I’m going to a trial this weekend that I am crating out of my car because I’m bringing my puppy with. I am debating on brining a tent for the back of the suv since it it supposed to be 60s and raining off and on. Any opinions on this?

Hey everyone!

I am new to agility (I started training a few months ago), and with Christmas coming up I want to start making a list of gear needed for trials to give friends and family ideas.

I would love your suggestions on necessities, things you wish you had when you first started, helpful training tools, or unique items. I also want to get my dog and me a matching shirt/martingale leash with a personalized team name, so if you know of any companies or products you would recommend I would greatly appreciate this!

As I said, I am new to the sport and would appreciate all the help I can get in setting my dog and me up for success. Thank you in advance!

I’ve been doing group lessons with three people for over a year, and I want to get something for all of us at Christmas. I’ve thought about going with something like a customized mug from Etsy or something, but I’d like for it to be agility-specific if possible.

What would you be happy to receive in a situation like this?

Hey guys, Im about to get another dog - most likely an australian shepherd and i figured id get into agility with him. Does anyone have any good youtube channels i can look at to see the process from zero to competition? I have a general idea in mind but id like to learn more before the pup arrives

Just to clarify - i have a lot of experience training dogs and figured id dive into an area i didnt try yet. So far my dogs are fully off leash trained so this might be a fun outlet for both of us

Thanks!

I'm heading to my first NADAC trial this weekend (I do have experience with other venues though - AKC and UKI). This trial has the double run format which I understand means we get to run the same course twice. My question is: if my dog "Qs" on both attempts, does it count as two Qs, or just one since it was the same course?

Thanks in advance!

Hello all 🙂

I have an approximate 8 month old rescue boxer puppy.

My mother babysits my 2 year old nephew during the week who has a play tunnel similar to those used in dog agility. Somehow my nephew has accidentally taught my puppy how to go through the tunnel which is quite amusing since the tunnel is honestly a little small for his size. However this got me thinking he’d be a good candidate for agility. We would be doing this purely for fun, i’m not interested in doing any competitions or anything like that.

I started looking at some beginner agility courses that i could just set up in our yard, and upon some research i learned you shouldn’t let puppies jump hurdles or jump much in general. My question is does that apply to any height or just very tell heights? Would it be okay to start training him on a very low hurdle or altogether wait until he is a year old.

If i need to wait until he is 1 year old, what are some other things i could start him on?

Thanks in advance for any advice 🙂

I have a puppy (9 weeks old) with 3 feet. He is extremely smart, and high energy. He is do amazing with his basic obedience, wobble bord, plank lying on the ground. I would LOVE to continue his training. My question is can we enter competitions? Agility was never on my radar until this little fellow. He loves it and I love training with him! Any help/advice for a newbie would be great appreciated!

I’ve never participated in agility but I’ve watched it many times. I was at a training center today and had a chance to watch agility training and my impression was this particular dog and handler team were pretty advanced. However, the entire time from start to finish this dog barked nonstop. I’m not even sure how he took a breath because he was barking so much. I am just curious if this is something that most people would try to nip in the bud early on with training? I don’t think I would be able to deal with it personally because I don’t like excessive barking… but then I wondered if this is just something certain dogs do and it comes with a territory in such a high-excitement sport?

My pup and I signed up for our first ever agility trial with NADAC. We've been in and out of agility classes for a couple years so thought we'd try it out! We are doing intro jumpers and intro regular. I have no idea what to expect! Do you get to warm up with the dog before? Or just walk the course yourself? How much time do you have between runs? Can you use treats outside of the arena? ...I guess my question is what to expect day of? Any tips?

Also- is it true no collars allowed in the ring?

Can someone fill me in about how the wicket height measuring process works? At any event for agility (I’m assuming most) where a dog needs to be measured. My dog is VERY nervous and fearful of a stranger touching her. It would be okay if I did it. I’ve tried googling rules or videos to see the process without a lot of luck.

Also, for NADAC it looks like you can be measured 3 times at 3 events for a permanent height card-do you have to be competing to be measured, or could I go to one not intending to trial so if she freaks out, it’s okay?

Thank you!

Hey all, just wanted to recommend an online class for training the teeter (seesaw). I've taken this class twice already with two small dogs and their teeter is great!

