outwest

I read in our local paper that a new agility training facility opened up last week - 5 BLOCKS from my house! I have sometimes thought I should try agility with Bonnie because she is so athletic. At the dog park she jumps over dogs to play with them, spins on a dime and runs super fast for a spoo. When she leaps she gets SO high! She can also stand and 'walk' on her hind legs. I think she has the physical capability and the energy to do it. People are always commenting, "Look at that poodle go!"

I don't know if she has the personality to do it. I am going today to check it out. I have never done agility training with a dog before. Her breeder made a big deal out of waiting until she is fully developed to do any heavy physical training. She had a pup that was trained very young (competing before a year old) and ended up with a hip issue, but I don't see why a 9 month old couldn't start?

Is 9 months old okay to start trying agility? I do not want to hurt her bones when she is still growing. She is still growing very slowly now.

Can I do some basic stuff without injury?

outwest

I just searched the board and there are some other threads about this. Most say over 12months old to start. I am going to go to the school and see if they have puppy classes. I will let you know what I find out. I am so excited this place is within walking distance of my house! It is called "The Zoom Room". It appears to be a franchise. Have any of you heard of it?

Quossum

There are many, many Agility skills which have nothing to do with jumping and stresses on bones. A good training center will have a puppy class available where these skills are started, so definitely explore what they've got. She's definitely not too young to start the foundation skills.

Good luck! I'm partial to Agility, showing in it right now with my IG, but my "someday spoo" will start the skills as soon as she/he comes home.

--Q

outwest

She is signed up for an evaluation next week. After that we should have a better idea. They have classes on teaching tricks.

Jility

We start all our young dogs on basic foundation skills. Things like recalls, circle work (heeling at side - dog is shaped to stay next to us), nose presses for contact position, sit stay, etc. We use tugging to reward behaviors of motion and food for stationary behaviors. Our dogs never get on the equipment until they are 15 or 16 months old at the youngest. Not only do the growth plates need to be closed, the soft tissue has to be mature or you run the risk of injuries or breakdown. We use the 2x2 method (Susan Garrett) to train weaves. Our youngest standard Poodles were trained at 19 months old to weave.
Agility is great fun!

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CT Girl

I know my trainer wont train until the dog is at least a year old - it depends on the size of the dog - bigger dogs need to be older. She also stresses foundation training and she has always said she can tell when dogs in agility competitions have not had enough foundation work - they can only progress so far before these deficiencies show. Reading Jility's post I wonder if I should wait till Swizzle is older. I think Swizzle stopped growing between 7 and 8 months. I was going with a year before starting agility because that was what the vet told me. My trainer told me at a year we would see. You have to be invited to her agility classes. I know we will be, she has indicated we would be, but makes an individual assessment if the dog is ready. She does have some pre-agility classes that I plan to enroll in next and keep up the obedience and long distance recalls and stays. I love regular classes but I am chomping at the bit to start agility - it looks like so much fun and the dogs just love it. I look forward to hearing about how Bonnie does in class - she sounds like a natural.

outwest

We go this afternoon for the evaluation. When we went to find out about it, I got a little confused. I think I take her to see the equipment and try it and they make sure the dog is okay to be around other dogs temperment wise? I need to bring her vaccination records. The person there was new since it just opened, so I will cut her some slack in not explaining very well. Hopefully my questions will be answered today. I will let you guys know what it is all about.

I have been looking for something to do with my dog other than the dog park. I think she will be happy to do some 'work'. It seems all indoors? They have a big room with all the stuff.

They did have puppy classes.

Zoom Room

Puppy Agility training can be wonderful, but only if your trainer is using adjustable equipment so that there is no emphasis on jarring jumps and leaps and bounds, but instead places all focus on balance, coordination, and communication. Generally speaking, nine months is a good age to start regular agility training. But so much depends on the individual dog. We have one amazing standard poodle in agility who is fourteen!

The evaluation, by the way, can serve two purposes. One is if you need some help deciding what sort of training class would be best for your dog, the trainer can help. The other is if you already are experienced in agility, and just want to use the gym to exercise and practice the obstacles. The evaluation will make sure your dog is ok on the course, and social around other dogs, prior to being granted Open Gym access.

We hope you, Echo and Bonnie have a wonderful time!

outwest

I have watched agility and have obedience trained dogs, but have no experience training my own dog in agility. I have never had a dog that I thought could do it before this one. She is so smart, responsive and athletic (and energetic, oy vay). I can't see the couch potato whippet doing it. LOL

I thought the class on tricks sounded really fun. I taught her to smile (if you want to call it that).

outwest

I signed up for Agility 1 after her evaluation. She didn't want to walk up on the wide ramp, even with treats. She got nervous. I just wanted to stick her up there, but the trainer said not to and it might frighten her. She jumps up on all manner of things and isn't afraid of heights. I didn't understand what was worrysome about the ramp. I wanted to sign her up for Puppy Agility, which seemed more appropriate since she has no experience with any of the equipment, but she just turned 9 months old and puppy agility is only to age 8 months.

In the evaluation she tested her basic obedience skills. She did fine. At first she said she wasn't ready for agility because she was nervous about the ramp. Well, if she wasn't ready then they should have a foundations class, shouldn't they? It was still a little confusing, but I will try the group Agility 1 class. I could also do private lessons, but I want to try the group first.

Standard poodles are not like working dogs such as shelties and border collies, labs and shepherds that are completely in tune to humans. Poodles are thinking dogs,which is what is so cool about them. If I ask her to do something, often she is like, "And why would I do that? What's the payoff for me?" She doesn't blindly follow my lead whereas a lab will do whatever you want without question. At the same time, Bonnie is smarter than any dog I have ever had. I had an Australian shephard that was a close second, but Bonnie learns faster. I admit to not having to do much at all to teach her obedience. She is also sensitive and hyper aware of what is happening around her. A loud NO! from me and she will hold a grudge for an hour, so I withold those "NOs" unless absolutely necessary.

The place was surrounded with glass windows above her eye sight. She was trotting around and checking everything out and then noticed the windows. She popped up like a Meercat going from window to window checking out the scene below. It was so cute.

She doesn't lack curiosity, but she may not be cut out for agility, especially if she won't walk up on a ramp. It sounds like a fun thing to do with my dog on Saturday mornings. I just hope the trainer knows what she is doing and understands the different temperments of dogs.

My husband is putting a board on the ground up on a brick so we can practice walking on it before Saturday.