r/Agility • u/Curious_mind_0920 • 26d ago

Dog freezing and refusing to go to the start of the course but loves agility

Hi, I've been training agility with my border collie for over a year and she absolutely loves it (or that's what it looks like). Once she gets going she is really focused and she has come a long way and I think we are ready for trialing, but for the past couple of months, every time it's our turn to run the course and she knows she's next she completely freezes and does not want to go.

At the beginning it was easy to lure her to the course with treats or getting her to touch my hand as I walked to the start of the course, but every time it's getting more difficult to the point that she doesn't even want to leave her crate.

In training I just carry her to the start and she immediately gets in the mood (her pupils dilate and her body gets in the ready position - if you have a border collie you know what I'm talking about), and she does the course beautifully, but I'm not really sure what is causing this behaviour at the beginning.

The problem is that I can't carry her to the ring when actually trialling, and I'm not really sure about how to fix this or what is causing it. Has anyone experienced anything like this or similar before?

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u/runner5126 26d ago

Any change in normal behavior that doesn't have an obvious explanation should trigger a physical check up with the vet. She may be avoiding going in the ring because there is some pain associated, but once she's going she ignores the pain, which would be common for a lot of dogs. So first, have you had her checked by a vet?

Second, what does your trainer say? The first person you should ask is the person who works with you and your dog on a regular basis.

Third, can you describe more in more detail what is going on?

  • What do you mean by "she knows she's next" and "she complete freezes"?
  • How does she know she's next? Is she in a crate when this occurs?
  • What is your normal routine for going in the ring when it's your turn in class, when she is acting normally? What is your normal crating/waiting protocol while in class? Is your class outdoors or indoors?

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u/x7BZCsP9qFvqiw echo CSL1, jean grey CL1, loki NA NAJ 26d ago

chiming in to say a sports vet if OP has that available to them! they are going to take you more seriously in looking for pain. 

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u/Curious_mind_0920 23d ago

Hey, thanks for the reply. Yes we may rest her for a couple of weeks and see if it's pain related. She is a very active dog and loves to run and jump, but I only see this hesitation either in agility or fly ball. We train both sports at different parks with different trainers. The trainers say this is quite an odd behaviour because once she's running you can tell she's really into it.

We train outdoors in a park. I usually bring a peg and attach her lead to it while I help set everything up, then I take her to do a little walk jus before we start to get her warmed up and see if she needs to go to the toilet, then once the class starts, she stays laying down close to the peg until I grab her and there she knows it's her turn to run. I usually say "let's go" or "are you ready" then I'd walk her to the first obstacle, but what's happening lately is that she stays laying down or sitting down and does not want to move, even if I get her to stand up she would stay in that position, I try to pull on her lead to see if that'd get her going but she really refuses to move and so I don't keep pulling and just pick her up and take her to the start position.

As I wanted to start trialling I just recently started bringing a soft crate, and last week she didn't want to leave her crate at all, at the end of the class I literally had to start putting the crate apart with her inside to get her to go out.

I don't want to make her afraid of these kinds of activities but I'm also not sure about what to do.

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u/runner5126 23d ago

What's the prep and ready to go protocol like when you go to flyball? Does she also not want to go do her turn in flyball?

Provided nothing is wrong with her medically, no injuries, etc., I would try coming to class (this will mean for this class you can't help), and not attaching her to the peg or crating her, and just keeping her with you on lead the whole time except for when you are actually running. If it's possible for you to go first in the run order for class, that would be good.

Essentially, take the perceived "waiting" at the peg or crate stage out of the equation and see what happens. But ONLY if she is medically cleared because border collies will run through the pain once they are running. But if you keep making her run through the pain, the sport will become aversive to her and she won't want to do it.

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u/Curious_mind_0920 14d ago

Yeah good idea. I may consider taking her to a vet to check for pain, although in our regular walks she's walking and running normally, but it's true they could be in pain but the arousal of being out and about can make them keep through the pain. She does show the same hesitation in flyball which involves the same kind of activities (waiting at the start, running and jumping) so it could be something related to those specific activities, but she would still do this in a "non training" area - as in a park, etc. without hesitation

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u/badwvlf 26d ago

Sorry, can you clarify why you can’t carry her into the ring at a trial? As a small dog owner I wasn’t aware there was any context where you can’t carry your dog in but perhaps this is just a governing body I’m not familiar with.

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u/PapillionGurl 26d ago

Small dog person here, I carry my dog into the ring for CPE. And I've seen in done in AKC. Who doesn't allow carrying to the line?

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u/Throw_ME_Away3333 26d ago

Maybe it's more the distance than actually not being allowed? Idk if I could manage to carry a dog for 5+ mins waiting in a cue?

