Awesome Agility Adventures:Jefferson's Journey: Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Jefferson as baby "Sonic"

I can’t believe it has been three summers since Jefferson came into my life! I brought him home at 14 weeks old on July 25, 2009 and would have never guessed that I would love training him so much, let alone, compete in dog agility. Wow…to think about how far we have come since the beginning is simply amazing.

First Visit to the Vet

He is my first dog and my first agility dog so we have been through quite a bit together. We took Puppy Class at LCDA during the fall of 2009. He did very well and was quite the wild puppy with so much energy and eagerness to learn. Next, during the winter of 2010 we took another Puppy Class at the IOP Rec center. He especially enjoyed rough housing it with all the other pups during puppy play time (but was still bit leery of the bigger pups). After this class, we signed-up for Intro to Agility in the Winter of 2010 at LowCountry Dog Agility. Little did I know what I was about to get myself into when we began our dog agility journey in the Spring of 2010….

Pre-agility jumping up on the couch the 1st day home.

We took as many seminars and training classes that I could find – we still do because it really helps me to learn from all the different trainers. It adds a lot to your training to gain another’s unbiased perspective. I have yet to go to a seminar or training session where I did not learn something that I could use in my training with Jefferson.

We began trialing in December of 2010 right after he turned 18 months and it was (and is!) so much fun. Our first trial was a complete fiasco – Jefferson ran around and did not complete a course. For added comic relief, he even jumped over the fence running toward participants who were eating near the field! But, still, we both had a good time! Whenever I get discouraged about where we are today in our training, all I have to do is think back to that first time in the ring and recognize just how far we have come since that day.

Our 1st trial in December 2010 with my dad and mom

Now, he competes in a few USDAA Advanced events and one AKC Open event. Sure, we are in Starters/Novice in the rest of the classes, but I am so very proud of our progress. In fact, we have even improved since the trial earlier this month when Jefferson was stopping on course. I have made a valiant effort to train a few different handling techniques such as how to handle pinwheels with different kinds of crosses (who knew that he actually was the fastest and most confident whenever I blind cross him…interesting!) I have had some time to experiment with our on-course communication so it does not break down while we run a course. I have learned that he needs to know way ahead of time where the next obstacle is he should take. In other words, he is definitely an obstacle focused agility dog and my job is to let him know EARLY on course what obstacle is next.

During run-thrus this past Sunday, Jefferson did SO WELL and I was very proud of him. It was extremely hot (he does not normally run in the heat) but he eagerly ran for me. He stopped after the 3^rd jump, almost heading for the off-course double, but I got him back on track and he kept on running the rest of the course up to the weave poles. The first time in the weave poles he popped out at the 10^th pole. I did not get this on video, but I’m fairly certain he was following my movement. But, I said “Nope” in a neutral tone and we went back around to the entrance and had a “do over." He successfully completed the weave poles the second try!! And he was fast too...Yay! This is great progress for us since he normally does not allow me to “correct” any of our mistakes during running a course.