From Puppy Class to the Agility Ring: Curtis & Piper’s Journey                                                                                               

For me, starting a new student off in Dog Agility is very satisfying.  When someone sticks with their journey as long as many of my students have, I get to witness their amazing relationship as it builds over time.  Dog sports are a great way to continue your training long into your dog’s life AND have fun doing it.

I have students who are in their 20th year of training with their 3rd, 4th, or 5th dog.

For this story, I chose Curtis and Piper.  Almost 3 years ago, Curtis and Piper began training here in my Ultimate Puppy Class. Fast forward to the present: they are in an Advanced Agility Class.  Curtis was a first-time agility student , and he had a very FAST dog.   Having a fast dog actually makes agility more difficult in the beginning.  As Curtis soon learned, speed is almost the least important quality or skill at first!  Speed almost makes the learning more difficult.  There are so many skills that dog agility requires.  Sometimes, early on, speed gets in the way.

Here is Curtis and Piper’s Story:

Not all students continue on in agility session after session, but many do because they have so much fun here.  I try to make all classes have just the right amount of difficulty, yet keep it very fun and fulfilling for both the dog and the human.  I really want the class to be the best hour of your week with your dog.

Early on in agility training, as the dog is learning something completely new and the human is also training new behaviors, there are times when each team has to learn some patience with each other.

That was certainly the case with Curtis and Piper.  Curtis has been bringing Piper to class since she was a puppy.  They did Ultimate Puppy, Basic Manners, Advanced Manners, and then went on to Agility.  They’ve never stopped.  Piper just turned 3.  Piper’s issue in agility was NEVER the obstacles.  Her issue was, let's just say, her over-friendliness.  As I said, Piper is very fast, but sometimes she would just lose focus and decide to come and visit Sheila or me.  I knew Curtis would sometimes get frustrated, but I kept telling him, just stick with it and I gave him all kinds of tips to help him along the way.

As Curtis began moving through agility, Piper’s love of humans became their biggest challenge. In class and eventually when they moved into the agility ring,  she would happily leave obstacles mid-sequence to go visit someone. In agility, there are always a few humans in the ring.  There is the judge and the ring crew, who are people who volunteer to set bars or carry leashes from the start line to the finish line. All potential new best friends for Piper or any dog who LOVES people.  

There is nothing better than having a social dog, but once you start competing in agility or any other dog sport, the main objective is to have a dog that works with you.  Treats are not allowed at the competitive level, so you have to be beyond that point when you step into the ring.

That stage can be discouraging.
It can make handlers question their training, their dog, and sometimes themselves.

But Curtis did something very important.

He stayed consistent.
He kept training the dog he had.
He didn’t rush maturity.
He didn’t punish personality.
He built value for working with him.

And now?

Piper just turned THREE, and all that patience and work is paying off.

Curtis and Piper are now competing in AKC and CPE agility trials, and the dog who once saw every ring as a meet-and-greet now understands her job. Does she still love people? Absolutely. That’s who she is. But she’s learned that the real party is running with Curtis.

That didn’t happen because Piper “grew out of it.”  It happened because Curtis trained through it.

Now, as their instructor, watching Piper choose Curtis over a crowd of people might be one of the biggest wins of all.

Very recently, Curtis and Piper hit a trifecta of qualifiers that is rare at the Novice Level in AKC Agility.  Piper and Curtis got a qualifier and a first place in Novice Standard, a qualifier and a first place in Novice Jumpers, and their 2nd qualifier (you need 3) and a first place in Novice FAST, an AKC agility game.

I thought this story could be an inspiration for any new person training a dog for agility or any other dog sport.

As it’s said:  “It’s the journey NOT the destination.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

I sat down with Curtis to ask him some questions about his journey so as to give you the inspiration you might need to either train for dog sports or just train to have the BEST dog you can have in life. Even if you never step into the competition ring.

1) When you first started agility, what did you think progress would look like?

“When I first started agility, I didn’t think it would be as challenging as it was, and I saw us both already doing obstacles and courses right away. I didn’t see how challenging it would be to maintain our teamwork. I remember those early classes and the building of foundations. It was a pretty big class with 9 or 10 dogs, and the class was divided up, and Sheila taught one side, and Beth taught the other side.”

