Great feedback from Catherine. There are Different schools of thought on this. Some believe too much obedience work inhibits the dog’s ability to do distance work in agility, others believe dogs should always do obedience work before coming to agility, and then there’s the folks in between!
I’m a tweener. I think you need the basics of obedience, a good stay, focus on you, ability to tune out distractions, etc. However, you can get those skills either formally or informally. It is also invaluable to socialize the heck out of them so they are comfortable with the sights, smells, and sounds that can present at a trial.
I talked with a woman recently who is a long time agility competitor and recently acquired a 5 year old toy poodle who had only done obedience work. She was having a very hard time transitioning her to agility as the dog didn’t want to run ahead of her. She had been workinG with her a year and not making much progress. She knew what she was doing- her other dogs had very good distance and control, but this little one did not want to leave her side. That’s an extreme example, almost all of the time, obedience is a good foundation.
No reason you can’t start agility training now, just make sure the instructor keeps the jump heights low and avoids overly repetitive movements, which may damage growth plates. I started Gracie in agility right after her fIrst puppy classes, I think she was 6-7 months old.
Let us know how it goes!