Agility Training - What To Do......

[ness]

Ok I usually post questions relation to Kenzie and training but I am having a dilemma with Ness but not what you might think.

Ness is 9.5 and been given a complete going over by the girls chiro and found to be fit and well. My issue is that since we have started back training this year and I spent Christmas focussing on Kenzie, Ness has come back a little too well.

I have always described her as being moderately speedy and moderately driven. Enough to get around a masters jumping course with a fair time but only driven enough that she can't always make the tighter times.

We are currently chasing 1 remaining ADO pass before I consider putting her into semi-retirement.

Now she is throwing herself into things and running faster then ever. I worry that she is no longer having any regard for her well being and given that she is now older that she might be at a greater risk of doing injury. While its not a good thing for a young dog to throw themselves around they do recover reasonably quickly from their tumbles whereas the older they get my assumption is like humans the slower they will be to recover.

I am trying to limit the amount of agility she is getting and that it creating a bit of a viscious circle - the less she trains the more feral she is the more I worry about her doing herself an injury.

She is my first dog and obviously not properly ready to retire yet but I am wondering if anybody has any advice on what I might be doing differently. If she was use to being a speed demon and flying off obstacles I might be less worried but I am now in new territory with her both in the sense she is getting older but also the fact she has decided to switch up a gear.

[Lablover]

I asked this question to vets, not one only of course, I had to have a second opinion.

I was keen on having spinal xrays and CT scan to see if a long standing condition had deteriorated. Both vets did not feel any radiographs would change their opinion, as long as I warmed her up ..and down...keep her lean...and as we know our dogs keep our eyes open to any signs of strain. I started slowly and gauged each night (my dogs stay in the house 24/7 basically).

They can hurt themselves in the backyard/with very little effort.

People may be impressed with their (and others) dog's keenness, in our case huge water entries. I prefer in the longterm a sensible entry...and sensible on land retrieve - not too many head and body injuries with stupid zeal.

Have to add, I do not have much faith in canine chiros. For an experiment I went to 4 chiros, with one dog....had four different opinions.

[ness]

Lablover the one we use is a vet/chiro so qualifications in both and I would trust his judgment. My concern was more because it was converse to what you would expect with an aging dog. If she had been like this her entire life I'd probably be less worried because her body I guess would be more use to it (and yeah probably have had more issues previously) but like I said its one thing for a youngster to throw themselves at something and get away with it but the way she is now throwing herself around is positively scary when its not how she has ever been before.

Oh and as for the hurting herself in the yard - hmmm that is the other thing - she isn't really super active when we are out and about either. Mostly snoozes in the yard, or searches for food at the park. The only place she really runs is at the beach. So yes this agility attitude change is a bit of a surprise.

Edited March 31, 2010 by ness

[Lablover]

Lablover the one we use is a vet/chiro so qualifications in both and I would trust his judgment. My concern was more because it was converse to what you would expect with an aging dog. If she had been like this her entire life I'd probably be less worried because her body I guess would be more use to it (and yeah probably have had more issues previously) but like I said its one thing for a youngster to throw themselves at something and get away with it but the way she is now throwing herself around is positively scary when its not how she has ever been before.

Oh and as for the hurting herself in the yard - hmmm that is the other thing - she isn't really super active when we are out and about either. Mostly snoozes in the yard, or searches for food at the park. The only place she really runs is at the beach. So yes this agility attitude change is a bit of a surprise.

Sometimes a break can do them good. One reason why I think physical checks are worthwhile. If the body is healthy we can concentrate on their brains..or rather our training methods/success.

Good lluck. Two of the four chiro were qualified vets.

[ness]

Yep that was the reason for the break but also I was finding myself getting frustrated with her so it was easier to not train her and focus my energy on my little up and coming feral .

As I said part of my worry is also first time dog owner bit. Ness is our first dog and I don't really know what to expect as they get older. Think she is telling me she isn't old yet .

[Lablover]

Yep that was the reason for the break but also I was finding myself getting frustrated with her so it was easier to not train her and focus my energy on my little up and coming feral .

As I said part of my worry is also first time dog owner bit. Ness is our first dog and I don't really know what to expect as they get older. Think she is telling me she isn't old yet .

Tell me about it. I currently train 5. Think of training multiple dogs in a positive light. Frequent short training sessions are best. Having lots of dogs, lots of breaks. That is, if they settle when not being worked. Eeeck!!!

[ness]

Hmmmm want to take a guess who was screaming its my turn while I was training the other one - NOT the youngster .

Even last night at obedience when Ness had already had her turn and it was Kenz's turn Ness was still barking that she was being left out.

Edited March 31, 2010 by ness

[RubyStar]

as long as I warmed her up ..and down...keep her lean...

Are you able to suggest some warm and and cool down exercises I can do with my Labs before and after agility training, please?

[helen]

Bella is 10 and will still storm around the agility like a made thing, so she is retired - ps she loves a day running and exploring at the beach etc just as much anyway

Edited March 31, 2010 by helen

[Agility Dogs]

as long as I warmed her up ..and down...keep her lean...

Are you able to suggest some warm and and cool down exercises I can do with my Labs before and after agility training, please?

We do a fair bit of warm up/cool down. (Horse people are often disgusted at the way performance dogs are treated in this regard so I tend to listen to them.)

Gentle run first up - don't really like stretching cold muscles.

Spinning in circles

Figure 8 between the legs,

High 5's

High tens

'dancing' on back legs (not bouncing on them, steady stand or walk backwards on 2 legs)

walk backwards

roll over

crawl

'say your prayers' - front legs on my arm , head down under my arm

Basically any gentle tricks that the dog can do will get the muscles warmed up.

This takes about 5 minutes in total. Is really good for focus and connection with your doggy as well.

Exercises can be lured or shaped, for these purposes it doesn't really matter. I like shaping though.

Then stretching, front legs out, back legs out. (I stretch her.)

Then we tug and maybe do a couple of practice jumps off to the side.

Ideally cool down is the same in reverse, but usually ends up with a 5 minute walk and a bit of stretching. Definitely not straight back in the crate after a run though. (If I have to run 2 dogs back to back then I will get the first one out and cool him/her down with the second one.)

Edited March 31, 2010 by Agility Dogs

[Staranais]

While its not a good thing for a young dog to throw themselves around they do recover reasonably quickly from their tumbles whereas the older they get my assumption is like humans the slower they will be to recover.

That's true, but like humans, it also holds true that oldies must "use it or lose it"!

I'd say warm her up well, warm her down well, keep a very good eye on her, and otherwise let her run. She clearly enjoys it, and if you're careful then (IMO) it will help keep her young.

Fish oil and other joint support in her diet could be an idea too, if you're not already doing that.

If she really is nutty on the course, to the extent you think she will injure herself through sheer craziness, then could you tug with her or exercise her first to just take that edge off before running her on the equipment?

Like Lablover, I too have little faith in canine chiros. Perhaps some are good, or perhaps they're all good for certain conditions, but the one I consulted for my old boy many years ago basically just gave him a lovely back massage to "adjust" him, and completely failed to pick up the conformation defect that was actually causing the lameness. Mind you, two GP vets also failed to notice it, so perhaps I can't be too hard on the chiro.

[ness]

Ness has never been a toy dog so tugging before we run won't work so can't even take the edge off her that way but I do agree I wasn't intend on fully retiring her but rather easing back on the demands. I am happy enough with the jumping but I am more worried about things like weaving and contacts. My plan is to just stick with jumping runs once she has her ado title.

[RubyStar]

Thanks AD for the warm up/cool down tips!