Question for agility handlers

take4roll10

take4roll10

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Is there a way to tell if your puppy will be good at agility?

My puppy is 6 months old and agility looks like a lot of fun. She runs fast and ducks under the kitchen chairs. She can also jump pretty high.

Are there certain traits or things to look for that can determine if your dog has an agility instinct?
 
Shelties, as a breed, tend to take to agility. Personally, I don't know of any why to tell other than to try it and see how they respond. If she likes to run and jump, she may LOVE agility. Even if you never compete, it's good exercise for you and the dog.
 
Agility

Any dog can do agility. Shelties love it and are excellent at it.Like Silaria said even if you do not compete it is great fun for you and your dog.
 
Listen to the experts (I am not one) but also remember that many orgs don't allow pups that young in as it is not a good idea health wise. I think most are 18 months though one was 12 months. I say this because I am considering it for the tri-colored missile at my house :yes:
 
They don't recommend jumping and weaving until they dog is 18 months due to growth plates. However, there are A LOT of things they can learn without jumping and weaving.

Flatwork exercises, which often get ignored, are a big one. Flatwork includes things like recall to heel flat and on a turn, pushes, pulls, front and rear crosses - to introduce some basic handing. You can also work on teaching the dog where his back legs are - a simple ladder will work for this; just walk the dog through a ladder flat on the ground. The goal is not to step on the rungs but between them. Wobble/Buja boards are also good for a puppy to get them use to things moving under their feet. Finally, you can use a 1x8 plank to teach them to walk with their feet on a board; just lift it slightly off the ground. You can use this same plank to begin to teach 2-on-2-off contacts. Tunnels/Chutes can also be introduced.

There is A LOT to learn which surprised the heck out of me when I started. Just watching it on TV it didn't look as involved as it is but once you learn it it becomes second nature. Everything I listed above is safe for puppies. We even a 6 month old Dobe and 9 month old Sheltie in my club's Intro to Agility class (which I am training to teach). Both were fine. Where we touched on jumps, we just laid the bar on the ground for the Sheltie and put it at 8 inches for the Dobe (because of height - she could still step over it).
 
Thanks for the advice! There's a beginner agility classes in my area. First I have to take their obedience class, then we can test out the agility equipment.
 
Agility

That is great but while your doing their obedience class you can do some foundations at home and have a jump start on all the other dogs.
 
One of the basic things that you should be working on is a good Sit and stay/hold. I use Stay only for when Ella needs to be released when I am at her side and hold means that she can be released when I'm not at her side.

My first obedience classes might have taught using negative corrections, but we worked on sit/stay/hold for the first 5 weeks and it was the best thing that the course did. She never faults at the line and I can tell her stay and wander around the ring without having to worry.

The more you just work with your dog the better. Teach them tricks, just play and learn with them and they will be better 'listeners' in the ring!
 
I agree---any dog can do agility. People who breed their dogs for agility purposes look for drive. I think every sheltie has a certain amount of drive because of their willingness to please.

Some, however, have more than others and these are the dogs that excel. To some degree we taught Bentley his drive as he's pretty laid back. So he's a little slow, but his desire to please compensates for natural drive and excitedness.
 
I agree with the others - any dog can do agility (you should see some of the breeds competing at my club - borzois, beagles and bassetts, if they can do it any dog can be trained). Tully is super fast and has heaps of drive and this means she gets through the course very quickly but often faults as she does her own thing or gets over-excited. Deska is much slower but watches me closely and is eager to please. I find Deska easier to run with. Deska is good for straight agility, Tully is good for gamblers and snooker.

I think a sheltie is a great dog for agility, drive or not, because running alongside their owner gives them the greatest joy! These are herding dogs after all.
 
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