in june i taught teagan how to jump over a canoe some friends left in the yard. then they took it away, she got the little dog, and i went through that whole period of not wanting her to be outside for very long, which i've gotten over.

i initially started her on this b/c i wasn't able to walk her due to my injury, but i'm able to start doing short walks now (and hopefully just keep going from there).

but working teagan yesterday for aggression issues at neb and i's FR trainers - we did some jumps with teagan, and she also did steep ramp work (the wall can come down a bit). she had a blast.

teagan does have hip dysplasia and a bone chip in her left hip. she's on supplements and metacam.

before i was injured, she walked at a minimum 5k daily and would go on short (1-1.5k) runs a couple of times a week. hiking and backpacking she also does when i'm uninjured.

i know how to manage those activities with respect to her hips. i'm thinking of building some basic agility stuff for the yard that i can do with her for fun. b/c of the different actions - jumping, climbing - is there anything specific i should be aware of/concerned about?

Here's a link, the second-to-last paragraph being the one you should consider:

http://www.agilitynet.com/health/hipdsyplasia.html

And another one (read "Exercise"):

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1569&articleid=444

With proper traction and a gentle incline, climbing up something could be good for Teagan's hips, like walking uphill. From everything I've been told and everything I've read, jumping is not an activity you want a dysplastic dog to do.

wow, i come home, and great links! thanks sarah.

the jumping i've done w/teagan has been relatively low (we were just playing around in the backyard now actually), but it has been something i'm not sure of. she loves it - but she is also a dog that can go through pain.

generally actually i monitor how she's doing by how she goes to the washroom. problems there were what led to her diagnosis. i keep activities in moderation - learnt a couple of things last year, like hiking in -30C weather bothers her hips after the fact (on reflection, duh).

i just really want to find an activity for her. she's got tonnes of prey drive and is so smart. most activities i think she'd enjoy i end up having hip concerns with. well, i'll figure out how to build a ramp (darn, it was the jump that i'd figured out how to build easily - well, i still will, so neb can practice for FR), and maybe weave poles, though i can't figure out how to do those and keep her on leash. i'd like to learn how to track with her, i hadn't been due to concerns about my leg, but that's another possibility.

Chat with a veterinarian on this. That being said, there are actually many dysplastic dogs competing successfully in agility. Keeping dysplastic dogs at the lowest weight possible, and in good muscle tone, is the best thing you can do for them, and agility forces you to do just that. Depending on the severity of the dysplasia AND what you're comfortable with, you could continue to do agility. Proper management (supplements, pain relievers, heat, massage, close contact with a trustworthy vet, etc) is key.

Info on dysplastic dogs and agility: http://www.dogpatch.org/agility/FAQs/faqgen14.html

Also, because you mentioned...
Weave pole training: http://www.dogpatch.org/agility/FAQs/faqweave.html (some of these are leash-friendly)

The main page of that FAQ is here: http://www.dogpatch.org/agility/FAQs/ and provides a wealth of information on agility training and some obstacle building suggestions too.

thanks, more great links

it's good to know that dysplastic dogs can do agility. i may keep teagan's jumps very short - 1-1.5 ft or under, say - so that she'll get to enjoy doing it but not stress herself.

she is on supplements, pain meds, i do massage, and while she was a chunkster when i adopted her (and she got diagnosed 6 weeks later), she's lost a lot of weight. i haven't had her weighed recently, but i'm going to say she's lost at least 10lbs since i adopted her. she's still a bit bigger than luc but when you take her swimming and see her wet (without all the puffy fur) she's nice and slim. i am trying to get her to lose another couple of pounds so she is closer to luc, but i'm pleased wiht her weight.

when she got diagnosed i had been running her 5k 3-4 times a week to try to get her to lose some weight. she is a strong runner, but 5k was at the limits of her stamina and i think doing that much that regularly while she was overweight and undiagnosed and untreated as a result was difficult for her. our vet told me she could keep running, but i wasn't comfortable with that and stopped and walked/hiked with her only up until the spring - b/c she was doing so well and had lost the weight, i did start to take her on the short runs until my injury forced me to stop, but she didn't seem to be having an issues with the shorter distance. so i know she can do that, but i'm pretty careful with her, and built her up to it by building her walking distance to 7k+/day before going back down to 5k/day and adding in the short runs a few times a week. (none of that includes hikes, obviously). so if i work to build her up to agility stuff and take it slow, hopefully this can be something she can do