On Puppy Agility

Caution is certainly important when it comes to pups and agility and I think that I started Fergus too young (14 months?) in big dog agility classes.

BUT, I do like playing puppy safe agility games with puppies to help them learn how to find their feet. Everything should be safe and fun. I really like tunnels, chutes, rocking boards, ladders, dogwalks that are flat on the ground (so around 2 inches high) and ground poles. I also really like getting pups used to different surfaces -- wire mesh, tarps, sand, water, and so forth -- though that isn't strictly an agility skill.

And, go outs, targeting, working on my left and my right in front of and behind me, directions, recalls, fast downs, stays, are also great. (Hendy mentioned some of these in her great puppy article on the web.) As are getting your pup excited about working for toys, teaching your pup to calm instantly and then get wired again, and to focus when really revved up.

I also like to do body awareness exercises: TTouch body wraps, backing up, teaching a pup to move each foot individually.

My feeling, and this is just my feeling, is that Leos grow so much, so fast that they generally have no clue where their parts are. I don't want to teach them "here is where your butt is" as their butt won't be there tomorrow, much less next week. I do, however, want them to be able to think "where are my body parts? Ah yes, there they are." IMHO, lack of body awareness has the potential to lead to lack of confidence.

So, I do like baby puppy agility classes where they use puppy safe obstacles, don't ask for precision, and keep it fun. Where its all about getting used to being on different surfaces, and interacting in different ways with objects. What I don't like is the fact that some of these classes seem to lead to folks going from puppy to "real" agility too fast.

With my next Leo, I plan on doing puppy kindergarten, pre-agility (no obstacles), baby agility (baby obstacles) and then no more agility classes until my dog is at least 2 years old. I'll take him to agility run throughs for socialization and to play in tunnels. I'll continue to do body awareness exercises and agility games with him. But, I will likely avoid agility classes, until my Leo is done growing. The reason for this is that in my experience, most agility classes aren't really set up for a giant breed adolescent and most agility instructors don't have a solid understanding of giant breed adolescents. If you repeat the same class level over and over, odds are you and your dog will get bored. If you advance, you might be pushing your pup too fast. Even though a beginner class might be just fine for a young Leo, the classes after that might not, and because I know myself I know that I'd be better off not taking any class beyond puppy classes until I'm sure that my Leo and I will be ready to stick with it.

Now, I say all this from the perspective of a person who views agility less as something I'll ever compete in, and more as a tool to teach body awareness, to work with my dog in a fun setting, and to cross train my dogs. My feeling is that agility games, puppy obstacles, and foundation behaviors for agility are great things for all dogs to learn. But, with a giant breed, you've also got to be cautious.

Samantha Burton, November 2001