[janthomp]

Anybody ever done agility training with their doodle? My husband and I were watching a competition on TV the other night with Alice (yes, she watches TV, especially when there are animals on, my husband and she watch the National Geographic channel together), and we thought she would be great at it because she is so fast and agile. She literally leaps off of furniture on all fours and moves so quickly sometimes! :shock: So I did a little research on training in our area and I found a place that does it and they start when they are puppies (she's about 9 months old now); AND they'll work with mixed breeds. Some of those types of things only deal with purebreds...so snobby! So we're on a list when they start their next Pre-agillity class which is mainly obedience and learning certain commands they will need to know. One main requirement is that they know the COME command because it's all done on off leash. So we have to work on that because she's not very consistent with that.

Has anyone ever done this? I think she would love it....She's a small one, only about 23-25 pounds (a medium F-1) and so light on her feet! She needs a little excitement in her life! :lol: I'd love to hear any feedback on this!

Jan
Woodland Hills, CA 8)

 

[Guest]

Great idea! Agility training is super fun for the dogs & owners & is a great bonding & obedience experience. We've taken Odie to pre-agility classes & he LOVES it. You have to be careful about too much jumping on hard surfaces because it can damage their joints at such a young age but hopefully the teacher will be giving proper instruction. The agility trainer told us to bring treats to help lure Odie onto the various pieces of equipment (A-frame, thru the tunnel, etc) but after one or two times, he loved it so much he totally ignored the treats & was raring to go just for the sheer joy of it. The toughest part was having him wait his turn - he just wanted to do it over & over & over again. We are planning on building some easy pieces of agility equipment for our summer cottage so we can have even more fun on vacation this year than usual.
Good luck.

 

[Jac]

I think that is a super idea!
I have not yet tried it, but my husband really wants to get some agility equipment...and the fact that you have a training facility to use, wow, that is great!
I think that Linda's dogs are involved in agility too...when she and Diane had a doodle romp they had agility instruction, I believe.

 

[wannadoodle]

I have been dying to do this. Agility was actually one of the things I had in mind when I got Toby. We don't have a facility (that I can find) in our area. Go for it- it sure would be fun to watch you on the finals next year. I understand that training starts early, but aren't most of the real competitors about 3? We'll be watching for you guys in 2008 :lol:

 

[gracielou]

I've done agility with Johnson and gracielou she liked it better than he did, when they start they do want them to know their basic commands like you said. Gracie did it or alomost 2 years and love it and when I decided to breed her I had to pull her out. The only thing you have to do is get an ILP if you plan on competing and they have to be spayed/neutered to get one of those. I think it's one of those snooty things about not breeding mixed breeds. :roll:

 

[janthomp]

Great to hear that a lot have done it and enjoyed it! I don't know what an ILP is, but Alice is spayed so I don't think we'll have a problem with that. My main concern is to get the COME command down pat. They gave me a suggestion of a method that uses a clicker. Does anyone have any other good methods of teaching them to COME no matter what?

Jan
Woodland Hills, CA 8)

 

[wannadoodle]

Jan, I can't offer much help on the come command but a whistle seems to be working for me. I blow very shrillly into a referee-type whistle to get his attention and then give the command. Our trainer told me that the key is to always say "come" firmly and then to immediately start praising "good boy yadda yadda" but not to say "come" anymore. Use that word one time and mean it. We are a long way from there, but progressing nicely. Alice would be a really nice size for agility. I signed Toby up for training today - found a facility about 30 miles away that is starting an agility class in May. He's a very clumsy 52 lbs. but I still thing he'll have a lot of fun. I may have to skip the jumps.....we'll see. Thank you for setting a fire under me- I had kind of given up this idea.

 

[MilosMom]

I'm taking Milo to basic puppy training now (although a bit late.. he's 7 months) and my trainer says he'd be a natual at agilityl! Last week she had him through the tube and jumping through the ring!

 

[wannadoodle]

Yeah Milo! That's cool. Toby is really excited about starting his class. His Daddy thinks I should try to teach him how to get in and out of the car by himself before he goes to agility school What do you all think?