[Maddie]

Hi there everyone. I thought I'd repost some picces of my lovely choccie doing some agility cos I'm soooo proud of her!

We've been training offically since last October. Our club in St Gaudens is hosting a round of the Agility Grand Prix de France this weekend which is only open to dogs who have qualified as it is what they call a "selectif". My instructor has asked me if Coco and I would like to enter as a "chien en blanc" a special dispensation to allow an entry for a dog who has never competed before! British labbies are on the up!!! :lol:

 

[frodosmom]

hi maddie....

I loved the pics...yes labs can do it... but i read earlier that agility training can be introduced after completing 2 years... can you shed some light here

Thanks

 

[Maddie]

Hi there
Not sure exactly what you mean by introducing agility training after completing two years but you certainly would not consider doing any form of agility (unless all ground work - weaves, tunnels etc but NO JUMPS or climbing) until you're labbie was fully developed. You can't compete (with any breed) until a dog is at least 12 months in some countries and 18 months in others.
Coco is 3 ithis July and we didn't even start thinking about it until she was well over 2, mostly because she had a nasty hock injury when she was 5 months old and I was not sure if she would cope. With a lot of TLC and a brilliant doggie chirpractor she's up and running - literally.
It is great fun - and good exercise for both of us. We do it for fun not competition - we can never realistically compete against the "formula one" agility dogs (collies :x ). Do you have a dog training club near you that you could go along and watch? I know it's a popular sport but certainly more so in some parts of the world than others. In France it is popular but you'll see classes in competitions limited to around 65 dogs whereas in the UK there will be 100s of dogs in each class.
Nicola :lol:

 

[frodosmom]

Hi Nicola....

Firstly i live in Mumbai ( India )... and my Frodo is 6 months

I asked you this is coz Frodo is quite atheletic he loves to Run amd Jump... The jumping does scare me coz of all hip related problems associated with big breeds...

I checked we sadly do have any agility training clubs except for the Police Dogs 8) ..... and there are no agility shows here in India.....

It was just a gut feeling coz frodo loves to run run run run run.....I sadly cannot follow the golden rule of "5 min walk for every month"...The boy does not know to walk he can only run.... :roll:

Thanks

 

[Maddie]

Hi Vidhya
I saw you lived in India and kind of thought you may have problems finding an organised agility club but did not like to assume.
I know how hard it is with the 5 minute thing. Coco's problem happened at home, playing with my other dog. We lived in an "upside down" house at the time - living space and kitchen upstairs and bedrooms and front door downstairs. They used to hare up and down the stairs and one day she crashed into the front door and squealed. I took her to the vets and he gave us pain killers and said crate rest for 2 weeeks! She had a bump appear on her hock which went hard so we had an x-ray. Turns out bood had formed in a pocket under the sheath which protect the bones and had calcified. We went to see a speacialist orthopaedic vet who said he would operate if we wanted to show her as the calcified lump would stop her leg growing straight and it would twist out slightly. We decided againt the op (she was fully insured so the cost was not a problem) but she is a pet, first and foremost, and any operations on joints can cause major problems later in life (arthritis etc) as the vet told us. The leg does twist out slightly now she is fully grown and we go to see a chiropractor when we can for a massage and a bit of manipulation but it now does not worry her one jot!
I don't think it is necessarily running per se that's the problem, it's uncontrolled running - all the jinking and twisting about that they do when they go mad - that's the problem. I wish I'd been more careful but these things happen.
Take care and give Frodo a big hug from us!

 

[homer]

cant c the pix

 

[Maddie]

cant c the pix

Steph, here's some new ones for you - Coco lovin' it at home. :lol:

She's not exactly elegant!

See saw

Back view!

Flying labbie

Hoopla!

 

[LouLou]

Wow they are lovely pics, She looks like she really enjoys it. I want to get Lucy into agility, as shes quite energetic and bouncy.

 

[Maddie]

Just make sure Lucy's fully mature, joint wise, before you do (at least 12 months probably nearer 18 months). Coco started at 2 but only by accident chasing my other dog over the jumps at home! I never intended to do agility with her as she's really not the right build at all (a tank!). It is huge fun though, and we train at a French club and get involved in all sorts of fun things - from competitions and displays to carnival parades!!

