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My dog and I went to our first dog class last night. (He's 8 months old, now.)
This class session is nearing the end so last night's class happened to be an introduction to agility which is something I thought he'd be good at.
He did amazing! By the end of the evening he was going through everything there like a pro (well almost).
It was fun for both of us and what great exercise... which teaches them to follow your instructions and gives them a use for their energy.
Now I'm hooked!
Anyone else have a larger dog breed that does agility?
The dog club I belonged to and trained with in Ca. had agility courses. I thought it would be great exercise for both of us! Unfortunately, Dylan, my youngest Golden had other ideas...He'd look over all the courses and then just give me this look...like why go over, when the simpliest way is go under? Why climb those stairs to go up and come down...when I'm already down here? Are you out of your mind woman?"
Many of friends went on and they have a blast! And yes, I'm told it is very addicting! Good luck!
The dog club I belonged to and trained with in Ca. had agility courses. I thought it would be great exercise for both of us! Unfortunately, Dylan, my youngest Golden had other ideas...He'd look over all the courses and then just give me this look...like why go over, when the simpliest way is go under? Why climb those stairs to go up and come down...when I'm already down here? Are you out of your mind woman?"
Many of friends went on and they have a blast! And yes, I'm told it is very addicting! Good luck!
When we first got there he kind of acted like that but I he really took to it.
They had ladders, weave poles, 3 different tunnels, two different things that he had to go up and over that I've forgotten the name of... hoops...
I've always wanted to try it but I've never had a dog who seemed right for it. This dog is SOOOOOOOOOOO fast. I thought he'd like it.
And, YES... I can already see how addicting it can be.
I want to go back today!
LOL...those tunnels...Dylan entered and never came out! He thought it was a great place to snooze!
I'm told the true addiction is when YOU are running the course to show the dog how it is done!
It was just an open course last night. The instructor told everyone basically how to teach the dog and there were a couple of people there to help if you got stuck but they let us handle the dogs.
Obviously, they KNOW that the owners will be addicted once they try it.
It's fun and it's amazing how quickly the dogs learn. It's about trust -- and bonding...
I have done agility with my lab for many years and we LOVE it. Unfortunately he is out right now due to an injury which I wanted to mention...use caution when starting out in agility with your large breed dog. Hunter was not allowed to start many of the obstacles until he was over a year old. Young dogs should not jump as landing on immature forelegs and shoulders can cause injuries. I don't know what size your dog is so I just wanted to mention it.
I have done agility with my lab for many years and we LOVE it. Unfortunately he is out right now due to an injury which I wanted to mention...use caution when starting out in agility with your large breed dog. Hunter was not allowed to start many of the obstacles until he was over a year old. Young dogs should not jump as landing on immature forelegs and shoulders can cause injuries. I don't know what size your dog is so I just wanted to mention it.
ENJOY!
He's about 8 months old and about 50 pounds. He's a lab mix but looks like a full blooded lab, to me. (small for his breed???)
I have done agility with my lab for many years and we LOVE it. Unfortunately he is out right now due to an injury which I wanted to mention...use caution when starting out in agility with your large breed dog. Hunter was not allowed to start many of the obstacles until he was over a year old. Young dogs should not jump as landing on immature forelegs and shoulders can cause injuries. I don't know what size your dog is so I just wanted to mention it.
ENJOY!
That's it! My boy Dylan was smart enough to know this and THAT'S why he didn't want to do those courses! (It had nothing to do with him being lazy!)
I actually did know this....use to warn the "hunters" all the time when they bought my pups..."No jumping out of boats over and over to retrieve until after 18 mos or so"!
Thanks for the reminder!
When Jazz and Dash started agility dogs were not even allowed in class until they were at least a year old because the jumping can cause damage to growing bones.
When Jazz was in the advanced class which was a Thursday night one week I had my nephews visiting and we had been at the beach got home a few minutes after the normal time I left for agility.As I opened the door she shot out which was something she knew not to do and raced out to the car and sat waiting. She knew it was agility night and time too.
"Come on we don't want to be late!!!!"
She and Dash have enjoyed agility so much that it is sad we have now at 11 and 12 yrs given it up due to the cancers and the fact Jazz's hips get too sore.
I tried to Teach Henry the big ( 100lb) Mal collie mix my parents had to do agility but he just ran into all the hurdles knocking them down and wagging his tail with a big grin on his face that said " you guys are right this is FUN!". To each his own!
He's about 8 months old and about 50 pounds. He's a lab mix but looks like a full blooded lab, to me. (small for his breed???)
What kind of jumps did your dog do?
If he's only 8 months then he still has a little growing to do. Hunter topped out at about 90 pounds at 10 months, which we were SO glad because his grandpa was 140! Hunter was definitely the runt of the litter.
He slimmed back down to an athletic 75-78 pounds during agility training but like I said, we didn't start any jumping until after he was a year old. Up to that point I let him do the contact obstacles (on lead so he wouldn't launch himself off the end of the equipment) and the weave poles. He could walk through the jumps so we could practice course work but we left the bars on the ground so he didn't actually jump over them but was able to get familiar with them.
Here's a pic of my boy during an agility trial in Winston Salem, NC a few years ago. I hope we can get his knee fixed so we can get back to it soon!
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Are you out of your mind woman?"
Fearless!
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