Sooooo... Anybody thought of Agility?

[karin hamlin]

I mean I realize these little dogs are not the norm in the ring but geeeeeez, Lola is fast! She loves to follow my son up on the big playtoys (harnessed of coarse!) at the park with no fear. She goes down the baby slides and can jump so high! I am just amazed everytime I see my little "special needs" girl do the zoomies around the yard. Seems like a good idea to harness all that energy some way. I realize the whole overheating thing would play a big factor but I was just curious. My Dobie was really not all that coordinated.LOL!!! So it is really funny to me that my little frogdog is.

[Tatiana]

There are several French Bulldogs that are indeed quite athletic and perform in agility... As a matter of fact, I believe Carol Gravestock blogged (quite recently) about a 10-year-old progeny that still enjoys the sport. I happen to have a very agile male and I take him to a public park that has police-dog training equipment so that he can enjoy showing off his skills... We didn't start until he was a year of age and I never allow him to do things that are extreme or overly challenging...In other words he can jump over a bar, but it's set very low, 6 to 8" maximum... He enjoys the tunnel, the balance beam, and zig-zagging around poles or cones, but I don't time him and simply let him to have a bit of fun, without over-exerting him. My dogs are X-rayed every two years starting from when I first bring them home... It's good to ensure that their hips, spines, patellas, etc. are all okay before initiating any strenuous kind of activity. Better to be safe (and have a visual image!), than sorry. As we all know, some dogs are just not cut out for jumping, climbing, etc.

On excursions to the park, I pack a bag of ice, a plastic bottle of lemon juice, some Nutri-Cal, and Benadryl tongue-strips for any emergencies. I've never really had to administer any of them, but I feel better being prepared.

[karin hamlin]

I was just thinking of it as fun. She has been x-rayed multiple times which is how we found out about her spina bifoda. (spelling?) The vet gave us no special instructions or restrictions but I will certainly discuss it with her first. I just think she would be so excited to do something like the zig zagging and tunnels. Lemon juice? I wish we had a place like that. I was thinking my friend and I could do a little homemade course in the backyard for Lola and her cousin pug, Tallulah. But Lola has so much more energy and endurance than all her pug friends. She plays more with the Boxers. when she isn't chasing them out of the room:)