Im getting an australian shepherd. How fast can they get? Can you train them to get faster, if so how? Are they good agility dogs? How easily are they trained? What should I know about how to raise them in Agility?
AND.... are they good off-leash dogs? Can you train them to be?
2007-02-26 10:23:00 · 5 answers · asked by tansurflovethebeach 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
Aussies are highly known for speed and agility. They along with Border Collies and Cattle Dogs, are some of the fastest and most agile. You can strength train and gradually build up speed with practice. Be sure not to push to hard to fast though. Flyball is a great way to get your dog fast and faster. I do fly ball with my Aussie/Coyote mix and my moroccan street dog. So far Indiana the aussie x is catching on really well and hope to get a team together to enter her into competition. My two corgis do it too but they are NOT fast, cause of there build and they are clumsy after a few spills on the jumps i dont do it with them any more. My bassett x and cane corso/pitty mix could care less and go around the jumps so they are no fun.
They can be great off leash dogs once fully trained. Most are so intense that they will look to you for every command. They train quiet easily but like every dog, you need to do it daily and consistantly. They are high energy, you need to exercise them all the time or they can become bored and mischevious. You need to train early on to curb nipping and herding instincts if you are not going to use them for herding.
2007-02-26 10:34:20 · answer #1 · answered by I luv Pets 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Australian shepherds are known to be great agility dogs. A really fit, fast Australian shepherd may be able to run as fast as 50 km an hour. To encourage your dog to be fast and agile, feed him a high-quality, natural food like Canidae or Kirkland (available at Costco). Give him lots of exercise everyday, and encourage running through games like fetch. A doggy playmate that will play chase games with him would be great (I'm not saying you have to get another dog, I just mean if you have a friend who has a well-mannered dog). My dog actually became extremely agile because we have a lot of forest, so she jumps over and under all sorts of obstacles, and also does a lot of balance activities as well as long jump.
Just be careful with your puppy. Don't start setting up a whole bunch of obstacles for him to jump over while he's still little, since this can damage him. Don't let him go over anything higher than his shoulders. Instead of long exercise sessions that will exhaust him, just have several shorter play sessions in a day.
Yes, Australian shepherds are easily trained, and they can do very well off-leash as long as you have trained them the "come" command. You should start training your puppy as soon as you get him/her.
2007-02-26 18:34:25 · answer #2 · answered by Steel 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A Blue Healer is very fast. I made my Schnauzer a lot faster just by taking him running with me at the beach. It works out better if you can go to a less populated beach so that you can leave him or her off the lead. The dog is going to be fast then you. But he will run a long stop and sniff. then he will have sprint a head to catch up to you. Mine runs along and jumps in the ocean. Then I have to stop wait for him. I started this at 5 months. I would not run with any dog on road under a year. Off road is fine. As for training start with a obedience class. The dog will have to learn to listen to you first. before any agility training can be done. But most people don't do any real conditioning (liking running)with their dog so this will give you a huge advantage. We run 4-5miles I stop when ever I need a drink and offer my dog a some too. I take my sport bottle and pore water in my cuffed hand. It takes like a minute for the dog to figure out that you have water. My comes up to me and jumps at legs letting me know its time.
2007-02-26 19:13:17 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I started teaching my Aussi at 8 weeks... they are really smart and easily trained....We joined an obedience class at 9 months...even though she knew almost everything they taught. Then at 1 yr we started agility (by the way agility is always off leash)... My Aussie is very food motivated, but watch out they gain weight very easily. About their speed I have two Aussie they are sisters and one easily out runs the other... I guess it just depends on genetics, but they both keep up with me while galloping my horses.
2007-02-26 19:54:32 · answer #4 · answered by Nichole 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have to aussies that I train in obedience and agility and we compete in events to earn their titles. You need to take classses as this is somthing that you need to be shown how to teach to your Aussies
2007-02-26 18:28:15 · answer #5 · answered by aussie 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