While teaching dog agility skills to your furry friend is fun and an excellent way to provide exercise, not every dog is suited to agility training, and there are a few things you need to think about before training starts. If you wish to start agility lessons, here is some information that might help you get the most out of this experience.
A dog needs to be in excellent physical condition for agility training, so if your dog has some health issues, this might not be a great activity choice. Keep in mind if you plan on competing, many organizations have restrictions for dogs who are partially blind or deaf, so for this dog, agility training is mainly for fun and exercise. A dog that doesn't seem to have a lot of stamina or energy also is probably not a great choice for agility. You also need to consider your own health as agility training also is exercise for you.
A puppy that has reached at least eight weeks of age also can begin enjoying agility training. Puppies are always anxious to play and are highly interesting in anything new, so this can be a great time to start. However, because they are still in development stages, you do need to supervise them carefully and you also need to purchase mini equipment for them to use. Carlson Agility is one retailer that offers this mini equipment for puppies and small breed dogs. You can purchase mini versions of pause tables, a-frames, dog walks and even a cute little mini chute and barrel. The mini pause table can be a great place to begin, as they learn important agility and obedience skills at the same time.
Another reason to consider purchasing miniature-sized equipment is that it is simply easier to set up in your yard and takes up a smaller amount of space. This means you can practice a greater variety of skills because you have extra room. While the equipment is scaled down, the skills taught are still the same and easily transferable to larger equipment once your dog grows to full size or perhaps you start training for competitions. In addition, if you are stuck indoors due to rain, sleet or snow, a piece of mini equipment can fit easily into your family room or living room. Your dog will be quite enthusiastic to train after a day of being stuck inside.
When you begin training, for either agility or general obedience, remember the three P's: Patience, patience and more patience. It takes time to train a dog, and they can become confused easily, so stick with learning one piece of equipment at a time. Spend a few weeks learning basic jumping, and then maybe add a new skill such as the pause table or maybe a cool tunnel. Don't expect them to learn all the agility course skills in a couple of months. The dogs you see running courses on TV have been working on these skills for several years, so it's little wonder why they are so good at it.
Your first step to getting started is to acquire some quality dog agility equipment. For your dog agility course, you might consider beginning with a starter kit from Carlson Agility. These kits contain a few pieces of basic equipment. One kit, for instance, includes dog agility weaves and four agility jumps. Another kit contains two jumps and a dog agility tunnel. In addition to the many starter kits, Carlson Agility also sells individual pieces of equipment such as dog agility walks, A-frames, teeter totters, tire jumps and much more.
A dog needs to be in excellent physical condition for agility training, so if your dog has some health issues, this might not be a great activity choice. Keep in mind if you plan on competing, many organizations have restrictions for dogs who are partially blind or deaf, so for this dog, agility training is mainly for fun and exercise. A dog that doesn't seem to have a lot of stamina or energy also is probably not a great choice for agility. You also need to consider your own health as agility training also is exercise for you.
A puppy that has reached at least eight weeks of age also can begin enjoying agility training. Puppies are always anxious to play and are highly interesting in anything new, so this can be a great time to start. However, because they are still in development stages, you do need to supervise them carefully and you also need to purchase mini equipment for them to use. Carlson Agility is one retailer that offers this mini equipment for puppies and small breed dogs. You can purchase mini versions of pause tables, a-frames, dog walks and even a cute little mini chute and barrel. The mini pause table can be a great place to begin, as they learn important agility and obedience skills at the same time.
Another reason to consider purchasing miniature-sized equipment is that it is simply easier to set up in your yard and takes up a smaller amount of space. This means you can practice a greater variety of skills because you have extra room. While the equipment is scaled down, the skills taught are still the same and easily transferable to larger equipment once your dog grows to full size or perhaps you start training for competitions. In addition, if you are stuck indoors due to rain, sleet or snow, a piece of mini equipment can fit easily into your family room or living room. Your dog will be quite enthusiastic to train after a day of being stuck inside.
When you begin training, for either agility or general obedience, remember the three P's: Patience, patience and more patience. It takes time to train a dog, and they can become confused easily, so stick with learning one piece of equipment at a time. Spend a few weeks learning basic jumping, and then maybe add a new skill such as the pause table or maybe a cool tunnel. Don't expect them to learn all the agility course skills in a couple of months. The dogs you see running courses on TV have been working on these skills for several years, so it's little wonder why they are so good at it.
Your first step to getting started is to acquire some quality dog agility equipment. For your dog agility course, you might consider beginning with a starter kit from Carlson Agility. These kits contain a few pieces of basic equipment. One kit, for instance, includes dog agility weaves and four agility jumps. Another kit contains two jumps and a dog agility tunnel. In addition to the many starter kits, Carlson Agility also sells individual pieces of equipment such as dog agility walks, A-frames, teeter totters, tire jumps and much more.
About the Author:
Cheng Bernhardt loves dog agility training. For further information about dog training equipment or to learn more about other equipment like dog agility tunnels, please visit the Carlson-Agility.com website now.
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