JD and Max try agility for Pet Pride!

JD - Pet Pride is a great meme that is wonderfully hosted by Bozo from Kuala Lumpur.

Max - It's a fun place for proud owners to show off their pets - and if you own a pet why wouldn't you be proud of that fact?!

JD - So, for today's Pet Pride post our female human asked us to post some photos of our very first try at doggie agility as she said she was SO proud of how we did!

Max - Our humans went to 'Pets at Home' (a fabulous pet superstore) on Friday evening - we love it when they go there as they always bring really fun things back for us.

JD - This time they came in with lots of items - female human especially seemed to be extra excited and started babbling on to us about 'jumping' and 'running' and 'tunnels' ....

Max - ....she does get herself quite worked up sometimes. We tried to distract her by asking for a tummy tickles and then we had to step it up a bit and ask for a biscuit because she really was getting quite squeaky, but in the end we had to give her a 'time out' on the sofa until she was calm enough to interact with us again.

JD - So, when she had finally calmed down we were able to inspect what had been brought back for us.

Max - It was exciting! There was a pop-up tunnel....

JD - ....some weaving poles....

Max - and a lovely hurdle jump!

JD - Our humans want us to get used to agility training in a place we feel comfortable as they really want us to have fun with it.

Max - So yesterday they set it all up in the garden - and we were off!

JD - Some of these photos are not the best we're afraid - I was SO fast over the hurdle that I became a schnauzer blur!! Max had a bit of trouble with the hurdle....

Max - Humph - show off! It was HIGH - unlike you I'm only short!

JD - Anyway, here are a few photos of how it all went....

"You want us to do WHAT for that treat? Are you SERIOUS??!!"

"Oh, come on human! We thought you were joking about having to jump....!"

JD - "Oh, go on then, if it's the ONLY way I'm going to get that treat....!"
Max - "Look at me! Look at me! Have you ever before seen such great 'run-around-the-jump' agility and skill....?!!"

JD - "Hey - I like this! Did you see how happy our human looked in the last photo when I jumped over? I want her to look at me like that again......!
Max - "Wow - you're just a blur JD!"


"Okay - we're bored of the hurdle now, what's next? You want us to do WHAT NOW for a treat? Again we ask - are you SERIOUS?!!"


JD - "Sigh - okay human, if it keeps you amused I'll give it a go. Now, where's my treat?!"


JD and female human encourage Max to come down the tunnel too....!


Max looks really proud whilst JD runs hopefully at the photographer for a pat on the head....


Close up of Max looking pleased with himself after completing his first tunnel run!


Not one of us managed to completely master the weave poles!! Oh well, it was our first try....!

JD - We really enjoyed the training session. After all, I'm really good at jumping so hey - if my humans want me to jump on a more formal basis and then give me a treat for doing this I'm not complaining!

Max - And I LOVED the tunnel! In fact, I was sooooo good at the tunnel that I managed to go both ways down it!

JD - Um, Max - I don't think that was really the point of the tunnel....

Max - Eh? Whassat?

Female Human - Hi! I just wanted to add a little post here myself. We don't seem to have any dog agility training classes close to where I live so I thought I'd try it out myself - I was therefore delighted to find a 'cheap and cheerful' set at the pet store. The boys loved it! I was pretty rubbish as showing them what to do so was amazed and delighted at how quickly they picked it up. I'm pretty sure they tell each other to "take it slow so that the dumb human gets it....!" We were all rather bad at the weave poles, but Max excelled at the tunnel and JD couldn't get enough of the hurdle!

Even though it was a home lesson I was thrilled at how this sort of training quickly builds a bond between human and dog - it's great to watch them figuring it all out and you can actually see the moment it 'clicks' into place for them! The photos above were taken when they were being introduced to the circuit - they feel more comfortable checking out new things when they're together. They did complete the course several times on their own as it's obviously easier to train them on an individual basis, but I think we had more fun when we were all doing it together!! We're definitely going to continue with it. I don't want to overdo it as I really want the boys to continue to find it fun, but it's certainly going to help with their obedience training and I'm hoping to add a few more items to our circuit - ooh, you know what, a see-saw would be fun.....!

JD and Max - Oh dear - female human is getting over-excited again! Sigh.....! Bye for now dear readers, we have to leave now to try to calm her down again - you know how these humans can get if you're not consistent with their training.....! Don't forget to join in with all the fun at Pet Pride - we've made some great friends there!

Join in the fun at Pet Pride....