Beginner Agility, Class Numero Uno

We learned Spanish!

Just kidding.

Its video we've all been waiting for. The moment of truth. Will Pepper remember everything we've worked on? Will he be able to ignore the other dogs? Am I going to tense up and feint? Will the audience distract him? Will he look just as handsome in fluorescent light?!

Never fear. All these questions will be answered. Right after this video:

Pepper is the star of his class. The trainer even said so. *Proud dog owner moment* There are a few other dogs in his class. There are 5 of us total. The other dogs will make random appearances in our video and hopefully Marie (our photographer/videographer) will be able to take individual photos of all the dogs.

All the dogs doing some work, sorry its blurry...

I was expecting to be surrounded by young Border Collies or maybe even a BC mix thrown in there. I was surprised to see a variety of dogs. No Borders! Weird... Here is a brief description of each of the dogs. I hope this will do until we can get photos up.

• Dillion- A purebred Doberman Pincher; handsome and very strong, he has no problem pulling his owner around
• Duke- A little dog mix, Icelandic sheepdog maybe?; wily and rambunctious animal who is still working on basic obedience and now starting agility
• Brandy- A golden retriever-chow mix, I suspect; the other older dog in the class who is patient, she works really well with her owner
• Milika- A blue and white pit bull doggy; she is super sweet and loves to jump over the bars, she is a very wiggly pup
• Pepper- A fantastical beast who appeared when a unicorn exploded into magic dog dust

Car rider to class, he was a sleepy puppy.

Class was great but it also felt short. Part of the class was spent talking dog manners (don't let your dog sniff and yip at the other dogs, its working time not play time!) The trainers promised we would get started right away next time.

Wobble board, some on leash work.

Channel weaves, so fancy.

I am super excited for this upcoming class. We won't be playing with the precursor obstacles but rather working directly with them! I'm also hoping we can lengthen the tunnel and close the weave gap. Pepper and I are also ready for the teeter, I think. Our own teeter might not be complete until next weekend. If we start in class, we can work on the teeter at home. Completing 6 weaves independently and doing the teeter unassisted is part of graduating to Intermediate Agility. I know that not everyone passes on the first try but I think Pep and I can do it!