Agility

[Borgan]

Has anyone taken their Frenchie to agility classes? Pros, cons, ups, downs, tips?

We are doing a "trial run" at a course nearby soon - thought it would be a good energy outlet for my little Jack Russell Terrier disguised as a Frenchie.

[Olivier]

No, but I have seen a French bulldog doing agility and it was fun to watch! He was the only FB there :D

Good luck and please take some photos!

Olly

[gilazno]

that must be about the cutest thing ever!! to see these guys jump over poles and stuff!! wow, cracks me up even thinking about it. best of luck i bet you guys will do great and have tons of fun!!! we thought about it with biggs, he has more then average frenchie energy i believe. But, because of the time and we noticed that sometimes when he runs he favors one side.we opted not move ahead with the agility. Be sure to get photos, they will be great!!

[franp]

There are a number of Frenchies that do agility;one named Ricky is a top agility dog.His owner, Tracy has several Frenchies that are agility dogs.

Another Frenchie; Turbo , was I believe the first Frenchie to get his Agiltiy title.

I have seen pictures of these dogs doing agility, not inperson. But from people that have been there, it is amazing.
Tracy has Ricky wear a little Superman outfit when he competes. And he is a little superman.

Get a full physical exam; hips and back before starting.Agility is a stressful excersize on these body parts.. But , the dogs that are competing, love it.

[franp]

I really don't know what age you would start; but I imagine it would be once your dog is physcially mature.

Dari's extent of agility is jumping and running at the dog park.Her desire of agility is to jump into the nearest lap :lol:

[Martina]

... and knees! I know nothing about agility, but I know about a luxating patella. Very easy to have your regular vet give it a feel during a normal visit. Only if it's bad by hand would you need/want an x-ray. Probably not going to be a problem (it's common in small dogs but not necessarily frenchies) - but I'd at least get it checked at a regular vet visit, before the stress of agility training, if it were me! Have fun!!

[Snowblind]

Well a dog can start training pretty young but at this time no jumping is included. The dog learns what to do with the obstacles: how to go thorough a tunnel, lie down on a pause table or how to enter and weave thorough the poles. The jumping poles are placed on the ground so the young animal doesn´t have to injure himself but still get a hang of what he is supposed to do :)

My old frenchman whould have been a great agility dog. We practiced on a few obstacles on our obedience court and he loved it! He even took the A-frame once it was set to the highest position (I did not tell him to but he just loved it).