Agility Classes
 

Has anyone else done agility classes with their Yorkie?

We started last Friday and he's really good! :thumbup:

I haven't, but I'm really interested in it. How big is your yorkie? How often do you practice? Where do you practice? Sorry so many questions.

Ginger loves agility, but is terrified of crowds, lol! So, we go to class and practice in the backyard...yorkie's are great little jumpers/climbers!!!

I'm also interested in this. Any info would be greatly appreciated! :)

our little hellian is only 3 mos and at 4 or 5, they start.
in our puppy preschool class, they set out the agility stuff to help acclimate the smaller dogs to differnt textures and obstacles and she is the only one who goes right thru them w/o thinking twice, if we can get past her crazyness (escaping while I'm out and potty training woes) I am going to try it.
Is it w/other dogs, are they bigger? i alwys wondered what the class would be like :)

That sounds like so much fun! :p

I need training and classes fort my doggies...:rolleyes:

Eddie made it through 2 1/2 classes but had to drop out 3 months ago when he suffered a leg injury on a walk at home. I'm hoping to get him back into it after a February vet check.

He is the only Yorkie in Alaska doing agility, and all the instructors were skeptical. But each class, he slowly won them over. By the 8th week, he was the star of each class. He's by no means the fastest, but he makes up for it by making the fewest mistakes. It helped that I made a course for him in the backyard and practiced daily.

I really miss agility, but now I'm a little worried that it could be too stressful on his little body. The A frame in particular is difficult for him. He slips and slides all the way up and down. I'm going to talk to the vet and the agility instructors before letting him do that particular exercise. But don't let me scare you. There are LOTS of Yorkies in agility nationally.

So many Questions! ....

Tino is about 10 inches long - back length. Its a class we go to once a week, we havent managed to practice much cos by the time I'm home its dark but I'm going to set up a course in the front garden this weekend. I'll be using upside down buckets with mops/brushes on to practice.

Yes its with all other dogs, all bigger though, Collies, Alsations (?), labradors, crosses. Tino seems to be the fastest at the moment and picking it up the fastest too. Some of the bigger dogs wouldnt jump or wouldnt go through the tunnel. The only thing Tino seems to struggle with is the weaves - I think its due to him being so small as it takes him about 4 steps to get to the next one where the bigger dogs just go in and out in one step.

Good thinking! Keep the jumps low to start, 4" or 8" max. I bought a children's play tunnel at a toys 'r' us that works great for teaching the tunnel.

I would love to get started on agility this spring/summer.
I just have two questions?? Is there a height requirement and does the dog have to be purebred to compete?? Destiny is fast but she is short but Trixie is super fast and loves navigating around obstacles but she is a yorkiepoo. I would love to get Trixie started in it because she is so fast and truly enjoys running and going through obstacles, she is perfect for agility.

Hi ya, For all you young dog owners get along to training classes and teach your pups the basics, sit, down, wait, stay, heel and recall. All of these are really important. Another good exercise is teaching them to look at your face when you call their name. try to get them to look directly at your face the first time you call their name - this is really important - there's LOADS of distractions on the agility field!

I really recommend clicker training. It's brilliant.

I do lots of training indoors when the weather's bad. I put a sheet on the ground to practice the collapsible tunnel - Dixie's doing a KING size sheet now! I set up really low hurdles using bamboo sticks and video tapes. I'm not trying to get them to go great heights my goal is to "send" them ahead of me over two jumps - again this is quite hard - Dixie's better than Dougal.

And then there are my indoor weaving poles - bamboo sticks in beer bottles - I'm all class I tell ya!

I try to practice most nights. I try to do a bit at the park and a bit at home. Even if it's just some heel and recall work. Or a few tricks - Dixie can High five now - so CUTE! It's just a matter of getting them listening to you.

Some other exercises include teaching them to turn left or right on command. You should be able to google how to train all these.

My agility classes restart on 15 Feb WOO HOO!! Can't wait!! Even tho Dixie can't compete cos they don't have a micro class in New Zealand - YET!!

O yeah Alaskayorkie - showing off about the ONLY agility yorkie in Alaska - well mine are the only agility yorkies in NEW ZEALAND - that's like a whole country!! LOL!! But I'm doing my best to make converts!

Sorry for the long post I get effusive when I start talking about agility.

LOL, showoff! I thought Alaska was bigger than New Zealand? Oh, no, that's Texas we're bigger than! Maybe once we get our gang trained, we can meet at the equator and have a competition!

Alaska is actually bigger than NZ in land mass - we've got a total land mass of 268,021 sq km - Alaska is 1,717,854 sq km. But we've got 4 million people (and 40 million sheep!) vs 663,661 people in Alaska (there was no indication of moose or sheep numbers in Alaska!:D :p ).

Yes, really good advice. I believe the recommendation is that they not exceed that height until the pup is roughly 12 - 18 months old. They shouldn't be jumping much until their growth plates have solidified.