Mellow puppy and agility ?!

L

Lexi

Forums Enthusiast
Hi!
So maybe I'm getting a sheltie puppy in the summer. I'm not 100% sure yet but the breeder wants to know what kind of a puppy I'm looking for. And I really don't know:no:. The thing I know is that I don't want a high energy dog, I'm looking for a more calm pup. I do agility with my first dog and I really like this sport. I told my agility trainer that I want a calm puppy and she said that would not be good for agility and that I must look for a more adaptable pup. And she said to look for a pup that likes to play which is very helpful for trainig.
My first dog is very adaptable so he is OK with a 15,30 min or 1-2h walk or sleeping the whole day if I don't have time/bad weather. And I really like this. When we don't go for a walk I do some speed trainig for agility at home(I have some jumps, tunnel and weaves) and after 15 min of sprints he is exausted and I can go studying and he is sleeping at my feet. We do this 2-3x in a day.
He is not fast in agility and is a fearful dog so even If we are not great I'm really happy with his progress. But I miss the drive and speed
So is it possible to get a calm puppy that would be good(not great) in agility? To sum up I'm hoping to get a dog that is high energy when we go out but can sleep at my feet if we do nothing and won't go crazy If I'm sick for a few days:((
 
Yes, absolutely, you can have a high drive dog with an off switch. Our agility trainers have some of the top dogs in the nation - and when they are not doing agility, they are perfectly content to hang around and chill out.
 
I have a high drive Sheltie and I must say, she was a lot of work when she was younger (she probably started slowing down at 6yrs old). There's a fair few people that come on the forum with problems because they have a high drive Sheltie. In fact that's how I ended up here and why I ended up becoming a dog trainer. And I did go out looking for a high drive dog because I had an active lifestyle and became heavily involved in several dog sports. I ended up changing my lifestyle to better manage her energy.

I think you are better off getting a dog that suits your lifestyle foremost. Maybe you're after a confident dog. You can get drive out of a confident dog, Shelties are sheepdogs and want to please their owner and to run, so if your dog has the confidence to take the course you can build the drive. It's hard to do it the other way - switch off a dog with drive. My male is confidence but doesn't have the same drive as my female. He loved flyball (he had to retire from agility early due to arthritis) and still had the speed and accuracy. It was easy enough to teach him the drive. Tully, despite being almost 10yrs old with an artificial hip, will still try to chase rabbits, roos and balls, albeit not as far or fast: she'll never switch off.
 
I got the best balance ever... Justus (6) has plenty when I ask for it and is a perfectly chill gentle fellow when I ask for it. Flyer however is go-go-go-oo-oo all the time and he is a blast to train and show but he does not have an off switch, and is prone to still jump up and nip my sleeve (almost 3 years old).

Be as honest as you can with your breeder to get the dog you want to live with.
 
I would suggest you ask a lot of questions as well. I was told my Beau was confident, happy, playful and loves people--all of which is very true. I had specified I wanted a calm, stable, confident dog as I wanted to do pet therapy with him (as I had with my previous and very calm sheltie). I ended up with a dog I love and who is adorable but is an absolute handful: high prey drive (chases/lunges at birds/squirrels/rabbits), high energy, little-no turn-off switch, not great with small children when they are moving, and not as biddable as my previous dog. He is a love but is go-go all day long. Consequently, I don't see him doing therapy work anytime soon. I am a Speech Pathologist so that has been disappointing. I love him dearly but would have done the Volhard puppy test (which I did with my first sheltie but not Beau) and asked many more questions had I really thought about it. My breeder is a wonderful breeder but may not have understood what I was looking for. And my biggest flag probably should have been that he was going to go to an agility home first but that did not work out. Nonetheless Beau will take me in directions I would never have otherwise explored such as herding and nose work. So all in all, like children you work out with the dog you love but asking the questions first is still best.

Owned and exercised by Beau
 
Thank you for your replies, I described the breeder my lifestyle and she said she would look for a calmer puppy for me. There will be two litters in one week time. Mostly all who contact her want a female but I don't care, so more choices for me.:yes:
 
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