My mutt Ace has become much more vocal and excited during agility practice within the last six months. He barks wildly nonstop, as you can see in the video below. Watch it on mute if you don’t want to be totally annoyed.
I haven’t addressed Ace’s “talking back” issue until now because I don’t know how to handle the problem. In the meantime, his “attitude” has gotten worse.
What concerns me the most is not his barking, but how his excitement escalates to aggressive behavior such as nipping my hands. He has left bruises several times. It’s hard to see it in the video, but he bites at my sleeves during the weave poles.
My mutt is out of control.
Agility trainers I’ve worked with tell me that Ace wants to run as fast as he can. Because the obstacles slow him down, he gets frustrated when he has to maneuver them. The room we practice agility in is also too small, leaving him little room to get up to speed. His barking is his way of telling me “Let’s go!”
One trainer (Hi Sandy!) has told me all along that I’ve been causing these problems by literally taking too big of steps with my feet. Like Ace, I want to go fast. After all, we are both runners. But my large steps cause me to stop suddenly as we reach each obstacle, causing Ace to do a jump or pop upwards. This popping motion that Ace did led to barking, which led to nipping. I don’t notice that I’m doing any quick stops in the video, but I’m sure I still do it on certain course layouts. Either way, Ace has formed the habit to jump at my hands and bark.
Ace’s crazy, continuous barking began several months ago on the teeter. This is an obstacle he is still nervous on. What a big baby! He would bark on the teeter because he didn’t want to walk across it. He used to try to skip the teeter entirely and then grunt and bark when I forced him across it.
The barking on the teeter led to barking at the weave poles. He wanted to run right by them instead of actually weaving. When I slowed him down to do them correctly, he began grunting and soon after that he was full out barking. Now he barks nonstop throughout the whole course, even when he is in a down-stay position on the table.
He used to be better at agility, and now he has gotten worse and tries to skip obstacles. Is my dog bored or what?
The way Ace is acting in this video is pretty typical, although his excitement often escalates to more than this. That’s when he fixates on my hands and mouths them like they are a toy.
Unwanted behavior is never the dog’s fault.
I joined an agility class for something my dog and I could do together – a way to increase our bond while exercising and challenging ourselves. One of the reasons I haven’t addressed Ace’s barking is because agility is supposed to fun. We aren’t serious competitors, so I’ve never worried about his behavior too much. Also, in a class setting, it’s hard to slow down and take individual time to work when others are waiting for a turn.
But now I’ve reached that point where enough is enough. It’s hard to have fun with a barking dog, especially one beginning to show dominance and aggression. It’s hard not to take it personally when Ace hurts my hands. It’s hard not to lose my temper when he can’t control himself enough to hear basic commands, let alone respond to them.
Of course, I don’t blame Ace for his behavior. It’s totally my fault for not addressing these issues before they became habits. Ace can’t rationalize what he’s doing. He’s just being a dog, and he’s trying to be a good dog. All he wants to do is follow me around and make me happy.
I had my boyfriend Josh run Ace on the course last week to see if our dog would respond differently to him. He did not. Ace was probably even more excited because Josh was out there with him for the first time. Ace even tried to go for Josh’s hands.
I’ve had more experienced trainers do run-throughs with Ace on the course, and he is much better with them. He does not bark or become fixated on their hands. He is able to focus better because he is less excited. One member of our class suggested Ace gets more excited around me because I’m his person, and he likes me so much. But I think he does better with the other trainers because they are more assertive, and he sees them as authority figures.
My dog is not a vocal dog outside of agility. We practice obedience in the same building, on the same floor, and he is a totally different dog then – quiet, laid back, responsive! He seems to really enjoy both obedience and agility but for different reasons.
Obedience is about calmly following my lead and commands, something Ace enjoys. Agility, on the other hand, brings out one crazy dog! Although he looks happy on the course – his tail never quits wagging – I worry that his excited behavior at agility is similar to his obsessive behavior around a tennis ball. The fact that he fixates on my hands and gets a glazed stare is not a good sign.
What should I do differently with this dog?
We are taking this session off from agility because I need to give myself a break, but we will be back again to weekly practices in May. I really enjoy agility and want to improve. However, I don’t see that happening unless I can get more control over my dog on the course.
Does anyone have any suggestions for Ace and I?
One option is to slow Ace down and even practice with a leash on him for awhile. That way I have more control and can put him into down-stay positions whenever his excitement escalates.
I also see that Ace and I need to work on distance. If he can learn to listen and read my signals better from a distance, he will be able to run the course without me right by him the whole time. That way he won’t be able to fixate on my hands so easily. He will also have to think a little more rather than just follow me the whole time. Distance work is something we can practice in general at home and in areas other than on agility equipment.
Finally, I need to be more assertive with my dog with both my voice and body posture. I am too laid back with him. My voice is not firm and either are my hand signals. The more passive I am, the more powerful he becomes. I don’t have to yell, but I have to be the authoritative figure that I am.
A nice, long bike ride with Ace before we go to practice should also help. 
If you bike with your dog, you may be interested in a dog bike leash.
Does anyone else have a dog who is crazy at agility? How about crazy in general?
Related posts:
- Walking the dog so it’s fun!
