Agility

An Athlete’s Mom

Maybe my title isn’t exactly correct, but it is what I felt like. There was a USDAA agility trials about an hour from my house. Since I want to do agility with Maddux, I thought it would be good to take him and watch.

I felt like the equivalent of a parent taking their little leaguer to a MLB game and saying, “one day, that can be you.”

  
First off, finding this place was an adventure in itself, but once we got there, it was so much fun!

Maddux did great as a spectator. He played with some of the other dogs there, and I used the time to do some obedience and trick training with him while we watched.

The people we met were super nice, too. I asked one of them about the sport and any suggestions she had. She suggested we start with CPE, or Canine Performance Events, after we start taking classes. But, what I didn’t’ know is that you can’t compete until they are at least 15 months old. Maddux will just be a year old in June, so we are on a good timetable.

   
 
I was so afraid I was going to miss the window for getting him started with agility, but she explained that the dogs there are all ages, spanning anywhere from two to 12, which made me feel much better.

After agility we took Maddux on a day of running errands. It wasn’t exactly planned like that, but it’s how it worked out. We stopped at a local nursery to pick up plants for the garden, Lowe’s to pick up paint and more flowers, two different pet stores, three grocery stores and a craft store. He was a big hit at Lowe’s while I was picking out paint, but I think he was a little leery of the shopping cart, and couldn’t’ get comfortable.

  
He was super exhausted by the end, and when I stopped at a different Lowe’s because I forgot something, Maddux absolutely refused to get out the car.

The only thing I feel really bad about, is Toby. I wasn’t sure how the agility situation was going to be, so I left Toby home. He actually could have come with us. At least I know for next time.

Have you ever tried agility, or competed with your dogs in other categories?

 

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