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I want to get my dobie involved in agility competitions and I don't know how to start training him or how I can get involved.
I want to get my dobie involved in agility competitions and I don't know how to start training him or how I can get involved.
Try and find a club in your area or private trainer that teaches it. Because agility is an off lead sport your dogs must have the basics before you take a class like that. Usually clubs that teach it require that you have certain classes before beginning agility. The club that I train at has 5 different levels of agility being taught and you must pass each one before moving on to the next. My dogs were older when I started and were doing off leash obedience competition training so the agility was easier. Their are many internet groups that discuss agility and wonderful books and articles to be read. I think finding someone to train with to get the basics down is extremely important. Like everything their are several ways to train and go about things, but their are also sure fire ways to screw things up that will take much longer to correct in the long run. So my philosophy is to start correctly with a solid foundation. I've had to go back and retrain things and it takes so much longer that way. It seems I learn everything the hard way lol. Agility is a total blast though and the dobermans seem to love it!
dobieluvr wrote:
I want to get my dobie involved in agility competitions and I don't know how to start training him or how I can get involved.
Try and find a club in your area or private trainer that teaches it. Because agility is an off lead sport your dogs must have the basics before you take a class like that. Usually clubs that teach it require that you have certain classes before beginning agility. The club that I train at has 5 different levels of agility being taught and you must pass each one before moving on to the next. My dogs were older when I started and were doing off leash obedience competition training so the agility was easier. Their are many internet groups that discuss agility and wonderful books and articles to be read. I think finding someone to train with to get the basics down is extremely important. Like everything their are several ways to train and go about things, but their are also sure fire ways to screw things up that will take much longer to correct in the long run. So my philosophy is to start correctly with a solid foundation. I've had to go back and retrain things and it takes so much longer that way. It seems I learn everything the hard way lol. Agility is a total blast though and the dobermans seem to love it!
Thanks guys this really helps he's still a puppy now we just put in a deposit for him and we can't wait to bring him into our lives but I'm just starting to really look at our options you know just to keep him interested. Hopefully I'll post up pics soon of our new lil guy.
I hope the breeder is instilling some of the qualities in the puppies that will help you later with your interest in agility. For instance, I put together mini agility equipment for my litters to play on so that they experience ramps, tunnels, small steps, wobbly surfaces, a small teeter totter, a small A-frame, etc. Enriching the puppy experience really helps later with training.
I hope the breeder is instilling some of the qualities in the puppies that will help you later with your interest in agility. For instance, I put together mini agility equipment for my litters to play on so that they experience ramps, tunnels, small steps, wobbly surfaces, a small teeter totter, a small A-frame, etc. Enriching the puppy experience really helps later with training.
I think it would be great if you could post the picture of your puppy playground, you are so creative in the raising of your puppies. This is what inspired me to do some of what I do with my puppy playgrounds. I got excellent ideas from your pictures. Believe me it does help! Puppies raised with a purpose.
I haven't been able to post pics here or even get my avatar up. Not sure what my problem is.
I haven't been able to post pics here or even get my avatar up. Not sure what my problem is.
You could send it to me again and I can post it for you. I LOVE your puppy playgrounds!
If you have children, check out 4H. My daughter is doing obedience, showmanship and agility with our German Shorthair Pointer mix and it has been wonderful for both of them.
Even if you don't have children, I'm sure whoever works with the kids in your county on their dog projects would know who you should contact, anyway!
First off the puppy is still a puppy and being a male it will be quite sometime before Agility can be done or trained for. The best thing to do is start with obedience. Find a dog training club in your area that the members actually compete in this sport. 4H clubs are not the best training for a dog. I've helped teach the regional 4H dog training for about 4 years along with a few other people. They don't have the time to teach the proper way of anything let alone agility. A good training club is the answer! Go to a few shows in your area and find out where the people train at. That is the best way to find out.
We have a 12 week old pup, her ears were just cropped, very soon we'll be looking for a place to take her for obedience training, is there anyone in the Lawrence Ks. area that can recommend someone?
We have a pup that is AKC...do obedience/agility require any specific registration?
No, they don't need to be registered to take classes. They need to be registered depending on what organization's events you'd want to enter later.
Hey, I did it! I figured out how to post pics finally. These are the playlands I set up for my last couple of litters with teeters, tunnels, ramps, a buja (wobbly) board, a-frame, etc. This is the sort of thing that breeders should be doing to encourage their puppies to explore, to climb, to reach, to gain confidence, and to exercise their little bodies and minds.
IMO, one should really do some obedience work with their dog before starting agility training because there are obedience commands that you really need in agility like "stay" at the start line, "sit" and/or "down" on the pause table, etc.
When I moved to a different area a little while ago and I didn't know anyone or where to go for anything, I started by reading the bulletin boards at the vet offices looking for people advertising obedience classes and/or agility classes. I found them that way. However, you can also use google and just key in your city or area along with obedience classes and agility classes or training or clubs, etc. Those words should hopefully bring you some results.