Hi all, I'm not sure this post is in the right category - I apologise if it's not!
My Golden Retriever is nearly a year now, and I have noticed that she tires quite quickly when we are out on a walk. I just want to ask some of you experts whether this is normal or if there's an issue.
When I walk her with a friend's dog (a Labrador, 18 months old), the 2 dogs just run and play the whole time. I notice though that my Retriever will slow down and pant quite a lot after about 20min of running/playing, whereas the other dog doesn't seem remotely tired. When my friend and I stop, she sometimes runs back to me and lies down in front of me, even if the other dog is still running around. We usually walk for 45min or so in total. When we are back home, she just goes in her crate and slees for about 3 or 4 hours.
I take her to agility class (no high jumps yet, just dog walk, see-saw, tunnel etc.), and she is REALLY puffed out after 2 runs of 10 objects (she never has more than 2 runs, I should add!). I know that agility is hard for them, as they have to work mentally as well as physically, but is this normal still for a Retriever? I see other dogs the same age as mine who seem to have bags of energy after class, whereas mine just lies on the floor exhausted.
Thanks for any feedback!

I would expect a Golden to be able physically to do more than you are saying. Has she been checked over by the vet recently? That would be my first point of call. I wouldn't be so concerned if you said she just didn't bother - but the fact that it seems to tire her would concern me. I would want a thorough check particularly of heart, lungs and joints.

Most certainly I would get the heart checked then consider joint pain as a possibility, then thyroid funtion.
Simple overweight will also hinder stamina - so a weigh in at the vets is in order.

What sort of breeding is she (you can PM me if you like)?

I find with my youngster (22 months) that the thing that tires her out quickly are the weave poles, much more than any amount of jumping or contact work. She is quite happy to go over and over the A-frame and dog walk a million times!

I agree that weight may be an issue. I know Esme is a little over at the moment and has slowed as a result. But if your girl is the correct weight I would possibly get her checked by your vet.

It could simply be she is more laid back than the others, I know of one Goldie doing agility that practically walks round the course, others go hell for leather. Is she really exhausted or just not bothered?

Has the warmer weather had any change on her exercise tolerance?

My goldie is quite laid back, but i would say she has more energy at the age of 6 than your pup. I must say though if it is a pain issue i wouldn't do any agility until you have got her sorted, i didn't do any agility until she was at least 15 months, even contacts can be stressful on joints. Maybe she is just not very fit?

Pedlee is right, the breeding of the dog can make a big difference in Goldens to their activity level. Also at one she's still not fully mature and will tire more easily like pups do. I assume she isn't overweight? But do get her checked out by the vet -always best to play safe!

I would get your dog checked out at the vets, I have a golden who has been very active from a puppy, he is only 3 now and his activity levels have never waned, I know he is still young though.  But I think it is unusual for such a young dog to tire as quickly as you say your girl does.

There are a couple of points I'd make, and these are to be careful that you don't over exercise her, you say she is almost 1 year old, so she shouldn't really be having long walks yet, and she should not be doing agility until she is 2 years and finished growing.  The other thing is making sure she is not overweight, it is better to be on the lean side than the other way.

I would be walking her no more than half an hour maybe twice a day, it wasn't until my dog reached 2 years that we allowed him to walk with no limit really.

The other thing about sleeping, dogs do sleep during the day if they have nothing to do, my dogs sleep in the office as I work and will stay sleeping or lying around until I take them out, so in answer to the sleeping question yes they do or can sleep for long periods each day.

Do get her checked at the vets though and let us know how she gets on - keeping everything crossed for your girl x

Thank you very much for your replies.
My dog isn't overweight, she is the correct weight for her age and breed (we had her weighed about a month back). We went to the vets a few weeks ago (for something else), and he checked her over then and didn't say that there was a problem. But then I didn't discuss heart/lungs/joints with him or ask him to check them specifically.
Well, on Thursday when we went to agility and I noticed that my dog was very tired we did do a lot of weaves. More than we usually do, so maybe this tired her out more? Normally at agility she's very speedy on her first run, but much slower on her second. But I would consider this normal? Or isn't it? On Thursday the weather was quite warm, so maybe this bothered her a bit, too....
When we are out on a walk she does run around for about 45 min in total. It's just that she needs a breather after 20min or so, and lies down when we stop walking (and the other dog doesn't), panting a lot. but then she'd run off again after 1 min or so, but her tongue is hanging out all the time. But then she is running a lot...
I am worried about joint pain, as A-frame for example seems quite hard on her joints (but then I am no expert). The trainer said that it should be ok, as long as she doesn't do high jumps (or lots and lots of lower jumps) or go over the A-frame lots of times. Is that right?
She doesn't seem to be in pain, she does run and jump while playing and no pain seems to bother her? How would I know that her joints are aching?

