A How To on Teaching Your Dog Agility

Here are some clips of how to build some of your own dog agility equipment (for very little money), and another clip on a few exercises you dog can do to improve and work off a little of that energy before a walk or just something other than a rousing game of fetch for fun.

Here also is a shameless plug for the new agility classes that are starting soon. If you would like more information on them please click here

 How do you know if your dog is a good candidate for learning agility you ask?  Does your dog have lots of energy?  Loves to race around the yard?  Do you wish your dog paid better attention to you?  Do you have a couch potato dog who needs to loose a few pounds? (though I wouldn't recommend Basset breeds, I don't know if their joints could handle it, at least the larger ones)  Are you looking for something new to teach your dog?  Well if you have answered  YES to any one of those questions agility training could be for you!

 Do you see how much fun it looks! Roxy loves it! Agility not only helps create a better bond between you and your dog, it also creates a fun happy environment for your dog that teaches him to pay closer attention to you and your body language.

It is also pretty easy to teach from your own house without the need of too much special equipment.  (and the things you do need can be made for just a few dollars and some creative thinking)

I like to start off by teaching the jumps and working on teaching your dog to think about his back feet.  (As shown in the video above)  

Dogs love to learn new things and once they figure out that it's easy to do and they get quick positive benefits from it, it soon becomes the "happy" time of the day

To teach the jump: I start by using a lure to get the dog over a low horizontal object, then click as so as they start to go over and then they can have the treat/lure on the other side.  Once they've got the idea you can start to raise your "standard" (horizontal stick/pole).  Pretty simple.

So the bottom line is if you are looking for a good time and some fun new things to teach your dog give agility training a try! (It's not just for competition!) 

(now that our rain has returned for a bit I can put my weave poles back out and my next post should be on teaching the weave)