How Old Was Your Dog

[Bundyburger]

Thanks everyone. I'm glad you think he'll be fine Cos, I still laugh about how he went before Christmas with you after having six months off, the little show off :)

[canine fun sports]

No-one is too old for agility, because no-one is too old to have fun. That applies to both humans and dogs.

Cheers,

[Cosmolo]

Georgie didn't start until she was about 2 years old too Bundy- and she is up there with Cosmo, who started much younger.

[Alkhe]

It's probably more a case of dogs being too YOUNG to start!

[megan_]

It's probably more a case of dogs being too YOUNG to start!

You can - and ideally should - start foundation the day you get your pup. This isn't agility specific though. Things like motivation, how to play a game, markers etc.

I agree that many people take training a pup too seriously though and there are a fair few "hot housed" dogs out there. When I took my boy with no obedience training to an Uta Bindel seminar (clicker trainer) 2 years ago people were gobsmacked at how enthusiastic he was - he wasn't scared of making a mistake and cottoned on really quickly. He has a grand ol' time showing off. There were other dogs that were clearly afraid of doing the "wrong" thing.

Bundy will be fine Bundy!

[smisch]

Jock my Sheltie didnt start until I got him at nearly 6.. he was still running and winning classes at 11.5 yrs so anything is possible =) good luck

[RubyStar]

When I took my boy with no obedience training to an Uta Bindel seminar (clicker trainer) 2 years ago people were gobsmacked at how enthusiastic he was - he wasn't scared of making a mistake and cottoned on really quickly. He has a grand ol' time showing off. There were other dogs that were clearly afraid of doing the "wrong" thing.

Not sure if you meant it this way, but just wanted to say that an obedience trained dog shouldn't be afraid to make a mistake, either. Those that have been exposed to a lot of shaping/clicker training definitely shouldn't!

[sheena]

No-one is too old for agility, because no-one is too old to have fun. That applies to both humans and dogs.

Cheers,

So True Lee :laugh: though I wish I had started when I was a bit younger. Catching up on all those lost years of not doing agility, sometimes takes it toll on me. Lucky I have a slow dog :laugh:

[rusty&biscuit]

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 training in agility with a club until Cherry was 3, then competing when she was 5. She is now 11 and still going. She's got so many titles behind her name now, and she just loves it so much. Rusty hasn't even matured and started really getting into it until now, and he's 4. He gave me a lot of greif when we first started competing :laugh: And I started training Biscuit for it at about 12 months, and competing at 2 years, and he's taken to it straight away. Age is really just a number, and with slow maturing breeds it us sometimes better to start older so you don't have to deal with the "what's in it for me?" stage :laugh: