Hi,
A friend is thinking of training her dog in agility. The dog is not quite a year old.

I told her I had read that dogs should not start training seriously until they are fully matured (18 to 24 months). I take this to mean, no excessive running and NO JUMPING.

I figure the weave poles (walking through) and chutes would be ok (on grass.)

What advice do you have?

Look for a puppy agility class. They are a good introduction for agility, and avoid activities that would stress a pup/young dogs joints. I believe they cover most everything except jumps and speed.

My puppy's dog class - a puppy kindergarden type thing - uses agility obstacles like the chutes, tunnels, dog walk, a-frame, ladder, and very short jumps (about 4 inches). My girl is 6 months and loves it!

I wouldn't start weave poles until a year. Starting a dog "walking" through the weave poles may result in a dog that is slow in the poles at a trial. Obviously, you can't teach the poles at 60mph-Border Collie speed, but you do want to encourage speed when you teach them -- and this could injure a puppy.

Jumps are okay, but NO HIGHER than hock-height.

Contact obstacles are fine, but use discrescion -- a 10 month old dog could probably handle a full-height dogwalk, but not a 12 week old puppy. Adjust the height of the obstacles to the dog's size, and I suggest teaching the teeter last (let them get used to the climbing and 'thin plank to walk on' concepts before introducing movement).

Tunnels and chutes are fine at any age. This is a great place to start.

The pause table is fine on the ground, again, slowly raise the height as the puppy matures.

Non-obstacle things include: teaching the dog to "go out" is useful for classes like FAST and USDAA Gamblers; start-line stays; fast sits and downs for the table; stretching (it's a good habit to get into!); socialization at trials. Taking a dog to a trial when it's a baby teaches it that the sights, sounds, and smells are nothing to fear!

You don't want to force the puppy to do everything at a walk -- encourage fast trotting, a bit of running here or there, but emphasize CONTROL over all else.

A lot of puppy agility classes are great, but some are complete crap. Attend one before you sign up, for sure!

I also agree the most important thing is for your friend to find a great instructor and classes. That way the equipment will be available and the handler and dog will learn the right way from the beginning. And a good instructor either will have 'puppy' type classes or be able to adjust for a dog that may be a bit younger, open weave poles, low jumps, lowered contact equipment, etc. There's TONS of 'agility' you can do with a young dog to prep them before their growth plates are closed.

And the number one thing people do NOT do is prepare their pups with enough socialization . Agility classes AND trials can be a CRAZY environment, difficult to duplicate and certainly too much for many pups that have only been at their house/yard/neighborhood their entire lives. New people, sites, sounds, PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT, and having our dogs be comfortable, come what may, is a must. I'm always seeing people at trials after a horrible run, and the owner says their dog NEVER is like that when they are in their class or yard, well GO FIGURE!