Sarah Jane Hunt

[Sarah Hunt]

I am married with three children. My sons are 13, 12 and 10. We have a 17 month old sable and white shetland sheepdog called Merlin. Since a puppy, we have been taking him to training classes. He has passed his Good Citizen Award for puppies. Recently, he has passed his Good Citizen Bronze Award with my older son and now working to silver.
Merlin loves to play football, he pushes it with his nose and has just started to kick it with his front legs. He can catch a tennis ball, loves agility equipment - tunnel, low jumps, hoop etc. Merlin can twist and turn for treats.
Now he is older, I would like to teach him a lot more tricks but I didn`t want to damage his bones while he was still growing.

 

[sara]

At 17 months old, and being a small dog, you should be able to stress the joints a bit, so things like sit pretty, and moderate jumps. However, I'd avoid any long bouts of standing or walking on hind legs, and any extreme jumping. But there are many, many tricks you can start with that dont involve joint stress.

 

[Sarah Hunt]

Thank you that is very interesting information, I will take note for the health of Merlin.

At 17 months old, and being a small dog, you should be able to stress the joints a bit, so things like sit pretty, and moderate jumps. However, I'd avoid any long bouts of standing or walking on hind legs, and any extreme jumping. But there are many, many tricks you can start with that dont involve joint stress.