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toobendy
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02-07-2012, 01:21 AM

Wheelchair agility - is it possible?

i would love to try agility with poppy my bedlington x whippet but as a wheelchair user i wonder whether this would be possible? does anyone know of any wheelchair users who do agility with their dogs?

i know i would be slow because i can't move the wheelchair very fast especially on grass but i would be doing it for fun & to exercise poppy rather than wanting to compete. i'm really not sure though how i would get her to do things like go through tunnels as i suspect she would only do that to start with if i crawled through first to show her it was ok & it would have to be a big tunnel for the wheelchair to fit through
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Ben Mcfuzzylugs
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02-07-2012, 01:46 AM
Yes there are people who do agility from a wheelchair - obviously training is a bit different - but a fun challange

and you can scrunch the tunnel up really short and call her tru without having to fit into the tunnel - trust me, the number of dogs who pee in there no way would I crawl inside
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toobendy
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02-07-2012, 01:47 AM
brilliant i'll have to see where i can find somewhere to give her a go
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moetmum
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02-07-2012, 06:38 AM
Good luck, let us know how you get on. I am sure that someone would help with the bits you couldn't do in the training.
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Fivedogpam
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02-07-2012, 07:02 AM
Yes, there are a couple that I know of who do compete. I would think you would need to find a sympathetic trainer who would be prepared to get 'hands on' to show your dog what to do while you practised the commands but it is possible. The more you could get your dog to do it at a distance the better. If you weren't competing it wouldn't really matter if the dog took the wrong course! Good luck.
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Chris
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02-07-2012, 07:11 AM
One you have direction control, you'll have a ball doing agility. A good instructor will teach the dog the obstacles that it struggles with to get over the initial wariness of some of the obstacles, from there all you need is to direct the dog over, through etc.

Have fun - that what it's all about (or should be)
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toobendy
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02-07-2012, 12:16 PM
i've watched agility plenty of times & have for a long time thought i'd like to give it a go, it looks like great fun. poppy will i think really enjoy it & won't run off to attack any other dog she sees like old tiger probably would! i probably won't be able to get anywhere to give it a go until social services reassess my care plan because i can usually only get anywhere on a wednesday at the moment so i always have a long list of places i want to go, things i want to do. i have things planned already for every wednesday this month. hopefully i'll be able to convince social services that i do need to have transport at least twice a week then me & poppy will have more chane of being able to get somewhere to give it a go
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Ben Mcfuzzylugs
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02-07-2012, 12:47 PM
this lady is in the UK - perhaps you could have a chat with her?

and a little different - a dog in a wheelchair doing agility - brings a little tear to my eyes
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toobendy
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02-07-2012, 12:58 PM
brilliant. i do have a powerchair but unfortunately because i needed something quite substantial so it could manage the big hill i lived on but i also didn't have tens of thousands of pounds i ended up getting a powerchair that could manage the hill but doesn't fit in the car although even it did fit in the car i'd need a hoist fitted in my mums car & both my carers cars which would be even more expense. so i'd have to use manual wheelchair which would make things trickier. i think though if it can be done from a powerchair it should be possible from a manual wheelchair, more difficult yes but still possible
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Baxter8
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14-09-2012, 08:22 AM
I attended agility last night and there was a young woman in a wheelchair with her tiny little dog - seemed to work perfectly well.

The centre at which agility is run is within a disabled riding centre so is very wheelchair friendly.

Originally Posted by toobendy View Post
i would love to try agility with poppy my bedlington x whippet but as a wheelchair user i wonder whether this would be possible? does anyone know of any wheelchair users who do agility with their dogs?

i know i would be slow because i can't move the wheelchair very fast especially on grass but i would be doing it for fun & to exercise poppy rather than wanting to compete. i'm really not sure though how i would get her to do things like go through tunnels as i suspect she would only do that to start with if i crawled through first to show her it was ok & it would have to be a big tunnel for the wheelchair to fit through
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