Lion is starting his agility classes next Tuesday, and we are so excited! My boyfriend's mother recommended I take him (she has a chi as well). I know I am jumping the gun a little, but I really want to show him eventually. If anyone has agility experience, typically how long do you train before starting to compete? Of course I know it is about having fun and not winning, so I am not in a hurry or anything. I used to show horses (hunter/jumper) but had to quit this year because of college, so I am really looking forward to being able to do agility with Lion to replace the absence of horses in my life!

If anyone has tips or stories to share, I would be happy to hear them

I compete in agility with my 3 border collies and Lilo my chihuahua. I occasionally show in AKC but mostly show in USDAA. My dogs love love love it! The border collies are a little more serious about it but Lilo sees it as a great game! She has a blast and is a tunnel sucker, if there's a tunnel within eyesight she wants to do it.

My advice would be: Go slow. Start the teeter very low and build up to full height. Train weaves with the 2x2 method. Don't feed him breakfast or dinner before class or training so he'll want those treats. Lower the A-frame for learning so he gets confident really running to the top so when it gets higher he doesn't try to walk up it, run out of oomph, not be able to make it and lose confidence.

I normally tell my students that if they go to class, train outside of class, and don't have a dog with any issues such as severely fearful, they can probably compete after about a year.

How old is Lion?

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He is 9 months old. I also have heard not to overdo it while they are young, because their bones are still soft. Is this true?

Yep, he doesn't need to jump anything any higher than his elbow until he is a year old. After he hits a year I start some full height jumping and start weave pole training. Contacts, tunnels, the table and good foundation skills can be taught to him now. My young border collie started foundation work, tunnel work and the table at 8 weeks of age!

Lion won't be able to show until he is 18 months old so you have plenty of time for good teaching!

Enjoy him, agility is loads of fun. I used to do 3-day eventing but had to sell my mare when I moved to a different state. My dogs are now my show animals. They are much cheaper and more portable than the horses were.

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I just found this thread, and i'm happy to see it! I really want to get Ren started in agility and my Rocky back in it, (He was getting so good !) I hope you all do well in agility!

I'd love to get my Papi into Agility; I just don't think there's any classes or shows locally though. Since I've gotten him he's shown some quite dextrous stunts, so I figured when I get a little bit of extra money, I'd go to the hardware store and build a very basic set for him to run outside and see how he does/how he likes it. He'll be just 10 months in September, so I'm making sure to take it easy since he's still a pup.

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I was just thinking about this the other day! I think it would be so fun to start Roxy in agility training. I'm going to do some more research. She just turned 1 on Sunday. Do you think its more beneficial to take the dogs to a training place or is it okay to train in your backyard if you know what youre doing?

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I would take her to a training facility to start, so you can learn all of the handling techniques.

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Thanks LS!