my future agility champ

well hopefully anyway lol. this is my lab x Avril, she was abused as a puppy, taken to nightclubs and beaten. when i got her just over a year ago she was pretty much afraid of everything and wasnt house trained so my dad said she had to sleep in the garage, not as bad as you might think since my ma had a lil bit of underfloor heating put in the laundry section when we still had our old staffie lol. it didnt take long though for her to get house trained and then she was in my room usually in bed with me lol. anyway once she got abit of confidence she became abit naughty on walks so i found a dog school near me and we were both introduced to the world of agility, now if you got a dog thats a bit timid or has a low confidence level i really recommend doing agility, you cannot believe the confidence boost they get from it. Avi loves the applause and like any true lab the food treats involved lol. we are now ready to start entering open shows so she can get used to the noise of lotsa people and the other dogs going mad, shes been to shows but never competed so itll be something new. she loves the A frame and dog walk, i think cos they high and she can see whats happening around her. she's alot faster than she looks lol and while i doubt we will ever be as fast as the collies that train with us i'm extremely grateful to my trainer for helping me sort out some of Avi's issues, we by no means clear but she is not as bad as she used to be, i mean she onced jumped through a plate glass window to get away from a storm and that is the reason i got her, either i took her or she would have ended up in a shelter where she would probably have been put down. now she just hides til the storm is gone and then comes out.

she is known at school as the flower child as she like to roll in the grass when we waiting our turn and chase butterflies lol. i have never met a more gentle loving dog and would like to add that there are literally thousands of strays in kill shelters around the country waiting for home so if i could ask one thing its adopt dont buy. i get about 10 emails a week with dogs and puppies looking for home alot of them with a week or two left before the get put to sleep. iys really sad.

anyway i hope you enjoy the pics, you can see the absolute joy in them and btw her tongue gets longer as she get tired lol.

 

Hey there , thnx for the moss
this the same pup i met?? very cute

 

Very pretty looking dog you have. Love the coat!

 

Aaaaahh... she is gorgeous! We have a border collie and she also loves agility among other thing.

 

@windfire, my first big dog was a Golden Lab that I rescued from the SPCA and you are so right, what amazing animals. He too loved his training and we even finished 3rd in our class exams. You are so lucky you are able to agility with your girl, Magnum had this thing that he had to attach himself to my leg, literally. My biggest problem with him was distance control, he did "creeping" so that by the time I was finished with the commands, he was sitting right in front of me, wagging and excited. I didn't complete that exam as I knew I would fail miserably. Your girl looks like she is crossed with a German Shepherd with the ears standing up?

 

thanks guys, she is my best friend. we have our first show type thingy this weekend a demo at the place we use to train. im making liver bread since it should help hold her attention, nothing grabs her attention like someone with liverbread lol.

@Skye01 they always seem so grateful when you rescue them dont they? our last 2 dogs were rescues and theyve both been wonderful, the old one i call her the old bat and my ma hates it lol is nearing 14 now and still keeps up with Avvie when we go for a run. I've think she may be crossed with spaniel or pointer cos when she sees something or smells something interesting the front foot comes up in a point, she also looks up alot more than other dogs, her newest thing is to chase swallows lol and that is a gundog trait so i dont know. maybe i'll do one of those dna tests one day lol they have some surprising results