2) Was there a moment early on where you thought: “This might not be for us?”

“There were multiple times on the way home that I thought, maybe this isn’t for us. Some nights, it seemed like she would keep breaking away from the task and run around the training room, and later on, I found that there is a term for this: Zoomies! I was definitely embarrassed about how my dog was behaving. It was like “Not again”. Being new to this, I felt like I was not sure I could do this. I felt discouraged. I knew she was excited to be there, but it was definitely testing my patience. It’s like taking your kid to the store, and the child is acting out, and you just want to go home! Later: It was like a switch went off, and I had to learn what triggered Piper to lose her focus. Knowing what the triggers were, which you pointed out, really helped.”

3) What did being patient with your dog actually end up meaning in real life?

“I learned to start being patient with my dog after learning what worked for us. Whether it was learning how to set her up at the start line or consistently teaching her how to do the “2on2off” (note: this is a foundation behavior that we teach in beginner agility), it was like in an instant, she might start not listening!  I had to learn (from you) how to stop her and re-focus her before we could go on." 

4) What did you do at home to help train Piper to have impulse control?

”To this day, she eats twice a day. She has to sit and wait until I say okay. Another example is every day when the bus brings the kids home, we have a routine where she has to sit and stay and wait on the steps until the kids are off the bus, and once the kids are at a certain point in the driveway and then I release her. Early on, before she understood her “patience training”, I would use the crate to teach her the boundaries, and then I replaced that with teaching her “place” on a dog bed. I had to be very consistent in making sure she was doing what I told her to do! She had to know that I was going to follow through. It’s very similar to raising kids (which we have two). You have to be consistent in making sure they are following the rules. I also practiced “heel position”, figured out ways to use things at home to practice any of the behaviors we learned in the early foundations classes.”

5) Did you ever think what might be holding your dog back was actually you?

“It took me a while to realize that I was holding my dog back.  I realized I needed to use a harsher, more serious tone with Piper. I felt a little embarrassed at first, but I realized the clearer I was with her, the more I would keep her on track.  I felt like I just had to really learn what tone to use with her. I needed to be very direct. I was a little intimidated to be vocal, at first.  I really felt the pressure of people watching. There is a bit of nerve in trying to listen to your direction and understand what the goal or the sequence or training was.  Was Piper going to stay with me or take off and do the tunnel over and over? Was she going to go and visit, which is Piper’s favorite thing to do? She loves people. It was a whole new reason to have a really good recall with Piper, so that if she did decide to go and visit, I felt like I was going to be able to get her to come back to me. I had to learn when and why to use verbal directions and then switch my mindset from agility obstacles to just reinforcing her listening to me. I really had to learn a new level of patience.”

6) Did you ever feel like you should be comparing your progress against someone else in class?

“Oh, definitely, but I was able to watch people who had been coming for longer and how they handled certain situations. It really was a new way for me to learn how to connect properly with Piper. The camaraderie in class was really good. It was so nice to have so much support, especially from long-time students of agility. For a while, I was taking two agility classes a week, and it was great to see progress, not only from Piper but also with all of the other students from both of the classes I was attending.”

7) Do you feel like you are a competitive person?

“Yes! As a child, I was a swimmer, and I wish I stuck with it more. My Mother was a coach for almost 40 years so she introduced me when I was really young to that sport! Unfortunately, I didn’t really take it seriously, and I do wish I had. I did enjoy it and made a lot of good friends, and I probably could have gone a lot further with it. My stroke was the Butterfly, and I was really good at it, but I didn’t take it seriously enough.  It’s a serious sport, and it was 5 days a week of training. I think I also got bored as lane swimming is back and forth, and I have a short attention span.  I think that was part of me not continuing. I also loved playing basketball and other sports, as it was consistently moving. I never thought I’d get so interested in a sport that involved my teammate being a dog! But I love it. I wish I could do it more regularly, compete more often, but I’m very busy with work and my family and my kids’ sports as well.”

8) What’s a moment in agility where you felt really disappointed?

