Morey's New Hobby

Morey and I have been together for almost three and a half years. We've pretty much figured each other out and have settled into many routines and habits where we both know what to expect from the other without needing any cues or prompts. While on one hand this makes life easy, it has also meant that our relationship has gotten a bit "stale". While we still interact with each other in a positive way I have created situations where Morey doesn't need to look to me for direction because he already knows what I want him to do.

A while back I took Morey to the Pet Expo and had the chance to run him through an agility course with the guidance of an agility trainer. I was amazed at how quickly Morey snapped into "training mode", giving the trainer great eye contact, wagging his tail and eagerly going through the various obstacles. As I saw Morey so engaged with the activity and the trainer I realized that element was missing in our relationship. Although we certainly still interact with each other, I wouldn't necessarily say we are engaged with each other and I immediately decided I wanted that to change.

After realizing what was missing in our relationship I made some deliberate changes to increase my level of engagement and interest with Morey.  I started changing things up, like asking for a "sit" or "touch" when we approach the car, instead of always ask him to "jump". Now he doesn't only have to wait for the cue, he actually has to listen to what the cue is.  I also started using treats to reward Morey and though I don't want to depend on treats to get him to work, it never hurts to give a random treat reward every now and then. These simple changes didn't take much work or time but did start to increase my connectedness with Morey.

Realizing how much Morey had enjoyed the agility course, I began to look for ways to engage him in that activity once my classes were over for the semester. After doing some online searching I came across the Austin K-9Xpress Agility Club. They have their own agility field and offer ongoing classes at various levels. The folks there were very responsive to my inquiry and within a week I had set up an evaluation for Morey with one of their trainers. The evaluation was very basic (being approached/petted by a stranger, doing a sit/stay with distraction, recall, etc) and Morey passed with flying colors. I appreciated that the club had the evaluation to ensure that all the dogs participating were friendly and ready to participate in a group class.

 

Morey was exposed to most of the agility obstacles during his training but that was several years ago. We will be starting in the intermediate class and I am sure I will be doing as much, if not more, learning as Morey! Stay tuned for frequent updates about Morey's latest agility adventures!