How do you know if you have a good agility dog?

[SheltieChe]

WHAT?How is it less about your dog and more about how much fun you want to have with your pup and how good of a trainer you will be?I don't agree with with you.

think about this way... as a complete newbie in agility world would you be able to achieve great deal like lets say Nationals even if you were given "perfect" puppy?
and what about not so perfect puppies like Susan Garrett's Decaff that was fearful of everything and anything including wind yet she was Champion? or Buzzy with so much drive that was larger than life?
Or Silvia Trkman with her autistic Bu who probably would have ended being put down in hands of regular pet owner for being feral and unadoptable
http://www.lolabuland.com/ yet who still wins championships?
Agility is about fun and relationship with your dog, at least it should be. Life with dogs is about fun and relationship with your pup or at least it should be. Then we won't need shelters, would we?

 

[Sharon]

Good agility dog

realistically it is less about your dog and more about you- how much fun you want to have with your pup and how good trainer you are going to be

Agility is a team sport for both dog and handler and not less about the dog.Without the dog you have no partner.It is a sport for both human and canine partner to bond with each other.

 

[helps]

You can start teaching some flatwork now.
Whether or not your dog is gonna be good at agility you'll see with time, you have to try. I've seen many breeds doing agility and with sheltie you have good chances he'll be great and love it. Though, I prefer dog w/ good temperament, one who is really fast and enjoying agility. You'd think it's always the case w/ shelties, but nope, I was surprised how many of them are rather slow-ish and not that interested. Also great part of your dog's attitude will be influenced by you.... if you can motivate your dog, play with him since he's little etc, there are high chances he'll have fun.

I also think dog is not less important. Actually I know couple of great handlers, but they don't have THAT good dogs, so even when they're trying, they won't never reach the top....[for example some dogs are really bad at jumping, even when you put a lot of effort into training, their natural style of jumping still causes some knocked bars] But I believe there are not many of us doing this for WC and Olympics, LOL so as long as you and your dog have fun, it doesn't matter at all

 

[HopeShelties]

As a newbie, I was able to achieve just that. I'm one QQ short of a MACH, which I probably would've had a year ago had finances not been tight, and have qualified for two nationals. I have only been running agility for three years, and this was my first agility dog.
I think Sharon's achievements on her first agility dog as a newbie are even more impressive than mine. Shadow has competed at an international level and been successful, and has gone to nationals and done well.

 

[Toffee's Mom]

You can start teaching some flatwork now.
Whether or not your dog is gonna be good at agility you'll see with time, you have to try. I've seen many breeds doing agility and with sheltie you have good chances he'll be great and love it. Though, I prefer dog w/ good temperament, one who is really fast and enjoying agility. You'd think it's always the case w/ shelties, but nope, I was surprised how many of them are rather slow-ish and not that interested. Also great part of your dog's attitude will be influenced by you.... if you can motivate your dog, play with him since he's little etc, there are high chances he'll have fun.

I also think dog is not less important. Actually I know couple of great handlers, but they don't have THAT good dogs, so even when they're trying, they won't never reach the top....[for example some dogs are really bad at jumping, even when you put a lot of effort into training, their natural style of jumping still causes some knocked bars] But I believe there are not many of us doing this for WC and Olympics, LOL so as long as you and your dog have fun, it doesn't matter at all

That is what I am saying , I totally agree!!!
Agility is fun with any dog, as I always say, I have a friend who is running her Boston Terror and an Instructor who is handling a number of dogs but none of them are typical herding breeds, LOL. The sighthound, her Borzoi is what I am most amazed by.. lol


Does the dog matter, and whether he has natural abilities, etc.. YES, you better believe it, but go for it with either dog and you will enjoy it, if it is done with positivity and a great Instructor, there is NO going back, lol It's awfully addictive.. I am already 'scanning' for a new, second dog, LOLLLLL... That dog will be a better confirmation than Toffee, because now I am looking for that, lol

 

[SheltieChe]

we are completely off topic here but have you noticed that some people have every dog they own achieve titles and ribbons and some other people are always seems to be on lookout for their "next agility dog" and as it seems luck is always against them
Anyway had Sharon asked this question my answer would be different but then again Sharon would not ask it because she already knows the answer.
Some people are intuitively brilliant trainers in their own right and often they come from different training experience, horses or mammals etc. And some people who are much less gifted, seems to go one step forward two step backward routine for most of their training careers, they start competing, achieve something, then things fall apart, they go back to retraining, get another leg or two, fall apart etc. Some even blame dog for their problems...

