Tango does agility

This is Tango, doing one of the things he likes to do best - jump! These photos were taken a couple of years ago, way before Booker! We were in Louisville, Kentucky, at a huge four-day agility competition. You can see that the surface is dirt, which is great for traction and speed. What you can't see is the crowd and how absolutely intimidating the venue is. There were three rings, with enormous doors open on either end of the stadium. Crowds were walking in and out, and standing near the rings.

 

Unfortunately, Tango became very nervous and scared of the place sometime after this run. He shut down. Refused to come off the start line. And when he did come off the line, he stopped dead before jumps. I don't know why. And this transferred to other trials as well. We're finally at the point where he no longer stops dead before an obstacle in every run. He's not avoiding obstacles by visiting the ring crew. He's not qualifying consistently, or often, but he's better. Tango even gets faster during his runs!

How did we get to this point? Training. Constant, positive training with frequent reinforcement. Everywhere. On the street, in pet stores, in class, at fun matches and agility venues that have ring rentals. We'll continue training, of course. And Booker will come along so that he is accustomed to going to different places. And we'll keep entering trials.