Agility is an impressive and fun sport for both you and your dog. This is an especially great activity if you have a high-energy breed. While professional classes with high-end equipment are wonderful, if your pup isn’t ready for group classes or if you don’t have the funds for a doggy gym you can still get started on agility training at home. Here are 7 tips to begin your training and get you ready for the agility course.

  1. Remember that agility is just for fun. The fact that this is simply a sport gives you a lot of freedom. You can take things slowly and move along at the pace that is best for your pup. Keep the first training sessions short at around 5-10 minutes. The priority should be making sure your dog is having fun, so that agility doesn’t become a chore.
  2. Reinforce “watch me” or “eyes on me” cues. Agility is not a single-dog sport. You and your dog work in tandem while on the course, so you need to make sure they keep their eyes on you. Attention is key, so work on eye contact cues that will tell your dog to keep a close eye on you.
  3. Work on flexibility. Agility requires a lot of movement that ordinary dogs don’t do on a normal basis. To prevent injury, help your dog stretch and increase flexibility. Have them spin left and right (and work on teaching them the difference between the two when you’re at it), teach bow to flex their back, and use treats to lure them into figure eights around your legs.
  4. Increase their body awareness. Dogs don’t have much body awareness; you’ll know this if you have a dog who is constantly bumping into objects. In agility though, it’s critical that your dog understands where its entire body is in space. To help develop their awareness, you can teach them to back up, perch on objects, or follow you through narrow spaces. You can lay a ladder on the ground and have them step in between the rungs, gradually increasing speed.
  5. Teach them to follow without a lead. On the agility course, you don’t have your pup leashed. They need to follow your vocal and hand cues without a leash. Work on having them walk beside you first on a loose leash, then without a leash.
  6. Work on wobbles. Many agility obstacles move when dogs stand on them, which can be quite scary for a dog with little previous experience. You can help them learn to stand on unstable objects by starting with something low to the ground, like a skateboard or wagon. Use enticing treats to get them interested in the object, then reward them whenever they interact with it (even if it’s just a small step).
  7. Up their jumping game. Another huge part of agility training is jumping. Start your pup low with a broom suspended just a couple of inches off the ground on cups or tissue boxes. It may help for you to step or jump over them first to encourage them over it for the first couple of times.

Agility training is a fun and exciting way to keep your dog happy, healthy, and engaged! When a dog is well exercised and obedient, he is a better member of the family. If you need additional obedience training for your dog and live in the Sarasota or Bradenton area, call Gulf Coast K9 Dog Training today.