I promised I'd do this so have got round to it finally! The answer is basically how long is a piece of string?! 😂😂 I think in many ways this is dog dependent but my last few dogs and clients dogs follow a rough plan. The most important thing is the partnership between dog and handler! What motivates them, if its toys then what sort of toys, rate their fav treats and work out what physical and verbal praise they like best too.
Brooke as a puppy loved to put her feet on things so 2o/2o was easy!
With my dogs I let them off lead at a very young age in safe places so they learn to hang out with me before they get cocky! I also do lots of trick training and toy play (usually very early before the other dogs are up) I love this time and think it creates a really fun work ethic. I carry them all over the place but their first walks are usually just down the street a few metres to watch the world go by and on the front field where I work. Along side trick training with Branston I followed Dans Agility Geek videos for lots of fun foundation games that are geared towards agility. I did two different sets of puppy classes with him (one indoors and one outdoors) so he got used to working calmly in a group and ignoring the other dogs. I also booked onto trick workshops and puppy agility workshops when he was 6 months plus. Not to do agility equipment but to play the foundation games around other dogs, play tuggy, retrieve his toy and settle in his crate/the van between turns.
Spark doing proprioception work on a workshop
Branston started straight tunnels at around 6.5 months and jumps bumps at around 7 months. He first saw a pole on a jump, a curvy tunnel and did wing wraps at 8 months. His first session with poles on his jumps was a gridwork workshop and it set him up nicely for success! Bru was even later and did his first jumps at 9 months old. Bit different to our older dogs who did nothing before a year and then were expected to jump 35cm straight off!
Both Bru and Branston learnt a lot of their skills on hoops first which was perfect as by the time they first saw jumps they already knew how to drive on in a straight line, turn left and right and do front crosses and rear crosses as well as find a little hoopers tunnel and go round a barrel. The only contact they 'do' at this stage is bang the bottom of the seesaw occasionally so they learn that planks move!
With the last three doglets I have started mat work for their running contacts around 8/9 months when they are pretty much fully grown. I don't see the point in doing it earlier as their stride length changes and they need to be quite coordinated to hit the mat at speed. Once they are happy doing the mat on the ground I try a low plank but mine haven't done full dog walks before 14 months. Usually once they have their dog walk in a sequence I introduce the Aframe around 16 months and the full seesaw is the last thing I do contacts wise but as they know about it banging its usually not too scary!
With their jump heights it depends massively on the size of the dog! Pickle (big medium) did 10-15cm to start with about 8-10 months, 20cm 10-11 months, 25cm around 12-14 months, 30cm around 14-15 months, 35cm around 15-17 months and then finally medium at 17 months. Bru (quite small small) did 10-15cm from 9-11 months, 20cm from 11-13 months, 25cm from 13-15 months and then 30cm at 16 months but we still jump him 25cm in training a lot of the time.
In general I like my young dogs to 'dabble' in various activities to get them focused and learning in different environments. Pickle has done tricks, rally, hoopers, agility and mantrailing and I think it has made him a well rounded dog who loves to learn!
