Backyard Agility Course/ What Age To Start Puppies On It

[heroeswit]

I'm getting a white swiss shepherd and I was wondering how to go about making a backyard agility course for both the new puppy and my 2 yr old great dane cross I don't want to go into competition but want to give the dog something to stimulate them. Also what age would be OK/earliest to start the white swiss shepherd puppy on any courses as i'm getting her @ 7 weeks old

any hints and tips would be great

Thanks Danika

[Kavik]

You shouldn't do any jumping or more serious agility on large equipment until the dog is fully grown (probably 18 months with a Shepherd).

You can do tunnels and confidence building exercises such as walking along planks and on a wobble board from when they are younger. You can also do a lot of work that doesn't require obstacles - shaping, targeting, sending to a reward, teaching them to follow your body (circle work/shadow handling). Since you have a Great Dane you may want to see if you can find a tunnel that is bigger than standard size to make it easier.

[RallyValley]

Also it is probably better to bring home the pup at 8 weeks as 6 - 8 weeks is a critical social period for dogs where they learn from thier siblings and dam. See if you can purchase a copy of agility right from the start which has loads of agility related exercises you can do with a pup that dosent involve equipment.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

i would bring the puppy home 8 weeks old minimum as they learn a lot 6-8 weeks from other litter mates re bite inhibition.

i thought breeders werent allowed to let puppies go before 8 weeks?

Edited May 29, 2010 by Jaxx'sBuddy

[heroeswit]

You shouldn't do any jumping or more serious agility on large equipment until the dog is fully grown (probably 18 months with a Shepherd).

You can do tunnels and confidence building exercises such as walking along planks and on a wobble board from when they are younger. You can also do a lot of work that doesn't require obstacles - shaping, targeting, sending to a reward, teaching them to follow your body (circle work/shadow handling). Since you have a Great Dane you may want to see if you can find a tunnel that is bigger than standard size to make it easier.

Thank you Kavik that is what I was wanting to know. And that is also why I am looking into it at the moment. What is "shaping, Targeting, sending to reward, circle work/ shadowing"? I'm not sure what you mean and how do you teach it?

i would bring the puppy home 8 weeks old minimum as they learn a lot 6-8 weeks from other litter mates re bite inhibition.

i thought breeders werent allowed to let puppies go before 8 weeks?

I thought the same thing but the breeder is actually willing to let the pup leave at 6 weeks but when I said that I wanted to leave the pup with the litter til 8 weeks the breeder said that as the mother doesn't have anything to do with the pups from 7 weeks old that it would be fine. I was actually rather shocked when I was told that I could pick it up 6 weeks adn when I asked the breeder why they said that because I lived close to them and the puppy didn't need to be shipped interstate that it would be fine to get the pup at 6 weeks.

[RallyValley]

Alarm bells are ringing here. I don't know one ethical breeder who would let a pup go so early. Go to the White Swiss shepard thread or contact some of the breeders on this forum to see if your breeder checks out.

[Kavik]

These are all things you can do with no equipment at all and you can start from when the dog is a puppy.

Sending to a reward - Place reward on the ground (toy or food in bowl). Rev dog up, send to reward Then add a cue that you want to be your go forward cue (I use GO!). Once you get a good sit stay on your dog, you can do this in a sit stay too, and also you can have dog in sit stay, give cue and then throw the reward. Eventually, say cue and throw reward once the dog has gone forward.

Circle work/shadow handling - get dog to follow your body and hand as you run in a circle with dog on both left and right and on the inside and on the outside

Shaping and targetting are done with a secondary reinforcer (clicker or marker word).

Shaping is the process of teaching a behaviour with a secondary reinforcer by marking and rewarding increasingly precise movements or behaviours. (Using successive approximation). If you look up clicker training you will get a good idea of how this works. For example I started teaching my dogs to backup a couple of days ago. I clicked and rewarded any foot going backwards and am slowly getting the dog to offer more steps first.

Targeting is teaching the dog to touch a target (anything from your hand to an object) with a part of its body, normally with its nose or paw. You click and reward any movement towards the target,t hen raise criteria slowly til the dog is touching the target with the desired part of its body. Teaching the dog to touch your hand with its nose is easy, fun and useful in agility.

