AgileGSD
Posted : 7/23/2010 6:30:11 PM
Simba is definitely not to young to be starting in these sports. The earlier you can start the better :)
The best dogs for flyball are dogs who have a lot of toy drive. While you can teach a dog who doesn't like balls or tugging to do flyball, it is much more fun to do with a dog who really like to retrieve and really like to tug. For dogs with the drive for it, flyball is a much easier sport. Easier for the dog to learn and perfect and very, very simple for the handler. Once the dog learns the behaviors, the game never changes - it's always over the jumps, hit the box, get the ball, back over the jumps to the owner. Once the dog is trained the challenge is to try to build speed. That said, since flyball is a team sport if you join a team you will be expected to attend tournaments with the team. And you will tend to have to travel further to compete than with agility. Flyball is not for people who don't like to hear dogs barking and barking and barking and barking ;)
Flyball is more of a sport that the dog does, agility is a sport that the dog and handler put equal effort into. It is much more complicated to train and perfect both for the dog and especially the handler, so you likely will need to train a lot more before you are ready to trial. As you move up the behaviors required of the dog (and the handling required of you) become increasingly challenging. For the most part agility is not a team sport - it's just you and your dog. Trials are usually more plentiful, especially if you aren't picky about venue. A wider range of dogs can do well in agility than flyball, since the dog doesn't have to have toy drive.
Both can be fun sports. I'd suggest watching both and seeing what you think would be most suitable for you and your dog.