Agilabilities

Play-training
&
Team-building for Dog Sports

Do I need to have a special kind of dog to participate? If your dog is in good health, vaccinated, socialized and appears to like spending time with you, then you and your dog are invited to learn these sports with us. Most dogs are pretty athletic and are physically able to do dog sports.

Did you know that Basset Hounds and Great Danes compete in agility? That small dogs have a special place on most flyball teams? Or that dogs of all sorts not only play these sports, but can and do compete at national levels?

Does my dog have to be a certain age to do dog sports? Yes and no. Young dogs can do many of the exercises preparing them for sports. Depending on the organization, competition doesn’t begin until the dog is 12 or more months old. We begin training as early as six months.

There is no upper age limit for people or dogs, so long as you both are in good health and the dog is not lame. Most sport venues have a preferred or veteran’s class for dogs that offer special consideration for age or certain weight-to-height ratios. The average age of human agility participants is around 47.

Do you only instruct people wanting to compete? No. The first “team” we teach is you and your dog. We offer private, semiprivate and group classes, so you may choose your best learning environment.

At first we didn’t want to compete “against” others, either. What a silly idea! Some people who learn to play these sports with their dogs maintain it as a special playtime. But be careful! Once you’ve gained some experience and confidence as a team, you might want to participate in a formal competition. . . we won’t try to stop you!

Click on the bouncing ball to find out more!