[heroeswit]

These are all things you can do with no equipment at all and you can start from when the dog is a puppy.

Sending to a reward - Place reward on the ground (toy or food in bowl). Rev dog up, send to reward Then add a cue that you want to be your go forward cue (I use GO!). Once you get a good sit stay on your dog, you can do this in a sit stay too, and also you can have dog in sit stay, give cue and then throw the reward. Eventually, say cue and throw reward once the dog has gone forward.

Circle work/shadow handling - get dog to follow your body and hand as you run in a circle with dog on both left and right and on the inside and on the outside

Shaping and targetting are done with a secondary reinforcer (clicker or marker word).

Shaping is the process of teaching a behaviour with a secondary reinforcer by marking and rewarding increasingly precise movements or behaviours. (Using successive approximation). If you look up clicker training you will get a good idea of how this works. For example I started teaching my dogs to backup a couple of days ago. I clicked and rewarded any foot going backwards and am slowly getting the dog to offer more steps first.

Targeting is teaching the dog to touch a target (anything from your hand to an object) with a part of its body, normally with its nose or paw. You click and reward any movement towards the target,t hen raise criteria slowly til the dog is touching the target with the desired part of its body. Teaching the dog to touch your hand with its nose is easy, fun and useful in agility.

Thanks for the info. it is helpful. It is what I was looking for to start the pup off with.

[Tay.]

Here's a whole thread about puppy agility foundation on another forum; http://agilitynation.proboards.com/index.c...&thread=369

Might be helpful for you

[heroeswit]

Here's a whole thread about puppy agility foundation on another forum; http://agilitynation.proboards.com/index.c...&thread=369

Might be helpful for you

thanks DSO that site is really good thanks so much

[angelsun]

I've taught agility for years and any dog of good size should not be jumping til at least twelve months or the growth plates have closed. Lots to do before then, just in basic obedience work and lay a plank on the ground to practice the dog walk with safety. Teaching the contact zones and how to touch or target as well. tunnels and chutes are fine but go easy and make it fun.

Now on to the more important part....the six week puppy take home thing....BIG WARNING FLAGS here going up....the white shepherd has become the 'in' thing to get so you want to be VERY careful. Has this pup had a shot at this point? This whole bit about mother dog not having anything to do with them so they are safe to go, is just bull....yes they wll be weaned, but just because mommy dog isn't in there interacting, doesn't mean the pups are ready to go. The BREEDER takes over the role of the mother and if a breeder is anxious to boot them out at that age, it usually means they simply don't want to do the extra work that comes along with being a breeder and cleaning up puppy poop!

BE CAREFUL!!!!

[poodlefan]

My guess is this pup won't come with papers either.

dwilds has had plenty of warnings about this breeder.

[heroeswit]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice it is very much appreciated. I'm going to wait until She is a lot older before I start her with anything to do with agility. I'm going to start with obedience and get it so we have a great partnership and understanding between us. I will wait and see what she is like in 18 mths and then I may start her on agility but I will see later. The pup did come with papers from WSSDCA.

Thanks Again

[Sayreovi]

The pup did come with papers from WSSDCA.

PF was talking about ANKC papers, showing that she is a registered pure breed and that the "breeder" complies with the rules set by the ANKC.

Good luck with her, agility is a fun sport and very addictive. Definately let her mature as jumping her too early can cause damage and waiting just a few extra months can mean the difference to being retired at an early age or having a long and happy "career". In the meantime focus on obedience (make sure to teach her heel on the right side, it will help heaps in agility) and have a look at a few other sports that younger dogs can do

[Luke W]

Did anyone mention teaching tug?

I wish I had an obsessed tugging dog.

added: oops - resurecting old thread alert.

Edited October 4, 2010 by Luke W

[murve]

Here Here alarm bells are ringing about this breeder

I have a litter of pups here, we sold one at 6 weeks old , our buyer wanted to take the pup when he was 6 weeks old, we did not let him go till he was 10 weeks . In my case the buyer was happy he had left it another 4 weeks