Agility Training

[willis08]

The obediece club that i take my 6 month old boxer pup to has agility training for dogs from 6 m0nths of age,

one of the intructors there thinks agility would be good for my pup as he is very active and loses focus in obedience class very quickly,

while i think he would really enjoy agility training, my concern is that it will be too much for him physically while he is growing so rapidly,

I'd appreciate any advice from DOLers who have experience training young dogs.

Thanks

[ness]

There is plenty of foundation work you can do with a pup which won't put there bodies under to much stress. I am not sure how the puppy agility class works at the club you are. I can hazard a guess it would involve low obstacles on-lead but not sure how structured it is.

I know of clubs interstate who run extremely good puppy agility classes but without knowing what happens at the ones here I can't recommend one way or another.

So the idea is certainly not a bad one just depends on what they are intending on doing.

ETA. I would be focussing on encouraging the pup to stay with you without a lead so that it thinks your the best thing since slice bread. I can tell you that whether its foundation agility, obedience or anything else it is a lot easier to train a dog if they are focussed on you/working with you rather than there environment. I would spend time working out what your pup finds reinforcing (whether its a certain type of food/a certain activity/toys) and work with a variety of reinforcements . Make a list so you know what the dog finds the most reinforcing and pair those for use in the most distracting environments.

Edited June 23, 2009 by ness

[Kavik]

There is a lot of foundation work you can do for agility with a puppy that does not require equipment and does not stress joints I'll try to search a few threads for you.

[willis08]

Thanks Kavik that would be great !!

My pup is great to train at home, at the local park, he's just full on wanting to play all the time, but once we go to obedience class he just loses the plot.

He wants to run to the dog in front of him ,or behind him, sniff the ground, do 360's, and if i get tough with him he sulks.

I'm hoping agility will make him focus a bit more if he thinks it's all a game.

[Kavik]

A lot of foundation work is sending and then self control added before the sending (start line stays, sending to toys/treats). Some of your obedience work is important here - a good recall and good sit stay.

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;hl=foundation

[Tassie]

Good advice from Ness and Kavik here. BTW, I don't know what your club does in agility with 6 months old pups, but personally I wouldn't consider putting a Boxer on any equipment until about 12 months - but the preparatory work on the flat is vital, and will translate well into obedience.

As the others have said, your most important job is to make yourself more fascinating than the other distractions . Lots and lots of reinforcement coming from you - even for a brief moment of attention. Use your body movement as much as you can to stimulate his attention. Personally, I'd be working further away from the distractions - i.e. not too close to other dogs - and then as you get more focus, moving in closer. You can use the sniffing as a reward - a moment's attention to you, then reward with a release to go sniff for a little while.

A 6 month old Boxer is still a baby, so you're only going to be getting little bits of attention at a time. If I find my 9 month old BC boy losing attention in a class, I'll just apologise to the instructor, break off and go and take him for a wee or something to let him get his brain in gear again.

If you haven't worked on 'look at me/watch' as a separate exercise, I'd certainly be doing that.

[all the fun stuff]

Could you please explain that further...

Thanks, I am enjoying this thread and will continue to watch (and get ideas for my dog also)

Big smiles

[poodlefan]

Will08

I'm hoping agility will make him focus a bit more if he thinks it's all a game.

I'm afraid your hopes may not be realised. Agility is more distracting for a dog than obedience and its all done offlead. If your pup (who's still only a baby) is distracted by other dogs now, agility won't change that.

Before you can start agility at my club, you have to be able to demonstrate that you can control your dog offlead in the presence of other dogs and recall him from distractions. I strongly recommend you persist with obedience training and concentrate on getting your dog's focus.

You could start some work on the flat but you will need basic obedience skills to progress in agility. You can make obedience a game.. with rewards, play for exercises well done and mixing up the tasks. If dogs find it drudgery, its up to we handlers to find ways to liven it up.

Edited June 25, 2009 by poodlefan

[The Spotted Devil]

Just a note from someone getting back into agility with a (potentially) highly distractible breed and individual (think independent, entire male that bores easily ). Ziggy did not touch a piece of agility equipment until he was 2 years old, which equates to 6 months ago. I worked on lots and lots of off-leash obedience, flat work, recalls and focus exercises. We have trained in agility very sparingly since we started, due to various time constraints, but he has progressed pretty quickly with no great hiccups. Hopefully he will be ready to enter the Dally Club's jumping trial that is coming up.

I think there's a lot to be said for having really good off leash control before you start agility training - not everyone has to wait until their dog is 2 but I chose to as Ziggy lacked the mental and physical maturity IMO. My agility instructors tell me his focus is TOO good as he watches me rather than where he is going......we're working on getting him to look and run forward but I'd sure as heck prefer that problem than having him bolting out of the ring!

The main thing I would do differently is to teach tugging games a lot earlier on.

I would also not make all the brand new training mistakes I managed to invent but that's a whole other story

[Sayreovi]

My dogs didn't touch agility equipment till they were 1 1/2-2 years old.

You can do basic handling work but I would do no equipment at all.

Really no different to obedience work, just don't expect a pup to heel for an hour when majority of adults can't do it without tuning out.

Work on making learning fun!

[missmoo]

Any agility/obedience club worth their weight will not put such a young pup through jumps or weave poles or even a A frame. These types of exercises place too much pressure on young joints and ligaments. When looking for agility for young dogs go with a club that will allow you to do exercises on lead and will also put you the handler through a prep class so you know what you are doing.

Most of the clubs I rang would not even look at my labrador until he was at least 12 mths of age.

Dogs under the age of 18 mths?? cant compete due to their immaturity, lack of obedience training (generally) and handler control (everything is done off leash) as well as due to problems that can occur with still growing joints.

Join a club that does puppy agility, one that is respectable and will most definately put the dogs safety first; that is a club that will not put too much pressure on a young dog nor will they allow your pup to do exercises that can compromise his safety and well being. Basically this type of class is for fun and just prepping your pup for agility for when he will be old enough for the next phase.