Is Madison on course to become a future agility champion, or not? She has been taking agility courses since January and has only missed one class. She loves going to school, running the courses, and seeing her classmates, but how good is she at agility?
The weaves are her favorite thing right now. Dogs have to be at least a year old to even start working on weaves, so she has only been working on them for a couple months. The closer the poles get to a straight line, the faster, and more excited she seems to get. Have a look at the quick video of Madison running through the weave poles at her class earlier this week. Even angled entrances are not a problem for her!
What about running a regular agility course? Madison’s class is divided into three stations which each dog works during class. One is weaves, and the other two are different courses. There are a few things we see as obstacles in Madison’s agility career at the moment.
- The class starts at 8:20 pm. Madison normally goes up to bed at 8:30 – 9 pm. It is really late for Mom and Madison, and the energy level is not at its peak.
- GBGV’s are not really made for agility. Madison enjoys all the obstacles, but she doesn’t have the drive of say, a Border Collie.
- Some fear. In the video, you will see Madison doesn’t want to jump over all the jumps. The night the video was taken, she dropped a bar on the two jumps for the first time ever which made her a bit scared to try again.
- Being short is tough. Madison has short little legs, and there is a lot of running and jumping for her short but long body. Believe it or not, she is getting faster.
In the course video, you will notice all the cheering. Like Bailie, Madison loves attention, so when everyone in class and the instructors cheer her on, she runs much better. Silly girl!
Hopefully in January Mom and Madison can move to an earlier class which would help some with the energy level. At this point, we don’t know if or when they will enter a competition, but the main thing is, they are having fun. Madison may never be a future agility champion, but she is having fun learning agility and running courses…but remember her love is the weaves!
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Oh My Goodness!!! Lots of hugs and kisses for Baby Madison!! What great videos. This is awesome. Have a great day Emma your doodle friend Dash!
She’s pretty funny to watch, unlike any other dogs doing agility, but she almost always gets the course right which most struggle with.
i say Champion! goood girl, oh yes!!!! how you did the tunnels… that was fabulous!!!
She is quite amusing to watch and she does enjoy herself.
She look like she is having so much fun, and that’s the important part.
She is having fun, and Mom loves seeing how she comprehends it all and keeps improving.
Hari OM
Bravo I say!!! As it happens, I have some agility dance vids posted up today; my own angel Jade used to like this kind of thing, but we never did it competitively. I think it is great fun, good exercise and not to mention (or did I?) fun!!! Hugs and wags, YAM-aunty xxx
It’s fun and good for learning to do things together.
We have heard that our predecessor Beth, the PBGV loved doing agility – except for the A-frame. Neither of us have actually taken in any agility classes.
Madison has a lot of fun, but we doubt she will go very file in competition when she gets that far.
She has the moves!!!! Way to go Joy!!! you really work your dogs! I envy your stamina!
She is a little goofy one, but we have a lot of fun.
Having fun is the most important thing and Madison nails it!
She does have fun and she keeps everyone in class laughing too.
I would love to try agility with Pierre. Madison looks like she is enjoying it.
It’s hard with smaller dogs, but give it a try, he may like it!
I think she did a remarkable job. I love the energy between the two of you. Good job mom!
She is improving every week, but the main thing is we both have fun and learn to work together.
Wow, she was really fast through those weaves! She got off to such a good start in the second video, but you can definitely see that she likes some things more than others. It seemed to me that she really liked the tunnel too.
I can see where the time of class could be an issue – we’re all early to bed here! But as you said, they look like they’re having fun, so that’s the important thing!
We are all tunnel lovers at my house since Mom bought that one when Bailie was little. Madison really wears down as class goes on, but she keeps trying.
Loved seeing Madison running the course with her tail held high. Hope she can get past the scary parts.
Yes, border collies are speedy. But I’ve seen some golden retrievers who were very good at agility despite being slower. The reason is that they ran the course without making any mistakes and so didn’t get an deductions for faults.
I guess only time will tell if your sister is going to be a competitor or just a hobbyist.
It will never be a top sport for Mom and Madison, but it is fun for them. Madison rarely makes a mistake because she is slower and very careful.
Well, we are impressed with her moves and weaves! As long as she is having fun, that’s all that matters.
Fun is what it is all about for us with agility. We take our other sports seriously.
Awesome video, M. Jumping over the bars is tough, but you did a LOT of tougher obstacles like such a brave girl. I think it is probably dark inside those tunnels. That would be the end of my agility career. I don’t like the dark.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
Madison loves the tunnels! We have one here at home we all love to play in.
I think she could be great at agility! Rye and I are thinking about signing up for our first trial in January or February 🙂
Speed is the biggest problem, but Mom and Madison just keep working on it all.
We agree, having fun is always the goal here too!
xoxo,
Rosy, Arty & Jakey
We know our top sports are nose work and tracking, but having another more for fun and less serious is a good thing.
I think she will let Mom know whether it’s the right sport for her, or not. She may find other sports that she likes better and that is ok. As you said, as long as she is having fun!
Yeah, tracking is #1 for Bailie and Madison, then nose work. Agility is something we will just see how it goes, but we don’t expect a champion.
Having fun and spending time together is what it is all about.
Madison loves going to class, seeing her friends and also enjoys running the courses even if she isn’t a true agility dog!