# How old should dog be before starting agility?



## trashisart (Oct 18, 2011)

How old should a dog be to begin agility training?
I've researched some and haven't found much age specific info just that their muscles need to be developed enough to be able to handle different things that come along with agility. my pup is still young (almost 5 months) but I'm just curious and also wondering if there are little things I can do to "prepare him" for agility down the road.... Like I have heard that muscle building exercises are good but am unsure what that means really or how old he needs to be to begin even just simple preparation exercises like that. Right now my pup goes on short walks (I do 5 min. Per month of his age so 20 min right now) 
I'm just starting to learn about agility so forgive all my questions and ignorance on the topic! 
Anyways any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


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## petpeeve (Jun 10, 2010)

I think you can start agility TRAINING at any time. I just don't think you should start agility JUMPING until their skeletal structure is fully mature, and some muscle mass has developed to support that skeletal structure. Depending upon breed, this usually occurs at a point somewhere between 1 and 2 years of age.

In the interim, feel free to begin working on the basics: attention, working at a distance (away from you), wobble board, tunnel work, chute, intro to dog walk .... etc etc etc.




DISCLAIMER: not an agility expert by any stretch. Hopefully someone else who IS will chime in with more accurate details.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

Pet peeve is right. Most of the agility equipment is safe to start familiarizing a dog to at any age, jumps need to be started later on and even then started at low heights and gradually built up. The dog may be ABLE to jump and go higher, but only when a dog has good FORM developed should they be moving up the bars. Take off and landing skills re important.

Developing the proper muscles and waiting for bone development to be complete helps prevent injuries in the dog later.


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## petpeeve (Jun 10, 2010)

Are you enrolled in basic / puppy obedience classes ? Those will help to build a good foundation of handler and dog skills essential for a good performance in agility ... ie: recall, focusing under distraction, waits, socialization etc.

You've got about a year + or so to go, before you guy's "big debut", lol. Plenty of time to lay some quality groundwork for the future star(s).


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## trashisart (Oct 18, 2011)

Thanks for everyone's help. Great advice that I will definitely do something with. And yes I enrolled in puppy classes a few weeks in advance- first one starts this evening actually. 
Thanks again guys. I'm excited to get this going even if it's just basics at first


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