Ignore me if it is...but do you have to be fit to do agility. Not the dog, me.

I would love to try Mika at agility when he's 18 months old because he does love a good run around and i imagine he'd enjoy it. If i ever get a licence to drive i can drive him to our nearest agilty club. But the one thing i worry about is my fitness level...i see owners running with their dogs on agility and i have to say im not exactly a good runner.

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time to start getting your own fitness level up a few notchs then

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Ok so me and agility wouldn't be a good idea then.

Its not just my fitness level...i have a mild case of cerebral palsy so me running around with my dog like that would probably not be good for me LOL.

Such a shame I've always wanted to do agility

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Well, I just went to my first agility class 2 weeks ago with Monty & it required jogging around with him. The jumps are lowered down & we all had to jump over them with our dogs the first couple of times, but they were pretty low, so it wasn't difficult. I reckon once you can handle a moderate amount of exercise, it should be fine, but I'm not too sure! I'm only starting my second class tomorrow, so I might be of more help then!! Sorry I couldn't answer your question properly.

Hi

You have to have a relative degree of fitness but alot of this depends on how fast your dog is around the course.

Once your training progresses there is no reason why you can't stand in the middle and direct your dog around the course using commands, however to get to this point you will have to run a bit in the initial stages of the training.

I am overweight and have no hope in hell of keeping up with 3 fast collies, however I do my best and I concentrate on teaching distance work so that I don't have to keep up with them around the course. I also compete in flyball which is miles easier, no running involved for the handler

Christina
Allstars Flyball Team
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You should be OK with mild cerebral palsy. I know of several people in their 70's and 80's doing agility, one person with an artificial leg and several who are so overwieight, or have other health problems, they can't run much. There is no rule forbidding the handler from using a mobility scooter in a competition ring, I've seen it done. It takes a while to get the dog to run well at a distance from you, but it can be done, lots of people do it.
Try to get fitter yourself as well. It will be better for your general health as well as being more fun for Mika.

While there is a bit of running, don't let that stop you. Agility can be done at all levels and as has been said, the better your control and directions, the less running around you have to do anyway.
Good luck and have fun.

Dundee what a great post ,i know people who are "older" that do agility,i also know someone who had polio as a child that agility trains and they manage ok
i would suggest the OP contacted a local club and asks if they can go and give it a try
Good luck i hope you get to agility train,

Anyone can do agility, it's not the winning, it's the taking part that counts. I have seen ladies compete in wheelchairs, don't worry, have fun!

GO for it!!!!, You don't need to be very fit or speedy.
I know some one with walking difficulties, she has trained her dog to go ahead and she takes the short cut to the next obstacle.
It obviously helps to be fast in competitions, however it all depends at what level you compete or if you compete at all I know lots of people who do agility but don't enter competitions

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