Agility training for a puppy???

So, I have a mutt puppy. He's a Lab mix. Probably the other breeds are Border Collie and the vet told me Great Pyrenees. No idea though, he's a super mystery mutt. He should be around 80 lbs full grown, if that. Should be kind of tall, and most likely pretty lean.

Anyway, he loves children and generally loves all people. He's learning to relax around children and I'm sure he'll be a calm, careful boy around them like my last Lab mix with time, patience, and training. He has a lot of energy and he's a very outgoing fella.

I have been looking at puppy classes for him lately as he's learning so well and they could add so much to his training if I got him into the correct ones. He LOVES to jump on things and over things and he LOVES to run. His legs are strengthening well and he's looking less goofy by the day.

He's smart as a tack, and sharp as a needle. I think he'd make a good agility dog, and that it would be a great outlet for him. I've never done anything like this EVER before. Can mutt dogs even do agility? Is it recommended at all?

I have another dog I'm caring for now, but she is over 8 years old and of course could never do anything like this, even though she moves really well for her age and birth defect. What might be a good class for her at this point in time? What would be the best way to have her if I decided to put him into classes?

Of course they won't be everyday and I'll be able to be home with her a lot still, but I'd like for her to be apart of something too. She's an older, kind of crabby GSD mix and really isn't well socialized at all, but I'd hate to put him into exciting classes and leave her at home for the few hours while we're away :/

I thought about schutzhund training for her, but I don't know if that's such a good idea. I thought it might help with her aggression and give her a bit of an outlet, but maybe it's going the wrong way? Thanks for any advice.

Also, I know this is going to be kind of expensive, but I've talked about it with my family and if it's not overkill, we're willing to try it out over a period of time.

This is the puppy BTW...





He is almost 17 weeks and he's 32 lbs and rather tall I think


And this is the GSD.. in case someone responds that doesn't already know me...





About 9 years old, about 60 Lbs now.

Hiya, I think, for the moment, it's important to concentrate on finding a good puppy class for Nigredo ASAP as he is the one who is developing and learning at a very fast pace. Seeing as Jade has been used to her own company a lot in the past few weeks a couple of hours while you are out at puppy classes isn't going to make that much of a difference to her especially if you leave her with something really interesting to do ....like a stuffed kong in her pen or even scatter her kibble far and wide in her pen...I think that would be an excellent idea for all her meals actually because it would make her pen more interesting and dogs love foraging for food. It stimulates their brain and tires them out. Now her crate is cleaned out it could be turned into an exciting and stimulating place for her to be while you are out at classes. ...things like digging pits, treat trees...all sorts of things!

Personally I don't believe any reputable class would allow Jade to start without the trainer/behaviourist meeting her first and assessing her needs. Finding out if she is really aggressive or if she is just frustrated and trying to play or nervous. If she is at all threatened by other dogs going into a class,muzzled or not, with othe dogs will be stressful for her and therefore make it difficult to learn. If you and you're parents are prepared to spend some money on her, as well as the time you are already, then I think a full behaviourists assessment from a properly qualified professional would be the way to move forward.

I saw a note on a previous thread of yours about walking. Really glad Jade is getting walked again but just wanted to add that it would be best if they were walked separately as any issues Jade has can very easily be passed on to a new pup. I know that that will be harder work for you but I see that you are trying to do what is best for them both under difficult circumstances with your family and would hate to see issues accidentally passed on to Nigredo.

Hi,
Of course you can do agility with a mutt! As long as the dog is healthy and not oversized, you can do it with any dog.
But you can't start agility with your puppy until he's one year old because he is still growing and jumps, climbs, weaves etc. could damage him if started too soon. The most important thing for him is now puppy socialisation and learning the basics.

