Has anyone on here tried agility with a mal?

Hi I have a mal and have tried agility at the breeders house of our mal. She loved it I am trying to find somewhere at the moment around derby area to take her to. Does anyone know of anywhere?

I'm not the only one then!
I took mine just for a laugh really to see if he would enjoy it and for the socialisation... He loved it and so I took him again this week!

Are the dogs on the leads when u take them around. How old is your mal

He is on the lead at the moment because he has only had two lessons, but he will be off the lead soon...
He is almost 5 and a half months now :)

I think Jean takes Chewi to agility ..I will email her this thread and she can tell you more :)

Melody

Edited to add : Char ..do NOT try agility until your Mal is older ..I forgot how young he is ...over a year and preferably (if I remember correctly) closer to 18 months is advised :)

There is quite a lot of pics etc on the net too, if you look on a search engine under malamute agility...

I do not know any club worth it's salt to take any breed of dog under the age of 12 months.
Large breeds not really before 18 months as of the damage it can do to the dog as before this time it has not grown up.
Don't mean to put a downer on things but jumping is not the best thing for puppies, even if it is once a week.
i am a vet nurse and i do agility with my dogs , but i have seen plenty of cases at the vets , with dogs that people have tried to rush and the dogs are to young.
One lady started with her Goldie at 4 months and now the dog can't walk right, muscle damage from jumping and A-frames.

Please don't bite my head off, just want to save you vet bills

Peanuts

Must agree with you, the strain on shoulders and hips especially with a big breed like a mal, i do agility with my afghan hound and our club certainly wouldn't allow a puppy to be doing agilty at that age, you could try obedience which would also help when your baby is ready to do agility properly, it can be good fun and is an excellant way of building a stong bond with your dog,.

Actually a few places do take dogs earlier than that, but have the jumps either on the floor or at their lowest, and allow the dogs to do things like tunnel, etc. Our club has a class for 'pre-beginners'. It teaches the pups the commands and the things they need to do without the stress on their joints etc.

Wendy

Right on there Melody - 5 months is way too young for a mal as they can take so long to grow into their bones ;)
I do do agility with Chewi but only started him at 17 months, with no A-frame or weaving. He has just been promoted to 18inch high jumps (he was on 15inches which he could step over) now that he is over 18 months. He is only now starting to do the dogwalk and weaving. He started off doing everything on lead but is off lead now when doing the exercises and absolutely loves it :D

He was glued to the television when the agility was on, I had to wipe the nose marks off!;)

Jean

P.S. He isn't allowed to go over any higher jumps now until I get his hips x-rayed. This is to avoid stressing his joints too much in the case of a poor score, and is standard procedure for the club I go to, although others may be more relaxed on this issue.

How will I found out about agility around my area. Will the kennel club know if I ring them?

Try agilitynet.com

Peanuts

Nuka isn't doing the proper jumps, he just goes round the course with the poles on the floor, so he doesnt jump, and the tunnel, and that's all he does. He hasn't been near the A-Frame or the dog walk etc yet, he isn't allowed until he is at least a year old. The instructor won't let him do anything until he is a year old, and neither would I.
I have been going to accompany my friend with her Border Collies, and I took Nuka along for some basic obedience and socialization, not to make him do things that he is too young to do. Its a bit of fun for him, and he enjoys being with the other dogs. His heelwork and the come command have improved from two lessons of just walking over poles, so I can't really see any harm. When he is out on a walk, he walks over pebbles and logs, so I don't see a difference. Only that these logs are coloured :)