In a world, where more than 40% of dogs are considered overweight, dog agility can be the perfect way to improve your dog’s health, and Carlson Agility can help you design an amazing obstacle course for dogs.
Why Try Agility?
Agility competitions are hugely popular around the globe, but you don’t have to compete in order to enjoy plenty of value from agility training. Setting up an obstacle course for dogs in your backyard provides the following benefits:
- Agility provides a full-body, cardio workout for your dog (and you!).
- Agility helps alleviate boredom, and bored dogs can be destructive and/or anxious.
- Agility improves the bond and trust between dogs and their human companions.
- Agility training teaches essential obedience skills that keep dogs safe.
- Agility is just plain fun and can be more interesting than daily walks and games of tug or fetch (although your dog will enjoy these activities, as well).
- Agility can be an activity that your whole family will enjoy.
Is My Dog A Good Fit For Agility?
Most healthy dogs will enjoy agility training. There are a few breeds prone to breathing issues that might not be a good match for agility and some dogs just don’t have the temperament for it. But if you have a dog with good energy and no serious health issues, agility can be a great form of exercise.
Senior Dogs & Agility
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but that’s not the case. Even older senior dogs can still enjoy agility and it can be a great way to provide them with the exercise needed to combat arthritis. While many senior dogs can still zip around a full-size agility course, dog agility organizations do lower jump heights and decrease the number of obstacles on the courses, so keep that in mind.
With a senior dog, a couple of low jumps, a dog tunnel and perhaps something fun like a dog agility teeter or weave poles can be great items to add to your dog obstacle course. We do recommend talking with your veterinarian before working on jumps, but we also do sell mini agility equipment, including mini agility jumps, which are great for smaller breeds as well as senior dogs.
Puppy Agility
Puppies can be quick learners and they have tons of energy, but there are a couple of reasons to put off heavy agility training with puppies. Most importantly, their bodies are not ready for the rigors of jumping and moving through weave poles, etc. They also don’t have great attention spans, so it can be tough to teach them a ton of agility skills at a young age.
Still, you can get a head start into agility with your puppy. We recommend teaching basic obedience commands such as sit, stay and lay down, and you can even use our mini pause table or just take the top off of our regular-size pause table to teach these skills. You also can train them to walk over jump poles placed directly on the ground and you can shorten up a dog tunnel and teach them to walk through that, as well.
Dogs less than a year old and sometimes less than two years of age aren’t allowed to compete in agility competitions anyway, so it’s best to focus on obedience skills and bonding and work on jumps, a-frame, teeters and weaves after your pup is full grown.
Rescue Dogs & Agility
Agility is a fantastic activity for you and your new rescue dog to enjoy and a great way to strengthen the bond between the two of you. It’s also a great, fun way to train those obedience skills. Many rescue dogs are timid, so we recommend using a soft, patient voice and plenty of praise so that your dog becomes comfortable.
With a rescue pup, we recommend setting up your obstacle course for dogs with some easy obstacles. For instance, you might have a couple of jumps and a tunnel as well as the pause table. Dogs love to jump and it’s fairly easy to teach the tunnel and you can teach sit and stay skills on the pause table. Once you’ve strengthened your bond, then you can add more challenging items such as the a-frame, dog walk, teeter and weaves.
Getting Started: Selecting Dog Agility Equipment
If you plan to compete in dog agility competitions, eventually you will want to acquire a full set of agility equipment and this includes a variety of dog jumps (including a tire jump), weave poles, a pause table, an agility dog walk, dog agility a-frame, a dog tunnel and a teeter.
While you usually will find all of these items on a typical obstacle course for dogs, you don’t have to purchase all of these items at once. We have several dog agility starter kits on our website, which can be a great way to get started or you can simply purchase a few pieces of your own choice and go from there. There’s no wrong or right order for teaching obstacles.
Typically, basic dog jumps, the tunnel and the pause table can be the easiest obstacles to teach, but tire jumps and teeters are a bunch of fun, so you might want to add those to your obstacle course, as well. All of our starter kits include at least one type of jump, as this is the most common obstacle you will encounter on any competition obstacle course.
Your Obstacle Course For Dogs
Once you have trained your dog how to handle two or three obstacles, you can set up a small course. There’s no wrong or right way to set up the course, but we recommend mixing it up from time to time. If you are planning to compete, then eventually you will want to set up a full course that includes all of the obstacles found on a competition course.
If you don’t plan to compete, we recommend setting up a dog obstacle course based upon your dog’s interests, health and activity level. For instance, if you have a highly energetic dog that loves to jump, set up a course that includes many different types of jumps. If your dog tends to have back issues, you might omit obstacles such as weaves or the tire jump and stick to low jumps, tunnels and contact equipment such as the dog walk or a-frame.
If your dog seems to dislike the tunnel or teeter or another piece of equipment, just eliminate that obstacle for a while and you can try adding it back in once your dog has mastered several variations of the course without those obstacles. Sometimes, it just takes a dog time to warm up to an obstacle, but remember, the name of the game is fun, so don’t worry too much, if your dog needs a few weeks or months to feel comfortable with a piece of dog training equipment.
When it comes to layout, there is no wrong or right configuration for your obstacle course for dogs. You might start with a jump then lead into a tunnel, then do a series of jumps, then the teeter or the a-frame. The most important factor is that, if you plan to compete, work on your hand signals, vocal signals and mixing up the course configuration. If you run the same course over and over again, you won’t be as successful at competitions.
A competition-ready dog is a dog that is comfortable with all of the obstacles and one that obeys your signals. Once you have built up that comfort level, work on speed and accuracy using many different course configurations. It is also important that you provide them with enough room to clear each obstacle safely.
If you have a smaller backyard that cannot really accommodate a full course, just set up the basics – a bar jump, tire jump, pause table, tunnel, teeter, weaves and perhaps either the a-frame or the dog walk. You don’t need to add extra jumps if you don’t have space. Simply have your dog go back to the bar jump a couple of times as they move through the course.
If you do plan to compete, but don’t have a huge yard for a full competition course, consider joining a local agility club. An agility club should have a full-size competition course set up in their facility, and it can provide you with practice time and you can learn some tips and tricks from other members and learn a bit about the competition process. Ready to get started? At Carlson Agility, we have everything you might need to set up your obstacle course for dogs. All of our items are handmade using the best quality materials and built to competition standards. You can purchase dog agility equipment by item or get started with a dog agility set. If you have any questions about our equipment, don’t hesitate to contact us at any time.
