Agility Training

[Guest posting as: Mary]

I have a six month old Cairn Terrier. She has been to obedience school, and has already learned the sit and down command. I would like to introduce her to agility training, but I'm confused about the age she can start training. I have asked my veterinarian and the owner of the agility course where she would train. Both have conflicting ideas of when she should start training. I am concerned with bone growth, and wouldn't want to start her too early, yet she seems to eager to learn new things, and the summertime would be ideal. Your thoughts please.

[bradl]

Bless you for planning to give your Cairn some work to do! Someone with an agility background will probably speak to this with some actual expertise...my sense is that there is agility training that can take place without the jumping bits -- and it's the jumping that should be carefully phased until bone development is somewhat complete. Yours is a great question and I look forward to learning more about this!

[Karen]

Hi Mary,

Sounds like your puppy is doing great! There's definitely some agility work you can do at a young age, other parts need to wait. Main thing as always is to keep it fun! Don't rush them as it could cause problems later.

Tunnel - great to start puppies on since they're flat on the ground. My first tunnel was $25 at ToysRUs. Doesn't bend much and is only 5 ft long but teaches dogs to go thru a tunnel quickly and happily. It will roll easily so you may want to brace it against something to start, later let it move a little. Mine doesn't roll much, but just realize it may startle a puppy if it does. You can buy competition quality tunnels for $150 and up. These are longer, heavier and bend well, don't roll much with just a cairn in it. Whatever tunnel you use, start with it straight out, puppy on leash with person hold it at one end, you at the other with treats. Call them thru it several times. Gradually, you can take off the leash, start them a little further from the tunnel entrance, eventually point to the tunnel and have them go thru it. Be sure not to reward right at the exit since that will make them slow down in anticipation of the treat and fast tunnels are what you want. Reward them a few feet outside the tunnel so they race thru them. Or toss their toy as they exit so they run and chase it.

Chute - pretty much a barrel with a sheet attached. Also great for a puppy. Just start with only the barrel part first, have them go thru that same as the tunnel, then by themselves thru it. When they solid on that, attach the chute part. Fold the chute part almost all the way up and hold it open, so the puppy sees you and runs right thru. Gradually drop the chute so he runs thru a couple feet of chute half open, then gradually drop the two feet so he has to push thru it. Then gradually extend the chute to full length. This is over the course of a few weeks. Make sure you've got a lightweight chute fabric since he's only 6 mths old. I have a "baby chute" that uses an empty plastic barrel from carwash soap and a chute that is about 5 ft long. Since cairns are small, it works for them. But fits in my house, works great for sending them to and thru.

Teeter - get a Buja Board so they learn to tip and enjoy it. You can make your own by fastening half a ball to one side of a board. I've never made one or used one, but some places sell them, probably are pictures on the Web somewhere. They get rewarded for handling the tipping in a good way. Treat them for being on it, playing on it, etc. Eventually when they're ready for a real teeter, buy one that lets you start very low with it. Mine will adjust from a couple inches off the ground up to competition height. I bought a mini-teeter from OverRover.com but I think it may have caused a problem with Morgan. While she runs and slams the little one with its 6ft board, I think she is running approximately 6ft out during shows which use a 12 ft board, then stops. We're retraining this when the weather breaks. Board doesn't tip very fast at that spot so we're losing several seconds. When you eventually move to a real teeter, make sure they run to the end or at least to a spot that will tip it quickly. I don't like the idea of running to the end with a small dog since some teeters tip slowly and I've seen Paps fly off 5 ft in the air at shows as a result. Teeter wasn't tipping much, but they'd been trained run to the end and go! And they did while up in the air. Other teeters may hit the ground hard enough to bounce the dog off the end. I like mine to go to the beginning of the yellow. Its enough to tip it, but won't really slam. Its up to you to decide which you prefer.

Dogwalk - lay a big plank on the ground and let the puppy run on it. You can start teaching them to stop at the end or run right off, whatever you'll want eventually at a show. Again, teach them to run along it from the beginning. When he's a little older, put the plank on other pieces of wood or bricks. gradually raise it a few inches from the ground, again make sure he's confident before moving along. You don't need the up and down ramps til the height is raised a bit.

Aframe - Can be taught similar to the dogwalk while its in a fairly flat position. I would not raise it more than a couple feet til the dog is older, in case he'd jump off too soon or accidentally fall off.

Weaves - I like the channel method using the KISS weaves I bought online. You can teach them to run straight thru with speed, gradually close the channel so they have to weave. I wouldn't close the channel til he's closer to a year, but you can narrow it so they know to run thru them, know to go to the end. This will minimize the bending at a young age. Small dogs probably don't have to be as careful as bigger dogs with this (bending the spine too much) since they aren't big enough to be wound around more than one pole, nor do they have to bend as sharply to do them quickly. But again, don't want to put too much stress on their bodies.

Table - find a flat, square board or cushion and lay it on the floor. They can easily learn to get on it, then do a fast sit or down. I used a futon cushion for Mac. It was about 6 inches thick so no impact when jumping up. The room we practice in had carpet with padding underneath so minimal if any impact when jumping off. The thick cushion was close in height to a real table so he made that transition easily.