Here is the link if you are interested. FYI, you will need a Facebook account to take the class, and you need to have access to an adjustable height teeter.

https://www.facebook.com/liz.randall.585/posts/pfbid026xSL1bjBaAD7RwpDg8Lf2DHvgUzv9ixPuKgoe622qywdarFnqfmrBUenMcM99Vkbl

Hey everyone! I’m looking to raise a casual sport puppy, within the next year. I’m a little conflicted on the breed I want and also concerned about my full time job. My first thought was a border collie as I’ve been dying for one since I was 11. I’m worried and just don’t want to be unable to meet my dog’s needs, and don’t want to put a dog into that. I still will have more than enough time, but I just need to find out my new work schedule. Some breeds I just adore include Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, and Shelties. My friend has a MAS, but she’s a bit smaller than I’d like. I do just want a dog smaller than 50 pounds, ideally. I also want a dog with an eager to please personality, and handler centered. I just want my priorities in the correct places, and want a dog that I’m able to fulfill’s needs. Please, if anyone has any recommendations for breeds, and advice with raising a puppy with working at a full time job. I’m willing to take up to a week and a half off work, when the puppy first comes home. Anything is greatly appreciated! TIA!

Hi all, I'm level one in CPE and I really enjoy how friendly it is to newbies. My training facility is hosting UKI and USDAA trials soon and I'm wondering what the differences are if any. I'm not even sure I want to join another organization. Any thoughts?

I have a 15 month old Manchester Terrier who is shaping up okay. I'm trying to plan out my 2025 calendar and trying to determine what type of events and orgs I should use to get her trial exposure. I feel like it's all swimming a bit above my head. She has a decent grip on all obstacles but we're working through some teeter anxiety right now (she banged a little loud one day and so we regressed). She has a solid 6 weaves and has 12 weaves but we haven't had a ton of time on them since I only have 6 at home.

What orgs and events do you enter for first time trial experience (for both of us!)?

Does someone know any exercises to do for a 5 month old puppy? Which is going to be helpful later in agility

Hi all,

I have a mini poodle who is going to be my agility dog when he’s full grown. He is 6 months today. I’m seeking advice. Perhaps it’s something you wish you started sooner. Or perhaps it’s something you wish you did not do. Any tips for my prospect agility dog would be greatly appreciated.

Ps: we have done the basics for training. Leash training, sit & down stays, place, and he requires a release word to walk out doorways etc. He’s a good boy, and we practice almost daily

I have a young (2.25-2.75 years), drivey, biddable rescue mix who an absolutely loves agility. However she also loves every single person she’s ever met, especially new people. We’ve been trialing with her since April in low levels of CPE to work on confidence in the ring. Mix of training and regular runs depending on her mood. It’s been generally going well. Typical young dog issues of some over excitement and tunnel suck when she gets too far ahead of me. No problem to work through.

She had a visiting problem at the beginning, but with toys and more experience her visiting went down a lot pretty quickly to visiting the judge maybe once and maybe one ring crew person a weekend and returning very quickly. We recently rescued a new dog. She hasn’t fully accepted him yet (good in neutral territory), still working through a slow introduction at home. Well we went to a trial this past weekend and my young dog was visiting like I’ve never seen before. Sprinting to every ring crew person, jumping on someone’s lap (thankfully she’s only 20 lbs), bouncing between the score table, leash runner, and everyone else she can find. It wasn’t even this bad at the beginning. Training in the ring helped a bit, but only with recall, not with visiting. I feel like this is probably motivated by jealousy over the new dog since it’s such a different manifestation of behavior. As such I’m not really sure what the best steps are to address this behavior. Any advise of how to nip this behavior in the bud? Or is it just going to take time?

What we tried:

• Crating the new dog and our oldest dog in a quiet corner of the building and letting the youngin hang out in her usual spot (helped a bit in terms of her overall mood but not the visiting)

• Training in the ring with a tug (improved recall from people and improved visiting behavior around start line but no change in behavior once she starts running)

• Making a course that was pretty much a hyper loop between tunnels and the aframe with a jump or two in between for one of the games since those are her favorite obstacles (only thing that kept her from visiting during a run but also not helpful since we were trying to work on better control about not sucking to the a-frame and tunnels every time she sees them before the visiting regression)

from your experiences which breed would you prefer for this discipline? what are the positive and negative characteristics of both breeds?