[daabor]

Hi all,

I haven't been on here in awhile, but read often. Just wanted to brag a little and update on what we have been up to. Sammy completed his basic obedience class and is now in intermediate class. We were VERY lucky, as there are only 2 of us in this class.

Sammy is amazing! He is SO smart and really deserves an owner that does more with him than I do. He literally learns new commands in 1-2 trials. Today, he learned stand-stay immediately and did stand-stay, down, sit ( from a down which was new), spin and finish all in sequence and from remote gestures.

My trainer was impressed because I don't do everything right and Sammy still obeys. I am having so much fun training him.

Sammy LOVES training. He is also a natural ( I think ) at agility. He has only been exposed to an agility course once and thoroughly enjoyed the tunnels, jumps, A frame, balance beam, teeter-totter etc. He did all of them like he had been trained for agility for awhile.

My trainer does not offer agility. She said today that if Sammy keeps learning this quickly, she will not have anything else to offer us. I am thinking of doing agility with Sammy, but am worried about the possibility of injury. He is very long in the legs. Strong for his size and VERY quick.

I positive he would love to participate in agility. I'm afraid he may get hurt. Would you let your toy poodle do this?

 

[Quossum]

Poodles of all sizes are a very popular breed in Agility! Here's a query I did on YouTube and found several videos of toys doing it:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=toy+poodle+agility

Of course you want to learn properly and safely and reduce the risk, though it's true that injuries can happen. (This link takes you to a video of my spoo and my Italian greyhound experiencing a fall from the dogwalk. Both were completely unhurt by the incidents, luckily!)

If your instructor can't go any farther with you in Agility, maybe attend shows in your area and ask around; maybe you can find out about classes or experienced exhibitors doing private lessons.

There's a lot of Agility training you can do with minimal equipment at home, too.

I definitely encourage you to pursue this fun and energetic sport; your poodle sounds like he will be great at it!

 

[daabor]

Thank You for your reply! I had fun with the agility course and was so proud of my dog! He did so well. However, when I got home and googled agility, found out my dog was making jumps much higher than he should etc.

Sammy is only 10# but he was flying off A frames that were over 6 ft. tall, jumping 4 ft. hurdles etc. I'm just afraid he will get hurt. He does everything perfectly! He really looks at the obstacles and tries to figure out how to navigate them. He is really a champ at this.

I just want to hear from other toy owners whether this may be a significant health risk. i'm worried he may hurt his leg(s), back etc.

 

[Quossum]

Oh goodness! Yeah, he should be jumping at the appropriate height for his size. If he does that, jumping itself should not be a problem!

In AKC, depending on their height at the shoulder, a toy poodle will be jumping either eight inches or possibly twelve inches. For fun on occasion a dog can jump higher than their official height category, but for competition, that’s what they will jump.

Susan Salo has some great lessons on DVD for teaching dogs to jump with safe and appropriate style and form. Check them out!

 

[Skylar]

I agree with Quossum, you and Sammy would love and do well in agility.

There is teacup agility for small/medium sized dogs (17” or less at the withers). Basically the same apparatuses but small, more in scale with smaller dogs. That’s an option for a tpoo. However where I live it’s not very popular and most small dogs are running in regular agility...AKC, CPE etc.

I would look to take lessons at a facility where they give you a solid training in the basics before allowing you to run your dog on all the apparatuses. In my club the dogs are introduced to the apparatuses slowly while the dogs are learning important skills like hind end awareness. For a beginning dog that A-Frame should have been lowered, jumps should have been 4” etc. and you would slowly train to the full height of the equipment over several weeks.

I don’t know where you took Sammy that he was allowed, with no training or experience to do the full height of the A frame or 4’ jumps. While you had fun, I’m sorry but I don’t consider that safe.

Because my minipoo is light and gentle (she’s fast too) I’ve been able to buy cheap lightweight agility equipment from Affordable Agility and a kiddie tunnel. With a tpoo you can do the same, or make most yourself from PVC poles. There’s instructions on the internet. We train at home to supplement training in class.

 

[Carolinek]

Agility is a great sport! I tried it as a way to socialize a crazy little rescue dog and found we both loved it. Next thing you know, we’re competing, buying agility equipment, and just plain having a blast. Poodles are a lot of fun in agility including minis and toys.

I compete with a mini mix who measures 12 at the withers, which means she jumps 12 inch jumps. However, she is ten years old now and I’ve chosen to drop her down a height to eight inches to protect her joints. That is an option offered by most, if not all venues. My young mini poodle will probably jump 12 inches. That gives you an idea of the type of jump a mini will be expected to jump- toys will be smaller as Skylar said.

I agree that finding a trainer and facility that understands how to teach agility is important. I suggest asking them if they have dogs they compete with in agility, that way you know they are aware of the guidelines.

We recently tried tea cup agility, and it is a lot of fun. A toy poo would be perfect for it. Here’s the link if you want to find something in your area.

https://k9tdaa.com/

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

 

[daabor]

I'm doing something wrong regarding replies, but thank you everyone. Typed out a long response, but it didn't post.