[Carolinek]

Anyone do teacup agility? I tried it recently and loved the venue!

The obstacles are smaller and the course less spread out. Dogs who measure up to 16 inches can compete. I wasn’t sure how Lily (poodle mix) would do as she is a fast dog who likes to cover a lot of ground, even now at ten years old...but she adjusted fine. It was perfect for Misty (Bichon mix), who only jumps 4 inches due to a mild luxating patella, not so speedy nature, and her older age.

Even though it’s on a smaller scale, it was certainly competitive enough for us. They also allow you to fast track which means you just have to qualify in one beginner run and then can move up to through the levels. By the end of the day we were at the highest level so can compete there in the next trial.

It was also a friendly, fun atmosphere, I’ll be doing it again!

 

[Skylar]

I had thought about it. I have friends who have been begging me to join. It’s not that popular where I live. Agility is extremely popular but most people are doing AKC, CPE, USDAA and UKC. You could enter a regular agility almost every weekend here because clubs come from quite a distance to hold them here. The teacup trials are perhaps 4 times a year?

Only one or two clubs teach teacup. My non-AKC club has the equipment because the trials are held here, but doesn’t offer teacup classes. My club is the most popular to train agility and classes - tons of classes. Even the people who are teacup judges and organize the trials teach regular agility in my club.

My trainers have all told me not to do it. The weave poles are spaced differently and my dog is good with the normal weave poles so I’m afraid of disrupting her normal pattern by introducing something different.

I have one friend who used to beg me to go who has now decided it was a mistake because her cocker isn’t running well on the regular course.

I do like that it’s a smaller, quieter area to crate your dog compared to regular agility. My club is the building where they hold the trials.

I like your idea of running older dogs who may feel regular agility is too much, maybe when my dog is older I might consider it.

 

[Carolinek]

Skylar,
Thank you for presenting that perspective. What you said makes sense and I’ll have to consider that going forward. No one here teaches teacup agility either, that I know of, but there are trials here and there. Many more AKC, CPE, etc.

For Misty, it’s probably a good place for her to land in these later years and I’ll be looking for trials particularly for her. She is technically very good and super reliable, actually a pleasure to run, but I often have to push her to make time and even at 4 inches she drops a bar now and then. With the luxating patella, and advancing age, it’s nice to have an outlet that doesn’t pose such a physical challenge.

Lily OTH, is still very fast and loves to run and cover a lot of ground, but she is ten and I think she’ll be fine doing teacup now and then. I did have to convince her the tunnel was truly a tunnel though, lol! My goal with the two older girls is just have some fun and maybe get a few more titles, but not trying for a PACH or anything. If it happens great, but they started late (age 6) and have challenges in different ways. I will be more serious with Gracie, but we’ll see where that leads!

 

[Nahama]

Years ago I had a Maltese, my darling girl Sylphide, who did regular agility until chronic illness took her out of the game. She loved it! As with Skylar - there were lots of regular agility options then, and far fewer teacup. I tried that once with Sylphide, and she hated it. I think she was thrown off by the different venue, people and dogs.

On another note - It's interesting to see that in regular training classes, etc. there are very few small breeds participating. Willow's obedience classes, therapy dog training, and rally all have (some very) large breeds, and she is the only small dog. Her current rally class has a huge Great Pryrenees & the biggest Bernese Mountain Dog I have ever seen. TD had 3 labs, a Golden, two Bernedoodles (a new trend, it seems), a mid-size mix, and Willow.

Warmly,

--Nicola

Saratoga's Willow Walks Well - WILLOW, CGC, CGCA, CGCU (mpoo)
Glow Steadfast Lady Leia Aki - KIKI (mpoo)
Saratoga's Amor by Valentine - AMOR (Maltese)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Carolinek]

Years ago I had a Maltese, my darling girl Sylphide, who did regular agility until chronic illness took her out of the game. She loved it! As with Skylar - there were lots of regular agility options then, and far fewer teacup. I tried that once with Sylphide, and she hated it. I think she was thrown off by the different venue, people and dogs.

