# Havanese and Agility? do they mix



## miller123 (Aug 13, 2011)

i was wondering if anybody does agility with there havanese and how they do. Are havanese are any good at the sport. i was also wondering what and when and how i should train my puppy.


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## toto3d (Nov 25, 2010)

I never enrolled Chester in any agility classes, but from all the tricks that I have been able to teach him makes me think that he would be great at it....or at least really funny to watch ha.

One of the tricks I taught Chester to tire him out in the evenings is jumping over my outstretched arm which is about 1.5 ft off the ground. I just make him jump over it back and forth in succession and he does it fantastically...until after about 4 in a row then he starts tiring out lol. And I'm not sure if other Hav's do this as well, but Chester jumps in the funniest way - he kinda jumps like a sheep would in your dreams, jumping over a fence lol...using all four paws jumping off and landing at the same time. It's honestly hilarious watching him do it.

Another trick I've taught is to hop from one ottoman to another. We have a couple "cube-like" ottomans from IKEA and I line them up about 2 feet apart. When I say "hop", he'll hop from one cube to the other then to the couch and back again. 

Now I don't think Chester would win any awards in agility lol When compared to his "cousin" who's an extremely robust and athletic Yorkie that chases a ball in the park like a cheetah chases its prey, Chester just looks like a little fluff ball bouncing around the living room. In the end...i think your hav would totally get a kick out agility...and so would you


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## jillnors2 (Apr 12, 2007)

Great fit!! These are very smart, athletic dogs.


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

Havanese can be really good at Agility [We have nicknamed our boy, "Pogo" because of his ability to jump.], but be careful with your puppy as his/her joints have not finished growing until the pup is at least a year old.

Here is a quote from a website called Affordable Agility:

"*Age*. Two common questions people have is "Can I start training my puppy?" and "Can my older dog do agility?". The answer is yes to both questions, within reason. To compete in agility your dog needs to be at least a year old, but you can start to train your puppy earlier than that. Keep in mind, however, that your dog's joints are still forming, so jump heights should be about elbow height for the first year. Puppies will also be more awkward and their attention span shorter. So be very patient and keep the lessons brief. The same principles apply to older dogs. Their joints are weaker, and they will tire more easily, so lessons should be shorter. The jump heights might have to be lowered. Many of the organizations now have special classes for older dogs. AKC calls these "preferred" classes, which is a class that feature lowered jump heights. But be careful that you do not get so caught up into competing that you are not sensitive to your dogs aging needs. Dogs are so anxious to please that they may push themselves one day, and pay for it the next.

*Breed*. You will see all shapes and sizes of dogs (and people) doing agility.... this is one of the wonderful things about the sport! You may think to yourself, "my dog can never do that, he's too small", but in agility classes and trials, your tiny little guy will have lowered jumps, a lower table, and will be competing against other dogs his size. For example, he might be running in the 6" or 8" jump height division, and that class will have lower time limits (because it takes longer for small dogs to run a course than big dogs). Large breeds also can do agility, but their bulkier size requires negotiating some of the obstacles more carefully. Also be aware that some breeds take more patience than others. Even a bull dog can do those obstacles, providing you find the special treat or toy that really motivates him. Some dogs are highly motivated simply with praise.

*Obedience*. Can crazy out-of-control dogs do agility? Yes, as long as you make your training sessions more exciting than the other things around your dog that typically makes him go crazy! See the article on "Problem Dogs" for tips on how to do this. It is not necessary that your dog has formal obedience training if you want to do agility just for fun. If you want to be more successful at it, however, your dog must know some basic obedience commands such as stay, sit, and lie down. Heeling is helpful. While taking a class is invaluable, you can (at home) train obedience and agility at the same time. Some people train their dogs to sit for the first time using the pause table obstacle, for example."


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

StarrLhasa said:


> Havanese can be really good at Agility [We have nicknamed our boy, "Pogo" because of his ability to jump.], but be careful with your puppy as his/her joints have not finished growing until the pup is at least a year old.
> 
> Here is a quote from a website called Affordable Agility:
> 
> "*Age*. Two common questions people have is "Can I start training my puppy?" and "Can my older dog do agility?". The answer is yes to both questions, within reason. To compete in agility your dog needs to be at least a year old, but you can start to train your puppy earlier than that. Keep in mind, however, that your dog's joints are still forming, so jump heights should be about elbow height for the first year.


I have to disagree with this ALL the top agility people I've talked to say that if you value your dog's long-term soundness, stay away from ANY formal jumping (other than "jump bumps", which can be a pool noodle on the floor, or 4" PVC pipe cut in half so it doesn't roll) until your pup is a year old. At 15 months, you will not be able to tell the difference between a pup who started jumping before his first birthday, and one who waited, assuming that they have good training, so why take the chance.

Likewise, weaves put a tremendous amount of torque on developing shoulders if you are asking the dog to drive through with speed. ...and if you AREN'T asking them to drive through with speed, you are creating a slow dog in the weaves. So wait on those until the pup is over a year too.


