How to start a puppy in agility training?
Posted on 2010 under Dog Training FAQ | 12 Comments15 Jun
I am getting a blue merle Australian Shepherd puppy on the 22nd. She is only 7 weeks old and I would like to start her on some simple agility training at home soon as possible. What equipment should I start with and what are the best methods to use during her training? Also where can I get these supplies? Thank you.
I’d like to add a question. What is contacts?
by Crow M, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
I’m glad you’re thinking ahead about how to keep your Aussie occupied – high energy and intelligence are "standard equipment" in these dogs.
Before you even start in agility, you need to start with puppy obedience followed with basic and advanced obedience. In these classes, you’ll probably make some connections with other people interested in the sport.
After obedience, your pup will be ready for an introduction to the more gentle aspects of agility like tunnels and chutes. The site below has a link to agility, and from there you can find a world of information, like how to build your own equipment and where to find resources in your area.
A "contact" is the differently-colored part of equipment, like near the bottom of the A-frame, that a dog must touch before leaping off.
Have a wonderful time!
by xallyxx16, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
Atleast wait until she is old enough and strong enough to do agility! I wanted to take my Cattle Dog to agility training but my trainer said to wait until he was a year old so all his bones are strong. Do you want to risk breaking your puppies legs?
by ♥shelter puppies rule♥, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
I read you can’t do all the agility trainings until they stopped growing, like the weave polls, can’t be done because of physical danger, so be careful. petedge.com has a starter agility kit with a pause box, high jump, and tunnel. i would only teach the pause box that young…hopefully you won’t get her until at least 8 weeks old.
by akole, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
Fitness isn’t just about exercise. A good diet, mental stimulation, socialization, and being part of family life are all just as important for keeping your dog in good physical and mental health.
http://tinyurl.com/ac6w8x
by Don't Litter! Spay & Neuter, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
Dogs shouldn’t be started on agility until they’re full grown. They can easily injure their growing bones.
Instead of working on agility training, work on some basic obediance, recall and targeting are important. But you’re probably going to be more worried about potty training for a bit.
I hope you are referring to her currently being 7 weeks and that the breeder isn’t giving her to you at 7 weeks. We just had to euthanize a dog at our shelter today because he was removed from his litter to early and had NO bite inhibition (which is what they learn from remaining with their litter)
by abbyful, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
First, start with obedience. Get a good "come", "sit", "down", and "stay".
You should wait until the dog is at least a year old to start training weaves and jumps. Agility instructors do often offer "puppy agility" which can start you on contact obstacles (dog walk, A-frame, tunnel) before 1 year.
As far as equipment, I strongly recommend taking some agility classes before getting your own equipment. That way, you know the proper and safe way to have the dog approach the obstacles, and also, if either you or your dog don’t like agility, you haven’t sunk a lot of money into it.
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by ainawgsd, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
Seven weeks old is really too young to be away from the mother…you really should insist on waiting the extra week until she’s 8 weeks old. Those last 7 days are more important for proper psychological development than you think.
That said, don’t start agility training with a 7 or 8 week old puppy. That’s just too young, no matter how into agility you are. MUCH more important is to focus on BASIC training. Eye contact is especially important for a dog that you want to do an off-leash sport with. Basic obedience is the foundation you need to go on and do any other sort of training, including agility. Without a solid foundation in basic obedience you can’t even begin to teach more "advanced" behaviors.
When you do get a good solid foundation in basic obedience, start with easy, low-impact obstacles. The stay or pause table is a good one to start with because this can trip up lots of dogs that get too ramped up during the rest of the course. The tunnel and chute or collapsed tunnel would be the next thing I would work on with a young dog because these are not any more high impact than walking or running. Weave poles would be another good low-impact obstacle to start working on right away. Weaves are also the most difficult obstacle for dogs to learn because it is such a completely unnatural behavior so starting early will make it that much easier for your dog when you start putting together a whole course. Jumps and contact obstacles require special care with puppies whose growth plates are not yet closed as they can be very high impact and this jarring can damage growing bones. Keep the jump heights LOW when you start a puppy, much lower than they would be for a competition. And be sure to always spot your dog on the contact obstacles in case the puppy clumsies hit and they fall off.
by ozfozz, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
The most dangerous aspect of agility for a pup is the jumps.
Other than the jumps, you can start "pre" training as soon as your pup shows interest.
Basic obedience should be the key thing to begin with.
After you have gotten great obedience skills, you can target train, which will come in handy later for contact training. (Train the pup to touch a plate of some sort with her nose)
Getting her used to the tunnel is always a bonus as well, permitting she is beyond the "fear stage" of development.
Weaves may be difficult, but it would be a bonus to at least get her to have the basic idea before getting into "real" training.
Many agility places offer puppy classes, you may want to look into that as well.
by CC, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
Puppies are not suppose to be weaned until 9 weeks of age.
by Dobetaztic, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
You can start with tunnels, and flat runs (the dog walks on flat level surface–so you can work on contacts) and that’s about it until hes 2 years.
its not just jumping thats dangerous, the weaves are really bad for their backs at such a young age. You can do slight A-frames and slight dog walks (not as steep) and only do them at a slow pace
Contacts are the yellow things that all 4 feet have to touch when going up and off A-frames, Dog walks, and the teeter.
by Steffi Giraffe, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
No jumping until at least one year of age, but you can start doing all the other stuff. I would wait until she is old enough to concentrate and has learnt basic commands.
Add – contacts are the different coloured bits at the bottom of either end of the A Frame and Dogwalk. Your dog must touch these to avoid being penalised in the ring.
by WyrDachsie, on June 15 2010 @ 2:15 pm
No equipment. The best thing you can do is pick up a couple of clickers. Start getting her acclimated to the clicker, get yourself comfortable with using one. When she offers a behavior click & treat.
So, when she looks at you click n treat, when she turns to look at you when you’ve said her name, click n treat, when she goes to check something new out like a toy, different footing.
Your puppy will go thru many fear periods, you do not want her to be going thru one of these "fear" periods and something negative happens on contact equipment, you’ll never get her back on again.
Visit the CleanRun website http://www.cleanrun.com, you’ll find some very useful DVD on puppy agility /foundation training. You can also find a puppy agility class thru them.
Your puppy should be doing NO jumping, none at all. As she gets older, you can put the jump station at 8 inches, but no higher.
The contact equipment is: A-Frame, See-saw and dogwalk.