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Too old to start?

4K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  Milliegsd 
#1 ·
So I never planned on doing IPO with Finn when I initially got him. But the more I research and see the sport the more in love with it I feel I become. Honestly think Finn would excel at it. I think he'd love to do bite work. Haha but I wouldn't really be able to start until this summer and he would already be about a year old... is that too old to start learning IPO?? I know most people that are serious about it get their puppies started when they're young and idk if I waited too long or not lol
 
#5 ·
And that's definitely ok with me just having fun! lol I'm a highly competitive person, so that's why I figured if I didn't start him young it wasn't gonna work out. But I'm all for going out and learning something new and having fun with it!:)
 
#6 ·
It goes like this: everyone starts out with the dog they have and goes as far as they can. They become totally addicted to the sport and get a puppy specifically to work in IPO. By then, they have experience and learn how to do the puppy imprinting and correct puppy raising. So that puppy shows signs of becoming a competition dog someday and you might want to breed him, so you have to think about getting another dog . . . and pretty soon your life has been taken over by IPO! But in a good way.

While you're waiting to start with your club, play tug with him. Only one rule--the dog ALWAYS wins! If you've been doing obedience, switch to doing motivational training--treats or a toy, whichever floats his boat.

There are some excellent videos on YouTube on IPO obedience. Look for the ones by Ivan Balabanov.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Hahahaha yes! Honestly I've already been daydreaming about the future and getting a puppy geared toward the sport! (Wayway down the line!!) but of course I'll go as far as I can with Finn. And learn as much as I can! One of his grand sires has an IPO1 title so it got me interesting in the sport in general and then I was like I have to try this out! Hahah yes we play a lot of tug! He loves it, it's his favorite game. We do at least an 30-40 of motivational training/ playtime every other day of the week. He has a strong bite very engaged with tug. I let him win! And he's not possessive of his tug either he'll always bring back to me to continue the game. We use a ball on string tug for now which he loves but I'm gona mix up the toy soon to try something new. I'll look him up, thank you!:)
 
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