Paws For Agility

No two canine agility courses are made the same, which makes training your dog a difficult task. Each organization has specific guidelines for setting up the obstacles, including the appropriate distance between the equipment, a designated number of turns and other relevant information. When it comes to devising canine agility obstacle plans, you want to be sure to include all of the basic apparatuses like the tunnel, tire jumps and weave poles.

It’s a good idea to intersperse difficult obstacles with those that are a bit easier. If you require the dog to do through the weave poles, complete a series of jumps and then leap through three tires, they’re not going to have enough energy to do much else. Also keep in mind that the dog’s obedience—not just their agility—will be tested during competition. Because of this, it’s imperative to make sure they heed to your orders and go through each of the contact obstacles the proper way each time.

Within the world of dog agility, there are many different pieces of equipment, and each one poses a unique challenge for the dog and the owner. To that end, one of the most challenging sections of the agility course can be the dog tunnel. Depending on the length of the tunnel, the dog may or may not be able to clearly see the end, which is why it can be difficult to convince the dog to actually enter the tunnel. But tunnel training is like any trick. It just takes time, the right incentives, and a little bit of patience.

One of the most effective techniques that you can use with the dog tunnel is placing incentives along the length of the tunnel. Put a treat at the entrance, one in the middle, and one at the end. Once you dog has gotten over the initial trepidation of entering the tunnel, remove the treat in the middle. Then remove the treat at the beginning and so on until your dog runs through the tunnel without any incentive.

While all the various niches of dog training are respected for different reasons, but the most difficult has to be dog agility training.  The dog agility course requires years of training to master, and even the smartest and most dedicated owners can falter under the pressure during the actual running of the obstacle course.  The dog agility course requires a dog to be familiar with dozens of different exercises including jumping, climbing, running through tunnels, weaving, and the ever challenging see saw.  Dogs have to learn all these tricks over time, and during a tournament, the dogs need to be able to draw on their training and also compensate for changes in the course design.  This is a lot for a dog to learn, and owners need patience more than all the other virtues to achieve success on the dog agility course.

While there are no specific dog breeds that will always triumph over others on the dog agility course, in general middle sized herding dogs tend to be the winners more than other breeds.  However, any dog with intelligence and a patient owner can become an agility champion!