These are probably silly questions...

[Abby142]

But i am going to ask them anyway!

I am thinking of doing some agility with Jade starting in the spring (we will be moving very close to a club that teaches basic agility classes) but I had some questions.

First, I don't plan on competing with her, this will mostly be for fun. But if she proves herself to be total natural can she still compete if she has been spayed?

I know that you cannot have their hips/elbows certified until they are two years old, but does that mean that we can't do agility until she is two? or do we just have to avoid jumps? She will be about 1 yr old when we start.

I have always wanted to do something fun with Jade, but I just started to think about agility a few weeks ago. Thought I would share the story that lead me to this decision

So Jade hates it when I go up into the attic, she will stand at the bottom of the ladder and just whine and whine until I come down, even if I never take me feet off the ladder. She is fine when I normally leave a room, or leave her side, but for some reason she does not like the attic! Anyway, I was putting empty Christmas decoration boxes away a few weeks ago. I wasn't even stepping of the ladder, just climbing up, tossing in the box, and climbing down. I was adjusting the last box and I could hear Jade whining below me. I told her to hush and continued on with what I was doing. I heard a strange noise and thought she was biting on the ladder, so I turned around to tell her to stop, and there she was half way up the ladder! her back feet where two rungs off the ground!! I was speechless. I gently told her to get down and she just hopped off and I climbed down. I had no idea she was such a little monkey! So after that I did some research into different sports and thought that agility was something that she would probably enjoy. so here we are!

[JakodaCD OA]

silly girl)

And YES you can compete if Jade is spayed, better to anyway, you don't have to worry about entering a trial and her coming into heat and having to drop out

You are not starting to early, a good trainer will keep jumps/contact equipment low while learning and as they progress raise them up. So as long as things are 'low' at this age she should be fine.

You can also xray at around 18 months (don't have to send into OFA if you don't wish to),,and get an idea how she is structurally,,I xray all my dogs, to know how things stand and also for future reference if something crops up..

Don't just xray hips, do elbows/knees/shoulder/spine as well, (they are already knocked out might as well do the whole thing

Good luck and HAVE FUN, you'll be bitten by the agility bug I'm sure

[Verivus]

There's no such thing as starting too early, just find a good trainer. In the beginning it's a lot of groundwork/foundation training anyway. It will take a while before you actually progress to the equipment.

[MaggieRoseLee]

Originally Posted by Verivus

There's no such thing as starting too early, just find a good trainer. In the beginning it's a lot of groundwork/foundation training anyway. It will take a while before you actually progress to the equipment.

I started agility also just for fun, beware it is addictive .

Even if you think you won't compete, its still best to go to a class with instructors who do because they will be the most aware of safety issues as well as progressing at the right speed to mix the handling skills WE need with the equipment skills our dogs need to learn.

I spay all my dogs and that is not a factor either. So find some great classes then go and have fun!

Then take tons of photos/video of class so we can see here!

[Kyleigh]

Well, you got all your questions answered ... and I just wanted to add two things:

never think it's a silly question ... you don't know the answer, best to ask instead of doing harm

HAVE A BLAST!!!!

[Abby142]

Thanks guys! I am really pretty excited about the whole thing and can't wait till we can start!

I'll be sure to post an update with some pictures when we get going!