On another note - It's interesting to see that in regular training classes, etc. there are very few small breeds participating. Willow's obedience classes, therapy dog training, and rally all have (some very) large breeds, and she is the only small dog. Her current rally class has a huge Great Pryrenees & the biggest Bernese Mountain Dog I have ever seen. TD had 3 labs, a Golden, two Bernedoodles (a new trend, it seems), a mid-size mix, and Willow.

Warmly,

--Nicola

Saratoga's Willow Walks Well - WILLOW, CGC, CGCA, CGCU (mpoo)
Glow Steadfast Lady Leia Aki - KIKI (mpoo)
Saratoga's Amor by Valentine - AMOR (Maltese)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I don’t see a lot of smaller breeds either in this area, and very few poodles. And yes, the bernedoodle seems to be a new trend.

 

[Skylar]

My AKC club is the big “obedience “ club. A few years ago when someone started to take classes with a cane corso and a pit bull with a severely distorted broke jaw from an accident as a new puppy (not a fighting accident but scary an the dog made awful noises) they pulled us and other small dogs and made a small dog class which lasted several sessions until those dogs left the club. I do see quite a few smaller dogs but large dogs are the majority.

I also see plenty of small dogs in agility all doing regular agility and few doing teacup, probably because my club doesn’t have teacup classes.

 

[Johanna]

I was surprised at the size range the teacup agility rules have - my goodness! The height limit is 17 inches - that's really a pretty good-sized dog. I have see chihuahuas - little ones - running regular agility, so this teacup stuff seems a scam to me. The one thing that I do to accommodate for Zoe is that I do not teach 2-on-2-off because I want her to stay wholly on the contact area of the teeter so it won't go up by accident - Zoe only weighs 11 lbs, so that's a real concern. Our agility trainer has small dogs and agrees with that approach.

 

[Dechi]

I haven’t but they should change their name. Teacup is a scam word associated with bad breeders and puppy mills. I’m surprised no one thought of that when picking the name.

 

[Carolinek]

I don’t see it as a scam but I do agree the name could have been better chosen.

If I can get out for a day, run my dogs safely, and they enjoy the experience, it’s all good to me. But I’m not looking to go to World championships or anything so my goals may be different than others.

One very nice thing is that I was busy all day, and the dogs got a lot of runs in. At AKC trials, it can be 6+ hours between runs depending on the trial, and it makes for a long day with a lot of waiting around for the dog. I keep busy volunteering but my dogs spend most of the day sitting in their crates, surrounded by the noises and smells of 100 or so dogs. I make sure to get a lot of walks in for them, but that’s weather dependent. I think there’s a certain amount of stress related to being in that environment for them- they’re pet dogs, rescues who started agility later in life. That environment is not the norm for them, and something that happened much later in life for them. They seem to enjoy it, but I often limit it to just one day for them.

With the puppy, there’s the opportunity for different experiences and I’ll see where all that goes!

I’ve done ASCA trials (Australian Shepard Association) too, there is a fair amount of them in this area. That’s another fun venue where dogs get the opportunity to get more runs in, and it doesn’t break the bank. Quite the opposite of teacup though! Tons of distance work, which is good. Good for Lily’s energy level, and probably Gracie when she gets old enough.

Quite honestly, AKC is not my favorite venue. The atmosphere is very different at an AKC trial. I get it; it’s more serious, people are titling their dogs to prove their lines, i understand the value in it. I do it because there are a lot of trials here and I wanted to learn it, and there’s a certain satisfaction I get out of putting a title on a rescue dog that was deemed “unadoptable” by the shelter.

I enjoy the people at all trials, but have had a few strange encounters with folks in AKC where I walk away just shaking my head. I have no problem calling out inappropriate behavior in any part of my life, so it’s fine. and doesn’t taint my experience. But I do shake my head sometimes!

 

[Michigan Gal]

I never heard of teacup agility, I'm glad you posted. I am probably picking up a miniature poodle in the next week. I want him in agility. I'll know to get him used to the "normal" set up and the teacup.

 

[Carolinek]

I never heard of teacup agility, I'm glad you posted. I am probably picking up a miniature poodle in the next week. I want him in agility. I'll know to get him used to the "normal" set up and the teacup.

Looking forward to seeing your new mini!