Bundyburger Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) How old was your dog when you started dog sports? I've got a nearly 3yo vizsla. We started casual agility at 18mths with the view of joining a club and competing as he adores it. However life got in the way for a few reasons and im only now in the position to take it further. Is he too old to learn and eventually compete? I've had people tell me not to bother and that I've left it too late. Edited July 5, 2012 by Bundyburger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHRP Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 I've had people tell me not to bother and that I've left it too late. What rubbish!! Plenty of dogs have started agility at 3+ years and been very succesful at the sport. In fact at 3 you might find him easier to train as he'll probably be more settled and sensible than an adolescent Vizsla :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Panzer Attack! Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) I've started teaching Tucky just for fun, he's 9 next month :) Bundy is definitely not too old, at the Nationals there was a lady with a novice Pap that was 5, she told me it takes that long for them to grow a brain LOL. Edited July 5, 2012 by Panzer Attack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) Not too young. I've only been playing with Fergus and he is 4. I've gone to a lot of seminars with world leading OB and agility people and the one consistent thing is that they don't start trialling their dogs until they're over 2. The Derrett's said they don't put their dogs on any equipment until they're about 2 as well. ETA: There are some people who take their sport so seriously that they won't train or compete with a dog that isn't going to go far. I don't understand those people. I train both my dogs in agility even though I have no plans for Lucy to compete due to her extreme fear issues. I train her because she loves it, it has helped build her confidence and it is great for her physical and mental health. Dogs don't know about titles. Edited July 5, 2012 by megan_ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 I've had people tell me not to bother and that I've left it too late. What rubbish!! Plenty of dogs have started agility at 3+ years and been very succesful at the sport. In fact at 3 you might find him easier to train as he'll probably be more settled and sensible than an adolescent Vizsla :) Yep! I didn't start doing ANY agility with Ziggy until he was 2. It was really difficult to harness his madness so I worked on lots of fun obedience and focus first. With what I know now I would have taught him a lot more foundation work in those early days but we caught up and he's doing fine. Em has been doing foundation work just about since the day she came home - lots of fun stuff of course - but that's all with the benefit of hindsight plus she's a very different dog to Zig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 ETA: There are some people who take their sport so seriously that they won't train or compete with a dog that isn't going to go far. I don't understand those people. I train both my dogs in agility even though I have no plans for Lucy to compete due to her extreme fear issues. I train her because she loves it, it has helped build her confidence and it is great for her physical and mental health. Dogs don't know about titles. This is why I train my dogs too :) Lots of people just don't get it. Wish there was a 'fun' agility place near here. There used to be a place in Lilydale that was lots of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundyburger Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 That makes me feel better! Maybe you can be my cheer squad in August Megan :). He certainly seems to have chilled out the past few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 I've had people tell me not to bother and that I've left it too late. What rubbish!! Plenty of dogs have started agility at 3+ years and been very succesful at the sport. In fact at 3 you might find him easier to train as he'll probably be more settled and sensible than an adolescent Vizsla :) x 2 Some of the longest running agility participants started late. Your dog will be both physically and mentally mature and IMO less likely to succumb to some of the soundness issues that early starts can create. FHRP's Rogan is still going strong at 10... plenty of time to have a great agility career with a Vizsla. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pie Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) Yes of course you can - go for it! It is supposed to be a fun activity for you and your dog after all, he's still got plenty of years ahead of him. My Manchester was trained foundation exercises from the day she was home at 9 weeks but I didn't actually start trialling her until she was about 2 and a half - I noticed a massive change in her maturity around the age of 2 when everything just started clicking - just because you can start agility trialling at 18 months doesn't mean every dog is going to be ready by then, and you certainly haven't 'missed the boat' if you haven't started by now. Edited July 5, 2012 by amypie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 WE haven't been to Action dogs for over six months . Now that K9 Agility isn't training due to the grounds not being available we'll be going back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundyburger Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 WE haven't been to Action dogs for over six months . Now that K9 Agility isn't training due to the grounds not being available we'll be going back. Im only going because its the only one I can get to in time. I'd love to go to K9 though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seita Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 definitely not too old. I'm just starting agility with my 6 year old now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayreovi Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 That makes me feel better! Maybe you can be my cheer squad in August Megan :). He certainly seems to have chilled out the past few months. That's for Action dogs yeah? I am nearly finished the foundation levels and I've loved it! We have several older dogs in the class, mine was I think the youngest one and she was about 11 months. If anything starting later is better as your dog will be more mature mentally and physically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundyburger Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) Yep, we're down for August assessment so I hope we get in. Edited July 5, 2012 by Bundyburger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayreovi Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Good luck :) I was in the last intake so if you have any questions, feel free to ask :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Not too old at all. In fact 3 years is an ideal age, the dog is in prime fitness and hopefully is mostly over the crazy puppy stage lol Most dogs even aged ones tend ro pick up the basics fairly quickly. I also only do agility for fun - it's great for relationship building and mental stimulation for the dogs. I'm a pretty hopeless handler and my dog is far from fast or with the ideal build or drive but we both really enjoy training and have fun which is the main thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vehs Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 we had to wait til D was 2 anyway because of his developing joints, but there were some oldie rescue does in our classes that went fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) We're not supposed to train on the jumps and stuff at club until the dog is 12 months old, and I think competing is 18 months or older. There's a heap of foundation / relationship building stuff you can do before that but you can do that with any age dog. One of the teams at club - the dog was a rescue at about 6 or 7 years old (grey whiskered JRT), and the owner is now training agility and competing obedience with him. It's done wonders for their relationship and his ability to ignore lots of excited dogs all around him. He still looks vaguely worried about it, but he's willing and I think he likes the jumping and praise and interaction with the boss. They're going to have a go at the next games trial too. Edited July 5, 2012 by Mrs Rusty Bucket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmolo Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Absolutely no way is he too old!! And he already loves it, has some good basic skills and understanding. Go for it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Miss Emma Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 I started my beautiful old girl Emma when she was almost 10 years old!!! So I'd say not too old!!! We did NADAC which was great for her because of her age and she got to jump much lower heights! Bt for me it's about having fun with my dog so as long my dog is happy and looks like they're smiling then that's all that matters!!! Kenzie is 2.5 years old and we haven't trialled in ANKC agility yet, but we will eventually when we get around to it. She loves doing the training though! Hamish, we'll he's only 13 weeks, but he'll start when we get around to it. We might practicing some foundation groundwork soon but that's mainly because I've now learnt it's good for getting focus and helping your dog move with you (and it doesn't matter what you do they're good things to have!). I think it sounds like your dog is a great age to be doing this sort of training!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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