Papillons as Agility Dogs

[AkashaO]

I have a 12 week male Papillon and he is extremely smart. He is one of the smartest animals I have ever lived with (including a corgi and border collie - and they were SMART!).

I have been told to look into agility classes for him but I have some concerns. He is 2.7 lbs now and will only be about 6 lbs full grown. He is VERY fast, agile and listens intently but I have always seen larger breeds in agility (border collies, shelties and the smallest I have ever seen was a jack russell). Then again I have not seen many agility trials - only a few on TV. Has anyone ever owned or known of a Pap that did agility?

I thank you for whatever info you might have..... oh, and little Domino thanks you as well!

 

[juliefurry]

I have never seen Paps doing agility but I'm sure it could be done. There is no reason why they shouldn't be able to compete. I've seen Pap's in fly ball competitions and that looks to be a lot more strenous. I'd say go for it I bet your dog would do really well. I have seen a few smaller breed dogs doing agility competitions.

 

[Renee750il]

Akasha, it can't be any worse than me wondering about getting the Filas into agility! I would think a Papillon could do very well, and they certainly have the stamina and athleticism for agility.

The only problem I can see with Shiva doing it is that her approach to all obstacles is just to knock them over and go on through.

 

[Sunnypup]

I am pretty sure that I have seen papillons in agility comps (though some of the border collies were so small maybe I was confused? ) anyway, if jack russels can do it, and poodles can do it then I am sure your pup could! good luck! (post picks if you actually have him try it, I bet it would be cute to see :-D)

 

[Renee750il]

You know, come to think about it, Ripley, Rip's Girl's little Papillon, does some agility! I think there is a photo of him flying over something in the Members' Galleries.

 

[Renee750il]

Here's Ripley flying over the hurdles: http://www.chazhound.com/pictures/showphoto.php?photo=2222&cat=500&page=2

 

[Saje]

That's just the cutest thing! Now I want one.

I hope we get to see pics like that from you AkashaO

 

[Agility23]

Paps are a very very good agility breed and very commonly used in the mini classes they have an extramly good height weight ratio for jumping.

here is the results from the 2004 world championships theres alot of paps in there

http://www.lhbsystems.nl/wc2004/default.asp

 

[mrose_s]

hey, put your dog in agility
i saw a pic yesterday of a chiwahwah doing agility and loving it.
your pap's compact size may well proove to be an advantage in the course, the only concern would be him jumping off the dogg walk or A-frame, Im sure with good training, that could easiy be avvoided as he would probably not favour throwing himself to the ground anyway .

 

[Agility23]

hey, put your dog in agility
i saw a pic yesterday of a chiwahwah doing agility and loving it.
your pap's compact size may well proove to be an advantage in the course, the only concern would be him jumping off the dogg walk or A-frame, Im sure with good training, that could easiy be avvoided as he would probably not favour throwing himself to the ground anyway .

alot of smaller dogs have natural running stride patterns

 

[smkie]

those beautiful feathers will give extra loft! flutter by butterlfy!

 

[mightymitedoggear]

I have a 12 week male Papillon and he is extremely smart. He is one of the smartest animals I have ever lived with (including a corgi and border collie - and they were SMART!).

I have been told to look into agility classes for him but I have some concerns. He is 2.7 lbs now and will only be about 6 lbs full grown. He is VERY fast, agile and listens intently but I have always seen larger breeds in agility (border collies, shelties and the smallest I have ever seen was a jack russell). Then again I have not seen many agility trials - only a few on TV. Has anyone ever owned or known of a Pap that did agility?

I thank you for whatever info you might have..... oh, and little Domino thanks you as well!

6 pounds is pretty big! I know of agility dogs who are only three and four pounds (one of which is a Papillion!). Furthermore, the dog who won the 8 inch class this year at the AKC Nationals WAS a Papillion. Animal Plant gave him the usual 1 second of glory they afford the toy dogs . . . we’re trying to change that! My agility Yorkie and I have created a forum for people who are looking to enter performance events with small, and especially toy dogs. Why don’t you join us? We’d love to have you!

Here’s the link:

http://www.southsurreydirectory.com....cgi?command=view&gid=1&rnd=328.1279559825313

This forum is hosted by http://www.mightymitedoggear.com
You’ll see tons of photos of toy dogs and esp. Pappy’s on this site doing agility!

 

[mightymitedoggear]

updated link for agility forum

The Mighty Mite Small Dog Sports Forum has become a quick success and we needed to "move" to new bigger and better digs. So if you have a little dog (under 16 inches) and would like to train him or her to do agility, obedience, conformation, tracking, carting, disc dog, earthdog, lure coursing or just about any other sport under the sun . . . come join the chat in our new location! We would love to hear from you!

Little Dog Agility and Dog Sport Forum: Mighty Mite Dog Sport Chat