opinions??

[pnance]

I've been trying to decide if I should put Savannah into agility and was hoping for some opinions on it. She'd love doing and would be great at it, but she's already about 6 yrs (unsure of her exact age since she was a rescue) and she can be very choosy about her canine friends (she's a definate alpha). I'm trying to figure out if that would be a problem. Hunter's in agility now and it seem like if I have a good recall it shouldn't be a problem, but I also don't want to cause problems. I'd welcome some outside opinions since I've been going back and forth with this for a bit.

[lv4dogs]

I would think that this may very well be a possiblitly for you.

Of course, yes you would have to work on her re-call. Perhaps an obedience class first?

Any dog, especially one of her age should have her hips x-rayed to make sure her joints are healthy & stong enough to handle such intenese exercise. And of course a basic exam by your vet.

If all else fails you should be able to enroll her into the beginner agility class and even keep her in it just for the exersice, training & fun of it.

Have you spoken with your agility instructor about this at all? What have they said?
Maybe they can let you come in early with her one class or stay a little late to give her just a little experience with the course & see how she handles that.

[Jessika]

They usually recommend that you take a basic obedience class before enrolling in agility so you have greater control over your dog. Different facilities have different requirements however, so just make sure to call and ask.

And shoot, I definitely recommend it! I'm getting Jamie into it here in the next couple of months, and I am SO excited! I haven't decided yet if I'm doing it for her, or me! lol

[pnance]

Maybe they can let you come in early with her one class or stay a little late to give her just a little experience with the course & see how she handles that.

That's something I hadn't thought of, I'll give it a shot next agility class and see how she does.


She was given a clean bill of health when she got her annual checkup and has always been completely healthy (figures she's the one that doesn't mind taking pills! :p ) I haven't had her hips checked though. She hasn't been through obedience, but she has a good recall, sit, stay, down and walks well on a leash which is part of the reason I hadn't really thought to put her through obedience. Her aggression comes from when she was a stray puppy. She's mellowed a lot, hence we have other dogs, but some dogs still trigger that, which is my fear. I've never been able to predict which dogs will.. I never considered that obedience might help.

[i_love_dogs_foreva_123]

well i think that you should wait 1 more week before putting her into agility but thats my opinion!. so mabey if i was someone else i would also say wait another month!!!!!! well yeah.