I took Darci to an agility taster day last weekend. She did very well, and confidently handled every piece of equipment. She loved the dog walk and kept trying to go across before we had even been taught it!
I know she will love it when we get to do it properly. However, the trainer is not starting a new course until October. Darci will be 1 yr old then. If I am thinking about doing agility competively should I be starting earlier? Will those few months make much difference? Should I look for a course that starts sooner?
josie
Hi Ashley -
Most trainers recommend you don't start agility with a large breed dog until it is at least 12 months old anyway. A lot of trainers recommend waiting until 15-18 months. This is because of the pressure put on joints which are still developing when the dog jumps and lands continuously - too much of the wrong kind of exercise can lead to problems like hip dysplacia in later life. So certainly you're not going to be at a disadvantage.
The one exception to that is that a few trainers offer a sort of "baby" agility class which has no jumps, just poles lying on the ground for the dogs to step over. Also tunnels and maybe weaves, both of which are low-impact, could be included in a baby agility class. So, you could join a class like that sooner. But not many trainers run them, for some reason, and I think you might get a bit bored if you were doing that for too long!
I only started with Slate this February, when she was 16 months old.
But there are some things you can be working on before you start in October -
Make sure you have a really good recall, and a dog which thinks it's fun to be with you and doing what you want, rather than one which finds it more rewarding bogging off down the end of the hall.
It's great if your Weim likes to play tuggy as a reward, so really encourage that because they get very hyped up doing agility and I find that the tuggy gives them something to take that hyperness out on - a treat just isn't quite as satisfying when they're in that state!! A lot of the training at our club involves toys as rewards, so for that reason too it would be good to get a good tuggy habit going. (And an "out" when you say so.)
And lastly, a good "wait" or stay is important, as you have to leave the dog at the line and walk a way out into the course before giving the command for the dog to start. You might also use a "stand wait" command on the contacts, so you could work on a stand wait too.
Which club are you going to start at, by the way? We go to C-Side which is in Ripe, kind of halfway between Eastbourne and Brighton. I think they have a course starting in Sept.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Allyson
I would not worry about how late you start agility training Ashley, IME most people hurry all training far too much before they have the basics including a good relationship.
As they say, the good thing about agility is anyone with a half trained dog can take part, the bad thing about agility is anyone with a half trained dog can take part!
FWIW I did not start competing in agility until my dog was nearly 4 and she did alright!
Most people who start want to do all the running around and jumping etc before they have got the basics of a good control ie a solid recall, whatever the distraction, a wait, stop etc etc etc.
Cindy
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Marjolein
I bring the pupsters to the older dogs agility class. I have no intentions yet to do agility with them in the future, but I do want them to get used to the equipment. They do the catwalk, tunnel, that other tunnel thing and the see-saw. They've done a jump too, without the pole btw. Whenever I want to do agility with them, they're at least used to it.
I wouldn't start until they where at least 18 months though.
Allyson
"Watch using tuggies as rewards if you wish to train in other disciplines as its a bad habit to indulge a soft mouth gun dog in"
This is a common fallacy; there are several extremely successful dog handlers in the gundog world who use tuggies etc. However if you feel uncomfortable about using a tuggie you can use toy such as a ball on a rope.
HTH
Cindy
josie
Mar, that's an excellent idea isn't it, to take the pupsters to agility? It must be such a good socialisation experience for them to walk over and through all the equipment, even if they never do agility later on. I took Slate's sister Mokey to agility for that reason (she lived with us for a month as we were fostering her between homes).
Helen Phillips, who's on this forum, wrote the Learning About Dogs "Clicker Gundog" book and she uses tuggies with her team of Vizslas, which she works on shoots throughout the season. She feels that dogs can tell the difference between something they can bite on and something they can't. (Helen come and tell us more!).
Have to say I don't think there's a problem using tuggy with a gundog, even if you want to use her as a gundog (as I do with Slate). I've always used tuggy because, for Slate, it is so motivational - she absolutely loves it, I can swing her right round with her feet off the floor, growl at her to get her even more worked up, and have a right tuggy session - and she will "Leave" as soon as I say, or I couldn't do it with her. It is a major jackpot reward for her and there's just nothing else to replace it with because what she is enjoying is the game _with me_. I honestly think I'd be shooting myself in the foot if I didn't play tuggy with her, she finds it so rewarding.
Anyway, despite this she retrieves all dummies with a v soft mouth and at the end of last season retrieved her first cold pheasant and partridge, again very gently.
Ashley
Ok, so I've had some mixed advice about when to start because my trainer seems to think she is ok to do small jumps now, at 9 mths, but most of you think it should be more like 18 mths. TBH I have enough trouble stopping her jumping on/off other things at home - so unfortunately I expect if any damage is going to be done, its done already- but of course I don't want to make matters worse.
I take on board the advice about working on her basic commands. She has a solid wait. And recall is improving week on week.
On a positive note, she is motivated by a tennis ball, or ball on string and this was used to an advantage during the agility taster day.
josie
Well that sounds great Ashley.
There is a difference though, between occasionally jumping off a few things at home a few times a day, and the pounding and impact of jumping a lot of jumps in a short space of time. I wouldn't worry you've let her jump on/off things too much at home.
