Paws For Agility

For the most pleasant pet-owning experience, all dogs should be trained. Untrained dogs are unruly and cause many headaches for their owners. They can jump on people and furniture, get into garbage, play too roughly with children, not walk well on a leash, and more. Many dogs can be trained to curb their bad behaviors, but prevention – in this case, early training – is the best way to have a well-trained dog.

The best guidelines for training your dog are simple. First of all, don’t expect your dog to know what you want him to do right away. All training takes time and repetition before your dog will really understand what’s expected of him. Always praise and reward your dog for doing what you ask of him, and be consistent in this praised. One of the keys of dog obedience training is that you give your dog a simple decision, and then praise him when he makes the right decision – following your command. Lastly, take your dog’s training slowly and master one command at a time. Trying to teach too many things at once will only confuse your dog.

When my dog Baxter and I began training for dog shows about five years ago, I had little idea as to where to begin. All of my knowledge of dog training had been garnered through vague descriptions on TV, and I didn’t really have the money to invest in a professional trainer. After purchasing some books on the subject, I came to find that I would need to purchase some equipment if we were going to have any chance of competing.

Luckily for us, I was able to find a dog agility in a bag set that included all of the essentials to get us started. The set had everything from an agility tunnel to jumps, and within a few months, Baxter was going through the course like a pro. Although I have now invested in some more advanced equipment, Baxter and I still utilized the original set of apparatuses when we train.