“One of the moments I felt really disappointed was when Piper was having a hard time performing an obstacle when it seemed like other dogs were getting it faster. Piper did struggle with the see-saw and since that wasn't really introduced until a little later in the training, I didn't realize that struggle would happen.  Even though Beth explained that the see-saw CAN be the toughest obstacle for a dog to get comfortable with,  there were still times when I felt really frustrated and almost felt like, “This could be it for us. We made it this far, but is she ever going to be okay with the see-saw?” But after more and more practice and you, Beth, reminding me to be understanding, I decided to make an investment and I bought one at a dog agility trial.  It all quickly came together for both of us after that!  Other than the "visiting", that was our biggest hurdle and achievement in agility so far. I also understood that if you want to get to the point of showing in dog agility, you have to do more than just go to a class once a week. At some point, having some agility equipment at home can move the training so much further along.”

9) What did your dog teach you about yourself?

“I learned a lot about myself, building a strong bond with my dog, and learning how to manage a long sequence or course. I really had to learn patience, especially when Piper would act out in her way of being so overly friendly. As you know, early on, Piper would take EVERY opportunity to charge over to visit you or Sheila. Those were also kind of embarrassing times for me, and I really had to learn NOT to be embarrassed. I’m not sure I’ve totally conquered that, but I know I’ve come a long way. I also had to learn the sport of agility and how to plan the approach to the next obstacle."

10) What do you wish you could tell yourself from Year 1?

“Looking back at year 1, I never knew I was going to get into agility, so a lot of it was just really getting the basic manners under control with Piper. I never thought I would be doing dog agility. I couldn’t imagine that I would enjoy it so much. It’s really been a very fun addiction. You and the fun classes really got me hooked, and since I had gotten away from competitive sports, this seemed like something I could do and enjoy--a competitive sport with my dog! Initially, I was just amazed at how well-trained Piper could be.  All of this training has made her into the best-behaved dog I've ever had.  I’ve had dogs before, but I didn’t do any formal training with them.  Because Piper is so much better trained, she is so much more fun to be with.  She goes everywhere with my family and me.   We have formed such a bond. Piper never leaves my side and always seems to be wondering what we will do next. I feel like she stares into my soul and waits for us to do the next fun thing.”

11) What would you say to someone who is a beginner in agility who is maybe feeling their dog has reached a little sticking point?

“I’ve been there, and I’m still learning myself!  It’s a fun road. Set the bar high for what you want, but try really hard not to get disappointed. As you often tell us: “Dog agility is a very humbling sport!” I’ve also noticed that every dog seems to have something that they need the most work on! For us, at first it was the "visiting of humans", then the see-saw.  But I’ve seen dogs in class that struggle with jumping or some other skill.”

12) Why are you glad you didn’t quit?

“At the end of the day, I’m so glad I didn’t quit. For me, it’s taught me a lot about myself, training the dog, working on goals, achieving goals, and then setting new ones. At first, it was just about keeping Piper’s focus on me and not going off to visit, and now, we’ve overcome that for the most part, and my new goals are successfully qualifying in an agility run. Recently, we earned our first AKC Novice Standard Leg, our first AKC Novice Jumpers Leg, and we’ve earned 2 legs in the AKC Novice FAST class. So I guess my next goal is to complete those classes and move into AKC Open classes. The focus for us has shifted, but I have learned that agility is a sport that doesn’t get boring and that the fun of it is the challenge of it. Your teammate is a dog! I wish I had more time so I could compete more. But for now, I’m just happy to have pushed through my early disappointments.”

13) What was it like to get those 3 Qualifying Legs in one day?

“It was so fulfilling. The time in the ring goes by so fast, and it was great to have so many other exhibitors come up and praise our work out there in the ring. It’s very exciting. I would recommend it to anyone!”

14) Anything else you want to add?

“I know not everyone wants to compete, but even if you don’t, Agility has really created a great bond with Piper and me.

I wish I had more time so I could compete more. But for now, I’m just happy to have pushed through my disappointments.  I hope I can help someone who might be frustrated with their process by reading my story.  Thank you for letting me share it!”