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Getting a puppy started in Agility

JamieHalverson

Well-Known Member
So I've decided that we are going to try agility with Lillie. I've never done agility before, so I'm a total newbie. We will take classes, but she has to be 9 months old, she's 5 now.

I just want to get her acclimated to some of the equipment, easy stuff, not jumping or stressing her joints, but playing with a teeter totter, tunnels, hoops etc.

What kinds of excercises do those of you who do agility recommend? I don't want to spend a ton on agility equipment, that seems foolish at this point, but would be totally able to put together some diy stuff, any suggestions there would be great, too!
 

Smokeycat

Well-Known Member
I've got one dog that I have done agility with. The biggest complaint I had was other owners not having basic obedience, mainly sit and stay/wait, trained so one thing I would work on is getting both of those strong. The jumps are most obvious risk to joint health but the weave poles can also cause problems due to the lateral strain placed on the joints so be careful training in those as well.
 

JamieHalverson

Well-Known Member
I've got one dog that I have done agility with. The biggest complaint I had was other owners not having basic obedience, mainly sit and stay/wait, trained so one thing I would work on is getting both of those strong. The jumps are most obvious risk to joint health but the weave poles can also cause problems due to the lateral strain placed on the joints so be careful training in those as well.

I can see the obed issue... yeah, Lillie should be thru level 2 obed by the time we start agility, so we will be ok there.
 

scorning

Well-Known Member
I haven't taken any formal agility classes yet, but we plan to soon and they have equipment at a indoor dog facility we go to. Our dog has gone through the tunnels there, you can buy cheap ones on Amazon. Instead of a teeter, you might try a wobble board or some other unsteady surface. Instead of jumps, i would just place household objects on the group for the dog to walk over (broomsticks, pvc pipes, etc.). I used something similar for my Wobbers dane to practice foot awareness. If you have a ladder, you can lay it flat and have the dog walk through the rungs.

Also, when I take my dogs on walks, I ask them to get up and walk on random surfaces, like the benches of picnic tables or fallen tree trunks. You can also practice weaving through those posts that prevent people from driving into things. I've seen them at schools, where you can also practice on the playground equipment, assuming there are no kids on it. My goal is really for my dogs to be aware of where their feet are and to not be scared of walking on new/unstable surfaces. We'll see if this helps, hopefully Finn will start agility in November.
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
I found a kid's play set with a tunnel (<$20 on Amazon) when Denna was a puppy... she LOVED playing in the tunnel... until she decided she'd rather rip it to shreds. :)

I also set up a ramp (seen in the background on the photo), so we could work on walking on elevated surfaces.

We've since played around an agility course at the off-leash park a little... but it was built for dogs <60lbs, so it's a little hard to work with. Denna just walks over the "jump", and there aren't any weave poles - that's the one thing she has not been exposed to at all. Other than goofing off, we haven't gone any further with the agility stuff, but it was fun to introduce her to the equipment and commands as a puppy.

P1020855.jpg
 

JamieHalverson

Well-Known Member
I haven't taken any formal agility classes yet, but we plan to soon and they have equipment at a indoor dog facility we go to. Our dog has gone through the tunnels there, you can buy cheap ones on Amazon. Instead of a teeter, you might try a wobble board or some other unsteady surface. Instead of jumps, i would just place household objects on the group for the dog to walk over (broomsticks, pvc pipes, etc.). I used something similar for my Wobbers dane to practice foot awareness. If you have a ladder, you can lay it flat and have the dog walk through the rungs.

Also, when I take my dogs on walks, I ask them to get up and walk on random surfaces, like the benches of picnic tables or fallen tree trunks. You can also practice weaving through those posts that prevent people from driving into things. I've seen them at schools, where you can also practice on the playground equipment, assuming there are no kids on it. My goal is really for my dogs to be aware of where their feet are and to not be scared of walking on new/unstable surfaces. We'll see if this helps, hopefully Finn will start agility in November.

This makes sense and really what I was looking for. I was just advised by someone in agility for 15 years that I shouldn't really be introducing my dog to actual agility equipment because I don't know what I'm doing and can really set myself up (and my dog) with a bad foundation.

That said, things like wobble boards, ladders and stuff like that won't mess us up later, but will help her be aware of foot placement, increase balance and such.
 

Smokeycat

Well-Known Member
Another thing both of my agility trainers have mentioned is getting your dog used to you switching sides behind them. They recommended having a cue word that told the dog which side to look for you, since most agility dogs are easily going to outrun their handler.