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Hey,

I'm interested in taking agility classes with my future Cocker Spaniel, so when is the right age to start? Do Cockers tend to do well in agility? Will he need to be feed a special diet? Sorry I'm new to this and any help would be very much appreciated.

Also if anyone could suggest any good agility places in Melbourne would be great.

Edited by Rochelle Ruby
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I do agility (NSW) and at our club dogs have to be a minimum of 9 mths old-basic obedience first makes it alot eaiser.As far as I know cockers are good.I would advise you get your dog vet checked prior to starting just to make sure he/she has no problems with his/her joint etc.

I feed my dogs Hills science diet and they are fine but what you feed is really a personal choice,feed what your dog does best on.

sorry, i don't know any clubs in Melbourne but i'm sure other DOLers would! :rofl:

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our club has a 12mnth rule for dogs jumping and doing full size contacts - BUT there is a lot of fun foundation work you can do to give you a headstart AND set the scene for all your dogs future learning/agility success!

It is not about teaching actual obstacles, it is about teaching your dog the mindset for training (ie getting them KEEN to train with you - and it is a great benefit to teach pups to take all manner of food AND TOYS as rewards for doing tricks!)

A book I just read and LOVED is Susan Garrett's Shaping Success - told as the story of her latest dog so an easy read - and full of puppy games that teach your dog a lot of the agility foundation stuff while you are both having fun!

... obedience is great also and can be done from a very young age - so give that a go - even if you dont want to stick with it to trialing stage, it is great socialising and relationship building stuff for you puppy!

Bridget

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I'm thinking about doing some agility with my Miniature Schnauzer as well (just for fun though, not competition) and am also interested in any clubs in Melbourne that anyone can recommend.

Humphrey is only 4 and a half months but from day one I've said he was made for agility! He's favourite activity (too easy now though) was to jump through the dining table chair legs (they are square chairs) and the challenge was to jump the 3 lined up in a row, he'd work at it for ages until he succeded, then he'd do it with toys in his mouth for that extra challenge!

And yesterday at puppy school, we had a go on some of the agility equiptment set up to get them use to different surfaces etc and Humphrey was loving it all, then he was very calm and focused through the rest of the basic obedience stuff we had to do (much more so then normal). We went around the track a couple of times after class (without the other puppies slowing us down!) and he was flying through!

I like the idea of him doing something we can do together that gets him thinking and working and keeps us bonding.

Edited by EmmaKate
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