Saturday Jumping Practice for the Club Championship

We have now had two Saturdays jumping practice and have two more Saturdays left for jumping practice before the club championship. The first Saturday we had 12 dogs working with their handlers and the second week we had 8 dogs working. Some photos of the second Saturday are below .We are very lucky at this club to have an agility arena that is fenced off which allows us to train dogs off lead that normally would not be able to work off lead. The youngest agility handler to the more senior handler has a span of 60 years + some. There is a large variety in the breeds & size of dogs in the club which vary from 5kg to over 50kg. Then we have male and female. What a challenge. All things are not so equal. Some basics in agility.

Be happy and have lots of fun with your dog and enjoy your dog. This is the most important rule of all. Your dog can learn to read your body Language, be consistent with your training. Make sure you use the hand closest to the dog, they need to be able to see the commands you are giving. Your position and direction of travel is very important, your dog works off you. This will come with practice. Watch your dog and know where he is at all times. Try to get your dog to have a wee outside the agility arena before entering, if practicing in a group in the arena watch your dog and the slightest sign of weeing take you dog out. Before you start agility make sure that you let your dog fully develop especially large breeds of dogs 18 months is a good figure to work on. Just waiting those few extra months may save you a large vet bill and allow you to work your dog in the agility arena for a lots of years. Hip problems are just one reason to wait. Some people say when my dog is on their own at home they run mad and jump up on things, and over things, so what’s the difference to being in the agility arena. The difference is that a dog that is on his or her own or with another dog will stop and rest when they want or if they are sore in a joint they will stop and rest. When your dog is with you in most cases he or she won`t rest while you keep going, he or she will keep going, eg playing ball for an hour, 5 km walk, 3km run, or a work out in the agility arena. They won’t rest so the joints and the bits that hold them together are at a greater risk of injury in dogs that are not fully developed. We humans tend to expect too much from our dogs and the age limit is good. If your dog is under 18months old talk to the agility instructor first, there are things you can do such as tunnel work, dog walk and very low jump for you to learn the correct position to be in. Some large breeds must be 18month to 2years old & it is very hard to put an age limit on young dogs, when you look at a light weight border collie to the very heavy Mastiff 60 to 100kg.

ANKC agility trials, dogs male or female have to be 18month of age or over to compete.