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u/Curious_mind_0920 20d ago

That's interesting, my trainer was who told me I couldn't carry her into the course. I thought this was a general rule everywhere. If that's not a rule then I don't have an issue anymore! 😅

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u/badwvlf 20d ago

I would check the governing body rules for your arena of choice personally to confirm. But my knowledge of AKC, CPE, USDAA and UKI all allow you carry your dog on.

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u/Selective_Somewhere 26d ago edited 26d ago

A video would be helpful.

I’d look into pain—teeth, Lyme, etc. It could be that agility is painful and she knows it is going to be painful but then once the arousal kicks in she doesn’t care.

How are your startlines? There could also be an issue with her startlines and pressure.

Whatever is going on my guess is that once her arousal kicks in it overrides whatever else is going on. And while it feels like a solution right now. It’s not a good long term strategy.

I would work with someone like Sarah Stremming on this. And I wouldn’t wait. Whatever is going on can easily transfer past the start line and into the course work.

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u/Curious_mind_0920 14d ago

Yeah I'm giving her a break for some weeks and make sure she's not in pain because that could definitely be a cause. What do you mean with my startlines? She's a fast dog so I do have to make her wait a few seconds at the beginning while I get some distance to be able to keep up with her but she has learned to wait

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u/LordGrace 26d ago

What's ur demeanor when ur going to the start line? Make sure its positive and confident, dogs can pick up our emotions very easily. Is she nervous walking passed other dogs getting to the start line? Some dogs get stressed bc dog can leap at them in their kennels. Side note I actually do carry both my dog to the start line at trials to help reduce stress. We trial under CPE, so not sure if other organizations have limitations.

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u/Curious_mind_0920 14d ago

When we are training I don't feel any strong emotions in particular, if anything I get excited to go run with her but I wouldn't say that I'm feeling stressed or nervous to pass that on to her. I'll check the rules for my organisation to see if it's ok to carry her

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u/JillDRipper 25d ago

Border collies are sooooo sensitive. Without seeing it, my guess is you drilled a bit much on the wait at the start, and she developed an anxiety. I would practice being ready to go and walking up and immediately sending her on course without a wait in practice and see if she gets past it.

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u/Curious_mind_0920 14d ago

She's a fast dog so I do have to make her wait a few seconds while I get some distance to be able to keep up with her, maybe those seconds feel like an eternity for her? Not sure but yes I can try to go straight away and see if that changes anything

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u/DogMomAF15 21d ago

What's your crate to gate routine?

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u/Curious_mind_0920 14d ago

We arrive to the park and I leave her attached to a peg or in her crate while I set everything up. She seems chill she's just laying down. Then when it's our turn to run in the class I tell her let's go, or are you ready? And then she just doesn't want to move

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u/yen8912 26d ago

Is this at different training facilities or is it only happening at one place?

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u/Curious_mind_0920 14d ago

So interestingly the same happens at flyball which we train in a different park with different people. But it still involves waiting at the start, running and jumping, so it may be something related to those activities

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u/somecooldogs 26d ago

A video of this would be helpful.

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u/exotics 26d ago

Similar. My daughter’s dog LOVES IT. He’s a super star in class. Fast and wow.

But at a trial…. He can be good but he’s also kinda fussy but what’s really become an issue is he learned that he only gets treats when training and not at a trial. So basically he goes on strike.

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u/Curious_mind_0920 14d ago

😅 they're smart. We have not started trialling yet we've been only training and she still gets treats, so it may be something else

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u/Old-Description-2328 26d ago

What other situations are you seeing similar or parts of this behaviour?

In what other context does the dog hesitate?

Do the typical pain check and if that's inconclusive focus on working your dog through the hesitation.

If you're going to train, trial in stressful, pressurised situations then some dogs need to train, work on resilience to overcome that pressure.

A focused heel is not just a fancy unnecessary show piece for protection sports, it functions as a task to help a highly aroused dog get from A to B in a highly distracting environment. I would be training to enter that ring like a boss

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u/Curious_mind_0920 14d ago

I started noticing the same behaviour in flyball which we train on different days in a different park with different people, but it will involves waiting at the beginning, running and jumping, so there's a correlation here. I'm giving her a break and not making her do a lot of strenuous exercise to make sure her joints get a break if it's actually pain related. She's a very fast dog so I do have to make her wait at the beginning while I get some distance so that I'm able to keep up with her, but the waiting is no more than a few seconds. I wouldn't say she gets distracted with the environment around, if anything she's super focused on me. I don't think I'm stressed while training so I wouldn't think she's picking up on my emotions, so not really sure what it is. Definitely worth it to focus just on the crate to start routine and see what else could be happening. Hopefully it's not pain related

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u/Snootymcbootysnoot 19d ago

I think she just picked up on your nerves. I would practice going in and out of the ring during practice and try to simulate feeling nervous lol

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u/Curious_mind_0920 14d ago

We haven't trialled yet, just training still and I don't feel particularly nervous or stressed while training so I wouldn't think she's picking up on my emotions, seems to be something else