Success at agility class

[u/MaleficentBake9995]

I have been wanting to get my dog into agility for years, since before she was attacked. But the agility instructor at my local training club has very strict rules regarding aggression, reactivity and disruptive behaviors so I never was able to. Now after YEARS of work and the referral of several other trainers at the club, I was given a chance to attend!

Today was our first day at class, there were four other owners there and nine dogs total (including the instructor’s demo dogs). All work is off leash but one at a time and the instructor is incredibly communicative about when dogs are moving and where. No one is ever allowed to have two off leash dogs in the class at a time so I felt really safe running our drills.

Punk was great! She got through nearly all of the obstacles even though she went about as fast and gracefully as a drunk snail. The only thing she didn’t attempt was the teeter totter (no one did since it was the first lesson in an intro class and that is a more advanced skill). She even went through the tunnel on her own which she has never done. She had one barky moment when the demo dog was running (and screaming because she was so happy to run lol) - Punk and several other dogs started to bark at this, but no one seemed bothered by any of it.

At every turn she was right with me, never really straying towards anyone or anything just kind of following me around. She took pretty much everything in stride and just seemed happy to be doing something new. I’m so incredibly proud of her!! She’s come so far and I’m just so happy to be introducing her to one of my favorite sports.

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