 

[Sharon]

Agility

we are completely off topic here but have you noticed that some people have every dog they own achieve titles and ribbons and some other people are always seems to be on lookout for their "next agility dog" and as it seems luck is always against them
Anyway had Sharon asked this question my answer would be different but then again Sharon would not ask it because she already knows the answer.
Some people are intuitively brilliant trainers in their own right and often they come from different training experience, horses or mammals etc. And some people who are much less gifted, seems to go one step forward two step backward routine for most of their training careers, they start competing, achieve something, then things fall apart, they go back to retraining, get another leg or two, fall apart etc. Some even blame dog for their problems...

We should start a new thread but you make no sense to me.

 

[SheltieChe]

We should start a new thread but you make no sense to me.

when person is new to animal training/competing with animals first part of the of the question is "How do I know I am going to be good in agility competing with my dog?"
My thought is as long as your dog has no obvious deficiencies to make training difficult, i.e. not malformed, blind, deaf, has no daily seizures, does not crawl in the new place on its tummy refusing to take any treats etc. you just have to find out for yourself if this is your cup of tea
Once you answered first question and fairly enjoy your activities with your dog then one can start asking questions what particular qualities will make a dog "perfect" for agility, for your chosen venue, height division, breed etc.
I am not sure how often it would be simultaneous process and you just happen to have good training skills, enjoy competing and just happen to have a dog that has excellent structure, easy to please, eager to have a job that exactly 13 3/4" at withers, who is speed demon on the course and couch potato at home...

 

[Sharon]

Good agility dog

when person is new to animal training/competing with animals first part of the of the question is "How do I know I am going to be good in agility competing with my dog?"
My thought is as long as your dog has no obvious deficiencies to make training difficult, i.e. not malformed, blind, deaf, has no daily seizures, does not crawl in the new place on its tummy refusing to take any treats etc. you just have to find out for yourself if this is your cup of tea
Once you answered first question and fairly enjoy your activities with your dog then one can start asking questions what particular qualities will make a dog "perfect" for agility, for your chosen venue, height division, breed etc.
I am not sure how often it would be simultaneous process and you just happen to have good training skills, enjoy competing and just happen to have a dog that has excellent structure, easy to please, eager to have a job that exactly 13 3/4" at withers, who is speed demon on the course and couch potato at home...

The question was about the dog not the handler.You learn together as a team.

 

[DPSheltie]

when person is new to animal training/competing with animals first part of the of the question is "How do I know I am going to be good in agility competing with my dog?"
My thought is as long as your dog has no obvious deficiencies to make training difficult, i.e. not malformed, blind, deaf, has no daily seizures, does not crawl in the new place on its tummy refusing to take any treats etc. you just have to find out for yourself if this is your cup of tea
Once you answered first question and fairly enjoy your activities with your dog then one can start asking questions what particular qualities will make a dog "perfect" for agility, for your chosen venue, height division, breed etc.
I am not sure how often it would be simultaneous process and you just happen to have good training skills, enjoy competing and just happen to have a dog that has excellent structure, easy to please, eager to have a job that exactly 13 3/4" at withers, who is speed demon on the course and couch potato at home...

You have a point, but no matter how good of a trainer you are, your dog may NOT like agility. Our class had several teams that either did not enroll in the next class or pull out partway thru. Some were due to the people not being as into as everyone else, some had schedule conflicts, and a few were because the dog did not like agility. It did not matter how good the owner was, or how encouraging or exciting they made it, the dog did not enjoy agility.

A good agility dog does not have to be perfect or fast, but they have to want to work with you and at least partially enjoy doing the obstacles.