles with recall and putting multiple obstacles together. I found an Agility Foundations class that seems to be what we need to make sure we really have solid basics so that we can move forward.

I was nervous. Upon walking into the room I had flashbacks of Kozmo's very first class ever. The classes are held in a large pole building and dogs whining and barking echoes through out the entire building. Koz was sitting right beside me but when he saw the big room with agility equipment and other dogs he was excited and just started whining. Soon most of the dogs were whining and barking. It was loud. Just like that first class over two years ago, but this time my dog knew his name and who I was.

We started class working attention, focus and targets. These are exercises Kozmo and I have been through before but it helps to reinforce this and remind me what we should be working on at home.

Even though Kozmo has worked with competition sized agility obstacles this class is taking him back to the beginning and making sure he's learning how to properly approach and go through the obstacles. What I really liked about this class is that we don't lure our dogs. We don't use treats to get our dogs to go across or through the obstacles. We let them get comfortable and then praise like crazy when they touch the obstacles or go through the tire. I can see how this will help the dogs since you can't use treats or point if you are in a competition.

Kozmo calmed down and had pretty good focus. We have a lot of work to do but it's clear he has the drive for agility and the ability to focus on me.

After a 90 min class both Kozmo and I were tired when we left the new school. When we got home Sparky was laying in the dog bed. I figured if I had a tired dog who was still pretty focused this was a good opportunity. I called Kozmo to his bed and gave him the rest of the treats that were in my pocket.

For two full minutes Kozmo and Sparky shared the bed proving anything is possible. If Kozmo and I keep working he can be a great agility dog and he can be friends with Sparky!

Kozmo wasn't sure what to do with Sparky in his bed

For 2 minutes we had world peace 

They were done after 2 minutes, but proved anything is possible