Everyone loves a puppy, but there’s no getting around the fact that puppies have tons of energy. Puppy agility can be a great way to expend some of that energy, and it offers many benefits for your new furry addition.
Agility provides a good source of exercise for your puppy. Daily walks are important, especially for potty training and obedience training, but agility provides a type of exercise that is highly mentally stimulating.
Additionally, because you are spending some real quality time with your puppy during training, this makes it easier for you to learn about each other’s personalities. Puppy agility training can build trust and deepen the bond between dogs and their humans.
Is Your Puppy A Good Fit For Puppy Agility?
In general, most dogs are well-suited for puppy agility and it’s not just a sport for border collies and Australian shepherds. These breeds certainly have the energy, speed and intelligence to do well with agility, but other breeds also can excel at the sport.
Some breeds, such as pugs, bulldogs and breeds with turned-up noses, are not the best options for dog agility, as they are prone to breathing issues. Dogs with very short legs, such as Dachshunds, also can have trouble navigating an agility course. Low-energy breeds, such as basset hounds, mastiffs and Shih Tzus might not have much interest in agility, but it depends upon the dog’s personality and overall health.
In general, if you have a healthy puppy, especially with high energy, dog agility and using puppy agility equipment can be a great option. Before you get started, read a few of our helpful training tips.
- Safety Is The Top Priority
First, it is important to understand that there are some pieces of agility equipment that you should not use with puppies. For instance, puppies should not be working on agility jumps until they are fully grown. There is simply too much chance of injury, even with a very low jump.
At Carlson Agility, we have a full section of mini agility equipment. This was designed for smaller breeds, but it can be an excellent option as puppy agility equipment. These obstacles are lower to the ground and easier and safer for puppies to navigate.
While our mini or puppy agility equipment is safer for puppies, it is essential that puppies never use the equipment without supervision. This is especially true with obstacles such as the mini dog agility teeter, mini agility a-frame and mini dog walk. Sometimes it can be a good idea to have a handler on each side of the obstacle to ensure that your puppy does not fall off the equipment.
- Start With Easy Obstacles
Our mini teeter and mini pause table are very low to the ground and can be good options for those first training sessions. An agility tunnel also can be a fun, safe obstacle to use for puppy agility training.
On the pause table, agility dogs must sit, stay and lay down with the handler at some distance away. Using the pause table can be a great way to train for agility as well as obedience. You can even remove the top of the mini pause table and rest it flat on the ground to ensure safety as you work on distance training.
- Keep Training Sessions Short
In general, this is advice we give with dogs of all ages, but it’s especially important for puppy agility training. Puppies have extremely short attention spans, so two 10-minute training sessions per day is probably all they can handle at first. This means you might only work with one piece of dog agility equipment per day. It can be a good idea for all dogs to go on a quick walk before training. This releases some extra energy and makes it easier for a dog, and especially a puppy, to concentrate.
We recommend starting with one obstacle, gaining some mastery on that obstacle until the puppy seems to understand what to do automatically and then teaching a new obstacle. Be sure to run through the other obstacle at least once at each training session. For instance, if you taught the dog agility tunnel and are now training with the teeter, have your puppy go through the dog tunnel once or twice before working on the teeter to ensure you don’t lose that skill.
- Praise Is The Ultimate Reward
With all dogs, praise is one of the best rewards you can give, but sometimes using tiny training treats can work, especially with the pause table, which is not as exciting to dogs as other pieces of puppy agility equipment. Of course, the skills learned on the pause table are important in all aspects of your puppy’s life, so using a few treats can be a great idea at first.
Keep in mind that if you decide to enter a competition, treats are not allowed, so eventually, you will want to ditch the treats. Praise, therefore, is truly one of the best rewards you can provide. Dogs love to please, and they love to get pets and scritches, and this can be just as motivating to them as a treat. Still, on that first trip through the tunnel, a tiny treat at the other end can be a good inducement.
- Speed Is Not A Priority
Dogs under a year old typically are not allowed to participate in agility competitions. This means that setting speed records isn’t important with younger dogs. Once your dog has reached physical maturity, then you can start to teach obstacles such as jumps and work on speed.
Of course, because you got started early with puppy agility, you will have laid a ton of groundwork already and your dog will be zipping through an agility dog course in no time at all. With puppies, though, we just want them to learn some obedience skills and learn to love agility and have some fun. This will make adult agility training much easier.
With all agility training, whether it be puppy training or for older dogs, the emphasis should always be about having a great time with your dog. Be patient, hand out praise for any job well done, and just enjoy this time spent together. Even if you never compete, agility can be a great source of exercise and bonding for you and your dog.
At Carlson Agility, we have everything you need for puppy agility, and our mini agility equipment is the perfect option for puppies. All our items are handmade from the highest quality components. If you have any questions about our puppy agility equipment, click on the Contact tab on our homepage and we will get in touch as soon as possible.
