Optimum age

[Errol]

I realize that a lot will depend upon the individual BC,but what is the best time for serious agility training.My BC is 6mos and I feel well trained as far as the basics are concerned sit,stay,catch,come ect but still has a lot of puppy in her.She is easily distracted when anything new is happening.Your opinions would be most helpfull.

[juliepoudrier]

I don't train dogs for agility, and there are plenty of people who do and can answer your questions better than me, but I just want to point out that a 6-month-old is still pretty much a baby and should not be expected to do any sort of repetitive work (jumping, etc.) that is high impact on joints. I believe most folks wait till the dog is at least a year old before starting any of that sort of training.

 

I also wouldn't expect perfect attention from a 6 month old. I like to let my puppies be puppies and that means not putting them into some sort of regimented training schedule that requires total concentration for any length of time. Though I will start youngsters on stock at a young age, we do only tiny training sessions, like 5 mintues at a time.

 

J.

[BustopherJones]

Every dog is different, so there is probably no universal answer. Annie is 3-1/2 years old, and has reached a point of maturity where I believe that she can be successful. But then again, we are only going to get involved for fun, not for competitive purposes; so others probably have better answers. The one thing I would counsel is to ensure that the dog will have a good probability of success; Border Collies don't handle failure well...

[MaggieDog]

My Z will likely enter a foundation class (no full size obstacles, jumps, or full weaves) at around a year. I won't work her on full size equipment until at least 14-16 mo, maybe 18 mo (she's small and hasn't grown hardly at all since she was 7mo so her growth plates are likely almost done growing already).

 

You can start foundation work on the flat right now, though - handling work can be done with barless jumps and hand targeting on the flat, body awareness work with cavaletti and ladder training is a good thing to work on, as well as attention and control games. A fast down will also come in handy in the future.

[Pat W.]

Now is the time to start foundation training. Ladder and perch work for hindend awareness, targeting your hand and a target on the floor, directionals - left - right, a tip-it or "Buja Board" to get use to movement under foot. Balance tricks like sitting up to beg will help build up hindquarters too. Running with you on lead without running in front of you. All kinds of things to teach a baby dog. You can get two uprights and lay a bar on the ground to teach a lead out. I have a 1 yr old that has just started foundation training and is having a blast. You can go to Toys R Us and purchase a childs play tunnel to intro tunnels, clip a sheet to it to simulate a chute. Ummm...get a 3 x 3 board lay it on the ground and teach a table command. Whim's down command is "Table". Excellent recall and stay commands

[Pat W.]

So what else? I taught a "Close" command when I want Whim to come into me for negotiating between obsticles on future Snooker or Gamblers courses, a "Side" command for him to set up on either my right or left as indicated for setting up on the side line. I practice calling off of favorite toys, other dogs that are play partners, cookies, anything I can think of to practice calling off an obsticle in the future again the strong recall. Teach behaviors for warm up and stretching, ie "Bow", "Spin Left, Right" Touch your nose to your hip left right. Right now the most important things to remember is that your girl is still a baby, and to have fun in all the training your doing.

 

Agility is an addictive sport I've been doing it for over 10 years, my daughter has been doing it for 6 years -she's now 13. I'm a frustrated agility junkie as both my dogs are retired one due to age, the other due to vision problems so I train...at chauffer my daughter to trials. Where are you located? Perhaps I can suggest a trainer