Weaves with puppies, young dogs

Ive read threads which say pups should not do weaves until older.
I understand jumps can harm joints and tendons.
What is the main issue with full weaves.
Joining a club soon, so will get future guidance, which I will need as my cocker is only 20 weeks now.

I wouldn't again unneccesary strain on the muscles and joints at that age - its not the most natural thing for a dog to do at all.

I would only really be happy doing tunnels and poles on the ground i.e. through the wings only. Possibly a low plank so they get used to that.

Its just not worth risking the dog.

Agility clubs normally have waiting lists and I wouldn't expect any club to take on any dog under 12 months and in some larger breeds (slow maturing).

Although some run puppy classes but I would be very careful on what they pup does.

good luck and have fun

Thanks
Its just you think, start when flexible.
It will be a puppy class , continuing with the basic training.
Low level not competition based.

Weaving is definately not a natural thing for a dog to be doing, it would put too much strain on growing dogs with the twisting and bending that is required. Here i a pic of 1 of my dogs weaving.


My puppy is 5 months old and the only agility thing she has done so far is the tunnel, I probably won't even start doing poles on the ground for another 3 - 4 months. She will be the 5th dog I have trained to do agility, there is no rush.

Yes , it seems slowly slowly for best results.
Plenty to be doing to get good consistent control.
Thanks everybody

Crackin' shot!

Thanks, there are plenty more where that came from!

Assuming that you had the facilities to work your dog at home so no issues with clubs dictating ages there is no reason you couldn't theoretically send your dog through open channel weaves before 12 months BUT

and this is the biggy

you would be unwise to close them up such that the dog was flexing his spine through them before he was mature (i.e. 12 months ish) so you could get the basics done but what do you do then? IME it does them no favours to stay on completely open weaves for a massively long length of time as they don't really learn what the weaves are about then.

Jump-wise there's no reason you couldn't do send ons to a target over poles on the ground and work through tunnels and over a slightly raised plank (I'm talking a few inches off the ground here) to get the other basics in place earlier (assuming you had the facilities) as long as you kept it to short fun sessions and play based as opposed to work remembering that you have a baby not an adult and concentration span isn't long.

Certainly I don't let people run dogs at my club below 12 months unless it's someone I know well that I know will keep it to all very low impact stuff but generally people are so keen to progress that they do more than a pup can cope with, hence the 12 month limit.

The occasional places do puppy pretraining classes but it's not something thats easy to incorporate into normal beginner (adult dog) training easily unless you are training LOTS of dogs and as such can devote a session purely to pups.

i agree

.. directions and contacts can be taught pre to classes and body awareness

BUT with the emphasis on fun for the dog always and only short sessions.

I really really can't stress this enough as you are basically working with a baby.