 

[mellymel]

There are great pictures! She looks like she is having a fab time!
Good luck for the Grand Prix!!!!!!!

 

[homer]

thanx maddie they r graet pix :lol: I'm hopeing to get homer started on ailty but my dad says he needs more obediance training first :roll: well f he's gunna pay then we'll take him lol :lol: :lol:

 

[Maddie]

Obedience is pretty crucial for agility as it's all off lead and in competition there's no collar allowed, no treats, no toys and no touching your dog either!

Obedience classes should not cost much. My old UK club charges just ~25 pounds for a course of 7 classes

 

[homer]

we were only thinking of doing it for fun has he has lots of energy to burn off haha :lol:

 

[Briar]

Its great to see another choccie in action!

I've been doing agility with my choccie for about 2 years. We do a few competitions, mainly the unaffiliated ones, but recently she got a 2nd in an affilated competition. 8) It's a huge achievement for her as I'll never expect her to be as fast as the collies! She's a solid girl from show lines.

I've also got a black lab who does a bit of agility. She's from working lines and has the speed to rival a lot of collies, but I don't compete with her as she doesn't enjoy it as much as at training club. At a show she looses all her concentration as there's so much going on around her. However, send her to retrieve a dummy and nothing distracts her. Ah well....she can't excel at everything! :lol:

 

[Briar]

Its great to see another choccie in action!

I've been doing agility with my choccie for about 2 years. We do a few competitions, mainly the unaffiliated ones, but recently she got a 2nd in an affilated competition. 8) It's a huge achievement for her as I'll never expect her to be as fast as the collies! She's a solid girl from show lines.

I've also got a black lab who does a bit of agility. She's from working lines and has the speed to rival a lot of collies, but I don't compete with her as she doesn't enjoy it as much as at training club. At a show she looses all her concentration as there's so much going on around her. However, send her to retrieve a dummy and nothing distracts her. Ah well....she can't excel at everything! :lol:

 

[Labshack]

I know of a good agility club here in Derbyshire - I think they actually won in the team events at crufts the last 2 years - I want to get Oscar in there as it looks great fun but being only 19mths I'm working on his obedience for the time being waiting til he's over 2

 

[Maddie]

Shelley

Trying combining the two! Agility is a great way of reinforcing the obedience commands and adding new ones in a fun way. Also it helps to get used to getting your dog to respond to commands in an atmosphere where there may be more distractions. Many of my old UK pals used to do both agility and obedience with their dogs at the same time. Just be aware that some clubs take the agility VERY seriously and not just as a fun activity for you to spend time playing/working/teaching your dog. At my club in France it's all done for fun and the competitions are a bit of a bonus or day out. There's a lot less pressure that way.

Above all, have FUN, FUN, FUN!!!!

 

[Labshack]

Yeah I know what you mean - I won't allow it if either one of us doesn't enjoy it - I was just waiting because I want to be sure his hips/elbows won't suffer as a result - I know we can just start off with the basics but knowing Oscar he'll be jumping through hoops and over anything around - I just don't want to be telling him not to do something I'll later be asking him to do .. he is very enthusiastic! With loads of energy

 

[Maddie]

I think he should be fine now at 19 months without problem. Many club start out on lower fences/obstacles for novices. In France a "standard" dog (a category C dog) only has to jump 2 feet fences which is the new rule coming into the UK I think. At the moment many clubs jump 2ft 6 inches. Regardless he should have no difficulty at all. The only reason Coco does is because she had this odd hock injury which means she drags one hind leg and usually knows over the fences if she is going too fast or not concentrating. I have to admit to ot being half as strict with her exercising when she was young as I should have done (and she did stairs like a maniac from about 4 months as we lived in an upsidedown house). Her hips and elbows have all been checked and are fine (3/4 hips and 0 elbows). She started agility at about 22 months.

 

[weelass]

where can i find out about agility classes in my area (aberdeen), my yellow lab is still young yet but it would be nice to introduce her to it when shes abit older, i think with the personality she has it would be something she would really enjoy.