Boston

Here is Boston's story as related by his person, Beth O'Connor.

Boston and I began training for agility earlier this year (1998), and lucky for us, the class was mostly Border Collies and Aussies! Needless to say, we decided to repeat the Beginning class, since it seems we were not up to the level of the other dogs who were going on. (Now I call him remedial man!) No one ever said it was easy training a Leo for agility. Boston is challenging to train in many ways. He is a very laid back Leo, and is not easy to motivate at all. He isn't easy to get to play either! So, I give him all I've got in terms of praise, and try to keep him up, happy and enjoying himself. We usually succeed in having great amounts of fun, but boy do I get tired!

When first training in agility, all of the obstacles are at very low heights, especially the jumps. This is for the safety of the dog, but I have to tell you that Leos find jumps set at 12 in. really boring. They just feel no need to go fast so that they can step over a jump. So, while "normal" sized dogs actually get to run and jump, my Leo is ambling and stepping. Patience - all in good time. Boston and I have a long way to go, but like most things in life, half the fun is getting there, and I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than playing in agility with my Boston.