- How to break a dog’s possessiveness
- How to calm an excited dog
- Dog kennel training
- Dog behavior issues
March 6th, 2009 at 9:39 am
I’m laughing because I have the opposite condition with my dog. Gus would look at me as if I was smoking something if I tried to get him to do agility and then make himself comfortable and take a nap.
The only thing that excites my big, lazy guy is dinner time. He does actually get a bit out of control. He won’t nip but he jumps and howls. I have found that if I am calm, he calms down. I have been practicing being at ease as I prepare his food and I even get him to sit while I do it many times. When I put the bowl down, he has to sit calmly for a moment before I let him get it. I know it is nothing like agility, but you try to calm a 120lb dog when he’s hungry!
So, the only advice I have is to stay calm and slow down yourself. It can’t hurt!
March 6th, 2009 at 10:52 am
I have a lab who exhibits this behavior during flyball. For us, it is not aggression; more or less an adrenalin rush.
My APBT barks all the time when we do agility. Doesn’t bother me…..In fact I see many dogs who bark during agility…
March 6th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Hi Ann. Thanks for your comment. I know a lot of dogs bark during agility, so I shouldn’t worry to much about Ace’s barking. I think of him as a football player getting himself psyched up before a big game. However, the nipping at my hands needs to stop.
Apryl, you mean you’re not going to take Gus to agility?
March 6th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
A lot of dogs in Trooper’s classes barked as they ran the course. I thought it was funny. It’s just what they did.
I can’t watch the video…it’ll just make me cry. I’m really emotional tonight…and it’ll remind me that I can’t do agility anymore.
March 6th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Yep I think that you are right about him basically getting ahead of himself and you. Two steps back and then one step forward. You need to calm him down and get him to concentrate on the voice and hand commands. Once he learns them better you shouldn’t need to be any where near him as he runs the course.
On that note I am going to enroll Bruno in agility training. He amazes me with his speed and agility. Especially at the dog parks. I have yet to see another dog beat him across the park. Some might be as fast but not near as agile. If another dog gets in Brunos way he will just jump them and not even skip a stride. I am sure that there are some bigger dogs that would be faster in a flat run. But on a course. I don’t know.
Any way anyone have any suggestions for classes to join for Bruno and I. We live in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Any help would be greatly appreciated. THANKS
March 7th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Ace and I go to the Red River North Dog Obedience Club. I recommend it because the classes are small and each dog and handler gets a fair amount of time on the course. There is a beginning agility class, and you can move up to the more advanced classes as you feel you are ready. Classes are around $45.
The Fargo Moorhead Kennel Club (Canine Academy) also offers agility classes. There is a waiting list to get into the agility program at this club and the cost is higher.
March 7th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Marty does the same thing when we play fetch (which, with a lab, happens a lot!). We have been trying to stop him both before we throw the ball and when he is running after it, get him to calm down, and then give him a really high value treat. The trainer we worked with in the past said she thought it started out as excitement and then he just started to think it was a necessary part of the game! Maybe you could get Ace to stop and calm down mid-course (or would that backfire on the agility training)?
March 7th, 2009 at 10:41 am
And I second the Red River North Club in FM. We have tried several other obedience programs in the area and, although its only been one class, they are considerably more patient than anyone else we have worked with! (Although we haven’t brought our ‘problem child’ there yet…)
March 7th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Thanks Kari. Getting Ace to stop and calm down mid course is a good idea. When he is obsessive over a ball, I make him lie down and chill out for a minute. Even though he wants to go after that ball so bad, he does respond to commands like down, come and stay before he is released to retrieve the ball. It’s the same concept in agility.
I subscribed to your blog today.
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
I have a crazy JRT, ha ha, and one program I LOVE is called Control Unleashed. http://www.controlunleashed.net/ It has made a huge difference in Stewie, and now he doesn’t even lose his mind over squirrels, and that is huge.
There is a book and a DVD. The book is cheaper and I would start there.
This program works, several people in our club have used it with great success.
Nancy and Stewie
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:17 am
Nancy, thank you so much! I will look into this and let you know how it goes. Ace has been doing better lately while wearing his Gentle Leader, but obviously that is not fixing the problem. I don’t want to depend on that all the time.
February 28th, 2010 at 11:16 am
My 14 month old gsp has been getting worse about barking and jumping up and biting my hands in agility. It’s winter and we don’t have the outside course set up for practice and no place indoors to practice except training class once a week. When he starts the unwanted behaviour in class, I stop the activity, put my hands on my hips and no talk, no touch, no eye contact. He settles down because his game is no fun alone and then we continue calmly. I’ve only just began this method and will let you know if it works. It seems to slow him down a little for now. I look forward to practicing daily in the warmer months to come.
February 28th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Thanks! Please let me know how it goes as you continue. We’ve just started agility again and my dog is barking and nipping and acting like crazy.
March 21st, 2010 at 8:33 pm
Have you used any sort of compulsion in your agility training?
March 21st, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Yeah pretty much his entire behavior during agility is compulsive. He fixates on my hands and agility is the only time he barks – he is not a vocal dog. He has that glazed stare and becomes an entirely different dog, just like with his tennis ball obsession.
Suggestions?
I am planning on renting space at a different training center where Ace and I have the space to ourselves and can work alone or with one trainer. That way we can take our time. If it doesn’t go well, then perhaps agility is just not the best activity for my dog.
March 21st, 2010 at 9:15 pm
That video was taken a year ago. He’s gotten worse since then.