Wow, well done Ben.

Julie and Teddy

patch
I know what you are saying and I totaly agree
I should have made that more clear
Ben started training at 10 months in an introduction to agility class - for young dogs - he starts begginers agility class in a couple of weeks
The poles were on the floor as were the contact equipment
The weaves are in a channel and we have only started slowly leading through the weaves to get them used to what they are like
Most of the training has been start line stays, send aways and turns - more about handling positions for me
Over the course of the 2 months we have built up to Ben on the lowest jump setting and lowered contacts
I also do not train him during the week at all - no drilling we go to a class once a week for 45 min
There are 6 other dogs there so we run over a wee setup of say a couple of low jumps and a turn then we watch the others run - then build up from there

My trainer said we could try the comp really just to see how he did with the atmosphere and all the dogs
if it was too much I would have taken him out right away
the classes were split up and we were in with the grade 1's
But we ran in the small class - so low jumps
We both thought this would be best - Ben is going to measure as a large dog so the lowest setting is well below his elbow which on the recearch I have done is supposed to be OK for a year old smallish dog
There were no weaves and the contacts were lowered as well
each run lasted less than 1 min and there was lots of time between them where I spent quiet time with Ben
THere was jumping, agility, circular jumping and circular agility - but like I say all v low and short bursts

I should have made the point
No way do I condone drilling a puppy or starting them too young
I spent a long time looking for a good trainer and we train on horse arenas on v soft floors
I do NOT in any way drill my dog and do repititions or anything
I am not pushing my dog to compeate or anything - he enjoyed himself, he did the jumps because he is v good and focused on me - not because he has been drilled over and over again what to do

I apreciate your concerns for the dogs and I do understand them
I really do not feel that I am pushing my dog or forcing him 45 min once a week for something he loves - but I am willing to listen and take on board if someone thinks I am doing wrong

Ben is my 1st dog and I am trying to do the best by him - hence why I am paying lots of money to go to the best trainer I can (who is aiming for us to have out dogs properly competing in about a year or more - she is not pushing us at all to get ahead of ourselves)


The main reason I am so proud of his as that he has acheived this fantastic result with hardly any training
Not because I have forced a dog on to compeate when he is underage
I have no plans to enter him in anything else till the end of the summer


I really hope you dont think I am hurting my dog
I know everyone is entiteled to their own oppininon but I have taken all the advice I can from people who have actually seen my dog - I know I am a total novice at everything here so I know I need help - I dont want to hurt him but at the same time I dont agree with the people who keep their dogs in a glass box till they turn 1 and then drill drill drill without building up the muscles - surley it is better to build up slowly??

Thank you Ben Mcfuzzylugs, you have certainly put my mind at rest
Thank you for such a great response, for not taking my post the wrong way, and for giving the level of details which people reading who have a pup and are considering agility can take on board about the do`s and dont`s of agility with young pups
I feel its very important that anyone who does agility should not portray anything about it which suggests its ok to `try this at home` when its something which could cause problems, as not everyone can get to a club so are reliant on what they can pick up from books, video`s, or what`s written on forums so all of us in agility have a `duty of care`, [ imo ], to help people who are new to it or want to try it, to start off the right way - and your response reflects that duty of care very nicely


Absolutely - no matter what age of dog people have when starting agility with me, [ no impact stuff at all before 12 months and longer than that for large / slow physically maturing dogs ], everything is taken slowly and steadily to gradually build up, I don`t do drilling anyway, and I don`t believe in getting dogs up to full height asap then training on that height only forever more, [ like some clubs do ], and certainly not having dogs do higher than they need to or thinking its ok to have pups weaving too young because it does`nt involve jumping type impact - I even know of one club which has small dogs doing Large height which is stoopid enough and worse even, that`s over fixed plank jumps and most of the equipment there is`nt even to standard specs, but how are people new to agility supposed to know that the trainer is a complete numpty, [ I`ve spoken to him - he`s as much of a plank as what he has people`s dogs jumping over ].

My apologies if you felt at all that I was suggesting you would knowingly harm your lad, it`s not a case of that, its just that people new to agility have to trust in their trainers because they don`t know what`s what when starting out, [ new students I mean ], but you have allayed my worries there and have given great information for readers - I`m so glad I brought it up and that you responded in such a positive way

To be honest I was expecting a very defensive reaction which unfortunately can happen when anyone does`nt understand that when people like me stick our beaks in it`s only because of having so much teaching experience and caring about new people coming in to agility starting off the right way, so I really appreciate that you could understand where I was coming from

Hey no probs
I know you love dogs and only want the best for them - and you are a good trainer
I understand what you mean about other people reading here
I didnt think - and as I havent been to any other shows I just thought that grade 1 didnt have weaves and was over lower contacts
but I now see that as it was a fun comp our trainer was making up her own rules - and as she was setting the course she was able to advice us that we were up to the level for her course

I was v careful to find a trainer that seems to know what they are doing cos I know that just about anyone can set themselves up as a agility trainer

http://clearrunagility.co.uk/
is who I train with and she has a whole section on what she thinks of training young dogs
and I have also seen her send away dogs when they are not mentaly mature enough for the training

and yup I am not for getting up to full height quickly - with Carol we are taking our time - and for me anyway it makes sense for you to not stick at the same height all the time - I would prefer for the dog to have to look at whats infront of him rather than getting used to jumping the same height all the time
(anyway running in the woods is going to make up far more of his life than agility ever will and he has to look at the logs on the ground and not assume they are all KC size (not that I make him jump or encourage him to do so - but a dog on zoomiess!!))

and thankyou for explaining there - I was a bit confused that you were thinking I was going to be angry at your post - but I can understand that plenty of times we all meet nastyness or defensivness when we only mean well
I hope I am always learning and never think I know it all and dont need to listen to someone elses point of view - espech when that point of view only has my boy and other peoples pups health at heart

Sorry - I totaly missed you!! bad me
and I was not forgetting molly - she has the perfect face for mooching and I think she mangaged to sneak quite a few treats too
But Roxy and Ben just made such a good double act
and yup whatever Roxy is she is great - sweetest little bundle but it is fun to try and guess what is in them, I am pretty sure from how Ben reacted to his 1st collie that his mum was a collie - so interesting to think what his dad was - and how he got his wicked way with his mum (she must have given him a stepladder )
I love the collie crouch - there is a border jack here who does that and it is sooo cute in a non collie
Ben is too busy trying to decide to roll on his back, wag his tail in their face or jump in there face that he usually ends up upside down in a kinda c shape with tail and head facing the other dog

Have to get my camera found for a play date with Ben and your 2 - should be fun to watch

If I`d known that was where you train I would`nt have worried - that club has a really good reputation for training ethics

Mind you, if I had`nt worried we would`nt have had such a lovely informative discussion covering such important points and others would`nt have the benefit of the wise way you have been taught which you have expressed so well

I tried to give you reppies for your previous post by the way but I have to spread some around first, darn it, but the thought and intent was there

Wonderful keep it up.