Bulldog zoomies are something else. They're so ungraceful and yet so majestic at the same time. Like a little wild-eyed, slobbering tank that can turn on a dime, but then also crash into something nowhere near where it was running, gets back up all crazy-eyed like "I meant to do that" before continuing with the zoomies. lol.

>By the end of the evening I can still get it wrong or forget where to go next and my dog happily carries on without me and performs the next three jumps correctly (probably wondering why he is partnered with an idiot like me).

This was exactly what it was like training with my dog. She was a natural at a lot of things on the agility course; I, however, was an uncoordinated noob who did most of the learning in that class. But even when I screwed up, she knew what to do after a run or two.

Am a teacher, also worked with a few dogs on agility. I'd say the feeling when my students get something we've been working on, and the feeling when my dog gets something we've been working on are very similar. You feel so proud of them and you want to celebrate their accomplishments.

But the amount of trust you ask of your dog is just next level. You can communicate to your students to explain the what and why of a lesson. The challenge is helping them make the right connections so that they can do it on their own. When they finally do, it feels awesome as a teacher.

But with a dog you don't speak the same language and you can't explain what and why. You just try and teach them and show them they can trust you and one day it clicks for them "oh, you want me to do that!" and then they do! Then, if they are like my dog, they look at you like "wow you're really excited I did that... it wasn't really that big of a deal. Look I'll do it again. See! Easy" and by that point you're just fussing over them and rewarding them like crazy because the did it!

I had a bulldog once upon a time. We expected a nice lazy guy, but he was anything but. Little dude loved to run and jump. We took him to the dog park one time, and there was a greyhound/whippet meet up. Bulldog decided he wanted to be a part of that fun, and he tore around the dog park with these greyhounds for several laps.

We were doing just-for-fun agility with one of the cocker spaniels we had, so I brought the bulldog along when we went to play around. He liked to do the course, too (except the see-saw). So we'd alternate between the spaniel and the bulldog. I miss that sweet dumdum.