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Location: UK
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 7,723
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I was mainly commenting for other people who may be reading this - I dont know what you are doing - and that is up to you
But other people reading this may try and rush their dogs into agility thinking it is OK
and of course the actual learning of the obsticles takes no time at all in the great big scheme of things so if they start with a 6 month old pup on lowered contacts how soon before the pup is up to full speed and they are tempted to put them contacts up?? and the jumps?? and of course if you dont start closing the channels then you are just teaching the dog to run past poles so lets close them up a bit
I know what you are saying about normal playtime, but I also know in normal playtime my dogs start and stop and rest for themselves - If they think I want them to do something then they would keep on going without letting me know they are tired - cos they are working - also when they are playing they are choosing where they want to go not having to put up with me sometimes giving unclear directions so they end up turning faster then they would normaly
If I was starting again with a puppy I would have so much to train it on handling and stuff that there wouldnt be a need to put it on the obsticles before it had finnished growing
As I said, what you do is up to you - you know the extent of your training - but for someone just starting out in agility with their first dog then it is important to point out that you should be vvvvv careful of growing joints