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OMEGA SHEPHERDS
Adventures on the Ranch

 

 

 

 

One of the pups practicing on the "Home Made" teeter!

 

 

Hello !
-----We are getting very into agility - the fastest growing and most popular dog "sport" right now and I have been having so much fun! I just got a full set of AKC approved equipment - a bit pricey but I am serious about it and when I make it to the Nationals a few years down the road it will be worth it.
----- In agility they have to go over 4 "contacts" - a see saw, an A frame (which is a 9 foot "wall" they run up one side and down the other), a Dog Walk (which is a 12 foot walk that is 4 feet high) and a table that they have to jump on and wait on a stay for 5 seconds until they are released. Then they have the jumps - single jumps, panel jumps, triple and double jumps and a tire jump. And finally they have to go through a tube - and a chute. For those of you that haven't seen it - it's a fast paced fun filled event! It is modeled somewhat after Stadium Horse Jumping, there is even an event called the Steeple Chase! Agility is a timed event - so they have to go faster than the other dogs - BUT can't have faults either like hitting poles or missing the "yellow zone" on the contact equipment. As everything it appears easy when watching someone do it - but there is a whole lot involved.
-----They just had the AKC nationals on tv the other day - I believe they said there were 750 dogs entered! Of course they only showed the finalists on tv - but that is a HUGE event and a good reason to spend some time in the Florida sun in January.
-----Tess is my main agility dog right now - I am also working with Rhett and Mariah. I will also do it with Zena but she is pregnant right now so - no jumping for her!
-----Tess is doing really well. Because I don't have all the equipment here I am just using home made stuff so that I can still work her and get her muscles built up and ready for competition! My weave "poles" are a set of 9 stumps - they aren't near as close as real weaves because obviously they don't have any give so she can't really weave them. But she has the idea of going in and out and not missing any. I say Weaves and she runs right up there and starts doing them. She is jumping regulation height with room to spare. And she is doing the see saw well to - I can't get it to regulation height but she still knows how to go up and tip it and walk down. I am putting little patterns together with my homemade equipment and we are both having so much fun! When I work another dog she just barks and whines and feels sorry for her self that she can't do it again, its fun to be able to do something with them that they enjoy as much as you.
-----The real equipment will arrive the week of March 7. I might even try to go into a "schooling trial" they have in Helena on March 12 - we will just have to see how it goes.
-----I am also going to get some groups together - people that want to practice or learn agility. So if your close enough to us and are interested - contact me!
-----Till Next Time,
-----Leah and Everyone at Omega Shepherds

 

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