Agility questions

First of, I'll start from the very beginning :P

As soon as me and Amber got our dog Zuko (a JRT mix) we knew we wanted to train him in agility. The agility class they had in my hometown (I'm half and half living there now) required the dogs to be a year old so of course we waited.

Well by the time Zuko was a year old me and Amber were out of our part time job as the company we worked for (Woolworths) went into administration.
We both had a lot of money saved so technically could still afford classes but I like to have a safety cushion for vet bills etc. Also I wanted somewhat of a social life being a teenager.

Now we can finally afford to have him trained in agility but he's now almost 3 years old?
I know that's still young so I'm gathering age shouldn't be an issue but does anyone think this will affect his learning performance at all?

Also, I don't really care for competing, we mainly want to do it to give Zuko more stimulation and, well, because it will be a new hobby for us.
We were thinking of buying some equipment to train him ourselves. He already knows how to jump obstacles and we both love a challenge in training, so any advice on the best way to train him with agility obstacles?

Thanks in advance! :3

My dogs are 6 and 11 they are still learning.................

Agility is not all about jumping, it is about obedience, maintaining contacts, self control, turning left and right on command etc.

I know that, I was just saying that we have already taught him to jump so was just wanting to know how abouts we can go teaching him the other obstacles.

And obedience is definitely an added bonus to training him in agility as, I'm an honest owner, and he's not perfect with obedience :P

you go to a class with 'proper' agility trainers

3 definately isn't too old to start agility as long as he's fit and healthy. Even if you don't plan on competing I would still recommend you go to classes to learn the correct way to do all the obstacles, if not trained correctly they can cause an injury (eg dog falling off dogwalk, I've seen dogs literally catapault themselves over the top of the a-frame and land in a heap at the bottom as they haven't been trained it correctly, even the jumps).

Even if I just want to do it for fun?
Like I said I have no intention in competing :P

I might maybe ask the kennel manager at my Uni if we can use her equipment

Also, I do know how to train dogs. Half the course I'm studying is based around animal behaviour specifically that of dogs.

Ahh that's good then
He's a slow learner anyway but we'll see how he does :P

I don't plan on doing the frames anyway but i do plan on jumps. So I'll either look into classes for summer or I'll ask the kennel manager at my Uni to help out .
We have some agility equipment at my Uni so maybe they'll let me use that before I go out and buy my own.

Thanks

please go to classes..yes even for fun.
injuries are easy to happen...and lots of people get 'too keen' too early on.
you may know how to train certain things but that does not mean you know how to agility,which done wrong is dangerous.
and soz,but what does your behavior course have to do with teaching agility

I probably will go to classes, don't want to risk injuring my doggy

Well obviously we don't have a module 'how to teach your dog agility', it's not that specific
All I'm saying is that I know how dogs learn and I know all the various training methods (positive reinforcement being the best method I think and seeing as this is used to train agility dogs . . .)

I think I've been slightly misunderstood with my intentions.

I find its best to do it properly even just for fun - its safer that way and means if you get the bug then you dont have to retrain

Great about your course - agility is a little different
When people talk about training for that most of it is training you both so you know how to position your body and understand where he will be going and stuff
Its alot about training you both to work together