Agility or not?

[Clifford, Cloud, Jake..and Kim]

There is an agility class starting tomorrow that isn't too far from us.  I'm considering signing both doods up for something fun to do in the winter but....I'm concerned that one or both gets a little freaked out and won't do it or they think it is a great time to play with the other dogs.  This could be a great 8 weeks or 8 weeks of torture (I'm flashing back to soccer and karate with our son).  We've never been to this training facility and I don't know the trainers so I have no idea what their tolerance will be for any skittish behavior they might exhibit.  At $180/dog it isn't exactly cheap entertainment.  What have others experienced with their first agility classes?

[Kyoko]

Charlie and I LOVE Agility!! I was a bit concerned about off leash stuff because of her fear aggression type of behavior towards the other dogs she doesn't know. But, The trainer was well aware of this issue and kept good control and made sure that she had plenty of personal space. Very begining was just to get used to the equipments, and each dogs did it at their own levels. No pressure. When each dog runs it now, others are behind the gate or on sit/stay, down/stay, so there are no issues with over interaction, etc.... It may not be a bad idea to go look at it at first and decide. Waiting until next 8 weeks wont be too late, either. We took about a little less than a year of rally class prior to starting agility, and it helped a great deal...

[Debbie and Thomas]

We tried this with our doodle because we thought he was very "agile".  Turns out he was a big "clumsy oaf" compared to the boarder collies.  He could hardly fit through the tunnels...it was hilarious! It was not a serious agility class though..all dogs were welcome.

[BG and Gavin]

Debbie, your post made me laugh!  Poor Thomas, running around the arena wearing the tunnel as a hoop skirt :)

[Debbie and Thomas]

It really was funny to watch!!  You should have seen him doing those in and outs on the sticks that are about 12 inches apart...he broke most of them!!  97 lb dogs with all that hair just can't compete but I dare those boarder collies to compete with him swimming in Georgian Bay!!

[BG and Gavin]

LOL.  The water is so cold in GB that they need that extra hair to stay warm!

[Linda and Murphy]

LOL Yep 98 lb Murphy was about as agile as a 747.  He had a wonderful time, though. Tunnels were his favorite!