Jumps/Tire - These you can teach him to go thru the standards, either no bar or lay the bar directly on the ground. Mac didn't do any jumping training til he was close to a year, possibly older than a year. But by then he'd learn to go thru standards and go around them. I usually laid the bar on the ground, 1 inch pvc pipe so he was stepping over it. I figure they do enough jumping as part of growing up, I didn't want to add any. You can do a lot of damage if you start jumping too early. When you start jumping, keep it very low, 2 inches, then 4 inches. I only jump my guys at full height (12 inches) at our weekly class and shows. Any training at home is done at 4-6, maybe 8 inches. Adding height to stuff is the easy part of training. Teaching the desired behavior takes longer. Don't over do the jumping either.

Find something to work as "wings" for jumps. These are the side extensions that force the handler and dog to work further apart. Pieces of cardboard work great, pvc lattice/trellis is also good. small fabric banners can be hung at the side. Anything to make your dog do a jump further from you. Show clubs will have a variety of wings, some have cutouts of dogs, others use fabric, some have the lattice, some are solid. Some wings are HUGE! 3 ft wide for one wing, others are small, maybe a foot wide. He doesn't have to jump while learning wings, just learn to work further away from you.

You can also be teaching targeting now so they learn to "send" or "go out" to further obstacles without you, also used in advanced obed with the dumbbell retrieve. Turn on the flat is a good skill so you can switch sides you're running on with him. Be sure they have fast sits/downs so you don't waste time on the table later. Teach them to come to both your hands so they're watching them for direction and come to them when you need to direct them. Some people teach "right" and "left", great age for this. I just teach "turn" to mean either way since I doubt I could think fast enough while running to decide if its left or right I need the dog to go.

Ruth Hobday has a good book for puppies for agility skills and what to teach at different ages. CleanRun.com or Dogwise.com should carry it. There's also a book about how to make the equipment on your own. Clean Run has that, can't remember the author's name. Lot of stuff you can improvise and make very inexpensively and works just as well to teach your dog. Jumps are much cheaper to make than buy. Several places on the web sell the 4 and 5 way pvc joints. That's the only item that Home Depot/Lowes don't seem to carry (around here at least).

Be sure you have her out in public so she's used to noise, people, etc. If there's a local outdoor show, take her there and walk around a little so she can see what's going on. Mac has been going to agility shows since he arrived here as a puppy so he was used to them when he finally started competing. They're supposed to be 6 mths old to go to a show. Indoor shows are usually crowded and don't allow unentered dogs due to that. Outdoor shows have more room, and around here are in public places like parks, so the public can bring their dogs with them if they want. As long as she's on leash and well behaved, most outdoor shows don't care if non-entered dogs are there.

Main thing to remember, its still a puppy so don't rush it. Keep it fun, quit while they want more, and if they lose focus or you're getting stressed, end the session. Don't rush the height on anything! Train in baby steps, make sure they're really, really solid before moving to the next thing. I have found my guys to be fairly easy to train in agility because its always something different.

Have fun!

Karen Majka

PEC Member

[Karen]

I just wanted to add to anyone reading this, I am not advocating an intensive training program for puppies with my previous email. Its just suggestions of things to mix in with the other stuff puppies do while growing up. It is good to expose puppies to new things while young since they usually adjust better. I personally feel some agility people are rushing their young dogs into it so they can be the "youngest (insert breed here) to earn such and such title".

Karen Majka

PEC Member

[LORI]

My biggest fear would be letting my Cairn off lead and her running around the room stirring up trouble. We have a fairly large agility building, that was once a large warehouse, that has been cleaned up and done over for agility. How can I be reassured?

[Karen]

Hi,

Before starting an agility class, be sure you have a solid recall with your cairn. This is for her safety as well as not causing trouble at class. Lot of big dogs will see a little dog running around as prey and may go after her. Many beginning agility classes will work with the dogs on leash for a week or two, but at some point, they do take off the leash. If you don't have a good recall, I would suggest more obedience work. You also want solid stays so if you need to step away from your dog, they know that they don't move or run around while you're gone. I've been in agility classes that have deteriorated into remedial obedience sessions and it isn't fun for those watching. Many agility classes have pre-tests also so without a decent off-leash recall, you may not get into them.

I would work with treats, short leash, then longer leash or clothesline rope. That way you really still have control over your cairn. After the recall is good at one length, give some more room, then practice again. Once they're solid, practice at home off leash, or in a fenced in area. Take her to parks, other buildings, friends' yards, etc. Anywhere that you can practice an on line recall. That way they can't really take off while off lead. You don't need to constantly drill the dog in obedience, but they really do need to know if for agility. Many dogs will want to stick with you while doing agility because its so much fun, lots of treats, etc.

When you start your first class, be sure and let the instructor know about your concern of her taking off. Maybe she can set up a situation to see if it will happen and if she does or doesn't come back when called. They can have all other dogs on leash so she can't really cause any trouble. She may have you work more on leash as well. This might be your "turn" instead of actually working on agility equipment.

Some places offer classes called "Obed for agility". Be sure and ask wherever you think you'd like to take agility classes so you're clear on what they expect your dog to know, and what they're willing to work with. As long as part of the class focus is to work on off leash control, that's great. Many beginning agility classes include this as part of the classwork. But if they expect it already, then you need to go back to obedience class or find somewhere to test your dog's recall. You might ask if you can come to the building during some other class to let her check it out and get it out of her system. Also just to practice with less distractions to have her come back to you.

Karen Majka

PEC Member