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## miko (May 28, 2008)

We took Miko and Milo to beginner Agility when Miko was 3 years old and Milo was 2. They need to be a little older to have the attention span to listen to you for an hour during class. Miko did not do so well, but Milo did great. Miko is not food motivated so it was hard to train him. Going up/down A-ramp was probably the hardest. You have to be very careful they dont get scared and jump off from the top. Agility is a great way to bond with your Havanese. We ended up buying an agility set for them, and Milo still does great with tunnels and hoops.


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## jillnors2 (Apr 12, 2007)

We have puppy agility classes at my dog club. No jumping, no contacts but a lot of games and ground work. Things like a wobble board, crate games, ladder on the ground, come to 'heel' on both sides, crosses on the ground, tricks, etc. This is taught by someone who is at the National USDAA championships right now and knows her stuff. She believes games and tricks are so important as it teaches a young pup to offer behaviors and think. So you can train a puppy 'in agility' but it doesn't look like agility, it's more about building drive and building confidence in a pup.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

jillnors2 said:


> We have puppy agility classes at my dog club. No jumping, no contacts but a lot of games and ground work. Things like a wobble board, crate games, ladder on the ground, come to 'heel' on both sides, crosses on the ground, tricks, etc. This is taught by someone who is at the National USDAA championships right now and knows her stuff. She believes games and tricks are so important as it teaches a young pup to offer behaviors and think. So you can train a puppy 'in agility' but it doesn't look like agility, it's more about building drive and building confidence in a pup.


That sounds like the PERFECT puppy agility class. Wish we'd had one like that around here! While I like the agility trainer at our training center, I don't like the way he runs his puppy agility classes, so I didn't enroll Kodi in those. Instead, we did obedience classes at "school", and did EXACTLY the type of training you are talking about at home, on our own. When he was past his first birthday, we started formal agility classes, and he had learned all the obstacles except the weaves in less than a month. Of course the weaves take longer, but I don't think he would have learned them faster if he'd started them as a puppy.

Now we're working on distance work, tricky entries to the weaves, discrimination tasks and hander skills. We FINALLY got our back crosses really good last night!!! (I've been the queen of figuring out where I can do a front cross just to AVOID the back crosses!ound

What makes my agility instructor a really good fit for me is that he is disabled. He is in a wheel chair, and successfully competes his Spinoni and his wife's Papillion. So he's great at helping me find alternate ways to handle Kodi in spite of my RA.


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Karen, what did you use to guide you in your training at home? I know you have mentioned the Crate Games video. Are there other videos or ? that you used? We have done ladders on the ground, wobble board, heeling on both sides, etc. But crosses on the ground, tricks, etc - I have no idea what that stuff is.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

motherslittlehelper said:


> Karen, what did you use to guide you in your training at home? I know you have mentioned the Crate Games video. Are there other videos or ? that you used? We have done ladders on the ground, wobble board, heeling on both sides, etc. But crosses on the ground, tricks, etc - I have no idea what that stuff is.


Susan Garrett is a GREAT resource. She has a number of useful DVD's, and a wonderful blog. I also found a very useful book at Barnes and Noble, believe it or not:

"The Beginner's Guide to Dog Agility" by Laurie Leach

But in the end, the most important things to do with a dog under a year are just plain obedience stuff. They need to have a good solid stay, at both a sit and a down, they have to have a solid recall and good attention. They need to be able to work at either side of you (different from formal obedience, as you know) both close and working towards farther away. See if you can run with them keeping a distance from you.

Any exercises that teach body awareness and foot placement are great. So working on a sit box, or doing turns with just their front feet in a flower pot bottom of appropriate size are great. (this helps with pivots for rally and obedience too) Have them walk on as many different types of surface as possible, balance on a log in the woods... be creative and keep it fun and playful.

Also, teaching a strong play drive and tug instinct will be VERY useful in the future... A quick game of tug can get your dog revved up and ready to run or be an awesome reward of even higher value than a food item!


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## Trixie (Oct 9, 2010)