I was advised by my dogs breeder not to do agility until he was 2 years of age and he is a golden retriever, we used to go to training classes and they had agility there and there minimum age for dogs to do agility was 2. 

With goldens and other medium size dogs you need to be careful they don't put too much strain on their joints while they are growing, this is the reason they are not supposed to run up and down stairs or jump on and off furniture again until they are older.  They are susceptible to HD and other joint problems, so the more we can do to protect them when they are young the better.

I would reconsider the agility until she is 2 if it were my dog.

45 minutes free running is not too bad you know, and goldens do hang their tongues out when they are hot, my golden pants like a train after he has been running, but still take her to the vets to check her out, it may just be a panty dog, (as in breathing not in underwear) :)

Also have a word with her breeder about the agility if you are not sure.

A lot of weaving, contacts and jumping can put an incredible strain on a dogs joints. My pup is 8 months old and although she has done some weave entries she won't be doingproper weaves until she is over a year, and she is a much smaller breed than a goldie (kelpie). I was advised not to do anything with my goldie (who incidently is a small almost working type), until at least 15 months. Its not just high jumps that can cause problems its the twisting and force from stopping on a contact that can do damage.

I think a lot of this "not doing agility until older" to not totally correct. It really depends on WHAT you are doing.

Esme started her basic training at around 10 months, but that consisted of running through wings with the pole on the ground gradually getting up to about 6 inches, contacts were very low and weaving is through channels, so no twisting. That was really getting her used to the various bits of equipment. Training proper started at about 16 months. She is now 22 months and most of our training is done on medium height jumps. She is just beginning to do a few full height jumps and only now are the contacts at the correct height. The weaves are still channels, but getting closer, so the wiggling is now present.

Certainly if all the equipment was used at full height, at a young age, any amount of damage to growing bones/joints could occur. Used sensibly it shouldn't.

Certainly if all the equipment was used at full height, at a young age, any amount of damage to growing bones/joints could occur. Used sensibly it shouldn't.

But the OP feels there is a problem with the dog in question, so if in doubt it is best not to.  I still believe that over exercising goldens before their bones and joints are fully formed is a bad thing.  So I still say don't do it until your dogs are fully mature and especially so in this case.

Indeed my 8 month old is doing pre agility and has been since 6 months, but this is literally just planks on the ground and poles on the ground and two poles for weave entries. I would consider the a frame and see saw far too much even at low height for a year old golden with an owner who is concerned about her fitness.

Hi all, I'm happy to report that my Golden is healthy - there are no problems with her lungs or her heart. The vet thinks she is just a more laid-back Golden, as he couldn't find anything wrong with her (of course she was so excited when I went in there that he must have thought I was crazy when I said she has low energy LOL).

Thank you also on your comments and thoughts about agility. I am very inexperienced in this area and have just assumed that it was ok for her to do weaves, a low A-frame, see-saw and dog walk. The trainer only said I have to be careful with jumping, so I just assumed that to be correct. I never realised that other equipment could be damaging her joints, and I feel really stupid now that I never questioned it.
I have another class on Thursday, and I will discuss it with the trainer if I can still come, but then leave out A-frame, see-saw, weave and dog-walk and concentrate on recall, tunnels, ramp walk and low jumps (i.e. poles on the ground) instead, and intruduce other equipment when she's a bit older.
Any comments (good or bad) are very welcome!!!!! I just want the best for my dog, and I'm really scared that I have damaged her joints in the 2 months I have been going to agility already...

Get him checked out for exercise induced collapse syndrome http://www.justlabradors.com/articles/lab_health_and_nutrition/exercise_induced_collapse_in_labrador_retrievers.html

Not saying it is this but I have a dog (not this breed) suffers from from the symptoms this time of the year... every year.