Dog Community

shih tzu obedience or agility

Posted : 12/15/2006 11:08:37 AM

Does anyone here have any experience or knowledge of how Shih Tzus do with obedience or agility competition. Mine is 15 mos and I've Clicker Trained them at home from a young age (sit, down, off, wait, come, pretty, paw); they respond well, but I didn't phase the cookies out properly, so they're always looking for a treat when I ask them to do anything. I'm going to enroll in a local kennel club basic obedience class, and was hoping to proceed to basic agility with one my Tzus. I haven't seen many Tzus in the results that get posted from our local club events. We could always do it "for fun" of course, but I'm curious if I've waited too long to get them focused and socialized well enough to perform well with distraction in the ring and I'm also wondering if many Shih Tzu take to it well - I think my Wilson would do great in the back yard, but he may become nervous and want to be picked up with that many large dogs around him - which I know I will have to break him of. Any insight on this??

Firestorm

Posted : 12/15/2006 11:23:20 AM

Harley has done beginnner obedience and did very well. He got a chance to socialize with dogs of all sizes. Most were bigger then he. The class will give him a chance to meet other bigger dogs.
I am planning on try agility and novice obedience in the spring.

Xebby

Posted : 12/15/2006 11:26:07 AM

I think obedience is a great start to teaching agility. I've seen a chihuahua do agility and it was fun to watch, I've heard of tzus doing agility as well. As long as they have to drive to do it then they should be fine.

the_gopher

Posted : 12/15/2006 2:58:27 PM

I trained my Mom's shih tzu both in obedience and in agility. She LOOOOVED agility! She got so excited on the days we did agility. Plus it helped her concentrate (she usually gets distracted eaisly by people, but not while doing an agility run). We just did agility for fun, so we never competed, which looking back I wish I had, because I'm sure she would have done very well. But, she's too old now (being almost 12 years), even if she still has a lot of pep lol.

stormrdr1

Posted : 12/15/2006 3:36:54 PM

Both my shih tzus do agility. Ripper (10 years old) started when he was 2 1/2. He had no formal obedience training but does great off leash. I started him in it to build his confidence back after he was injured. He lost an eye in a scuffle for food with a larger dog before I owned him. He will never compete (too stressful for him) but it has helped him overcome obstacles both physically and mentally. Razzle (3 years old next week!) had puppy and basic obedience classes before agility. She is fast and absolutely adores it. She has great focus and catches on to things quickly. At times, we do have our "diva" moments when she decides that she just isn't doing that teeter today [

] . She sits down on the course and refuses to go. It is quite entertaining for the crowd. She looks pretty darn cute out there with her topknot and fluffy tail. We have not competed as yet...not enough time in the day, month, or year for me. Someday we hope to though.

tzumommy

Posted : 12/15/2006 4:02:35 PM

Wow, that's encouraging! I bet your little diva provides just as much entertainment in her diva moments as she does when she runs the whole course! You mentioned her top knot; do you keep both of your tzus in full coat? I have not been able to do that with mine. I keep them in the puppy cut every 5-7 weeks. They are "all boy" and will find mud and pine sap and roll in it no matter how I try to deter them - ugh. A couple of 6am emergency doggie baths while trying to get myself to work by 7am was enough of the long coat for me! I think just a short top knot with the body trimmed short would be cute but DH is against it because they are his "boys"!

spiritdogs

Posted : 12/15/2006 4:12:18 PM

Shih's can do agility, and, personally, I think agility is way more fun for the dogs and handlers than formal obedience is. Of course, you do need to have basic commands, and some eventual off leash control of your dog, but a beginning agility class is mostly on leash and you start slowly - most dogs like it.

Xeph

Posted : 12/15/2006 8:31:02 PM

There's a woman in my class that I'm friends with, and she has a dog named Fred (short for Winifred). She and Fred are actively competing in Obedience (They have two legs, and will soon be joining Strauss and I in open!) and they are going to start competing in agility this spring/summer.

Fred is flipping ADORABLE, and she does very very well in her classes

the_gopher

Posted : 12/15/2006 10:14:42 PM

ORIGINAL: stormrdr1

Both my shih tzus do agility. Ripper (10 years old) started when he was 2 1/2. He had no formal obedience training but does great off leash. I started him in it to build his confidence back after he was injured. He lost an eye in a scuffle for food with a larger dog before I owned him. He will never compete (too stressful for him) but it has helped him overcome obstacles both physically and mentally. Razzle (3 years old next week!) had puppy and basic obedience classes before agility. She is fast and absolutely adores it. She has great focus and catches on to things quickly. At times, we do have our "diva" moments when she decides that she just isn't doing that teeter today [] . She sits down on the course and refuses to go. It is quite entertaining for the crowd. She looks pretty darn cute out there with her topknot and fluffy tail. We have not competed as yet...not enough time in the day, month, or year for me. Someday we hope to though.

LOL Nikki would have her Diva moment as well lol! It was a riot. It was always right after she came down the A-frame. She'd sit then look up at me with THAT look saying "ok i'm done now".

stormrdr1

Posted : 12/19/2006 10:39:42 AM

ORIGINAL: tzumommy

Wow, that's encouraging! I bet your little diva provides just as much entertainment in her diva moments as she does when she runs the whole course! You mentioned her top knot; do you keep both of your tzus in full coat? I have not been able to do that with mine. I keep them in the puppy cut every 5-7 weeks. They are "all boy" and will find mud and pine sap and roll in it no matter how I try to deter them - ugh. A couple of 6am emergency doggie baths while trying to get myself to work by 7am was enough of the long coat for me! I think just a short top knot with the body trimmed short would be cute but DH is against it because they are his "boys"!

Razzle has a topknot, and her tail has never been cut. Her body is trimmed to about 1 inch length. Ripper is 1 inch all over with no topknot. I love this breed probably because of that tzu attitude. They are so funny!

tzumommy

Posted : 12/19/2006 10:51:45 AM

Both of my boys are also about an inch or so all over, no top knot, and we don't cut their tails either. Did it take you long to learn how to do the top knot on Razzle? If ever I get the opportunity to get a female, she'll definitely be sporting a top knot! Do you have any pics of your two on here someplace?
The attitude? OMG - they are something else. It amazes me how different my two are and were from the same litter. They keep us so entertained that we very rarely even turn the television on!
BTW: would you take a look at my post from yesterday under Grooming and let me know what you think about it? My two are having issues at our groomer and I would like to hear your insight since you are also familiar with this breed. They are generally confident and outgoing little guys. Thanks.