If you think you want to start agility later in his life, start teaching him things like 'wait' and slowly build up more distractions. Heel and heel on the right are both very usefull as well, as is an impeccable recall. Start clicker training with him, it'll make teaching him agility stuff later a lot easier.
Of course there are some obstacles you can start training now: the tunnel, the table (if you have that in the US), the walk (put a big plank of wood on the floor and make him walk on it, a very small seasaw.

I wouldn't recommend Schutzhund with Jade, it's a sport that requires exceptional fitness from the dog, so she's probably a bit too old to start it. The jumps are quite high as well and I wouldn't recommend doing it with a dog that shows aggression.
You could do obedience with her, or just take her to fun classes where there is a lot of playing and rewarding. Start clicker training her, it's a great motivater for dogs.

I wish you all the best with your two dogs!

The UK agility rules are that no dog under 12 months is allowed to even train to jump, they are not allowed to compete under 18 months of age.

Before agility training comes obedience training as good control is required for agility.

Hi, everyone. Thanks for all the input. I was going to place Nigredo into puppy 1 classes at the local petsmart, but he's almost 17 weeks now and he'll be older than all the other puppies and they probably won't let him in now.

I'm going to start intensely looking around. I don't have a lot of money, but we're willing to pull things together if we can find something that seems beneficial for the dogs.

I do think that the dogs should be walked separately, but my mother is really not good with walking anymore and that duty was given solely to me.

I admit I am not in that good of physical shape and I can't possibly walk two dogs for the length that they both need if I have to walk them apart. Jade has become overweight and will need lengthier walks, and Nigredo is liking to walk longer as well.

I'll keel over, honestly! I'm 5'8" and 230 pounds, I'm not fit enough to walk THAT much because our roads have huge hills and I know that I just can't do it. I'm not sure what I'm going to do in that regard. I'll BEG my brother to help and I'll also have to shorten the walks and take them later so it won't be as hot.

BTW, I didn't want to compete, because I know that Nigredo will totally lose to dogs bred for agility and it won't even be contest if he's even allowed to compete. He's got big discombobulated paws and he can't win. It was just something I thought might be very fun to him.

Thanks again everyone. I'd really like for him to do agility when he gets old enough, I'm going to seriously look into it.

Well I don't think it mattes at all about winning or not and I expect you'll both love it when he's older. I haven't every done it for competition, just for fun and had a ball! Lots of falling over, laughing and bonding with your dog.

Something to look forward to in the future.

Just a note about walk length times, for larger breed types it is normally recommended that you don't walk them heavily as pups - it is quite easy to over exercise them and cause potential future joint damage - exactly the same reason is why agility shouldn't really be trained until they are a little older. An easy rule of thumb to follow is a minute per week of age ie in Nigredo's case he should only be getting 17 mins of walk.

Sorry! Posted before i was finished! You may also want to start with shorter walks with Jade too if she is as overweight as you say - much better to build it up slowly in cooler parts of the day than over stress her from the start.
If you slowly increase their walking length over time it will also be easier for you if you are unused to the distance - you'll be amazed how much progress you'll make

PS i seem to remember you posting that you were worried Nigredo might have HD? Am i remembering correctly? Have you had a vet's opinion on that as i would want to discuss with my vet about what they recommend walking length wise and certainly before taking him to agility in the future.

You're right. I took him to the vet and the vets looked at him closely and said everything looks fine. I have to get him X-rayed when he is a year to make sure. That's apparently the only time when he could begin anyway so I'm sure it'll all fall together. But he's strengthening pretty well and I really don't think he has it, or I'd of course never consider this. Thanks for the comment on the walking lengths.

Agility training requires a decent standard of basic training and a minimum age (for a dog of the adult size of yours) 18 months.

Jade needs specialist help rather than classes which I feel would be way too much for her right now. Whatever you do, steer clear of schuthund training for her - her aggression is uncontrolled and you are likely to create a time bomb with a dog her age and temperament.

Do not let Jade influence your puppy. Separate walks are a much so that pup doesn't pick up any bad habits.

Good luck