Bex_sta79 Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 I want to get my 8 month old Border Collie started in Agility... perhaps leading into canine disc as well. He also has a very well developed natural herding instinct....comes from a Dog Sport home.. He's great with obedience already...how do I get him started in Agility and can anyone recommend a good club in my area? I'm in the Southern suburbs of Melbourne. I have looked at K9 but they have a huge wait list....any advice would be appreciated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 I'd say your dog is too young to start any kind of serious agility training on obstacles. How long is that wait list? You'd not be allowed to train at my club until he was 14 months old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 Think the wait is around 2 years, lol. Check out your local dog clubs. Most will probably have agility. I had a look at Hastings and they do. Most will not let you start until about 18 months old. Some might have foundation classes that you can do now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanglen Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 If he's from a dog sport breeding family, perhaps you could chat to his breeder?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bex_sta79 Posted July 28, 2009 Author Share Posted July 28, 2009 Thanks for the comments. Yeah, I am aware that he is still quite young, I would just like to get him started on foundation stuff...just to get him aware of whats required, and get him familiar with the aspects of Agility. He has such drive....going for a walk or a run (or to chase up the cows next door) is just not enough for him... I have contacted his breeder, and she's put me in touch with someone local, so will see how that pans out. Apparently there is an ADAA comp happening at KCC mid August, so I might just take him along there and have a chat to a few people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Agree with what the others have said re obstacles, but he's certainly old enough to do a lot of foundation traiining/flat work - and it will make his later training so much easier. Have a look on Agility Click, Clean Run and/or Dogwise and you'll see some DVDs on agility foundation training. I'm pretty sure some of the Vic obedience clubs offer foundation (no obstacles) agility classes, and they might not have such a big waiting list. (Oh - and chasing up the cows next door - is that working them with permission? Otherwise, I would be stopping it right now, for a variety of reasons - including that if you want to work him in agility, he needs to learn to place a very high value on working with you - as Greg Derrett says, agility is mostly about running with your dog - which is why the foundation stuff is so important.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireybell Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Both Frankston and Hastings dog clubs do agility. Hastings is on Sunday's and Frankston on Saturday's. They would let your dog do the foundation until it was 18 months old (only 3 months to go until we're out of foundation!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bex_sta79 Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 (Oh - and chasing up the cows next door - is that working them with permission? Otherwise, I would be stopping it right now, for a variety of reasons - including that if you want to work him in agility, he needs to learn to place a very high value on working with you - as Greg Derrett says, agility is mostly about running with your dog - which is why the foundation stuff is so important.) Its not exactly working them...sometimes they are out loose and he has a run with them. I pretty much call him straight off them, and he returns to me. I mentioned it more from a funny comment angle. Its interesting to note that running with me is one of Kobe's strengths - I love to jog and he jogs with me right by my leg, only running ahead if I give him the go ahead. His obedience, and understanding of commands is pretty good, in my opinion. I have managed to find a trainer to help me with Kobe...pretty local....and we are starting him on Foundation Agility at the end of this month. Just ground stuff to start with. He's VERY excited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bex_sta79 Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 Both Frankston and Hastings dog clubs do agility. Hastings is on Sunday's and Frankston on Saturday's. They would let your dog do the foundation until it was 18 months old (only 3 months to go until we're out of foundation!). You must be so excited to be getting started on some of the other aspects, I bet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 (Oh - and chasing up the cows next door - is that working them with permission? Otherwise, I would be stopping it right now, for a variety of reasons - including that if you want to work him in agility, he needs to learn to place a very high value on working with you - as Greg Derrett says, agility is mostly about running with your dog - which is why the foundation stuff is so important.) Its not exactly working them...sometimes they are out loose and he has a run with them. I pretty much call him straight off them, and he returns to me. I mentioned it more from a funny comment angle. Its interesting to note that running with me is one of Kobe's strengths - I love to jog and he jogs with me right by my leg, only running ahead if I give him the go ahead. His obedience, and understanding of commands is pretty good, in my opinion. I have managed to find a trainer to help me with Kobe...pretty local....and we are starting him on Foundation Agility at the end of this month. Just ground stuff to start with. He's VERY excited Oh, that's cool. BTW - does he usually run mostly to one side of you? If so, one of the things to pay attentiion to in your Foundation training, is having him run just as happily on the othr side. But sounds like you've already got a good start happening. Just looking at the new photos on the Breed thread - he is just gorgeous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bex_sta79 Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 Yeah, the trainer I have organised to begin his foundation work with, mentioned that they get used to heeling on the left in obedience - which he does - so I have already started encouraging him to heel on the right too. Thanks - I went abit nuts with the pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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