Make a difference this month by showing your dog to support a cause. Whether it’s supporting a food bank or local pet organizations, you and your dog can take part in the festivities dedicated to raising money for these important causes.
This weekend two dog festivals will be held in Virginia. Caroline County will hold its first annual Dog Day Festival on Saturday, Oct. 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Mr. B’s Bluegrass Park. The festival will have a bone hunt, hot-dog relay race and other contests. Money raised at this festival will be donated to local humane societies, rescue groups and dog clubs.
If you intend to compete in performance or conformation events, or simply wish to have a well-behaved dog and understand its behavior, choosing a great trainer is one of the most important things you can do for your dog’s future. It’s perfectly possible to train your own dog without a trainer’s advice, but, even for experienced owners, an extra set of knowledgeable eyes may reveal mistakes you’re making in your dog’s training. Even professionals take lessons from one another from time to time in order to sharpen their technique. I recommend at least a basic puppy class for every pet parent.
So, then, how do you choose a trainer? It can be a difficult decision, particularly if you aspire to show your dog or compete in an event like agility. These six questions provide a starting point. If the answers to these questions are acceptable, you’ll still need to make sure you and the trainer are compatible by observing a class and checking his or her references. More →
Posted on September 26, 2008 by Jelena Woehr • There are 2 comments!
In agility shows, dogs jump over hoops, run up and down ladders and zigzag through obstacles. The dogs appear to be having fun, and they enjoy being rewarded for their effort in the end. Not only do dogs have to be well behaved and trained for agility shows, but they also have to have confidence. According to Times of the Internet, agility shows can help your dog have more confidence to be active and social.
If your dog is shy around other dogs and people, agility training can improve your dog’s behavior. In order to be a part of an agility show, the dog has to be around other people and animals. To get started, purchase treats and a couple pieces of agility training equipment like a tunnel and a high pause table. Try to teach your dog to sit on the table and go through the tunnel by enticing the dog with a treat or toy. Your dog might be uncomfortable or unsure of what to do so be patient and consistent. The purpose of the training is to increase your dog’s confidence, not make your pet feel more insecure.
And who would have thunk it - the slideshow is of my own pets!!
This week, I upgraded to the PRO flickr account and have been starting to upload various types of pictures to the internet, in my feeble attempt to try to move closer to living in the clouds.
It’s Friday .. our anniversary is this weekend, and we’re heading out to the cottage shortly for the long weekend. I hope you don’t mind a little slideshow of the cutest pets in the world .. our very own critters … Maxxie and Sophie (the papillons) and Zeussie Pussy Cat and friends!
My name is Marina, and I’m a new author on the “LVR” series of blogs. You can find my author page here. I have three cats and two dogs, which definitely help make life more interesting and enjoyable. Lily, Bella and Oliver are a family of cats that I rescued and Paisley and Sebastian are Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Here on PetLvr, I’ll be blogging about pets in the news, pet agility shows and celebrity pets. But first I’d like to introduce my pets and myself in more detail.
I recently graduated from Youngstown State University and received a degree in Professional Writing and Editing. I own a writing and editing business called Cat’s Eye Editing, LLC. I’m passionate about environmental issues as well as animal rights, and I would like to try to make a difference with my writing. I definitely believe that the way people treat animals is a reflection of their character.
I remember when we were taking Maxxie (our first Papillon dog) out for agility classes .. well, some days it just seemed like one big “agility blooper” show!! I’m sure Maxxie loved every minute of it though, and we had fun .. just like these dogs seem to be having - in the following ‘dog agility blooper’ videos …
While Sophie has yet to experience “Agility” .. Maxxie and ourselves had much fun on “Agility Nights” .. Some days were perfect .. Some days he was quite vocal yapping at us to keep up with him and to give him the right commands .. and Some days … (after browsing YouTube.com) … it kind of looked like this!
Let’s see … First greet the visitors in the audience, miss the first jump, get distracted and do only the “good” agility tricks .. then run randomly around the gym a few times for fun!
Looking After Your Dog, Part Seven - Dog Agility Training
By Niall Kennedy
Dog agility is a sport in which a dog runs on a course, laid with intermittent obstacles, under the supervision of its owner or trainer. The sport made its debut as an entertainment event for spectators at the Crufts Dog Show in 1979, and has not looked back since then. Dog agility sport now enjoys immense popularity in England, Western Europe and North America. Dog agility is very much modelled on the show jumping sport of horses (equestrian), with a few additions of its own.
There are a lot many different variations of the sport. International rules and specifications have been laid out for the sport, and they require a supreme level of agility from the competing dogs. Trials, which are conducted by dog training clubs, are sanctioned by several national and international organizations. The required level of competence relates directly to the height of jumps and the size of obstacles in a dog agility course. Apart from the dog agility events held at the national/international level, the sport is also carried out at a lower scale in small districts and towns. Here, the rules might not be as stringent as they are at the large scale games.
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Make a difference this month by showing your dog to support a cause. Whether it’s supporting a food bank or local pet organizations, you and your dog can take part in the festivities dedicated to raising money for these important causes.
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