I just started Aragon in my training clubs beginning agility classes. Aragon is a 17 month old Dutch Shepherd and one of the class instructors is making a pretty big deal about getting a dog who is less than two years old into agility. They are worried about his joints on the jumps and his spine while going through the weaves. My initial reaction was that we will keep the jumps low until he gets a little older but there is nothing in the agility class that is anywhere as strenuous as the exercise that he gets at home with his frisbee. The only thing that I'm not sure about is the bending of his spine through the weaves but I feel like this shouldn't be an issue because he does way worse activities every day.

What do you guys think? Is 17 months too young to get my Dutch Shepherd into agility? Am I running the risk of damaging his joints? Thanks.

Wow, really? While I appreciate that they are erring on the side of caution, that is a bit ridiculous. Many top-level agility competitors have dogs ready for competition by the age of 2.

Going to a class once a week and playing around with agility equipment shouldn't be a problem for a healthy 17 month old Dutchie. I agree with keeping the jumps low and taking it easy with the weaves at first since it's a new activity, but as long you're smart about it and don't overdo it, things should be fine. Are you wanting to compete eventually, or just getting into it for something fun to do?

I have never understood why the vast majority of agility trainers I've attempted to work with have refused to accept a dog under 12 months of age into their class. No one ever said the dog has to jump his height! No one ever said the dog has to walk the catwalk alone! Keep these things at a minimum, and the risk of injure is also at a minimum.

Around here, there are puppy agility classes galore. I think most like the pups to be 16 weeks, but man, there are about a million foundation skills that can be started at that time. I started both of my pups early, 14 weeks and 12 weeks. My most recent pup is now 12 months of age. She hasn't seen a weave pole and just started contact obstacles, but she has been working on a lot of other skills that will serve as our foundation. (Oh, and she has never jumped an obstacle at her correct height.)

Well these responses make me feel better. The official rules of the training club is that they won't start any Dog younger than 16 months in agility training but when one of the trainers started on her lecture about how she won't personally start a dog in agility before the age of 2 I thought she was being overly cautious. I didn't want to argue with her about it but I just couldn't see how my perfectly healthy 17 month old Dutchie would have a problem with any of the relatively minor obstacles.

So I figured I would ask the collective community here because I tend to trust the opinions of the community here more than I do most of the trainers at the club.

And I am planning on trying some agility competitions in the future as well because I think he will be really good. Every experienced trainer in the club keeps telling me that I have one of the best dogs in the club and that his drive and focus are phenominal. They have also convinced me to start in some of the obedience competitions because he seems to be good at those as well. The first time I have ever ran him through the AKC obedience trial a few weeks ago he scored a 196 out of 200. The exprienced trainers said he was really good but I'm taking their word for it because I'm brand new to the training and competition scene so my knowledge and experience with competitions is zero. So I'm hoping for good things in the future! Thanks for the responses everyone.

All five of mine do agility. Three of them started before they were 5 months old. The pups don't jump full height. But IMO, those first few months are mostly about teaching each obstacle, and making it a fun activity. Agility is a great way to teach attention, a good "stay," and, with mine, it helped reinforce patience and sharing my attention. I run all five in the same class, so each dog has to wait their turn. We love it!

Wow Tracy, that is awesome! Very cool you have everyone there in the same class!

 Quote: AJ Evans

And I am planning on trying some agility competitions in the future as well because I think he will be really good. Every experienced trainer in the club keeps telling me that I have one of the best dogs in the club and that his drive and focus are phenominal.

I'm just wondering if you have somewhere else you could go for agility lessons. It's one thing to just put them through the equipment if you want to play around, but if you want to compete and do well, I'd try to find a more knowledgeable instructor if possible. Either way, agility is a blast, and there are also a lot of good DVDs and even free videos out there to teach handling and foundations if you really want to get into it.

As far as I know there is only one other club in my area that does agility lessons and I have no idea what their instructors are like. Though by the looks of it that place looks very similar to the club that I am at now. I have thought about building some of the basic obstacles and working with them in my yard but I don't want to build the really big equipment just yet so I have to find a place that has the equipment for now. I'll probably stick it out through this beginners class and see what I think at the end since I've already paid for the class and they have the equipment. But I may have to take a drive by that other club and speak with some of the trainers to get a feel for them.

I feel like I will probably want to continue and perform in agility competitions but there is always a pretty good chance that I try out Schutzhund and really like it as well (or even OB competitions). So I am using the training club to get my foot in the door and get exposure to the multiple different areas of dog competition and trying to figure out what is best for me and Aragon.

You wouldn't happen to have any links to those free video's would you? I'd love to at least get a better foundation and knowledge in agility because right now I'm really new and in the dark with it.

It's hard to pinpoint specific videos because the level of detail that you can get into with agility foundations is crazy!!

Your class will most likely focus on teaching your dog the various obstacles, which is great, but success in agility relies on solid foundations and developing a clear handling system with your dog to get around courses fast and efficiently.

These are more aimed toward puppies and you probably have a lot of this trained already, as basic obed stuff, but it also contains some good body awareness exercises and beginning handling....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUmHNOpGrjE&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk4DW0u3vKc&feature=related

Circle work (http://ketchgoldguinn.blogspot.ca/2008/04/circle-work.html) is great for teaching your dog to respond to your handling on the flat....acceleration, deceleration, front crosses, etc....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dG_5eRGqgE&feature=related

This site has a huge amount of information related to handling....this is one article explaining the front cross...
http://agilitynerd.com/blog//agility/starting/LearningFrontCross.html

You really just have to start reading and watching videos, do a search for agility foundations or agility handling and be prepared to spend weeks/months/years (depending on how obsessed you get, lol) reading and learning.