Agility With 3 Legs

[MadWoofter]

I'd love to do agility with Fleming, but not sure if he'd be allowed having only 3 legs. He's very active, and has no problems running, jumping & playing. I think he'd love the mental stimulation of agility, and would be fine with the majority of the activities.

Has anyone done agility with a limb-lacking hairy?

Oh, and it's a hind leg that's been chopped.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

there's one at our club who runs at a lower height, who has a damaged front paw.

She's not obviously lame though.

Not sure if full on competition agility would be good for a dog with three legs. Dogs with four legs manage to injure themselves. So you might want to check with a vet for an opinion. Ideally one that does agility comps themselves.

Of course there is always club training, where you can probably choose the jumping height and mock trials - same. So that would probably cover the mental stimulation.

or why not doggy dancing?

[MadWoofter]

Thanks Mrs R-B.

Can you join an agility club without doing comps?

I've just moved to Adelaide and have looked up the agility club info so will contact them & ask the more specific q's - just wanted to get an idea if it was at all possibe.

Oh, and it might be the same club you're in

No offence to those that do it, but doggie dancing just doesn't appeal to me.

[ness]

Yeah you can do agility without doing comps - one of my clubs has a fun stream for those that don't wish to trial and a more serious trialling stream.

Which club were you looking at MadWoofer? A lot of the obedience/agility clubs require you to have passed a certain level of obedience before your able to do agility.

Edited June 3, 2011 by ness

[MadWoofter]

Thanks Ness - does that mean I have to have 'passed' an obedience course or something first?

I looked up the Agility SA website and they had contact details to email or ring, so I'll do that one Monday.

I guess 'well behaved' doesn't equal obedience does it !

[poodlefan]

There was a three legged poodle that ran in agility. Chloe did pretty well but she was a very light dog.

The main issue for me would be the structural integrity of the remaining back leg. What does your vet think of the idea.

[ness]

There is a trial down at West Beach (Agility Dog Club of SA) tomorrow so if you wanted to have a chat to the person down there rather than ring or email then you could do that.

I am a member of ADCSA (Agility Dog Club of SA) and SAODC (South Australian Dog Obedience Club). ADCSA don't have an obedience requirement but at SAODC you must have completed grade 5 which is effectively CCD/Novice obedience standard - so stays/heeling/sits/drops/stands/stand for exam/recall.

Not sure whereabouts you are but I know Beachwood school for dogs (train at Aldinga on a Saturday) have a fun agility class or do fun agility as a part of there classes. Thats a positive delta based training group. They are less geared to competition and more geared towards having fun and allowing dogs to do what they are capable of and would be more lifestyle based training.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beachwood-Dog-School/136002586420027

Edited June 3, 2011 by ness

[skip]

There was a pom or pom x doing agility with 3 legs in my area NSW. Ran in comps fine with no hassles. In ADAA there is a regular as well as a international program. For a dog that is not so physically capable or getting older, the regular has jumps a bit lower and has more time. I jump one dog as international but the other I leave at regular as she is happier jumping lower. The next height up seems too high.

Little dogs seem to cope OK but not so sure about bigger dogs.

Even just training is fun and you can do as little or as much as you want ( or the dog wants)! My friend has a very large breed dog who found normal heights too hard. At training you can still learn and have fun and just let your dog do what ever you feel comfortable doing. The dog doesn't know the difference.

Edited June 3, 2011 by skip

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

But if you start at Agility SA... then you can usually join up at SAODC without doing grades 1 through 5 heelwork with them.

[Amerykus]

There was a Poodle here in NSW - Chloe - in the early 2000 that had only 3 legs and if i remember correctly she was a Master dog ( top level ) and did very well :D

[Kavik]

There was a pom or pom x doing agility with 3 legs in my area NSW. Ran in comps fine with no hassles. In ADAA there is a regular as well as a international program. For a dog that is not so physically capable or getting older, the regular has jumps a bit lower and has more time. I jump one dog as international but the other I leave at regular as she is happier jumping lower. The next height up seems too high.

Little dogs seem to cope OK but not so sure about bigger dogs.

Even just training is fun and you can do as little or as much as you want ( or the dog wants)! My friend has a very large breed dog who found normal heights too hard. At training you can still learn and have fun and just let your dog do what ever you feel comfortable doing. The dog doesn't know the difference.

Yep it is a German Spitz - they train at my club :D I'd think it would be easier for a smaller/lighter dog to deal with such a handicap than a larger heavier dog as it would put a lot of pressure on the remaining legs.

[LilBailey]

I used to have a healer x that only had 3 legs (hers was a front one. Her chest muscles and others were built up more to cope with the changed pressure.

I think that so long as the dog was fit then his rear muscles would compensate. Rear ends give power and push up over jumps. It is the front that takes the impact of landing after a jump, stopping on a contact, a bouncing see saw.

If he coped well at training and was enjoying it I can't see why you couldn't compete.

[Staranais]

Losing a back leg is better than losing a front leg, in terms of stress on the dog from athletic activity. Back legs are your accelerator, front legs are your brakes and shock absorbers. Better to lose some acceleration than lose half your brakes!

I'd say go ahead with the agility, so long as his remaining 3 legs are fully functional. Take it slow and keep an eye on him, you can always dial back the training if he's showing any sign of reluctance.

[poodlefan]

I wouldn't ever recommend doing agility with a dog that was missing a front leg.. turning over jumps would place massive strain on the remaining leg.