Just about every dog loves zipping through an agility tunnel. Even if their first impression of the tunnel is a bit less than enthusiastic, teaching your furry friend to go through a dog agility tunnel is usually one of the easier tasks in the agility world. Still, it’s not just about getting through the tunnel; it’s also about what your dog does upon exiting that truly counts.
Warming Up To The Agility Tunnel
Certainly the first time a dog sees an agility tunnel they probably won’t automatically know that they should head inside and move through the tunnel. In fact, most dogs are a bit wary of entering the tunnel at first, and that’s perfectly ok.
Let your dog sniff around the tunnel and get used to the smell and appearance. Then perhaps consider heading into the tunnel yourself, to show your dog that the tunnel can be fun. You can put your dog at one end of the tunnel while you look through the tunnel at the other end. In many cases, a dog will go into the tunnel to meet you and you can heap on some praise to help them feel enthusiastic about getting into the tunnel.
If your dog still resists the idea of entering the tunnel, coax them to you with a treat and once they enter the tunnel and make it all the way through and how the other end, reward them with a treat and a resounding cheer of “good dog!”
It may take a dozen or more trips through the dog agility tunnel before your pooch truly gets the idea of what they are supposed to do. As you guide your dog through the tunnel, create a hand signal for this piece of equipment. Many handlers also will use a verbal signal such as “tunnel” each time they direct their dog to run through the tunnel.
However, you actually can teach agility with only hand signals. Verbal signals are fine, but they aren’t 100% necessary. In fact, it’s wise to teach both hand signals and verbal signals for every command you want your dog to follow. This includes, sit, stay, lay down, come and quiet. After all, as your dog gets older, they can become hard of hearing and those hand signals will become very important. Deaf dogs are welcome on virtually all agility courses, so even if your dog cannot here, you can continue to enjoy all of the benefits of agility.
But, back to that dog agility tunnel. Once your dog has mastered going through the tunnel on command, it’s time to add this piece of equipment into your backyard agility course. If this is your first piece of equipment, you can simply begin by teaching a new obstacle, perhaps a couple of single jumps or perhaps a jump and the a-frame or dog walk.
Spacing Obstacles & Setting Up Your Course
Few of us have backyards truly set up for a full regulation-size competition course. If you do, go online and download some course templates and set up a full course in your backyard. Most of us only have room for three or four obstacles, and that’s just fine, you can still complete tons of agility training in a smaller backyard.
All you need to do is vary the equipment you use so that your dog experiences multiple variations of what might be expected on a course, For instance, on some days, you might set it up so that your dog dashes through the tunnel, turns and heads up a dog walk and then on to a jump or two.
On other days, they might exit the tunnel, turn and head over a jump and then head through a series of weave poles. You never know the configuration of a competition course beforehand anyway, so it’s just important to keep trying different course configurations so that you are ready for any situation.
Changing up the course also ensures that your dog is relying on your signals and cues rather than simply memorizing the backyard course. Teaching those turns out of the tunnel also are going to be a crucial part of training.
When it comes to spacing, you need to leave enough room between obstacles so that your dog can navigate each obstacle safely. You also need to ensure that the obstacles aren’t too high for your dog. Smaller dogs and older breeds have lower jump heights than larger or younger dogs, so it’s crucial that you do some research with your preferred agility organization and learn the proper heights for jumps as well as the number and types of obstacles you typically will encounter on a course.
Puppies & Tunnels
In general, we don’t recommend full on agility training for dogs that have not reached physical maturity. While puppies certainly have plenty of energy, jumps and other obstacles are not always safe for puppies. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t start laying the foundations of agility with your little pup.
You can teach basic sit, stay, lay down and come commands. You can even teach these using an agility pause table. You can take the top of the table and lay it flat on the ground or use a mini pause table which is just a few inches off the ground. By the time they have mastered these commands; your dog already will know how to use one piece of agility equipment.
An agility tunnel is another piece of equipment that puppies can use. You can scrunch up the tunnel and make it shorter at first so that your puppy is less intimidated going through the tunnel, and eventually increase the length to a full tunnel. For puppies, you can teach a tunnel command, but you don’t really need to worry about teaching those turns at this point. Basically, you just want them to feel comfortable and excited about agility training.
What About Chutes?
Chutes are controversial pieces of agility equipment, and most agility organizations no longer have chutes on their courses. Still, they can be a lot of fun for backyard play and because dogs enjoy them and a few groups still use them, we still offer chutes for sale on our website. We recommend that your dog go through the chute collarless and with no clothing or a bandana as these can snag.
One great thing about the chute is that the detachable barrel is very short and it can be a great training tool before introducing the full-size tunnel. Simply detach the chute and teach your dog to run through the short barrel. Then you can add the chute and continue training. A dog that can master a chute definitely will have no trouble mastering the agility tunnel.
Purchasing An Agility Tunnel
At Carlson Agility, we sell the finest regulation agility equipment, and that includes our dog agility tunnel. Our tunnels are exactly like the ones you’ll find on a competition course. If you are serious about competing or perhaps you own an agility club or teaching facility, our tunnels have the quality you need for use by many dogs again and again.
We also sell sandbags and tunnel weight bags to ensure that your agility tunnel stays firmly in place every time your dog dashes through it. No matter what type of agility equipment you need, we have it at Carlson Agility. We also sell mini equipment perfect for smaller dogs or for people with smaller backyards. If you have any questions about our equipment, don’t hesitate to send us an email at any time.
