dog agility

Question
I have a miniature poodle and I was wondering if you knew anything about dog agility? I don't really know what obstacles they have for beginners. I have already started to train him with some of the obstacles like the hoop, jumps, pause table, teeter totter, and shoot. I wanted to know if there was any more obstacles that I am supposed to be training him with for beginners. Also if there is any that I am not supposed to be training him let.

Answer
My daughter is the agility person, but I do know a little bit about it.

First of all, your dog should be over 18 mos. old before you start any serious agility work with him, such as jumping, etc. Prior to that age, the dog should jump no higher than his elbow to avoid the possibility of breaking down.

The obstacles that you didn't mention are the A-frame, the dogwalk, and tunnel(s). Some venues have (6) weave poles in novice as well, although most eventually require 12, so you really should train for 12. Most prefer training the dog to touch the yellow portion of the contact before they let the dog do the entire obstacle.

The biggest thing to work on is off-leash control with distractions.

Here are some websites for further information on agility:
http://www.akc.org/events/agility/index.cfm
http://nadac.com/
http://k9cpe.com/

And if you are not already training with an instructor or an organization, here is where to locate one in your area: http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=clubs.search  

Karen