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Rio&Nickysmommy
03-31-2006, 09:17 PM
Ok today Nicky my 4 year old Cocker Spaniel and I decided the weather is finally getting really nice to start working him out. I call this Nicky's homemade Agility Plan since I think we would be kicked out of any agility training classes right now. Nicholas is a great dog but lacks motivation and packs on the pounds pretty easy. He is a dog who hates to go for walk and hates being on a leash. hence I use a chain leash since when he walked he would chew through the leashes. He also hates wearing harnesses.
We started for 20 minutes today. We set up two styrofoam coolers that were 12 inches off the ground and plaed a pole over them so we had a jumping bar. I started walking him on the leash to the bar and jumped over and he sat down on the other side looking at me and the bar. AS I walked over the bar I said Jump. So then I tried running and jumping over it with Nick on the leash. Hence he stopped almost broke my neck. Finally His brother RIo realized what I was doing and started jumping over the bar back and forth. So me and Nicky Line up again and Rio is now running with us. Hence get to the bar say Jump Nick and he jumped! yeh!!!!! (You can tell Im a real rookie at this. Oh I praised him told him he was the best. hence we alked arounfd the yard back to the bar said Nicky Jump and he did. We did this for over twenty mintues playing and jumping. Both dogs had fun. Nicky looked proud of himself. Rio loved showing off and we got fresh air. We are going to contiue and as we get better at jumping we are going to add a tunnel and other things. Im not trying to get my dogs on TV or into competitions but just trying to make excercising fun for my little guy Nick and RIo. If anyone has any idea's let me know.Cause we had fun.
Rio&Nickysmommy

Jynx
03-31-2006, 11:00 PM
good for you for inventing some fun for your pooches..Here's a suggestion on "jumping",,get some yummy treats for rewards,,YOU straddle the jump, one leg on each side of the bar,,call the dog to you, show them the treat, lure them over..Altho it sounds like you already have him doing it!!

Tunnels you can find at toys r us,,real cheap. get a plank throw it on a brick or cement block for "dogwalk"..

find something "square" or whatever, that is low and you can use for a "table"..dog gets on it,,sit's or downs..

Have fun
diane

Rio&Nickysmommy
04-01-2006, 04:34 AM
Wow those sound like cool idea's. Nicky cracks me up. Oh yes treats will motivate him big time. I think I am going to cook up some string beans for him, because he needs to loose weight. If not will have to go with the real cookie. Nicky before I got him a year ago had no formal training and never went for walks just in a yard. Hence he didnt have much motivation. Hopefully this will have him zooming around soon. Thanks for the tips. Will let you know how he does.
Rio&Nickysmommy

33MTA3
04-04-2006, 12:04 AM
PVC will work great for weave poles.

WolfRyder
04-06-2006, 12:05 AM
if he likes his kibble, use that as treats. If not, just give him a little less dinner to make up for the treats.

I have a cocker, so I know about the weight problem thing :\

Once we started training Tino and Schumi at the same time, Schumi started taking off and does better than Tino now!