While there is nothing quite like the joy of zipping around the obstacles on your agility course, there are those times when hot weather, snow or rain simply keep you and your pet indoors. There are many fun play options, however, that make indoor training a snap.
Often, a few days of poor weather can leave a dog bored and full of extra energy, but there are plenty of fun games that will keep your dog in shape and keep them ready for the agility course. If you have stairs, consider tossing a ball to the top of your stairs and having the dog run up and retrieve the toy. It is best to let the dog come back down slowly for safety, and this is an activity best suited to very healthy dogs that are at least one year old, as their joints aren’t really developed enough until then.
If you are concerned about the stair play, consider a rousing game of throw and fetch with a favorite toy. You can even mix it up and play hide and seek. Take a favorite toy or even a person (this is a good way to keep kids busy, too) and hide it or them someplace and then train your dog to “find it” or “find Sally.” When they find the toy or the person, provide tons of praise, and your dog will love this activity. You also could do this with a treat in place of a toy for a little extra reward.
Another fun game is Clean Up. For this game, you scatter all of your dog’s plush toys, chew toys and other toys all around the family room and then have your dog clean up. Of course, you need to teach them a command for “clean up,” but learning commands is a big part of agility training anyway, so this can be a great way to improve obedience.
If you have a good-sized basement or can use your garage, you can place a piece or two of agility equipment out and let your dog practice specific skills such as the pause table, a jump, the teeter-totter or a tunnel. At Carlson Agility, we do sell a full line of mini agility equipment and these smaller pieces can be a great way to continue training inside when the weather is less than ideal. Mini equipment also is a great option for puppies and smaller dogs in general.
We sell just about every piece of agility equipment you can imagine including pause tables, agility a-frames, weave poles, teeter-totters, dog walks, tire jumps, pole jumps and much more. Most of the contact equipment and jumps are available in the miniature sizes, and we also sell specialized
Brad Carlson enjoys dog agility training. To find agility equipment or to find more about training equipment for dog agility equipment, please check out the Carlson-Agility.com website today.