My dog does agility, and loves it. We do it purely for fun and for mental exercise, as she has to really think and listen to my verbal and body cues for where she's going next. She does "Fun Run" competitions, where there is no overall winner. Owners and their dogs are merely improving on their 'own' best. Although, there are some champions that run the course, it's not a 'comparison' competition. It's just for fun. We completed several stages / courses of agility training ... and she absolutely LOVEs going to 'school'. She'd get visibly excited if I told her we were 'going to school.' I made her a bunch of small, adjustable PVC jumps for practicing at home, as well as bought her an inexpensive tunnel and a chute. And what others are saying is correct regarding jumping and jump height, and especially in waiting until your pup's structure is more maturely developed before starting any of the above. And yup, it's not good for them to jump real high. Just a minor bump height will suffice, and keep them safe from long-range injury & joint issues. They're just as happy to jump a very small jump as something higher, (if not more so -- happy with the tiny leap, that is.) It's been interesting to see what dog takes to certain equipment like a seasoned pro, & what other course equipment causes anxiety. My dog loves the (elevated) Dog Walk. I've seen others hesitate or balk to walk it. My dog is challenged by the Teeter-Totter, but gains confidence each time she is able to complete it without giving it too much thought. In my observation, for my dog at least, it's been a great training tool to deepen obedience, bonding, and mental sharpness... and well as, and especially, boosting confidence. From what I've observed, I think it might be a different thing if one gets into it from the serious competition level. Don't get me wrong, I see a load of positives when I've observed some owners & their serious competition level dogs, but I've also seen some (unhealthily) obsessed owners too. All in all, (I think), it should be FUN & ENGAGING for both you and your dog. 
All of the Havanese that I've seen do FANTASTIC at agility. 
(that doesn't mean that they all have the fastest TIMES, but they learn fast, are super smart & have fun 'thinking' while playing/running the course.)
Wait until your pup has grown up a bit, but definitely start obedience right away. With repetition, they can understand your commands at a very early age and are so happy to comply once they 'understand what you're asking.' And then, when your dog has developed enough physically to begin agility, you'll both be all the more prepared, because your dog already has grasped & hopefully mastered the most important step..... listening and obeying your command.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Great post!

Kodi has not yet competed in agility, though we will when the time is right. We have a few more rally and obedience titles I want to get under our belts first (we're going for our AKC Rally Advanced, and CDSP Novice Obedience titles in the next couple of months, as well as working toward our APDT ARCH) But I think we're pretty well prepared for novice agility, and we enjoy doing run-throughs as well as our regular classes.

I don't know whether we will be competitive time-wise, (that's BOTH of us... not just him!:biggrin1 but I'm sure we can Q, and that's all that matters to me. Like you, I'm much more interested in having fun with my dog than winning ribbons! I see so many of the super competitive agility people who push their dogs to go faster and faster, and then blow out of their weaves or miss discrimination tests. I guess after years of showing horses in the jumper ring, that I feel that the handling and control part is AT LEAST as important as pure speed. I feel honored to have a dog who loves working with me so much! Sounds like you and Trixie have the same type of bond.

Oh, and it's interesting... Kodi is DEFINITELY a "contact dog" too. (though he doesn't care WHICH contact... he loves them all. He's definitely NOT a "tunnel hound", though he does them competently. But if I'm not VERY clear, and there is a choice between a contact and a tunnel, he'll take the contact every time. I have to kind of watch him on the teeter, because he tends to be too fast and careless on it, smashing it to the ground and getting catapulted off the end. So for now, I try to get there before him so I can encourage him to wait at the balance point and then run down.



Trixie said:


> My dog does agility, and loves it. We do it purely for fun and for mental exercise, as she has to really think and listen to my verbal and body cues for where she's going next. She does "Fun Run" competitions, where there is no overall winner. Owners and their dogs are merely improving on their 'own' best. Although, there are some champions that run the course, it's not a 'comparison' competition. It's just for fun. We completed several stages / courses of agility training ... and she absolutely LOVEs going to 'school'. She'd get visibly excited if I told her we were 'going to school.' I made her a bunch of small, adjustable PVC jumps for practicing at home, as well as bought her an inexpensive tunnel and a chute. And what others are saying is correct regarding jumping and jump height, and especially in waiting until your pup's structure is more maturely developed before starting any of the above. And yup, it's not good for them to jump real high. Just a minor bump height will suffice, and keep them safe from long-range injury & joint issues. They're just as happy to jump a very small jump as something higher, (if not more so -- happy with the tiny leap, that is.) It's been interesting to see what dog takes to certain equipment like a seasoned pro, & what other course equipment causes anxiety. My dog loves the (elevated) Dog Walk. I've seen others hesitate or balk to walk it. My dog is challenged by the Teeter-Totter, but gains confidence each time she is able to complete it without giving it too much thought. In my observation, for my dog at least, it's been a great training tool to deepen obedience, bonding, and mental sharpness... and well as, and especially, boosting confidence. From what I've observed, I think it might be a different thing if one gets into it from the serious competition level. Don't get me wrong, I see a load of positives when I've observed some owners & their serious competition level dogs, but I've also seen some (unhealthily) obsessed owners too. All in all, (I think), it should be FUN & ENGAGING for both you and your dog.
> All of the Havanese that I've seen do FANTASTIC at agility.
> (that doesn't mean that they all have the fastest TIMES, but they learn fast, are super smart & have fun 'thinking' while playing/running the course.)
> Wait until your pup has grown up a bit, but definitely start obedience right away. With repetition, they can understand your commands at a very early age and are so happy to comply once they 'understand what you're asking.' And then, when your dog has developed enough physically to begin agility, you'll both be all the more prepared, because your dog already has grasped & hopefully mastered the most important step..... listening and obeying your command.


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