Agility questions

Weight pull, Protection, Agility, Flyball... you name it!

Postby Jenn » March 7th, 2006, 10:03 am

Question about agility..
Is it ever too late to start something like agility? How much time do you invest in agility say on a monthly basis? Thinking it may be a good way to provide Benjamin with something to "do". I posted an add on a local site for my area, asking if there was anyone that does agility or anything locally for my area, but after a week I didn't receive any responses. Any clubs or organizations websites that have areas listed? It's early, lol hope my questions made sense. ;)
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Postby luvmyangels » March 7th, 2006, 10:52 am

A beginner agility course in my area is 6 weeks for $120.00. The classes are weekly for one hour. We try to practice in between for about 15 - 20 minutes a day.

Agility is a fun sport and unless advised by a vet your dog should not do it I can't see why not. You will both have so much fun.

Sorry I am in the NY area. I am sure someone can point you in the right direction here. Good luck and enjoy!!
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Postby mnp13 » March 7th, 2006, 11:31 am

6 classes for $120? Ouch! The club near me is 8 classes for $80.

If your dog is older you can put the jumps lower. It's a good time no matter what. Ruby had a lot of fun with it.

Take a look at this site:
http://www.cleanrun.com/agilityinfo/clubs/
There are 64 clubs/schools/trainers listed for Texas
Last edited by mnp13 on March 7th, 2006, 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Romanwild » March 7th, 2006, 11:36 am

I won't tell you what my club charges. $5 a week :wink:

Nothing wrong with a older dog getting into agility.

You should interview trainers and check out their dogs and training facilities.

I have made my own equipment for practicing at home. I still have a few more things to make but boy am I saving money! PVC is your friends. :D
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Postby Maryellen » March 7th, 2006, 12:08 pm

dont forget, the further in the country you go, woods wise, the cheaper the courses are.....
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Postby Hartagold AmStaffs » March 7th, 2006, 2:57 pm

luvmyangels wrote:A beginner agility course in my area is 6 weeks for $120.00. The classes are weekly for one hour.


OUCH! That's expensive!! Try to find an AKC club in your area, if you join a club the classes are MUCH cheaper or even free. At our club (Golden Triangle OTC in Pittsburgh PA) obedience classes are free for members, and agility is $25 for a 6 week class. I think the non-member price for agility is $70.

If you go to http://www.cleanrun.com you'll find all kinds of links for agility stuff, and they list the clubs/instructors there, so you should be able to find something nearby.

Just make sure your dog is healthy (wouldn't hurt to xray hips/elbows before starting) and NOT FAT!!!!!! Before you start, make sure your dog has had some basic obedience work and will stay with you even with distractions. Agility is a very exciting, fast paced sport and there will be border collies & aussies wired up and barking and spinning.......which gets our guys all worked up unless you've taught them to focus on YOU. Mine are dog aggressive but unless a dog gets in their face they pay no attention, they just want to do the fun stuff!

:P
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Postby Jenn » March 7th, 2006, 3:01 pm

Well he'll be 3 in July, and he's a little chubby. ;) I just figured something like obediance/agility could assist him as well as I in blowing off some of his steam. I was truly hoping to find something closer to my area though. Guess I'll email one of the closest people and ask them if they know of anyone closer that may just not be listed. Thanks all, for answering my questions. :)
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Postby dogcrazyjen » March 7th, 2006, 8:54 pm

3 is just a baby!

You can also make equiptment pretty cheap and then practice at home a lot.

If your dog is good with other dogs, flyball might be another option. It is way cheaper than agility too.

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Postby SisMorphine » March 7th, 2006, 9:14 pm

I keep toying with the idea of agility as my pup thrives on competition, but worry that it wouldn't be a competitive enough setting for him to get his engines going and I would just be wasting my time and money.

I just wish there was lure coursing around here because I know he would accel at that . . .
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Postby luvmyangels » March 7th, 2006, 9:37 pm

Everything in Long Island is expensive including the taxes. I have tried to find other schools and they all seem to be around the same price. I wish I lived upstate. You all seem to have better deals there.
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Postby Patch O' Pits » March 8th, 2006, 8:06 am

It is expensive to train in NJ and I belong to an AKC club here it is still between 75-125 depending on the classes and time frame also some trainers are more than others.

here is the online class i started for things people can do at home. It has a bunch of info for newbies including agility vocab so that when you get into a regular group class you'll have some background. It also lists helpful sites and agility orgs so you can brush up on the rules


http://www.apbt.info

It is a lot of fun whether you do it for the exercise or to compete doesn't really matter as long as you have fun with your dog
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Postby Jenn » March 8th, 2006, 7:35 pm

I was given some other links and thought I'd share if anyone is interested, or if anyone might be looking into it in the future. :)

http://www.usdaa.com/

http://www.nadac.com/

Here was some flyball links...

http://www.flyball.org/

http://www.flyballdogs.com/
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Postby Pitcrew » March 8th, 2006, 8:05 pm

3 old? I have known dogs that started at 9! and even went on to compete well in their classes.
There are also some NATIONAL QUALIFIERS who's dogs started at 5 and 6!
The only thing I would reccommend (that hasnt already been mentioned)is that if he is heavy put him on a diet first. It will be easier on him.
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Postby Purple » March 10th, 2006, 10:03 pm

I just wanted to see if the agility thingie I found worked....




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Postby mnp13 » March 10th, 2006, 10:11 pm

lol

cute!
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Postby Sarah » March 12th, 2006, 1:19 am

Elmo started agility training at 5 yrs. He has his MX & MXJ, 7 double qualifiers and 200 points towards his MACH (out of 20 & 750 needed.) He isn't likely to finish the MACH, but that's because I can't trial as extensively as some people do, I also compete in obedience which takes up a lot of time, and he's had soundness issues which take us out of competition for extended periods.

There's lots of agility in Texas. If you look around, you can probably find a good club or trainer that is more affordable.
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Postby Pitcrew » March 12th, 2006, 9:46 am

Awesome Sarah! :D
I hear there are alot more agility bullies down there than up here.
Or maybe we are all in the same boat, limited showing, that causes us to not travel too far and see more.
I maybe see 7-8 different bullies, between staffies, amstafs, pits and bull t. trialing all year. :|
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Postby ellie@ny » March 12th, 2006, 10:57 am

Purple wrote:I just wanted to see if the agility thingie I found worked....




Image



OMG that is so cool!! And yes NY is expensive.... :evil:
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