Thursday night Delilah and I popped into the drop-in agility class at The Mellow Mutt.
We were a few minutes early so I started my treat shopping, with Delilah’s help of course.
I was checking out the grain-free treats while Delilah tried to steal checked out a pig’s ear. Sara’s dog, Chuck came over, whether it was to say hello to me or to tell Delilah to back off the treats, I’m not sure. But before I knew it, they were snapping at each other.
What the BEEP?
I mean it’s Chuck, our buddy, the guy we play with ALL the time.
Chuckers went to sulk in the other room, Delilah and I finished our shopping and then we walked into the agility room. I looked around and only saw one dog I knew, Brisco a really high-energy little guy.
I walked to the farthest corner of the room.
Dude. I won’t lie. That altercation with Chuck really threw me.
So there we are in our corner, Brisco is in one corner, there is a German Shepherd mix in one corner, an Akita named Boots against the wall and this couple walks into the last remaining corner with two Labs, one yellow and one black.
I thought Brisco had a lot of energy, but these two labs had way more and their mom said they’d been swimming and running earlier. I thanked God right then and there that neither one of my dogs are that energetic.
We were up first and I wish I’d had a video, it was a great run. All our future runs were mediocre as Delilah was now on the hunt for the treats left behind by the Labs. In fact, when Sara took the chute up, Delilah spent a bit of time in there cleaning it up.
You can see the little brown treat between her legs, she could smell it but had the hardest time finding it.
During her first attempt at a run the black lab decided to rush headlong into our corner.
That didn’t work well. She got a face full of chocolate lab.
Thankfully I remembered to scream LOOK, at which point Delilah’s head whipped around and the mom moved her dog out of the line of fire.
After the fiasco with the black lab I tried to keep Delilah distracted with treats.
The A-Frame was set up so when the dogs came over in one direction they could in fact run straight into our corner.
Unfortunately the GSD did not get the memo telling him to avoid the chocolate lab eating treats in the corner.
Yup, he was the next dog that got a face full of chocolate.
By the time we got to our fourth run, Delilah was exhausted and had more interest in cleaning up the leftover treats than she had in running the course again, and I was totally on edge, so we declined a fifth go.
I didn’t get a video of our run, however I did manage to record Brisco’s with his dad.
Up until a few months ago his parent’s were working agility with treats, but he loves the squeaker ball, so Sara suggested using that instead which works a little better for him.
He doesn’t have the best form but his enthusiasm and energy makes him a joy to watch. (Mental note to self, don’t hit the stop button quite so soon.)
The Tick Tick BOOM has absolutely nothing to do with this post, it’s a saying I heard on a show and I thought it sounded cool. 😉
Face full of chocolate!!! Oh that was a good one. I love to watch the dogs do agility. I was doing a bit of it with my Gracie until she was attack by the pits, she isn’t suppose to do any sort of jumping. I do suppose I could just do the tunnel and weave poles.
Thanks for leaving the post about Molly… I was so fond of her and it was difficult to let her go. I am glad that I listened to my heart and placed her with the BEST family for her.
P.s. how’s the book coming??
LOL Val, Sara my trainer always says that. Delilah does not like dogs in her butt when she’s involved in something and she will let that dog know in no uncertain terms. Sometimes it’s unsettling.
Loved watching the video! That is so cool. Wish my dogs could do that, but Teddy has a bum leg, Ash is so unpredictable and Scout is suppose to be a trained hunting dog…that’s a story for another day! We liked the face full of chocolate comment too! Will have to remember that one!
Have a great weekend!
She does enjoy the agility, it’s a different kind of exercise it helps her think. 🙂 If you were interested you could try it with one of your dogs, just because some dogs are fast doesn’t mean yours has to be, the point is to have fun!
Grrrrreat video fur SURE.
Thanks Frankie and Ernie, have you ever tried agility?
Soon Delilah will be like the dog on the video.
She can do a great run, but only once or twice. It is very tiring for her.:-(
Hee hee. I’d stop for the treats too. 🙂
Hit ‘post’ too quickly! Flo shoplifted a piggy ear in the pet shop once. I had to take it up to the counter to pay for it whereupon it became much less interesting and she kept dropping it to leave it behind!
LOL, luckily these ears were wrapped and she hadn’t the chance to chew through it yet. Although she does try. 🙂
I was sure that Tick Tick BOOM was going to be a post about one of Delilah’s ‘adventures’ 🙂 Great photo of Delilah in the chute looking for the treat. It’s like a pantomime – it’s behind you! 🙂
It’s like she’s a time bomb or something! LOL I eventually handed it to her. 🙂
I’m sure it must have been stressful but what great practice for Delilah, to be doing something she loves in the vicinity of other dogs…who sometimes get in others’ faces. Drop-in agility is a great idea.
Some days she’s awesome but there was a lot of energy and new dogs there. She only knew half the dogs and I sometimes think if they had an opportunity to all run together first it might help.
Hey Sampson, Hey Delilah, Jet here. Hi Miss Jodi.
How cool, agility! What a busy night for Delilah, sounds like fun… except for the Chuckster incident…
Yeah, the Chuckster incident really threw me off Jetty. 🙁
LOL Tick, Tick Boom is the name of a musical. I thought this was going to be a post about a musical.
That is a small space for so many energetic dogs doing agility. I can imagine it is hard to keep their enthusiasm in check.
I had no idea. Like I said, I heard it in a show and thought it was cool. I’ll have to check that out.
I can’t wait until the center expands, I think it will be much easier then. You’re right it is very tight.
Wow Jodi. So many altercations in one day. I guess even friends will fight over a pig ear. One of the trainers I used to go to would put dog’s like Delilah behind a ring gate to keep other dogs away and prevent snarking. It might be something you want to suggest, if there is room, so you don’t need to be on guard every moment – that can’t be fun for you. 🙁
There is an area for that, except she likes to charge at other dogs when there is a barrier there, so that’s not a great alternative for her either. 🙁 I suppose I could ask to keep her out in the other room, that might work.
I know that feeling when you think your dog isn’t going to act out and then he/she goes crazy …. Oh well, onward and upward. You’re working on Delilah’s issues diligently and to the best of your ability and that’s all you or anyone else can do.
Just like us, dogs have bad days and can’t always be on their best behavior. How I wish that weren’t the case, but I feel it’s unfair of me to expect perfect behavior from Mazzie every day when no 2 legged person I know (including me) could do so.
And I really laughed when you ” …thanked God right then and there that neither one of [your] dogs are that energetic” because that’s the kind of dog I have! Mazzie has no off button, boundless energy, exceedingly high drive and is otherwise just a life force with which to be reckoned. So you should definitely count you lucky stars that you don’t have to do 3 long walks per day!
Oh you poor thing! I can’t believe how lucky I got with both my dogs. They are great and have energy when it’s required, but most times they are lumps. Of course they are seven and eight which could be part of the reason.
It’s weird, she goes along so well and then all of a sudden, boom she’s reacting. It can be slightly discouraging but as you said, we’re not at the top of are game 24/7, why should they be held to a higher standard?
Love the video, but I would really love to see you and Delilah in action, maybe you can get someone to video you guys in the future.
I also love Delilah’s butt shot 🙂
LOL Misty, I will try for the next class and see if someone can video us. Sometimes it’s not pretty!